Groomed so far mainly by famous violinist T.N. Krishnan, this is Charumathi Raghuram, a young carnatic violinist with an excellent technique and in her playing a delightful, refined expression. With great imagination she plays a wonderful rendition of Akhilandeswari and – according to my taste – she achieves the kind of carnatic violin sound that I personally like best and that I always seek for in this music. Also the overall sound, the recording and amplification are ok here I think. I mention this, because many recordings in this area of music sound pretty bad, if not – if I may say so – horrible, that is, in my ears. For instance, I don’t like the use of big reverb and excessive microphone amplification in raga music, as – regrettably – soo often happens on stage or in studios. An interesting topic for debate and for further musicological investigation.
Tag Archives: Pieter de Rooij
Marie-Claire Alain plays one of Bach’s gems for organ
I consider ‘O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde gross’ (BWV 622) one of Bach’s most beautiful works for organ.
It’s played here by world renowned organ player Marie-Claire Alain. Brilliant architecture and moving at the same time, one of Bach’s trademarks. I’ve cherished the beauty of this piece ever since I first heard it as a child.
Kala Ramnath: excerpts from ‘All in one bow’ (2006)
Excerpts from my short film ‘All in one bow – de streken van Kala Ramnath’ (17min.), about Mewati-gharana violinist Kala Ramnath, filmed in september 2005 at my place in Amsterdam. I hope to rework this material (playing and interview) and combine it with other material of Kala’s playing that I shot in 2006, a full concert in Utrecht and a workshop in Rotterdam.
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De Concertzender: muziek van topkwaliteit uit alle periodes en alle richtingen!
Voor elk wat wils bij de Concertzender. Zoals de kraan water geeft, zo geeft de Concertzender muziek. Muziek van topkwaliteit uit alle periodes en richtingen. Kijk maar es naar onderstaande promo.
‘Ave Maria’ (Caccini) by wonderful mezzo soprano Elisabeth Kulman
In the first minutes of January 1st, in the new year 2011 – right after the fireworks – I watched a programme on tv-channel ARTE – titled ‘Christmas in Vienna’ – and stumbled upon a beautiful singer with a most wonderful voice, a mezzo soprano from Austria that got me hooked. Her name: Elisabeth Kulman. From now on I’m her fan. On YouTube there’s quite a number of videos dedicated to her, check them out. And here’s from the Christmas in Vienna-programme her honest and touching rendition of Caccini’s ‘Ave Maria’.
The most wonderful ‘Serenade in Blue’
I catched this on tape from radio thirty years ago… now isn’t this the most wonderful ‘Serenade in Blue’ ?
My favourite concert of 2010: Egyptian singer Amal Maher in Amsterdam
Amal Maher, the young diva from Cairo in Amsterdam on the 1st of June 2010. For me it was the concert of the year in The Netherlands. What a priceless present she gave to Holland with her marvellous singing ! I’m glad I filmed this in the Oosterpark ! 🙂
Valentina Lisitsa plays Rachmaninoff #1 in Duisburg & Köln in December 2010
Some stunning playing in this blog by Valentina Lisitsa. Two recordings of the cadenza in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto #1: first a solotake filmed by me, then another take of this cadenza – filmed by Val’s husband Alexei Kuznetsoff and at that point with the LSO around 🙂 Both takes filmed at Abbey Road Studios, London, September 2009.
In December 2010 Valentina plays the Rachmaninoff piano concerto #1 twice in Germany with the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste: in Duisburg on 9 December and in Köln on 10 December.
An exquisite solotake – filmed by me – of the cadenza in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.1
And another exquisite take – filmed by Alexei, and now ’rounded’ by the LSO at start and finish 🙂 – of the cadenza in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.1
German radio WDR3 portrays phenomenal ragasinger Kaushiki Desikan Chakrabarty
On tuesday 23 November 2010 at 23.05 PM German public radiostation WDR3 portrays phenomenal 30-year old (and my favourite) ragasinger Kaushiki Desikan Chakrabarty from Calcutta.
Kaushiki in 2010
Earlier, on 10 November 2010 WDR3 devoted a radio evening on Kaushiki, with a live broadcast of her concert in Bielefeld, a very beautiful performance that was described by renowned ragaspecialist Jan Reichow as “Das außergewöhnlichste, ergreifendste, intelligenteste, fröhlichste, innovativste Konzert Europas”. He’s not exaggerating. Kaushiki has it all and when you hear her live on stage her voice is able to touch your heart and soul deeper than you ever could have imagined… I’m saying this with great conviction as I’m speaking from my own wonderful experiences with hearing Kaushiki live in concert (at the Darbar Festival in 2008 in Leicester, and in 2007 in the Tropentheater in Amsterdam).
Kaushik performing in London in 2005, after she received the BBC3 World Music Award
WDR3 radio provides the following information for the radiobroadcast on 23 November 2010: Kaushiki Desikan Chakraborty gehört zu den großen Talenten der jungen Generation. Im Gegensatz zu früher dürfen Nachwuchskünstler heute schon viel früher ihr Können öffentlich zeigen. Kaushiki ist erst 30 Jahre alt und schon eine anerkannte Sängerin auf den großen Bühnen Indiens. Sie hat eine betörende Stimme und ein für ihr Alter ungewöhnliches technisches Vermögen. Die Pflege der alten Tradition ist ihr erklärtes Ziel. In diesem Sinne ist sie, obwohl jung, eine wertkonservative Künstlerin – mehr noch: sie trägt mit ihrer Haltung zum Überleben des klassischen indischen Geangs bei. Anlässlich ihres Bielefelder WDR-3-Konzerts vor knapp zwei Wochen erzählte Kaushiki unserer Autorin Clair Lüdenbach von ihrer Kunst und aus ihrem Leben.
If you like ragamusic you really should listen on tuesday 23 November at 23.05 PM to this WDR3-radio broadcast devoted to Kaushiki.
Afrobeat of highlife veteran Ebo Taylor from Ghana is still going strong
The intoxicating afrobeat-sound of Ghana’s legendary highlife veteran Ebo Taylor…