Plk C'est Mort

Mort Garson - Mother Earth's Plantasia (1976) {Fifth Dimension FD5003-CD rel 2015}
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© 1976, 2015 Fifth Dimension | FD5003-CD
Electronic / Experimental / Synth / Moog

Now the music is top notch 70s electronic music composed by Garson in a brighter happier mode then his previous darker occult themed albums but it still sounds inventive playful and one of a kind….. so I have to recommend it without question.

Kiri Te Kanawa does well by these songs, avoiding the billowing excesses of sentiment that in other hands (or vocal chords) can make them sound much too soggy. Although Berlioz gathered them all together under the present title, all of the songs were composed at different times for different singers, so they aren't really a cycle at all. I seldom listen to all of them at once, and you should feel free to take them in any order that suits you. "The Death of Cleopatra" is an early cantata that perfectly suits Jessye Norman's stately delivery. She's always at her best playing royalty, and if they're dying in mortal agony, so much the better.

The French cantata had a brief, but vibrant life during the first three decades of the 18th century. Beginning with Morin's first book in 1706, there followed dozens of books of cantatas by a number of French composers. Clerambault, Boismortier, Rameau and Monteclair all published cantatas during this period. Monteclair may by relatively unknown, but he was a composer of undoubted talent if judged by the works on this recording…If you like the French baroque, do yourself a favor and try to buy this recording. It is a high point in the art of the cantata, and in the musicianship of William Christie and his colleagues.

Gerviev and the Vienna Philharmonic give a splendid performance of Symphonie fantastique. The Death of Cleopatra is a dramatic "lyric scene" written in 1819 describing "an Egyptian queen who has been bitten by a poisonous snake and is dying a painful death in an agony of remorse." Mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina, now at the peak of her career, is magnificent in this performance, a very appropriate coupling for the symphony. The Vienna Philharmonic is at its best and this recording, from live performances in May 2003 in Vienna's Musikverein is superb sonically, more natural in sound than the same conductor and orchestra's recording of Pictures at an Exhibition recorded in April 2000 (see REVIEW). Text/translation are provided for Cléopåtre.

Alberic Magnard - Alain Meunier, Philippe Guilhon-Herbert - Une Mort Mythique (2014) {Hortus}
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© 2014 Hortus | HORTUS 701
Classical / Romantic / Chamber Music / Cello

This Magnard re-issue on the French label Hortus originally appeared in 2012 (review). It is now repackaged as volume 1 in the series Les Musiciens et la Grande Guerre (Musicians and the Great War) titled Une Mort Mythique (A Legendary Death). Magnard’s Cello Sonata is the primary attraction with the remainder given over to the composer’s complete output for solo piano which takes around forty-four minutes in total. A Parisian by birth Magnard was born into a wealthy family with a privileged upbringing. A pupil at the Conservatoire de Paris Magnard studied under Jules Massenet and Vincent D’Indy. Magnard became a national hero who was tragically shot and burnt to death defending his house from the invading Germans.

Natalie Labourdette (soprano) and Victoria Guerrero (piano) make up an internationally award-winning art song duo that has released its debut CD on GENUIN. The tracklist includes 20th-century vocal music based around the experience of "la petite mort", as the French language refers to the climax of lovemaking. This is an existential experience, the desire to "linger", deep loneliness, and happy union! Alban Berg, Gabriel Faur, Samuel Barber, and other great composers of classical modernism created miniature masterpieces and the two young musicians dedicate themselves to this repertoire with a great sense of tonal color and interpretive clarity!

Without question these Frenchmen were one of the very first RIO bands to burst upon the scene. Their Communist message was as important and probably more so than the music they created.
How would like an hour to fool around, forget yourself and be guided by a myriad of humoristic sounds? You are bound to get entertained with this release. Its eclectic nature and funny parts, sounds and some noises will guarantee ~33 minutes of comic relief from your everyday life troubles. All in all, this is a wacky release which explores the amusing side of music and is also an experimental composition that goes for a stroll all around the block for musical ideas and structures while bringing in their own luggage.