HurdAudio Rotation: Storms and Conversations

Richard Strauss: Tone Poems. 1957, 1963, 1988. Deutsche Grammophon: 463 190-2.

Eine Alpensinfonie op. 64
Staatskapelle Dresden
Karl Böhm: conductor

Don Juan op. 20
Staatskapell Dresden
Karl Böhm: conductor

Der Rosenkavalier: Waltzes from Act III
Berliner Philharmoniker
Karl Böhm: conductor

Also sprach Zarathustra op. 30
Berlin Philharmoniker
Michel Schwalbe: violin solo
Karl Böhm: conductor

Festliches Praludium op. 61
Berliner Philharmoniker
Wolfgang Meyer: organ
Karl Böhm: conductor

Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche op. 28
Berliner Philharmoniker
Karl Böhm: conductor

Salome: Dance of the Seven Veils
Berliner Philharmoniker
Karl Böhm: conductor

Ein Heldenleben op. 40
Staatskapelle Dresden
Erich Muhlbach: violin solo
Karl Böhm: conductor

Tod und Verklarung op. 24
Staatskapelle Dresden
Karl Böhm: conductor

You have to give Richard Strauss credit. When he wrote a storm the orchestra booms with the thunder and lightning as the winds of an angry weather front rip through the ensemble. When he wrote pastoral settings or about transfigurement from death he tapped into a calm tranquility that barely ripples with each lyrical passage. Joys, defeats, battles and passions each get their due in watercolors painted with orchestral coloration. Poetry in tones. As one who rarely has much appetite for the late Romantic composers and their excesses this is one referential point that requires some familiarity from time to time. And you can hardly improve upon the interpretive details found under Karl Böhm's baton. Even when these details were often only recorded in glorious mono.

Elliott Sharp: Doing the Don't. Directed by Bert Shapiro. 2008. A Pheasants Eye Production. DVD.

As the music of Elliott Sharp began to catch my imagination and grow increasingly important to me I used to scour and devour what scraps of interviews and information I could about this unique and highly individual composer/musician. A full length documentary about him felt improbable. Just finding an interview or write up that was sympathetic was difficult enough. So many writers were (and are) quick to dismiss him as "too heady" or "too cerebral" and often imply or state outright that the reader would be put off by his music. Here we are allowed to hear Elliott Sharp in his own words and view him in action. The heady, cerebral qualities of his music and personality are an asset. For curious minds willing to take on challenging sounds and ideas rather than interpreting them as hostile this is a body of music that deserves its due even as it continues to evolve. The extras on this disc alone make it worth the time to take it all in. Archival video of Sharp's legendary staging of Larynx at the Brooklyn Academy of Music "Next Wave" festival in 1987! (Is there a revival of that composition in the works?) A full recording of Orchestra Carbon performing Quarks Swim Free. Plus an examination of Sharp's homemade instrument designs. Excellent and completely overdue.

Lee Konitz: The Lee Konitz Duets. 1967 (re-released in 1990). Milestone Records: OJCCD-466-2.

Lee Konitz: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, Varitone saxophone
in duets (and ensemble) with:
Marshall Brown: trombone
Joe Henderson: tenor saxophone
Richie Kamuca: tenor saxophone
Ray Nance: violin
Jim Hall: guitar
Dick Katz: piano
Karl Berger: vibraharp
Eddie Gomez: bass
Elvin Jones: drums

One of the great jazz records from an artist responsible for so many unassuming gems over his thankfully long career. The focused, conversational interaction between improvisers unfolds sequentially as each track adds a new instrumental voice along side Konitz's confident lyricism. The quality of these players is difficult to overstate. These "conversations" - often draped along a predetermined chart - are generous in their inventive give and take. Bringing in the full ensemble (minus the incredible Ray Nance) at the end takes on the feel of a final curtain call after being afforded glimpses into each individual component.