Ahhh... Edgard Verese's "Arcana" on vinyl. Life is good!

[Rabrrrrrr]

Sweet, sweet music this is.

[Squeech]

1. Yup

Which version? The first one I had was Robert Craft, conducting an orchestra that clearly wanted to be someplace else, but it was the most cost-effective introduction to Varese in the Schwann catalog at the time-- a double LP for little more than the price of one. Boulez does it better (duh!) with the New York Philharmonic on a Columbia Masterworks LP that claims to be quadraphonic (I could never hear the front/rear separation under any of the systems, so don't ask me), but there's also a kickass version of "Ameriques," which I realized was the real sequel to "Le Sacre du Printemps."

There's a double CD called Varese: The Complete Works that's really quite good, Riccardo Chailly conducting the Royal Concertgebouw for the full orchestra repertoire and something called the ASKO Ensemble for the chamber works, on London. Chou Wen-Chung, who was Varese's assistant in New York, went back and re-edited all the scores, and reconstructed a few things that were known to have been performed at some point but the existing scores were fragmentary. But the main thing is that the performances are full of piss and vinegar.

Once upon a time I found a story, probably on the Zappa Family Trust website, about the legendary Ensemble Moderne Varese sessions Zappa produced. One of the engineers said something like, "They play this music like it's their heritage," I assume meaning they're both really familiar with it and still full of enthusiasm-- and somebody else (Frank?) answered, "Isn't it?"

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. It's the Robert Craft one, Columbia Symphony

I used to have a Zubin Mehta one on tape, and another tape from someone else I can't remember, which have both been long since thrown away because they were on tape.

It is time for me to get more Varese.

My only live Varese experience was a performance of "Deserts" at an otherwise all-Zappa orchestral concert at Lincoln Center in 1992. It was so exciting to finally hear Varese performed live! And to have it done by an ensemble that clearly cared about it. They opened the concert with it, and then their next piece was an orchestral version of "The Black Page" with rock band. It was fun watching the orchestra members glued to their sheet music, while the band did it all from memory. :-)

[Squeech]

4. If I remember correctly

there are two versions: a double LP called The Varese Album, and another issue of the same discs as two individual LPs.

Why I dissed the Columbia Symphony Orchestra was because it wasn't a continuously working orchestra, it was basically a bunch of session players-- whoever the contractor wanted to call up that day. One hopes that he picked people who actually liked this avant-garde stuff, but it doesn't really sound like Craft had enough rehearsal time to properly prepare them-- seems to me you can hear flop sweat. I should be kinder since it was the first recording of its sort, and it was good to have it around, but I think every other Varese LP I've heard is better, even the Nonesuch cheapie. Craft also did a complete Webern on four LPs, and again, Boulez came along some years later with a considerably more cogent rendition.

I don't remember if I've ever seen any live Varese. My college orchestra announced a Varese piece for one of their regular (monthly or so) performances, so I showed up early, got a front row seat-- and then the conductor came out and announced, "Sorry, we weren't able to prepare the Varese to our satisfaction," and launched into Franck's Symphony in D, which was unendurable twaddle in light of what I was expecting to hear :grr: And I remember a concert of a Schoenberg quartet (#3?), Histoire du Soldat, and Varese's Poeme Electronique-- which for the latter they rolled two big Klipschorns on stage and just ran the tape. (And I think that was the first time I noticed that somewhere in there is a voice that intones something that sounds vaguely like "Call any vegetable," maybe 4 minutes in.)

I definitely recommend the Complete Varese CD.

What else did they play at that Zappa concert? That must have been big fun!

[Rabrrrrrr]

5. I don't remember everything that was on the program...

but it was a mix of "Zappa and the LSO" and "The Perfect Stranger" with a premiere (the US premiere, I believe it was world premiered in Sweden) of "Concerto for orchestra and rock band". And Matti Salimen (spelling is probably wrong) did a piano concerto (or maybe it was just a piano solo).

I know they did The Girl in the Magnesium Dress, The Black Page, the Varese piece. I think they did Sad Jane, but I really don't remember. And I think they did the rest of Perfect stranger, but I don't really remember (The Perfect Stranger, Naval Aviation In Art?, Dupree's Paradise, Love Story, Outside Now Again , Jonestown).

I searched the web, but couldn't find a setlist.

It was a great concert, but it did feel like the players weren't as rehearsed as they should have been, nor that they were as interested in the music as they should have been. It was also two ensembles put together, and it could simply be that they didn't rehearse enough as a group. I'm not sure. They played well enough, but sometimes it lacked that special something that makes the music come truly alive.


I hear what you say about Boulez - he 'gets it' far more than a lot of other conductors. Even as old as he is, and as many newer condustors that have come up through the ranks who basically grew up that kind of weird music (Schoenberg, Varese, Stockhausen, Crumb, Zappa, Glass, Reich, etc.), I think Boulez still stands at the top of the heap for 'getting it'.

[madrchsod]

3. life is always better on vinyl

[DBoon]

6. long live the spirit of Frank Zappa

the eternal legacy of Varese to modern novelty-rock

[bridgit]

7. Verese is one of hubby's all time favs...