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Reviews by letter : A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other
Black Affair - Pleasure Pressure Point
| Observer Music Monthly | Anne-Sophie Mutter was a violin wunderkind soloing with the Berlin Philharmonic at the age of 13. Somehow she didn't burn out like many other former child stars, but has continued to develop, playing full-toned, expressive violin - a throwback to the great violinists of the 20th century such as David Oistrakh (search for him on YouTube).
As well as performing the great classic violin concertos, shes had some of the greatest modern composers queuing up to write for her, including Lutoslawski and Dutilleux. Mutter says, though, that her greatest experience with a modern score is this concerto that premiered last year and which on this disc is linked with a couple of Bach's most sublime concertos. With the London Symphony Orchestra on top form under the baton of the ubiquitous maestro Valery Gergiev, Mutters deft phrasing, clarity of line and lightness of touch re-imagine the Bach in a miraculously fresh manner. Like the Bach, the Gubaidulina piece combines mathematical playfulness with intense spiritual yearning.
Mutter has been described as a 'gritty mystic' and the music is challenging and fascinating in its combination of strange timbres, slithering strings, and fierce brass. At one point, roaring orchestral thuds all but mug the violin, which somehow emerges unscathed, a damaged hero in some epic battle.
Among the smoke and Russian gloom, the piece is in the end life-affirming, even optimistic.
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| | The Guardian | | Steve Mason's idiosyncratic musical journey has taken him from the Beta Band's acoustic psychedelia to King Biscuit Time's politicised hip-hop, alternating between bouts of depression and bursts of creativity. His latest project finds him shifting tack again, emerging with a confident blend of Detroit techno, 1980s electro, break-up ruminations and S&M fantasies. Mason's self-confessed "darker side" is spun around - like a record, obviously - by keyboard melodies that could have graced Dead or Alive or Depeche Mode at their peak. Tak! Attack! could be a totalitarian Erasure, while the sublime Willshecome sounds like a dark subversion of Wham!'s Club Tropicana - and could easily be a hit....full text |
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