Trio His

On October 6, 1802, in Heiligenstadt, a village near Vienna where he had sought peace and quiet in order to treat the hearing loss that had caused him psychological pain for several years, Beethoven signed a letter intended for his two brothers in which he voiced his despair. Never sent and secretly kept in a desk drawer, the “Heiligenstadt Testament” is one of the first manifestoes in music history on the subject of romantic interiority. It shares the depression of a man cut off from the outside world and powerless in front of his own tragic destiny. It is an even doubly tragic destiny, since Beethoven wrote that he was “ born with an ardent and lively temperament, even susceptible to the diversions of society “, but he had to lead a life of solitude to remain hidden and misunderstood by his contemporaries, because it was impossible for him to reveal his deafness.

Three years passed between the release of the Brad Mehldau's Day Is Done and this live outing. What's so significant about this is simply that the former record marked the debut of drummer Jeff Ballard, who had replaced longtime kitman Jorge Rossy. Ballard is a more physical, busier, and more energetic drummer, allowing for Mehldau and bassist Larry Grenadier to up the ante in terms of dynamic and rhythmic options. Day Is Done offered a number of wonderfully contrasting moments where Mehldau, a big pop music fan from all eras, wove a tapestry from Burt Bacharach and John Lennon to Nick Drake and Colin Greenwood, from Paul Simon to Chris Cheek, as well as inserting a few of his own compositions.

Bill Evans refused producer Orrin Keepnews' invitation to record a follow up album to his 1956 debut "New Jazz Conceptions" for over two years, stating that he had nothing new to say. He joined the Miles Davis quintet, participating in "Kind Of Blue", and took his time to plan his re-emergence as a leader in his own right. "Everyone Digs Bill Evans" marked that return in 1958 but it was "Portrait In Jazz", released a year later, that claimed his place at the forefront of jazz.

Louis (Ludwig) Spohr (1784-1859) is known mainly as inventor of conductor's baton and as author of violin concertos (at his time, he was second violinist after Paganini). Some of his 15 violin concertos became basic material for studying violinists. But he had also written a lot of music in all genres (9 symphonies, about 30 string quartets, clarinet concertos, operas, etc.). His music had influence on such great composers as Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms. During his lifetime, he was considered as great composer of the Beethoven range. Unfortunately, in XX century the most of his music was put in oblivion, and only now we can observe slow revival of Spohr.