Rosali,No Medium,lovely album from this year.
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Try to have a listen to some of Maurizio Pollini’s many Chopin recordings.
He recorded Chopin’s First Piano Concerto with the Philharmonia under Paul Kletzki for EMI shortly after winning the prestigious Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1960 and released a dic of Chopin solo pieces (also for EMI) at the same time.
He then took six or seven years off to study as a pupil of the great Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. Pollini burst back onto the scene with the first of many, many recordings for DG towards the end of the 1960s, and he’s still playing concerts and recording for DG but is, I think, semi-retired after health scares in recent years.
If you want to hear him, start with (say) his stupefyingly good Beethoven playing: I suggest one concerto and one sonata.
*The Fourth Concerto with Karl Boehm conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker is exceptional (only Emil Gilels in his old EMI disc with The Philharmonia under Leopold Ludwig is his equal).
*The (infamously difficult to play) Hammerklavier Sonata (Op 106) is stupendous, although the early digital recording lacks the refinement that today’s sound engineers can achieve. Again, Gilels (also on DG) provides a different comparison.
As will be clear, Maurizio Pollini and Emil Gilels are my great pianistic heroes. Others pianists are, of course, available, but I don’t personally think that anyone on the scene today is of the same level.
I’d welcome others’ views on this.
Graham
1 Like
Thanks so much for that - will definitely seek him out. ATB
Prince Far I - Under Heavy Manners (Joe Gibbs 76/77)
An amusingly apt title for today personally.
The brilliant gravel tones of Prince Far I, classic roots dub recorded at Joe Gibbs with The Professionals and Errol Thompson working the board.
Seem to have mislaid my old nackered vinyl, but this expanded version from VP on Tidal Master ain’t bad ( SQ is what it is of course)
Image from Discogs
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Stephen Stills. Manassas
I have this on vinyl and cd so what better way to start my free months trial of qobuz.
Up to now I’ve only been streaming Apple Music via airplay.
Giddy days
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Looks like that could end in tears! 
Just in case anyone hadn’t noticed . I received a notification this afternoon from Qobuz informing that a lot of Pink Floyds albums are now available in Hi Res . Home now listening to The Wall and its sounding wonderful , definitely more expansive and dynamic . This was the one area that I felt the CD version lacked ,it always felt a bit restrained even though it has always been one of my favourite albums . Well done Qobuz .
Further listening and its a different album entirely , so much more depth .
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Malia and Boris Blank - Convergence
Nice workout for any system.
Glorious.
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Came across this on discogs and hadn’t ever listened to it,
Delivered today and on the list for tonight.
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But if old skool rock
Having watched the Deep Purple Perfect Strangers Tour documentary t’other night and got bored cos it felt like RB was going through the motions
Decided to play this today, boy, what a difference in energy
Rainbow - Rising
I might be that it’s cos Stargazer is one of my all time favourite songs
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Culture - Two Sevens Clash 40th Anniversary (VP/Tidal Master)
Continuing from my Prince Far I post, same year same Studio, Joe Gibbs, The Professionals with Errol Thompson at the controls. An album that needs little introduction, critically lauded and always including in any “Top Reggae albums You Should Own” type of critics lists.
Cited by Rolling Stone as “One of the 50 coolest albums ever made”
The title track’s Dread prophecy of the coming Armageddon on the 7th day of the 7th month of the year 1977 reportedly and famously brought JA to a complete shutdown with people staying home awaiting the apocalypse it was taken that seriously.
This anniversary edition released by VP in 2017 is speed corrected, Reggae scholars have long suspected the album was pitched too fast giving a noticeable Pinky n Perky character to the vocals, hearing it now certainly bears that out.
For me personally this album has suffered from over familiarity, but now this corrected and expanded to 21 tracks with dub cuts and versions edition broadens the picture significantly.
As a result it now sounds to my ears, heart and soul, wonderfully refreshed and highly recommended
Jah jah see them a come…
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