S2.E95. Comfort and Joy with Bach 'Schlummert ein', Ravel Introduction and Allegro, Chopin Butterfly Etude, Mozart 'Non piu andrai', Schubert 3rd Symphony Presto.

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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.

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I'm still suffering from withdrawal symptoms with the Winter Olympics coming to their end. But at least we have the Paralympics to look forward to in a few days' time. Apart from one unexpected spat in the curling, it was once more a reminder, just like last year's Summer Olympics, that while it's an occasion with a competition I think is hard, there is also a universal and sometimes very visible bond between nations when other rivalries are set aside and humanity gets a chance to flourish. It can be a real struggle to find even nuggets of good news in the world at the moment. But it's precisely at times like this when we have to remember that there are things at our disposal which have harmony at their core. Apart from the notable tribal clashes, this board is one. And the other is the art, especially music. And sport and art share another really fundamental common characteristic. Our engagement with them is purely visceral. It's particularly true for music because it excludes almost entirely the need for an intellectual response. Our visitor are located between the bottom of our neck and likely beyond our weight. So our reaction comes relatively from our chest our heart. Our lungs and our belly. But all of us are in the end of the thing we're actually worth from time to time. Maybe one of those things is music is not your bag. But identify you not to be wrapped in a comfort blanket within today's open. Probably wrote anything as I would do a hundred countries. Literally translated as I have it now. But really meaning I am originally a basis. But now I'm just as often by the Soprano to reflect it to everyone. It's message is one of the weirdness of this world. I think you're adding it for the next It makes absolutely no difference if you subscribe to that faith or not. It will not detract you from responding to its pathos melancholy overwater. So yes, it is probably one of those close your eyes. To see what memories it is made of the underlying melody to the words I fall of asleep, you weary eyes close softly and pleasantly is little short of heavenly. And for nine and a half minutes we can do just that by listening to Thomas Bauer with the Metal and Spach Society conducted by Lars Ulrich Mortenson. Now put yourself in my position for a moment. I don't have the luxury of a producer, a scriptwriter, or editor in this podcast. What I say to you in the music I choose is entirely up to me. So where on earth would you go after that? I know that we listened to some Ravel last week, but I hope you all agree that what we're about to listen to now is a fitting follow-up. His introduction and Allegro of a harp, a clarinet, a flute, and the strings is a dreamy otherworldly composition. The genius of it is that although there are just seven musicians here who are technically making it a chamber piece, the whole thing that sounds much more orchestral in scale. Ravel's skill lies in the colour he brings to his music. There's nothing mysterious and lush about it. Nothing rash, everything just unfolds completely naturally. Revolutionary, Black Keys, Tristesse, The Bees, The Wrong Note, The Raindrop, and one of the most famous The Minute Waltz. Make up a handful of the nicknames attributed to some of Chopin's piano pieces. I'm not going to pretend I have a clue where most of these names came from. They certainly didn't come from the composer himself. And the Minute Waltz is probably the greatest misinoma of a lot. Because you simply can't play it in anything less than one and a half minutes. It's a name which would be far more appropriate than this manager by Chopin. The shortest of is 24 ethics. Because it's almost exactly a minute long. And certainly no longer. Imagine being a guest somewhere, spotting a cannon just before you leave, and then we asked, Do you play? Yeah, a little, you say, and then sit down and dash off this little flourish. It would be quite a parting shot. It's a speedy little showpiece, the melody for which sings out almost entirely in rapid octaves. Quite a brute to play, I would imagine. But not for the late Maurizio Polini. I never got to see him live, unfortunately, because by all accounts he was no slouch when it came to acting. But what a colourful, authoritative voice he had. It's obviously a bit difficult to convey good acting on a podcast. But this Aria, non puandray, by Figueroa and the marriage of Figueroa, captures quite a lot in the voice. Count Almaviva has grown weary of the young and eager Calabino hanging around his wife the whole time, but he's not exactly in a position to punish him, as he has himself been trying to get lucky with his chambermaid, Husana. So the simplest solution is to send him off to join the army. Figaro dispatches him with the words amounting to no more mincing about here, young man, no more comfort for you, no more pouncing around in slippers, but something altogether more character-forming. Put your boots on and off you go. Mozart sets the words to suitably military rhythms, and Jose van Damme's voice delivers Carabino's mocking marching orders perfectly. Here he is in a live performance with the Vienna State Opera conducted by Herbert von Karriad. The last moment of his third symphony is Mark Presto. It's a lively, cheerful, and uplifting six minutes. The word upbeat is banded about quite a lot when it comes to cheerful music. But it actually has its foundations into something very specific. Like literally the upbeat. And it's perfectly displayed. You'll notice how at the end of the principal theme is updated on the last beat of the bar. With a brief list of interruptions by Woodwind and Tony. It's extraordinary to think that this piece was not discovered nor played until over fifty years after his death.

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