Disc of the day
Heaven 17 - Penthouse And Pavement
From Sheffield, synth pop and funk to stick it to Thatcher. Currently being played live!
Features Disc of the day
Valentin Silvestrov
Silent Songs
(ECM, 1999)
Soft, hush, it’s cold and it’s getting colder, especially in the Ukraine.
As I write this, Gazprom the state-owned Russian gas company have severed all fuel supplies travelling through Ukrainian pipelines, intensifying the political barney that has arisen out of a pay dispute between the two countries and plunging Europe into deep freeze. All supplies to Romania have been cut, Slovakia has declared a state of emergency and Bulgaria says it will run out of gas within days. It is a time to huddle round the wood-burning stove, conserve energy and find solace in whispered songs of winter hope from Eastern Europe. And while some of you might already know the poems of Mikhail Lermontov and Alexander Pushkin well enough to regail us with their mystic power, others might wish to tend their ailing spirits by listening to Valentin Silvestrov’s hushed and rarified arrangements. Having possibly instructed baritone Sergei Yakovenko and pianist Ilya Scheps to sing and play as if a mountain of snow were about to fall on their heads - Yakovenko singing softly into your ear lest the FSB are listening in at the door - Silvestrov does away with all the emotive melodrama of the usual classical song cycle, delivering a two hours of placid, haunted ambience that moves forward with the slow, steady unyielding force of a glacier. Originally recorded for the Russian Melodiya label in 1986, but finally issued by ECM in 1999, Silent Songs must surely be the most beautiful collection of 20th Century lieder in existence, a harmonic union of Ukranian and Russian genius. If only. Huddle in, snuggle up and listen in.
Andrew Male
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 08/01/2009
Further Listening
Valentin Silvestrov - Bagatellen und Serenaden (ECM, 2007)
Sofiya Gubaidulina – Seven Words (Naxos, 1996)
Arvo Part – Lamentate (ECM, 2005)
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Comments
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yes, it was this very post which led me onto Silent Songs a week ago. i was lucky enough to find a copy at an affordable price, and even as summer is melting us here, i cannot resist the delicate beauty of these songs. very very late at night, when the heat has somehow receded, i cool myself to sleep with these heartfelt lieder. thank you!
Posted by Ricardo Messina, Argentina at 5:40 PM GMT 23/01/2009 Report Abuse
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Very nice site!
Posted by John1190 at 1:08 AM GMT 04/02/2009 Report Abuse
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RE: Ricardo Messina, Argentina
Wow!
Thankyou Ricardo! It's nice to know that these Discs of the day sometimes do their job!
Glad you like the CD.
Posted by Andrew Male at 11:29 AM GMT 05/02/2009 Report Abuse
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RE: Andrew Male
Yes, they do.
The good thing about Disc of the Day might be that it is not confined to a particular trend or style. I love my Deep Soul Treasures, as much as my Ladye Nevells Booke by William Byrd (have you heard it?, there is a wonderful 3cd box on Naxos played on harpsichord by Elizabeth Farr).
Great music is worth searching beyond time and space.
Have a fine day!
Posted by Ricardo Messina at 12:14 AM GMT 03/03/2009 Report Abuse
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trippy shit
Posted by dawson at 4:21 PM GMT 18/03/2009 Report Abuse
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A beautiful CD
Posted by Caroline Now at 9:22 AM GMT 20/01/2010 Report Abuse
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