S2.E17. A miniature by Elgar, La Capricieuse, a duet by Schubert, ecstasy with Wagner's Liebestod, and a crowd-pleaser by Shostakovich, the Moscow Cheryomushki Waltz.

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome back to Perfect Pitch with Nick Healy Hutchinson and his fresh approach to the world of classical music. Whether you're an expert or a beginner, old or young, Perfect Pitch has something for everyone.

SPEAKER_03 0:24

Elgar had learned the violin from an early age, so it's not surprising that he composed a number of miniatures for the instrument. It's very possible that you'll have heard of Salu Damo and Shots on the matter. Even if you're not familiar with the titles, they're very well known too much. Another laptop that the Earth is often used by Violet and Uncle Peter. I don't see why we can't start with it today. The written as it's often case with Microsoft. LDARS covered for most of his life in that regard. And it was originally getting called Stop on the Matter even Talk. But why French? Anyway. The answer, quite simply, is that French music was gaining huge popularity in the late 19th century, and its publisher thought it stood a better chance of success if titled in that language. It's a charming and lighthearted piece played here by the Irish violinists. Anybody can put on upbeat music of whatever genre when they're feeling happy. But what kind of music do you turn to, if indeed you do at all, if you're feeling a bit low? Obviously, you don't want that feeling to be exacerbated by anything grim, but nor are you likely to be in the mood to find the right thing to pick you up. What we speak at times is a balance, which can be both reflective and competitive. And this is what you could often come to by eight. But in no way could you take this without write fast. But which is a story of well. I don't want to bring an advertising religious perspective into this. But while this and other music undoubtedly has moments of turmoil and anxiety, it's nevertheless hard to argue that it brings anything other than a sort of redemption at the end of it. However, you may have experienced it personally. I hope you'll see what I mean. Martha Argadich is at the lower end of the keyboard, and Daniel Barenboim at the top. But unandably, his anti-Semitic stance rules out altogether and will never be won over as a result. But negative predictions can be healed over time. And to provoke it for dump, the vote over that feet and all that. And then there are others who can overlook that aspect that struggle to preach with this music, most likely because it scales. Although not in that category myself, I'd be the first to admit that the best locations when I wanted to reach the past four buttons to get to this minutes of more expensive. So please for a minute of this. And then you regard it as the pinnacle of all music. We don't need to go into the plot in detail here. The other thing it's a tale of doomed love. A love which is never allowed to blossom in this world. Accordingly, throughout the opera, Wagner deliberately uses challenging harmonies. And it's never really clear where the music is going. It's in constant search of a resolution. A sort of R-M moment, if you like it. There'd be nothing like it in opera before, and nothing was quite the same again. Wagner was certainly paved away for more modern music as it's identified like a record first and marathon. And then after four hours, and if you're a train body type and light movies or the details of 5,000 barted music, you get the repetition you've been waiting for. The Lieberstode music, the word meaning love death, is the final passage in the opera. It's older singers over her beloved and dead Tristan, who has been mortally wounded by Jill's courtier. If you are new to Wagner's music, or even if you have reservations about it, allow me to give you some of my thoughts on how to get the best out of this sublime passage. At the risk of taking the obvious, there are two forces at play here: the heavenly voice of Jesse Norman, floating and striving for that resolution, which you should allow to watch overview and also the underlying orchestration, which needs a slightly more attentive listening. It's the formation of the whole opera in its expense. Wagner advances and then pulls back time and time again. Even when you think you've got there, you haven't. Wagner is not finished. The clue is in the orchestration, taking you back and forth before it leaves you in no doubt that the destination has been reached. And what a moment it is with this utterly gorgeous voice. When the music finishes, you realize you have been enveloped in something not of this world. It is not background music. It requires your complete submission to benefit from the experience. Trust me on this. If you listen with an open mind, you will take away something you might not be able to describe. You may simply feel transported. Because really, that's what music like that requires. Which makes it rather hard to know where to go from there to conclude today's podcast, because almost everything is in danger of sounding trivial. But I think Chostakovich unusually can come to the rescue. Here is something to lift the mood and in a steady and gentle way. A lot of Chostakovich's music can sound dark and grim, but you might remember from previous outings that he knew which side is bread with butter too. He needed to write crowd pleasures to stay on the right side of the routine. In 1958, he wrote an operetta by the name of Moscow Cityomushki, which is a district in the capital with heavily subsidized building and done on a cheap as a result. Moscow had a serious housing shortage, and although the operetta is lighthearted, it's a not very thinly disguised dig at the problem. So here to finish is the waltz from the Cherimoski suite, played by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Ricardo Chayee.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

Nick will be back again soon. Please rate and comment on any of the previous episodes, and if you like what you hear, take a moment to press the follow button, as it helps to spread the word.