Synaphaï: Gene Gaudette's Blog

Saturday night listening: Hans Werner Henze's too-rarely-performed opera "Elegy for Young Lovers". I know, it's light listening as usual. An old college friend reminded me earlier today that I would often assert that "music should be rigorous"; that sentiment has changed little in 30-plus years.

The Henze recording features Lisa Saffer (she can sing anything, and I mean anything), Roderick Kennedy, a stunningly good supporting cast, and the Schoenberg Ensemble conducted by the much-underrated Reinbert de Leeuw. It's part of a 27-disc set documenting Schoenberg Ensemble recordings of 20th century music issued about five years ago by Dutch indie Et'Cetera. The performances are consistently excellent.

Something a little different for this year (that also kinda hints at my age), courtesy of Walt Kelly and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Hat tip: "DerDingle" on YouTube.

Before there was Doonesbury or Bloom County, there was Walt Kelly's Pogo. Their mutated lyrics to "Deck Us All with Boston Charlie" (and a little analysis and speculation in true Walt Kelly fashion) can be found here.

Happy holidays!

About a month ago, a pair of enormous shipping crates arrived at the New York apartment. Mrs. Synaphaï nearly freaked out.

I'm going to take a crack at regularly showcasing new and recent releases that impress the heck out of me. Herein is the first edition.

More information on the featured recordings:

His recent post on the best Bruckner recordings on CD comes pretty close to mine (though I'm not as sanguine about the Welser-Möst/Cleveland Orchestra Bruckner DVDs I've seen). Besides, how can I not like a guy whose first LP was Jascha Horenstein's mighty Bruckner Ninth on Vox?

I'll add two alternate first choices to Alex's short list: the Eighth with Herbert Blomstedt and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig on Querstand, and the Ninth with Evgeny Mravinsky conducting the Leningrad Philharmonic on Melodiya.