lcmwlcmw's Xanga

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 23:32:51 GMT

Recently I got tons of new CDs, and I spent like several days listening to one or two items among them (namely, the boxset of Schubert's works played by Brendel, and his "nearly" complete recording of Beethoven's sonatas) But what I want to write about now is something I just started listening to yesterday.

The first item is a bit "lighter:"

This CD, released by Hyperion, includes the Three Fantastic Dances, op. 5, 24 Preludes op. 34, and Sonata no.2 op. 61. The first set of item is clearly fantastic, as it title suggests. I mean, this is typical style of Shostakovich and I love it. The 24 Preludes are beautifully played. As for the Sonata I haven't spent enough time on, but it sounds great even by my first few listening. Both the Dances and the Preludes are technically quite manageable for young students but the musical content is not easy to comprehend. To play Shostakocih well you have to have great technique, but more importantly the sense of rubato. His works cannot be termed romantic music, but there's a spirit in his music that is close to Chopin. Tatiana Nikolaeva is excellent in conveying this feeling. You do not hear HER style in this CD; instead, when you listen to it you only see all these fleeting visions that Shostakovich is trying to show you. Late works by Chopin has left the world that can be comprehended verbally. This is true basically in all of Shostakovich's works. At times abstract, it is in fact what true music is trying to express, something only can music can do.

To stretch this "abstract" music thing further, here comes the "24 Preludes and Fugues:"

Usually the picture of the composer is bigger than the picture of the performer; a rare exception was found in Idil Biret's recording of Chopin's concerti, and in this 3-CDs set, played by Tatiana Nikolaeva. I think she has all the right to be shown as big as Shostakovich here, since she's the one (in my opinion) who plays this set by far the best, and she's the one who inspired Shostakovich to write this set, and she's the dedicatee of this set, and, finally, she died in the middle of playing this set in a recital in San Francisco. I think when you talk about the "24 Preludes and Fugues by Shostakovich," you think about Tatiana Nikolaeva. To be consistent with the theory that this set is even more "abstract" (meaning can't be described by words), I would simply say this is a set of majestic, elegant music that must be heard. Too bad I think I have to work out my fingerings for them (FUGUES!!), otherwise I will begin playing them right now.

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Thu, 16 Jun 2005 06:58:15 GMT

Mr. Ivan Chan motivated me to start writing something here so I should thank him. People who don¡¦t' like my writings don¡¦t' need to blame him; you simply don¡¦t load this page that's all.

I have started reading several books (other than my textbooks), and they are great. I say they are great because some really are great and I can feel it and thus write down a list of reasons to argue that they really are great; some are ¡§great¡¨ just because other people say they are great or the authors are famous so that I should believe they are great. In any case, they all are great, or at least, should be great.

The first one is this:

¤¤°ê¾ú¥N¬Fªv±o¥¢

¿ú¿pµÛ

I can¡¦t put it down after start reading it. The title itself is certainly heavy, and the author is a giant. So, I expected a huge (and difficult) book. To my surprise it¡¦s really quite thin. It¡¦s a series of 5 lectures the author delivered, while each lecture was limited to two hours.

The first thing is notice is the differences between this work and his classic ¡§An Outline of the National History¡¨ (my translation, "°ê¥v¤jºõ"). I started reading that when I was very young, like 8, without even being presented the basic facts of the history disused in that two-volume work. This is a majestic work, with very carefully phrased language and detail footnotes (which are in fact quite essential in understanding what he intended to say.). Now this thin book on my hand is quite different; I think because it was prepared in a hurry, the language is still clear while the punctuations are awkward. I was just in the middle of the second lecture and already seen more than 5 times that the author emphasized the lack of history of modern Chinese that made them to believe the governments of pre-modern China are all corrupt and worthless. Another misunderstanding of the modern Chinese is that pre-modern China is completely a dictatorship under the emperors, which is totally false, and this is severely criticized by the author.

In any case, although the author has put in his own opinion here and there, and quite explicitly sometimes, the text itself is nevertheless extremely clear and informative. The author also emphasized that no such policies can come from anywhere that is not related to the habits and culture of the people; any system of government eventually comes from the people themselves, and these people include everybody in the country, not just the occupant of any particular social classes.

I also want to talk about other books as well, but maybe let me do that tomolo, coz I know if you really are reading it (and I have to thank you) then your eyes must be tired by now.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Thu, 19 May 2005 23:03:09 GMT

Hello all, I have nothing to write really coz I have been doing nothing special; just to fill something in today so I can feel better for myself. Actually, there is something interesting to say. The first thing is I finally was able to play Gundam after a three-months long period. In this version (which is Mobile Suite Gundam vs. Z Gundam) there are new stages and finally the story in Z Gundam is complete. Now you can see Rosamia with her Psycho Gundam Mk-II (!!!) although obviously you wont’ want to attack her. You also get to see the Palace Athene with Reccoa Londe. The most interesting thing is that now the Quebeley has her funnels auto-firing after deployment. In any case the final episode is the same (inside Colony Laser) and is as difficult as before. (Although I have yet to try playing that stage using Quebeley; frankly I don’t really like using Quebeley coz I feel it’s kinda gay to do it.)

The EECE 474 project is now starting and I think we shall go with the indoor tracking (to be precise, Dr. Michelson have convinced us we’re essentially implementing an indoor GPS). I wonder whether we have enough skills to do. In any case I thin we will have a lot to write on the final report so we are never worry on that regard.

As for my interest of music, last day (Wednesday) I went to buy Jano Jedos’ Liszt’s Years of Pilgrimage: 1^st Year, Switzerland. It’s an excellent recording. If I can explain why these CDs are so damn cheap (but excellently played) then I’d say coz all these recordings are done in Eastern Europe and the artists are also (more or less) Eastern Europeans who are underpaid (like us engineers). I have the 2^nd Year: Italy played by Bolet, which is super well played; the three Sonnetto del Patraca are just heart-moving; The Dante Fantasie is bravo. On the whole, that CD is simply a must-buy for any Liszt lovers (or romantic lovers in general). I still want the 3^rd Year but I can’t find the CD easily (or else costly) so I am thinking of downloading the Leslie Howard one but personally I don’t’ like him too much; I should judge that after I listen to that CD I suppose. Another thing related to Liszt is the Transcendental Studies played by Arrau. I don’t think it’s the best, but good; the best is still the Bolet one. I have problem believing the Cziffra one is as legendary as other people said, not because of the recording quality… but… maybe I should simply listen to it several more times. Then I also have the Ovchinikov version, which is actually quite well played except that it rushes some passages, which sounds awkward; these Russian pianists are too used to the “rushing” style of their seniors when playing Liszt, I suppose.

Sunday, May 01, 2005

Sun, 01 May 2005 00:30:59 GMT

Now exams are finished by several days and I have been trying composing songs. Anyway this is something exciting to hear:

Joe Hisaishi's Piano Stories III: Nostalgia. Now I should go on to collect the rest of his albumns.

Monday, April 11, 2005

Mon, 11 Apr 2005 22:01:23 GMT

FromDavidKM

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Thursday, April 07, 2005

Thu, 07 Apr 2005 18:40:21 GMT

Both 356 and 460 midterms are done, what a great thing. Calling them "midterm exams" might be inappropriate since they are at the last class anyway.

So what should I do? Here we go, Claudio Arrau’s performance of the complete piano sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven:

He’s probably the first person to make me feel that Beethoven’s first piano sonata is actually a very fine piece of work, as I unavoidably sang with it when I heard the final movement. I didn’t get all the CDs; the box set includes the piano concerti as well. However at this moment of my life I am not really feeling Beethoven’s concerti are all that great, compared with his piano sonatas.

Monday, March 28, 2005

Mon, 28 Mar 2005 22:19:15 GMT

With regard to the editions of the scores of the Etudes, I would recommend the one by Chopin Institute in Warsaw. The Peters and Henele editions, as always, are rather expensive , and although they are fine, I don’t prefer them over the Chopin Institute edition. There’s one my friend Wilson have (and he’s in Japan now, miserably missing his piano ), published by Dover and is a reproduction of the Mikuli edition; this one is excellent, since Mikuli is a good editor for his teacher’s work, mostly. Summarizing, you either buy the Dover Mikuli edition or the Chopin Institute one. What is important here is the authenticity in the respective editions. Chopin’s own fingerings (for example) is the most important for his Etudes. Chopin’s original fingerings are all printed in italic for the above editions. Usually, modern editors might feel that Chopin’s fingerings is obsolete and so they suggest their own fingering while showing Chopin’s own in italic . This is unnecessary, in my perspective. Chopin’s fingerings are the most natural and effective regardless of size of hands; in case that you really find Chopin’s fingering awkward, then either your hand really is too small to play the particular passage or your technique is so limited that Chopin’s Etudes are too advanced for you. In the former case, avoid that particular etude, since plenty of Chopin’s Etudes should be OK for you; for the latter, try J. B. Cramer’s studies first, as suggested by Chopin himself. In any case, the most important thing is to know that Chopin really knows his etudes and art of piano playing more than any of the editors and so you should trust Chopin’s directions unreservedly.

There is one particular edition of the Chopin Etudes that I must address; it’s the one by Alfred Cortot. As we know Cortot is really a scientific person and he thinks scientifically; there’s nothing wrong with it. In his edition, he provides discussion on each of the etudes, musically and technically, and provides exercises that are tailored to overcome the difficulties in the hardest passages. Frankly, these stuffs are very useful, and just like what Gallico did in his edition of Liszt’s Transcendental Studies, I can’t live without Gallico’s suggested fingerings and exercises. As a result, for Chopin’s etudes I always look at what Cortot has to say on a particular etude that I want to work on. The problem is, in the actual text of the music, he replaces all of Chopin’s fingerings. I suppose I don’t need to say more.

Once again, the point is (1) You should trust Chopin; he knows what he’s doing; and (2) Read what Cortot has to say, since he’s a smart guy, but (3) Stick with Chopin’s direction whenever anybody contradicts with Chopin.

Monday, March 28, 2005

Mon, 28 Mar 2005 21:55:16 GMT

Last night Andrew asked me to upload some Chopin Etudes to his ftp so I did. Interestingly, although for the past few days I was keep saying how great Pollini is, the first complete version of the Chopin Etudes I uploaded is the one played by Gavrilov. There are really a lot of fine recordings of the Etudes, but Pollini’s, Gavrilov’s, and Arrau’s are the three that I like the most. Many years ago I found the historical recording of that by Arrau in the EMI label, and that’s the first time I listened to the Etudes; I fiished the whole CD in a shoot, and repeated it several times (interrupted by dinner time). But I lost that CD though.

Monday, March 28, 2005

Mon, 28 Mar 2005 06:06:16 GMT

Somehow I get hold of the SOLUTION MANUAL of Sedra and Smith’s Microelectronic Circuits, 4^th Edition.

Don’t ask me HOW I get it; I refuse to answer this question. It is held by me electronically, so if you are interest, contact me. And by the way don’t say to me that I didn’t tell you guys; I said it here. Now you know how important it is to read my blog.

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Sat, 26 Mar 2005 05:14:37 GMT

This is Easter so it’s good to listen to Bach’s magnificent St. Matthew’s Passion and St. John’s Passion. I have several editions for each of them, but for the former I am listening to Harnoncourt’s version.

It’s really a grand work and frankly I can’t finish them at one night. But I hope by the end of the holiday I would finish it. St. John’s Passion is much smaller in scale and easier to finish. At this moment I take a pause and listen to Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes performed by Pollini. Frankly, judging from the score and the recording, it’s not difficult compared with Chopin’s etudes. I am not saying it HAS to be difficult, just that maybe people overemphasis the technical difficulties of this work so now I am rather relaxed about it. But in any case, it’s a great piece of work, extraordinarily beautiful. By the way, can anybody find the cover of the CD of this Pollini recording?!