Jimi's Francis Lockwood Trio

There have been a couple of rather exciting records recently of Vanhal symphonies; but this disc, though pleasant enough, is a good deal less arresting. These six quartets were written about 1770, for oboe or flute with strings, as domestic diversion or background entertainment music. They would still serve that purpose admirably; Vanhal was a polished composer, with a secure technique and a pleasing vein of melody. The first movements here, most of them in a moderately fast tempo, unwind with considerable charm — sometimes (as in No 2) the lines are quite elaborate, and several (for example, No 4) have a pleasant vein of wit. There are several expressive slow movements — an undemanding eloquence to the Cantabile of No 1 and real expressiveness in the Largo of No 5, for example. I liked the wit in some of the finales, such as No 3's, but there isn't really anything that grabs you, that really insists on your attention — Vanhal's world is just a little too conventional for that.

Didier Lockwood - Tribute To Stephane Grappelli (2000) {Dreyfus Jazz FDM 36611-2}
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© 2000 Dreyfus Jazz | FDM 36611-2
Jazz / Post-Bop / Violin

Violinist Didier Lockwood tackled a formidable task by dedicating an entire CD to the legendary violinist Stephane Grappelli, who died just shy of his 90th birthday in December, 1997. Although Grappelli's influence on his playing is obvious at times, he is no carbon copy. He generally has a darker tone and doesn't use nearly as many up-tempo runs. With two brilliant partners, bassist Niels Pedersen (who worked with Grappelli on a few dates) and guitarist Birelli Lagrene, Lockwood does a credible job.

The two oboe quintets on this disc are billed as world première recordings. They were published in 1812 but both were written considerably earlier and initially appeared as flute quintets. In those days, the reputation of the Moravian composer and violinist František Kramář (aka, in Germanised form, as Franz Krommer) vied with Haydn, particularly as a composer of string quartets, of which he wrote about eighty. He also wrote symphonies of which thirteen have survived. Having moved around central Europe quite frequently, Krommer eventually made it as a court composer in Vienna.

With the three piano trios published in 1795, Op. 1, Ludwig van Beethoven took a genre still largely associated with salon music and raised it up to rival the string quartet. In these works, Beethoven saw the true start of his creative journey.

The Piano Trio in B-flat major, Op. 97, by Ludwig van Beethoven is a piano trio completed in 1811. It is commonly referred to as the Archduke Trio, because it was dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria, the youngest of twelve children of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor. Rudolf was an amateur pianist and a patron, friend, and composition student of Beethoven. Beethoven dedicated about a dozen compositions to him.