Playlist Week of 1-08-11

* J.S. Bach: B Minor Mass (Coll. Vocale Gent/Herreweghe): Schwarzenberg, Germany 9-03-10 (FM 2CDR)
* Beethoven: Missa Solemnis (La Chapelle Royale, et al./Herreweghe) (Harmonia Mundi CD)
* Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker: Town Hall, New York City, June 22, 1945 (Uptown CD)
* Sun Ra & His Mythic Science Arkestra: The Paris Tapes 1971 (Art Yard/Kindred Spirits 2CD)
* Sun Ra & His Space Arkestra: What Planet Is This? (Leo/GY 2CD)
* John Coltrane: Om (Impulse! CD)
* Bill Evans: Trio ’64 (Verve CD)
* Wayne Shorter: Speak No Evil (Blue Note LP)
* Wayne Shorter: The Soothsayer (Blue Note CD)
* Muhal Richard Abrams: Vision Towards Essence (Pi CD)
* Anthony Braxton & Gerry Hemingway: Old Dogs (2007) (d.3)(Mode/Avant 4CD)
* Nina Simone: The Anthology (d.1) (RCA 2CD)
* Gigi: Gigi (Palm/Ryko CD)
* The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (2009 stereo) (Apple/EMI CD)
* The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour (2009 stereo) (Apple/EMI CD)
* The Beatles: Yellow Submarine (2009 stereo) (Apple/EMI CD)
* The Who: Tommy (Deluxe Edition) (d.1) (Geffen 2SACD)
* The Who: Quadrophenia (Track/Polydor 2LP)
* Grateful Dead: Cal Expo Amphitheatre, Sacramento, CA 5-25-93 (SBD 3CDR)‡
* Grateful Dead: Cal Expo Amphitheatre, Sacramento, CA 5-26-93 (SBD 3CDR)‡
* Grateful Dead: Cal Expo Amphitheatre, Sacramento, CA 5-27-93 (d.1-2) (SBD 3CDR)‡
* Grateful Dead: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ 6-05-93 (SBD 3CDR)(‡)
* Anton Fier: Dreamspeed/Blind Light (1992-1994) (Tzadik 2CD)
* Sonic Youth/Mats Gustafsson/Merzbow: Andre Sider Af Sonic Youth (SYR-8 CD)
* Royal Trux: Sweet Sixteen (Virgin CD)
* Robert Pollard: Crickets: The Best of the Fading Captain Series (d.2) (FCS 2CD)†
* Robert Pollard: Moses On A Snail (GBV, Inc. CD)†
* Beck: Guero (Interscope DVD-A/CD)
* Beck: The Information (Interscope DVD-A/CD)
* Wilco: The Riviera, Chicago, IL 2-19-08 (FM 3CDR)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

Philippe Herreweghe is probably the finest choral conductor of our age, bringing coherence—not mention supreme musicality—to some of the most unwieldy works in the repertoire. His (second) recording of Bach’s B Minor Mass (Harmonia Mundi) is utterly sublime—and a recent live performance in Germany is clearly just as inspired. Even more impressive is his recording of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis (also Harmonia Mundi). Herreweghe tackles this notoriously difficult work with breathtaking authority, bringing out the inherent tensions of a “secular Mass,” yet summoning forth a moving, indeed, deeply spiritual performance. The difference between Bach and Beethoven is stark: every note Bach ever wrote is imbued with unquestioned faith and religiosity, while Beethoven’s Mass is an anguished and uncertain act of will. Herreweghe understand this and allows the music speak these profundities without resorting to artificial histrionics or overblown production. This is “historically-informed performance” at its most convincing. To hear them is to believe.