Dans la forêt du charme et de l'enchantement

At the weekend, I read it was Ornette Coleman’s 77th birthday, so I thought I’d buy his most recent release. It’s a live recording. He’s in good form. Someone once called him a composer of short melody of genius. There is still some truth to that. He’s still coming up with great melodies to start each piece with. Whether the humble listener can follow where each leads is another question.

The opening track, Jordan, has plenty of pace. The next track, Sleep Talking, hangs together well and everything runs along nicely after that. Call To Duty is pretty fierce. Then Once Only has a noodle-y intro and the album loses focus a bit. A violin turns up and outstays its welcome. The album finishes on an intense note with Song X, which goes back to Ornette’s fiery Pat Metheny collaboration in the 80s.

Maybe this CD is not the best intro to Ornette Coleman, but it captures his sound as well as anything else of his I’ve heard and he’s still blasting away.

Rachmaninov wrote his second symphony in 1907. This classic recording of it was made in the 50s. It’s in mono. The sound quality is acceptable although a little strained at certain moments, such as during loud brass playing. The playing from the Leningrad PO is very committed and convincing. The conductor Kurt Sanderling is an interesting figure. A Jew who fled the Nazis, but oddly, to the Soviet East.

Rachmaninov’s music is late-Romantic, but not in the more tonally challenging manner of Richard Strauss. It’s easy on the ear without being predictable or dull. The whole piece is about 55 minutes long, so a hefty symphony. Nothing else on the CD, though. Apparently Rachmaninov was not always taken that seriously as a symphonist but this is a good listen, if a little meandering to my ears, with some lovely tunes scattered through it. Recommended.

DG 449 767-2