Mahler & Buhr

some CDs I bought today

[toadhall]

I just bought a recording I've wanted for a long while. Won't go into why I didn't buy it sooner. Suffice it to say I'm glad I did now. Gustav Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (Song of the Earth), Schönberg/Riehn transcription; Birgit Remmert (alto) and Hans Peter Blochwitz (tenor).

You might think rewiring for chamber orchestra would cause a loss of grandness in the music. Perhaps it does, but Schönberg's modern inflection makes the music more familiar, and the intimacy of the chamber orchestra makes the effect more personal. Rather than overwhelm you with grandness it sits on your lap and beguiles. You really ought to sit down and listen to it. It goes to the top of my desert island play list. (Harmonia Mundi)

Also bought a copy of Glenn Buhr's Winter Poems. Mr. Buhr is co-founder (with Bramwell Tovey) of the highly regarded Winnipeg New Music Festival [winnipeg.cbc.ca].

Canada is experiencing a bit of chilly weather right now and the news hacks are all atwitter with paeans to hockey rinks, frostbite, etcetera. Well, these Winter Poems are just the nuts to spin in the old CD machine after a hard night at the rink lemme tell yuh. Evocative crystalline winterscapes. Wonderful. Almost makes me want to move back to Saskatchewan just to feel again that strange and unique sensation at the precise moment your ears freeze solid. (CBC Records)

Anyhoo, just thought I'd let you know.

T

[pmac]

Saskatchewan.....ears freeze solid. (CBC Records)

Well then, you need to get yourself some genuine Saskatchewan seal skin ear muffs. (Super Dave Osbourne)

;-)

If your not Canadian, move along, nothing to see here folks.