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Filter Events / Vinyl
Events / Vinyl
As we head into lockdown three, even the Tier 2 social distanced gigs need to be postponed. But we're still announcing events which will happen at some point, even if not as originally planned. Don't miss out on announcements - turn on alerts from BanquetRecords on twitter, facebook and instagram.
Postponed / You Me At Six / Socially Distanced Show Pryzm, 5:00pm POSTPONED Due to the updated lockdown restrictions, this show can not currently go ahead on the planned date. We'll update with the rescheduled date as soon as possible. Please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available - This is a socially distanced, seated show in Tier 2 restrictions. Please note, you may only sit with people from your own household or in your support bubble. By buying tickets, you are agreeing that you are buying only for members of your household and that you won't take part in a mixing of households in keeping with Tier 2 government guidance. PLEASE NOTE: date is subject to change pending government / NIHP guidance around the coronavirus outbreak. If this event is postponed, we will let you know - please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available. - Due to the extreme demand, as extra socially distanced show with You Me At Six has been added. Celebrating the release of their new album, You Me At Six return to Kingston for a socially distanced show at Pryzm. If you order the album from us you can get signed copies personalised to you. Just request what you'd like them to write in the comments box at the checkout. After a tumultuous period of emotional blows, leaving the majority of the band getting to grips with new life scenarios, the new album is rooted in reflection and redemption. It sees You Me At Six harness those darker experiences as a catalyst for creativity, empowerment and positivity. Recorded over five weeks at Karma Sound studio in Bang Saray, and continuing their creative relationship with that album's producer, Dan Austin (Biffy Clyro, Massive Attack, Pixies), 'SUCKAPUNCH' is the sound of a band embracing change. You Me At Six have crafted their most experimental, personal and progressive record to date. - Times TBC but we expect doors at 5:00pm. Last entry is at 5:30pm, You Me At Six due on stage at 6:00pm All viewing areas are in tables for six. Private tables which accommodate up to 6 people can be purchased, or couples can be seated with one another couple on a 6-person table. This show is 16+. Over 18s should bring PHOTO ID (driving license / passport). Pryzm, Clarence Street, Kingston Upon Thames (KT1 1QP) CD | LP Pre-Order
Postponed / You Me At Six / Socially Distanced Show Pryzm, 8:00pm Due to the updated lockdown restrictions, this show can not currently go ahead on the planned date. We'll update with the rescheduled date as soon as possible. Please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available. - This is a socially distanced, seated show in Tier 2 restrictions. Please note, you may only sit with people from your own household or in your support bubble. By buying tickets, you are agreeing that you are buying only for members of your household and that you won't take part in a mixing of households in keeping with Tier 2 government guidance. PLEASE NOTE: date is subject to change pending government / NIHP guidance around the coronavirus outbreak. If this event is postponed, we will let you know - please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available. - Celebrating the release of their new album, You Me At Six return to Kingston for a socially distanced show at Pryzm. If you order the album from us you can get signed copies personalised to you. Just request what you'd like them to write in the comments box at the checkout. After a tumultuous period of emotional blows, leaving the majority of the band getting to grips with new life scenarios, the new album is rooted in reflection and redemption. It sees You Me At Six harness those darker experiences as a catalyst for creativity, empowerment and positivity. Recorded over five weeks at Karma Sound studio in Bang Saray, and continuing their creative relationship with that album's producer, Dan Austin (Biffy Clyro, Massive Attack, Pixies), 'SUCKAPUNCH' is the sound of a band embracing change. You Me At Six have crafted their most experimental, personal and progressive record to date. - Times TBC but we expect doors at 8:00pm. Last entry is at 8:30pm, You Me At Six due on stage at 9:00pm All viewing areas are in tables for six. Private tables which accommodate up to 6 people can be purchased, or couples can be seated with one another couple on a 6-person table. This show is 16+. Over 18s should bring PHOTO ID (driving license / passport). Pryzm, Clarence Street, Kingston Upon Thames (KT1 1QP) CD | LP Pre-Order
Kerri Watt Monday 18th January at Zoom Session, 7:00pm To celebrate the release of her debut full length album titled Neptune's Daughter, the Scottish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Kerri Watt, links up for a Zoom Session. This is a limited numbers event /300. I am beyond excited to be announcing the release of my debut album "Neptune's Daughter". It feels like years of work and passion are coming to fruition and I'm finally getting to share a full body of work! I describe the album as 'Americana' because it incorporates so many of my favourite styles of music that fit into that genre. There's blues, country, rock and pop influences, some really fun, light tracks mixed with darker moments. The lyrics take you on some of my favourite roadtrips, tell stories of heartbreak but also stories of love! The record was recorded with a live band in Austin Texas and produced by one of my favourite people - Machine. Hopefully listeners will be able to hear how much fun we had with this - particularly on tracks like 'You Can't Catch Me' and 'Spoonful of Sugar.' Scattered throughout the album are also a few subtle references to some of my musical heroes and I'm hoping fans will have fun picking those out! After years of experimenting with different sounds and ideas, I've written a piece that I hope will have something for every kind of person and be the positive start we all need for 2021. - 7:00pm start (GMT) Access codes will be sent 20 minutes before the event. (Please check your junk / spam folders if they aren't appearing in your inbox). Please sign in from 6:45pm (and by 6:55pm at the latest). You'll be checked off as you sign in, so please ensure your screen name matches the name on your order. CD Pre-Order
Django Django / Socially Distanced Show Saturday 13th February at Pryzm, 8:00pm This is a socially distanced, seated show in Tier 2 restrictions. Please note, you may only sit with people from your own household or in your support bubble. By buying tickets, you are agreeing that you are buying only for members of your household and that you won't take part in a mixing of households in keeping with Tier 2 government guidance. PLEASE NOTE: date is subject to change pending government / NIHP guidance around the coronavirus outbreak. If this event is postponed, we will let you know - please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available. - To celebrate the release of their new album titled Glowing In The Dark, the excellent indie-poppers Django Django return to Kingston to play a socially distanced show at Pryzm. Over the course of their extraordinarily accomplished discography to date, Django Django have constantly headed left where others have gone right. Described by The Guardian as "capable of making music that sounds close to perfection", they are known for their genre defying eclectic sound and their new album "Glowing in the Dark" heralds, once again, the beginning of a thrilling new era for the band. Glowing in the Dark has a running theme of escape: from despair, from constraints, from small town life, and even, in dreams, from the Earth. The brilliant title track and new single, for instance, soars gloriously towards the stratosphere. A track built around a sample from one of Dave Maclean's spoken word records then plushly upholstered with Moog synths and drum loops, it is accompanied by some eye strobing visuals from rapidly ascending NYC artist and illustrator Braulio Amado. Times TBC but we expect doors at 8:00pm. Last entry is at 8:30pm, Django Django due on stage at 9:00pm All viewing areas are in tables for six. Private tables which accommodate up to 6 people can be purchased, or couples can be seated with one another couple on a 6-person table. This show is 16+. Over 18s should bring PHOTO ID (driving license / passport). Pryzm, Clarence Street, Kingston Upon Thames (KT1 1QP) CD | LP Pre-Order
Declan McKenna Monday 15th February at Pryzm, 8:00pm PLEASE NOTE: date is subject to change pending government / NIHP guidance around the coronavirus outbreak. If this event is postponed, we will let you know - please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available. - Celebrating the release of his new album titled Zeros, the amazing Declan McKenna returns to Kingston to play a set at Pryzm. "In terms of my artistic development... it feels a major step on from my first record. With this album, if I'm performing as a character, I wanted it to give it everything - all the artists that I love like Dylan, Nick Cave or Bowie, are great storytellers because they give their characters really intense, sometimes strange voices." Times TBC but we expect doors at 8:00pm with Declan McKenna on stage at 9:00pm CD/ticket is £14 post-paid, and other formats and combos will be available. Pryzm is all ages for this show - under 14s must be accompanied by a ticket-holding adult (18+). Over 18s should bring PHOTO ID (driving license / passport). Pryzm, 154 Clarence Street, Kingston Upon Thames (KT1 1QP) CD | LP
Ricky Warwick Saturday 20th February at Zoom Session, 7:00pm The iconic frontman Ricky Warwick (Thin Lizzy, Black Star Riders, The Almighty) links up for a zoom session to celebrate the release of his new album When Life Was Hard And Fast. This is a limited numbers event /300. "The true spirt of rock n' roll is a relentless pursuit that consumes me on a daily basis. Chasing after it, making this record was a race well run" - Ricky Warwick. "I wanted to create an album that had the simplistic melodies of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers charged with the electric hedonistic fury of Johnny Thunders And The Heartbreakers. Recording the album as live as possible with a full band was requisite to achieving the desired effect". Xavier Muriel (Ex-Buckcherry) on drums and Robert Crane (Black Star Riders) on bass completed the core band and turned in stellar performances, giving the songs a real lease of life. 7:00pm start (GMT) Access codes will be sent 20 minutes before the event. (Please check your junk / spam folders if they aren't appearing in your inbox). Please sign in from 6:45pm (and by 6:55pm at the latest). You'll be checked off as you sign in, so please ensure your screen name matches the name on your order. CD | LP
Maximo Park / Socially Distanced Show Thursday 25th February at Pryzm, 5:00pm This is a socially distanced, seated show in Tier 2 restrictions. Please note, you may only sit with people from your own household or in your support bubble. By buying tickets, you are agreeing that you are buying only for members of your household and that you won't take part in a mixing of households in keeping with Tier 2 government guidance. PLEASE NOTE: date is subject to change pending government / NIHP guidance around the coronavirus outbreak. If this event is postponed, we will let you know - please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available. - To celebrate the release of their new album titled Nature Always Wins, the ever-excellent Maximo Park return to Kingston to play a socially distanced, seated show at Pryzm. The album arrives as something of an examination, zeroing in on the notion of the self, identity as a band, and that of humanity as a whole. The album's title nods to the famous Nature vs Nurture debate. Discussing whether change is capable under the influence of time, perspective, environment or if we are destined to be bound by our own genetics, it asks, "who are we, and who do we want to be, and do we have any control over it?". "I'm so happy we were able to make this album during lockdown, as it's been a challenging time for everyone. After almost 4 years since Risk To Exist, we wanted to explore new musical territory (for us) without sacrificing our trademark melodic twists and heartfelt lyrics. As always, the passing of time looms large, although the songs contain more affection for the past than before, and there are occasional hints of the fractious, divided time that we live in" – frontman Paul Smith - Times TBC but we expect doors at 5:00pm. Last entry is at 5:30pm, Maximo Park due on stage at 6:00pm All viewing areas are in tables for six. Private tables which accommodate up to 6 people can be purchased, or couples can be seated with one another couple on a 6-person table. This show is 16+. Over 18s should bring PHOTO ID (driving license / passport). Pryzm, Clarence Street, Kingston Upon Thames (KT1 1QP) CD | LP Pre-Order
Maximo Park / Socially Distanced Show Friday 26th February at Pryzm, 5:00pm This is a socially distanced, seated show in Tier 2 restrictions. Please note, you may only sit with people from your own household or in your support bubble. By buying tickets, you are agreeing that you are buying only for members of your household and that you won't take part in a mixing of households in keeping with Tier 2 government guidance. PLEASE NOTE: date is subject to change pending government / NIHP guidance around the coronavirus outbreak. If this event is postponed, we will let you know - please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available. - To celebrate the release of their new album titled Nature Always Wins, the ever-excellent Maximo Park return to Kingston to play a socially distanced, seated show at Pryzm. The album arrives as something of an examination, zeroing in on the notion of the self, identity as a band, and that of humanity as a whole. The album's title nods to the famous Nature vs Nurture debate. Discussing whether change is capable under the influence of time, perspective, environment or if we are destined to be bound by our own genetics, it asks, "who are we, and who do we want to be, and do we have any control over it?". "I'm so happy we were able to make this album during lockdown, as it's been a challenging time for everyone. After almost 4 years since Risk To Exist, we wanted to explore new musical territory (for us) without sacrificing our trademark melodic twists and heartfelt lyrics. As always, the passing of time looms large, although the songs contain more affection for the past than before, and there are occasional hints of the fractious, divided time that we live in" – frontman Paul Smith - Times TBC but we expect doors at 5:00pm. Last entry is at 5:30pm, Maximo Park due on stage at 6:00pm All viewing areas are in tables for six. Private tables which accommodate up to 6 people can be purchased, or couples can be seated with one another couple on a 6-person table. This show is 16+. Over 18s should bring PHOTO ID (driving license / passport). Pryzm, Clarence Street, Kingston Upon Thames (KT1 1QP) CD | LP Pre-Order
Shame / Socially Distanced Show Monday 1st March at Pryzm, 8:00pm This is a socially distanced, seated show in Tier 1 restrictions. PLEASE NOTE: date is subject to change pending government / NIHP guidance around the coronavirus outbreak. If this event is postponed, we will let you know - please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available. - To celebrate the release of their highly anticipated new album titled Drunk Tank Pink, Shame visit Kingston to play a socially distanced show at Pryzm. There are moments on 'Drunk Tank Pink' where you almost have to reach for the sleeve to check this is the same band who made 2018's 'Songs Of Praise'. Such is the jump shame have made from the riotous post-punk of their debut to the sprawling adventurism and twitching anxieties laid out here. The South Londoner's blood and guts spirit, that wink and grin of devious charm, is still present, it's just that it's grown into something bigger, something deeper, more ambitious and unflinchingly honest. - Times TBC but we expect doors at 8:00pm. Last entry is at 8:30pm, Shame due on stage at 9:00pm All viewing areas are in tables for six. Private tables which accommodate up to 6 people can be purchased, or couples can be seated with one another couple on a 6-person table. This show is 16+. Over 18s should bring PHOTO ID (driving license / passport). Pryzm, Clarence Street, Kingston Upon Thames (KT1 1QP) CD | LP Pre-Order
Disclosure / New Slang Thursday 4th March at New Slang, 9:00pm (18+) PLEASE NOTE: date is subject to change pending government / NIHP guidance around the coronavirus outbreak. If this event is postponed, we will let you know - please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available. - To celebrate the release of their highly anticipated new full length album titled Energy, the acclaimed duo Disclosure return to New Slang. "The thing that decided which songs made it and which songs didn't was that one word: energy. Every track was written really quickly. That's why we had to write so many songs because those ones don't come up every day. Or every week. Or every month." Through an epic process of creation and distillation the path to producing their shortest, most direct album - 11 songs, 39 minutes - ran through around 200 tracks: everything from drum loops to fully realised songs. After the show, it's New Slang as usual where you can expect to hear the likes of Catfish & The Bottlemen, The Charlatans, Courteeners, The Shins and many more until 2AM. Times TBC but we expect doors at 9:00pm with Disclosure on stage at 10:30pm CD/ticket is £17.50 post-paid, and other formats and combos are available. New Slang is an over 18s event, and is strict on ID. Please bring photo ID with you on the night, whatever age you are. New Slang is held at Pryzm, 154 Clarence St, Kingston upon Thames KT1 1QP New Slang Ticket CD | LP
Dizzee Rascal Friday 5th March at Pryzm, 7:00pm PLEASE NOTE: date is subject to change pending government / NIHP guidance around the coronavirus outbreak. If this event is postponed, we will let you know - please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available. - To celebrate the release of his seventh full length album titled E3 AF, the all-round, boundary-breaking artist Dizzee Rascal return to Kingston to play at Pryzm. This new release marks the genesis of a new era for Dizzee and is the first album wholly written, recorded and produced in the UK in over a decade. 'E3 AF' is a 10-track layered, purposeful statement of intent, rooted in Dizzee's inedible ties to both east London and Black British music's legacy. He sound is sharper, stronger and more self assured than ever, and it is obvious that he has poured the creative energy of the past few years into 'E3 AF' as a body of work. First single, L.L.L.L (Love Life Live Large), features Tottenham born MC Chip and kicks open the door with the force of a steel toe capped boot. Chip, adds another thwack of bravado to the rumbling, Dizzee- produced beat. 'E3 AF' confirms Dizzee's status as an artist still very much in his prime, sonically it draws on the infectious pace of grime and resolutely forward-thinking UK rap. From one song to the next, you are taken on a journey through Black British musical excellence. Ice-cold UK drill drips on Smoke Boys-featuring 'Act Like You Know' (produced by MK the Plug) and Eastside pulses with pure grime courtesy of Chubby Dreadz and Platinum 45. Self-produced opener 'God Knows' (featuring P Money) and high-octane 'You Don't Know' pull from dubstep, grime and drum 'n' bass while threatening to wreak havoc with your speakers. By the time Alicai Harley's warm up vocals float over sunny syths on the deeply personal 'Energies + Powers' (produced by Steel Banglez), the album practically radiates heat. Dizzee Rascal is a unique artist that has inspired many for multiple generations. From his 2003 debut album release, the Mercury Prize winning 'Boy In The Corner' to date, Dizzee has continued to push expectations and boundaries. He is British musical royalty. Every album that followed stacked up another marker of success. Between 2004 and 2017 all album releases blasted firmly into the Top 10 Official album chart, won awards, critical acclaim and amassed Dizzee a huge following of devoted fans. 'E3 AF' is set to confirm Dizzee Rascal's status as the master at the top of his game. Times TBC but we expect doors at 7:00pm with Dizzee Rascal on stage at 8:00pm CD/ticket is £16 post-paid, and other formats and combos will be available. Pryzm is all ages for this show - under 14s must be accompanied by a ticket-holding adult (18+). Over 18s should bring PHOTO ID (driving license / passport). Pryzm, 154 Clarence Street, Kingston Upon Thames (KT1 1QP) CD | LP
Black Honey / Socially Distanced Show Friday 26th March at Pryzm, 8:00pm This is a socially distanced, seated show in Tier 1 restrictions. If things open up then we might be able to change this into a full-numbers, non-seated show. PLEASE NOTE: date is subject to change pending government / NIHP guidance around the coronavirus outbreak. If this event is postponed, we will let you know - please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available. - Celebrating the release of their second full length album titled Written & Directed, Black Honey return to Kingston to play a socially distanced show at Pryzm. 'Written & Directed' is Black Honey's second album. It follows their outstanding self-titled debut released back in 2018 when the world that surrounded the Brighton fourpiece looked and felt like a very different place. Black Honey however are still the bad-ass, truly original band they have always been, they've just graduated from the intriguingly anomalous newcomers to becoming one of UK indie's most singular outfits. They've travelled the world and released a Top 40 album; graced the cover of the NME and become the faces and soundtrack of Roberto Cavalli's Milan Fashion Week show; smashed Glastonbury and supported Queens of the Stone Age, all without compromising a shred of the wild, wicked vision they first set out with. It's now time for the next instalment of their story – 'Written & Directed" – which see's Black Honey deliver one, very singular, message – a 10 track mission statement that aims to unashamedly plant a flag in the ground for strong, world-conquering women. For fierce frontwoman and album protagonist Izzy B. Phillips – it's the most important message she could send to inspire her cult-like fanbase and fill the female-shaped gap that she felt so acutely when she was growing up and discovering rock music for the first time. - Times TBC but we expect doors at 8:00pm. Last entry is at 8:30pm, Black Honey due on stage at 9:00pm All viewing areas are in tables for six. Private tables which accommodate up to 6 people can be purchased, or couples can be seated with one another couple on a 6-person table. This show is 16+. Over 18s should bring PHOTO ID (driving license / passport). Pryzm, Clarence Street, Kingston Upon Thames (KT1 1QP) CD | LP Pre-Order
YUNGBLUD Monday 29th March at Pryzm, 6:00pm PLEASE NOTE: date is subject to change pending government / NIHP guidance around the coronavirus outbreak. If this event is postponed, we will let you know - please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available. - DUE TO PHENOMENAL DEMAND, WE'VE ADDED AN EXTRA SHOW TO TAKE PLACE EARLIER ON. To celebrate the release of his new album titled WEIRD, YUNGBLUD returns to Kingston to play at Pryzm. Doubling down on the raw vulnerability first glimpsed on his powerhouse 2018 debut album, 21st Century Liability, and his 2019 EP, hope for the underrated youth, Weird! is YUNGBLUD's most emotionally complex body of work to date. He recorded it at studios in London and Los Angeles with Cervini, Greatti and another frequent collaborator, Matt Schwartz (Cold War Kids, Bullet For My Valentine, Massive Attack). True to YUNGBLUD's fierce refusal to box himself in, Weird! embodies a wildly eclectic collage of sound: Queen-inspired harmonies, Beatles-esque chord progressions, elements of dance-punk and glam-rock and hip-hop and metal. Times TBC but we expect doors at 6:00pm with YUNGBLUD on stage at 7:00pm. CD/ticket is £15 post-paid, and other formats and combos are available. Tickets and albums will be posted separately. Pryzm is all ages for this show - under 14s must be accompanied by a ticket-holding adult (18+). Over 18s should bring PHOTO ID (driving license / passport). Pryzm, 154 Clarence Street, Kingston Upon Thames (KT1 1QP) PLEASE NOTE: If you choose Collect In-store as your delivery option your full order will need to be collected from our shop rather than from the venue. CD | LP Pre-Order
YUNGBLUD Monday 29th March at Pryzm, 8:00pm PLEASE NOTE: date is subject to change pending government / NIHP guidance around the coronavirus outbreak. If this event is postponed, we will let you know - please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available. - To celebrate the release of his new album titled WEIRD, YUNGBLUD returns to Kingston to play at Pryzm. Doubling down on the raw vulnerability first glimpsed on his powerhouse 2018 debut album, 21st Century Liability, and his 2019 EP, hope for the underrated youth, Weird! is YUNGBLUD's most emotionally complex body of work to date. He recorded it at studios in London and Los Angeles with Cervini, Greatti and another frequent collaborator, Matt Schwartz (Cold War Kids, Bullet For My Valentine, Massive Attack). True to YUNGBLUD's fierce refusal to box himself in, Weird! embodies a wildly eclectic collage of sound: Queen-inspired harmonies, Beatles-esque chord progressions, elements of dance-punk and glam-rock and hip-hop and metal. Times TBC but we expect doors at 8:00pm with YUNGBLUD on stage at 9:00pm. CD/ticket is £15 post-paid, and other formats and combos are available. Tickets and albums will be posted separately. Pryzm is all ages for this show - under 14s must be accompanied by a ticket-holding adult (18+). Over 18s should bring PHOTO ID (driving license / passport). Pryzm, 154 Clarence Street, Kingston Upon Thames (KT1 1QP) PLEASE NOTE: If you choose Collect In-store as your delivery option your full order will need to be collected from our shop rather than from the venue. CD | LP
Working Men's Club Monday 29th March at The FIghting Cocks, 8:00pm PLEASE NOTE: date is subject to change pending government / NIHP guidance around the coronavirus outbreak. If this event is postponed, we will let you know - please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available. - Celebrating the release of their new, self-titled album, Working Men's Club visit Kingston to play at The Fighting Cocks. A rumble on the horizon. Gritted teeth, nuclear fizz and fissured rock. A dab of pill dust from a linty pocket before it hits: the atom split, pool table overturned, pint glass smashed — valley fever breaking with the clouds as the inertia of small town life is well and truly disrupted. Here to bust out of Doledrum, clad in a t-shirt that screams SOCIALISM and armed with drum machine, synth, pedal and icy stare are Working Men's Club, and their self-titled debut album. --- Times TBC but we expect doors at 8:00pm with Working Men's Club on stage at 9:00pm CD/ticket is £14 post-paid, and other formats and combos will be available. The Fighting Cocks is at 56 Old London Road, Kingston, KT2 6QA CD | LP
Neck Deep / Acoustic + Q&A Sunday 4th April at Pryzm, 7:00pm PLEASE NOTE: date is subject to change pending government / NIHP guidance around the coronavirus outbreak. If this event is postponed, we will let you know - please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available. --- To celebrate the release of their fourth full length album titled All Distortions Are Intentional, the incredible Wrexham crew Neck Deep return to Kingston to play an acoustic set with a Q&A at Pryzm. Massive pop-punk / alt-rock songs that we've been big fans of for a while now, we're super stoked to have them back. With this album Neck Deep wants to continue carving out their own unique space within rock, punk, and alternative music. They have no delusions of "saving rock" or being the biggest rock band out there. They just want to remain Neck Deep and be an even bigger, better Neck Deep than before. They understand their roots are in pop punk, but want to expand on their sound in their own way, taking inspiration from artists like The Beatles and Nirvana who did things their own way and still were able to be massive. Times TBC but we expect doors at 7:00pm with Neck Deep on stage at 8:00pm CD/ticket is £14 post-paid, and other formats and combos will be available. Pryzm is all ages for this show - under 14s must be accompanied by a ticket-holding adult (18+). Over 18s should bring PHOTO ID (driving license / passport). Pryzm, 154 Clarence Street, Kingston Upon Thames (KT1 1QP) PLEASE NOTE: If you choose Car Park Collection as your delivery option, your full order will need to be collected using this method, rather than collecting from the venue CD | LP
DMA'S Tuesday 6th April at Pryzm, 8:00pm (14+) PLEASE NOTE: date is subject to change pending government / NIHP guidance around the coronavirus outbreak. If this event is postponed, we will let you know - please do not contact us until a rescheduled date is announced. Once announced, if you cannot make the rescheduled date refunds will be available. --- Following the release of their highly anticipated third full length record titled The Glow, DMA'S return to Kingston to play at Pryzm, operating at a slightly reduced capacity. 'THE GLOW' finds DMA'S fulfilling their world class potential with a collection of songs that are destined for arenas. From their emotive heart to their towering, anthemic hooks, the core traits that have earned the band a growing global following are all in place. But with the help of Price, DMA'S have elevated both sides of their sonic spectrum to new heights. Times TBC but we expect doors at 8:00pm with DMA'S on stage at 9:30pm CD/ticket is £22.50 post-paid, and other formats and combos are available. Indies LP is tri-colour vinyl. Pryzm is all ages for this show - under 14s must be accompanied by a ticket-holding adult (18+). Over 18s should bring PHOTO ID (driving license / passport). Pryzm, 154 Clarence Street, Kingston Upon Thames (KT1 1QP) PLEASE NOTE: If you choose Car Park Collection as your delivery option, your full order will need to be collected using this method, rather than collecting from the venue CD | LP


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Michelangelo Quartet @ Weill Hall
Above: the Michelangelo Quartet
Friday November 9th, 2018 - It was an evening of superb classics Friday night at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. Visiting from Europe was the Michelangelo Quartet, the distinguished string quartet best known for performing and recording numerous string quartets by Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart, among others. The group comprises the violinists Mihaela Martin and Daniel Austrich, the violist Nobuko Imai, and the cellist Frans Helmerson. Due to illness, however, Austrich was substituted by the young violinist Stephen Waarts — an established soloist in his own right. Nothing was out of place when the performers took the stage, however, and they played with the uncanny familiarity one could only expect from the most seasoned professionals.
Above: Stephen Waarts
The concert opened on Joseph Haydn's String Quartet in D-major, "The Lark," composed in 1790. The Father of the String Quartet certainly lived up to his reputation with this stately entry from the second set of "Tost" quartets, named in honor of the Hungarian violinist Johann Tost who aided Haydn in finding a publisher for the works. The quartet begins on an upbeat Allegro moderato throughout which Mihaela Martin's first violin aptly imitated the work's titular bird. This was followed by a tender Adagio cantabile, a brief Menuetto: Allegro, and a spirited Vivace that brought the work to its close. Its warm and familiar tonalities being completely emblematic of the Classical era, this was an elegant and pleasing way to start the evening.
Bringing the music forward nearly a century, next up was the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana's String Quartet No. 1 in E-minor, "From My Life," composed in 1876. Written during the composer's waning later years, a period which also produced the famous set of symphonic poems Má vlast ("My Fatherland"), the semi-autobiographical "From My Life" reflects a period of great sadness in the Smetana's life as his hearing slowly began to fail. The quartet opens on a haunting Allegro vivo appassionato, an expression of the romantic spirit of his early years. Next is a pulsing Allegro moderato à la polka, reflecting the composer's fond memories of dance. Frans Helmerson's moving cello solo opened the bittersweet Largo sostenuto, a tribute to the happiness of first love. Finally, an excited Vivace, celebrating his "discovery of the essence of national music," brought the quartet to a close with effectively quiet coda — a tragic reflection of the composer's impending deafness.
After a short intermission was the final item of the program: Béla Bartók's String Quartet #1 in A-minor, composed between 1908 and 1909. Like his Violin Concerto No. 1, the string quartet was partially inspired by the composer's unrequited love for the young Hungarian violinist Stefi Geyer. Geyer did not return Bartók's feelings and thus rejected the concerto, which went unperformed until after both of their deaths. Written in the shadow of this rejection, the First Quartet is cast in three somber movements played without pause. It opens on a dark Lento, which the composer himself described as "funeral dirge," that incorporates the same four-note motif for Geyer that had appeared in the First Violin Concerto. This was followed by a brooding and pulsing Allegretto leading to a pensive and meditative Introduzione. The quartet closed on an agitated and sinister Allegro vivace that ends on three unresolved fortissimo strikes, bringing the work to its unsettling conclusion.
The Michelangelo Quartet played with perfection and were rightly met with considerable and lingering applause. After two enthusiastic curtain calls, the players returned for an encore performance of the Lento from Dvořák's "American" String Quartet No. 12 in F-major. Composed the same year as his famous Ninth Symphony From the New World, the "American" Quartet possess all of the warm tonalities and longing, expansive melodies that would come to define the sound of American music with such composers as Virgil Thomson and Aaron Copland. The somber Lento is easily one of the more memorable movements, so its no wonder why the members of the Michelangelo Quartet would chose this as their encore. Its elegiac closing, which seemed to linger in the air long after the players stopped bowing, made for a haunting postlude to the program for those audience members who stayed for the initial applause. It was a lovely way to sign off the night.
St Lawrence Quartet|Inon Barnatan @ Zankel Hall
Above: the St. Lawrence String Quartet; photo by Marco Borggreve. From left, Owen Dalby (violin), Lesley Robertson (viola), Geoff Nuttall (violin), and Christopher Costanza (cello)
~ Author: Oberon
Thursday November 8th, 2018 - Pianist Inon Barnatan joined the St. Lawrence String Quartet onstage for a performance of the Shostakovich Piano Quintet this evening at Zankel Hall; earlier in the program, the St. Lawrence played quartets by Haydn and Beethoven. It was a spellbinding night of music-making: I was glued to every note and nuance.
The St. Lawrence Quartet are a fearless and fabulous band of musicians; their playing has great immediacy, with traces of grittiness. Their individual voices and personalities might seem unlikely to form an alliance, yet their blend is finely-integrated and has a vivid freshness. Ever aware of the inherent drama of the works on offer, they never settle for simply making beautiful music together; they also find beauty in unlikely places. And, most of all, they make the music feel important. Which it is.
At the start of the Haydn String Quartet in G-Minor, Op. 20, No. 3, I was not at all sure I was going to like the St. Lawrence: they seemed too quirky. But I soon realized that their way with Haydn is exactly what's needed to make the composer's music - which often seems just superficially attractive to me - live and breathe.
The nice, dusky cello sound of Christopher Costanza was the first voice to lure me. The Haydn's opening Allegro con spirito seems witty, thanks to cleverly-timed pauses along the way. By the time the Menuetto commenced, the blend of the four instruments had settled in, and their courtly dance was evocative.
After a pause, the Poco adagio was superbly rendered: it has the feeling of a chorale, with the cellist as soloist. Passion builds, and the playing of the foursome becomes exceptionally gorgeous. This was one of my favorite Haydn experiences to date. Then the minor-key Allegro di molto springs forth: lovely energy and cunningly-placed subtle bits swept us on to the finish, with the players re-called by a very attentive and appreciative audience.
Beethoven's last quartet, in F-Major, Op. 135, might have been the highlight of the concert, were it not for the ensuing Shostakovich...or the Schumann encore, for that matter. It was essentially one great evening of highlights.
From its hesitant start, the opening Allegretto of the opus 135 is full of little surprises. And also a bit of rambling, though no one can ramble like Beethoven. In the Vivace that follows, the St Lawrence's playing is so engaging and...alive!...and they are so engrossing to watch, as when they started sawing away at one dramatic point. The Allegretto's brisk ending finds a perfect contrast in the building of a chord which opens the ensuing Lento assai. A deep, lullabye-like theme, so haunting, brings forth heartfelt sonorities from the players, with the cello's depth of tone burrowing into my soul. There are touching hesitations before the hymn-like beauty of the movement's conclusion.
The opening of the final Grave is almost reluctant, with dramatic pauses, but then the Allegro suddenly springs up. Some of this music sounds really avant garde - the violins almost alarming - in a way that we referred to in the 1960s as "far out". But then we re-bound back to the 19th century, with some genial plucking.
Fervent applause yet again, with a "curtain call" that brought many audience members to their feet.
Above: pianist Inon Barnatan
In recent seasons, Inon Barnatan has given us some magnificent musical experiences - his 2016 Gaspard de la Nuit at Chamber Music Society was a genuine knockout - and tonight his performance in the Shostakovich Piano Quintet was full of marvels, and perfectly aligned with the St. Lawrence's daring vision of the work.
From the very first notes, Mr. Barnatan's remarkable playing set this performance of the Shostakovich on a trajectory that placed it among the most memorable musical events in recent seasons. Passionate playing from the strings drew us deeper and deeper into the piece. Lesley Robertson's viola resonates glowingly over a Bach-like piano figure. A high-lying passage from Geoff Nuttall's violin and more beauty from Mr. Costanza's cello lead to a dramatic outburst, and a full stop.
Muting his violin, Mr. Nuttall commences the Fugue, taken up by Owen Dalby (2nd violin), and then in turn by the cello, and viola. The piano enters, deep and pensive. Passion rises; Mr. Barnatan and Mr. Costanza have solo phrases, then Mr. Nuttall's violin sings wistfully over a sustained cello tone. The movement ends on a lingering chord.
The very familiar theme that opens the Scherzo: Allegretto made me want to get up and dance. The piano is light, the violin perky; then everyone digs in. High and insistent, the piano irritates; there's lots of pinging notes and plucking strings. The cello runs restlessly up and down scales, then the joke has a sudden punchline.
Mr. Nuttall's violin sounds forlorn over the plucking cello as the Intermezzo begins. From the keyboard, Mr. Barnatan brings a sense of mystery; the violin's high, and the cello deep. A violin solo - so poignant - follows, then the piano's rhythm invokes the sound of footsteps. In this movement, I'm reminded of Prokofiev's Opus 19 and Stravinsky's Duo Concertant. It finishes sublimely, the violin in the heavens.
A jazzy blend introduces the final Allegretto, with strutting violins giving an à l'Espagnole flavour. Later, the music has the feel of a grand Polonaise. The piano calms things down, then searing strings bring a return of the 'Spanish' motif. After a last violin solo, the quintet reaches a jazzy ending.
Called back by house-filling applause, the St Lawrence Quartet and Mr. Barnatan gave a joyous performance of the Scherzo from Robert Schumann's piano quintet. As the artists returned for another bow, I sensed a pent up passion in the crowd, so I emitted an opera-house 'bravo!', and sure enough, the dam burst and everyone started yelling. The audience were sent home in high spirits after a splendid concert.
~ Oberon
Persson|McGill @ The NY Philharmonic
Above: soprano Miah Persson, photographed by Monika Rittershaus
Wednesday November 7th, 2018 - Music of Schubert and Beethoven soothed the spirit after all the stress of the mid-term election frenzy. The stress continues, and music remains the best antidote. The Philharmonic played sumptuously all evening under the baton of Iván Fischer.
The Schubert symphonies, musically impeccable as they are, don't really send me. Tonight, the composer's very pleasant Fifth Symphony (1816) put me as close as I have ever come to falling asleep in the concert hall. This had nothing to do with the conducting or the playing, but simply that - to me - this is music that stays on the surface, however lovely that surface might be.
In music that radiates optimism, Maestro Fischer let the composer's songfulness fill the hall. Robert Langevin's flute playing - as ever - fell graciously on the ear. The symphony wends its way onward, with momentary musical shadows quickly dispelled and Springtime freshness prevailing. Overall, I felt a bit like I was being served dessert first. Not a bad thing, really; but in my old age, my taste for sweets has become less keen.
Above: Anthony McGill, the Philharmonic's principal clarinetist, playing at the Temple of Dendur
Anthony McGill and soprano Miah Persson then took the stage for Franz Schubert's Shepherd on the Rock. Ms. Persson has had such an important career that it's somewhat embarrassing for me to say that this evening was my first experience of hearing her live. In fact, incredibly enough, I had not heard her voice at all until earlier this year when I watched a DVD of the Glyndebourne production of Britten's TURN OF THE SCREW in which the soprano gives an excellent performance as The Governess.
In the TURN OF THE SCREW production mentioned above, Miah Persson appears as a rather prim and proper brunette; this evening at the Philharmonic, she swept onstage: a comely blonde looking classically elegant in her gown of a distinctive shade of blue. The dapper Mr. McGill was at Maestro Fischer's right hand as the Philharmonic premiere of Shepherd on the Rock, arranged for large ensemble by Carl Reinecke, commenced.
From the start, I must say, Reinecke's orchestration did this Schubert jewel no favors. A fluffed entry from the horns did not auger well, and in general the layers of sound and internal movement obliterated the simple charm of the music in its voice-clarinet-piano setting, which was so marvelously rendered at Chamber Music Society in 2016. But Mr. McGill's sustained-tone entry, so luminous a note that I felt I might burst into tears, set things to rights.
Throughout the piece, the master clarinetist gave the music a pearly lustre, with ravishing dynamic nuances and coloratura cascades filled with limpid light. Few sounds that I have experienced caress the ear to such sheer delight as that of Anthony McGill's clarinet.
Ms. Persson meanwhile was making a marvelous effect in this music. Her voice is more of a full lyric than a lyric-coloratura, and as such her sound fit ideally into the richer, denser canvas of the Reinecke arrangement. One felicitous phrase followed another, and she lent the vocal line an unusual depth of emotion with her dusky, expressive lower notes.
As the mood of the piece shifted, at In tiefem Gram verzehr ich mich!, Ms. Persson's vocal colourings and her intrinsic gift for dynamic modulation were simply sublime as she sang of her loneliness and longing; her softest notes were woven exquisitely into the vocal line. Time and again, this singer's voice gave me shivers of pleasure.
But then, things somehow went awry. Maestro Fischer introduced an up-sweeping tempo for the final strophe of the poem, and then accelerated further as the singer anticipates the Springtime. Where's the fire? The orchestral textures became muddied, and while Mr. McGill kept pace, Ms. Persson seemed a bit pressed, and her highest notes were too rushed and unsettled. Not quite the ending we might have hoped for. Enthusiastic applause, but not the type of pandemonium that might have erupted had a more reasonable tempo in the final passages been applied.
For all that, Mr. McGill was sensational, and I am anxious to hear Ms. Persson again: I'm thinking she'd be the Marschallin we've been waiting for.
Above: Maestro Iván Fischer, photographed by Marco Borggreve
Fourth symphonies rule! The 4ths of Mahler, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Beethoven are all top favorites of mine. Tonight, with Maestro Fischer on the podium for the Beethoven 4th, this less-favoured of the master's nine symphonies gave a lot of enjoyment. Unlike the opening Schubert, the broader emotional range of the Beethoven gives us more to think about, and to feel.
Beethoven's Fourth was premiered at the Lobkowitz Palace in Vienna in March 1807; being a private concert, there are no first-hand reports of critical or audience reaction. Beethoven's use of a slow introduction makes a profound impression, its classicism intriguingly jarred by some pointed dissonances before embarking on an Allegro vivace, rich with melodies. As the music takes off, the Philharmonic's principal bassoonist Judith LeClair sets up a lively rhythmic figuration. Mssrs. McGill and Langevin, along with oboist Sherry Sylar, dot the music with charming solo bits, whilst the strings sound simply super.
In the Adagio, the strings produce a sensation of rolling waves. Mr. McGill has a plush-toned solo, the bassoons a pulsing motif, and the violins a harmonized interlude. Mr. McGill intrigues us again, playing over plucked strings. The basses resonate, the horns give a burnished quality.
The ensuing Allegro vivace is neither fully a scherzo nor a minuet; it has a life of its own...and a witty end. Bustling strings in perpetual motion enliven the final Allegro, ma non troppo with its nod to Haydn and its quizzical little bassoon jest.
American Composers Orchestra @ Zankel Hall
Above: composer Joan Tower
Friday November 2, 2018 - Perhaps it is 2018, not 1992, that will someday be regarded as the real Year of the Woman. Given the recent successes of many women in culture and politics and the advances of the #MeToo movement, women now seem to be a more powerful force than ever before. Indeed, there were more than a few phenomenal women at Friday night's concert of the American Composers Orchestra in Zankel Hall. This included a performance of one of America's most celebrated living composers, that dame of American classical music Joan Tower, and two world premieres by Valerie Coleman and Alex Temple.
The evening began with a performance of Joan Tower's eventful Chamber Dance, a somewhat discursive 16-minute work for small orchestra written on a commission from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in 2006. Despite its relatively short duration, Chamber Dance is packed with musical ideas that ranged from pensive meditations to propulsive orchestral bursts. Its writing is firmly rooted in 20th century musical styles, sounding almost filmic during more dramatic moments, and features numerous solos to showcase the performers. This occasionally got the better of the ACO musicians, however, who struggled with clarity during some of the work's more technically demanding passages.
Tower, who this year celebrated her 80th birthday, showed a spunky sense of humor in an amusing post-performance talk with the ACO Artistic Director Derek Bermel during which she teased an upcoming commission with New York Philharmonic—her first solo commission from that orchestra. This should come as exciting news to both fans of American classical music and the New York Philharmonic, which, despite being one of America's flagship orchestras, has tended to favor more works by European composers in recent years.
Next up was the world premiere of Phenomenal Women by Valerie Coleman (above), a concerto for wind quintet and orchestra from which the program derived its name. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Coleman is known for her mastery in blending American musical styles with political or Americana themes—a mastery that was on full display Friday night. Phenomenal Women was co-commissioned by the ACO and Carnegie Hall for the Imani Winds, a New York City-based wind quintet, which Coleman herself founded in 1997. After an opening movement that included the entire quintet, the five subsequent movements were uniquely devoted to a single soloist. Appropriately, each of these six movements is named after one (or many) phenomenal women.
The first movement, "Maya Angelou," opened on sonorous, gospel-like cadences before a great crash signaled the work's transition into exciting and more colorful terrain. An energetic flute solo harkened to Angelou's famous singing "caged bird" while jazzy rhythms and gestures further stated the movement's deep roots in African American musical styles. This was a electrifying way to open the concerto.
The second movement, named after the mathematician and longtime NASA employee Katherine Johnson whose work was critical to America's endeavors in space exploration, featured virtuosic gestures by the oboist Mark Dover, whose playing was often punctuated with colorful arpeggios throughout the orchestra. The third movement, named after the tennis star Serena Williams, sported a much softer soundscape—one that appropriately matched the warmth of Monica Ellis's flawless bassoon technique. The fourth movement, "Caravana," which featured a wistful and elegant flute solo by Brandon Patrick George, was a highlight of the work, though somewhat less obvious in its title's meaning—this being a salute to the caravans of immigrants, specifically women, coming to the United States in search of a better life. The penultimate movement "Michelle Obama" featured Dvořák-like harmonies that complimented a warm horn solo by Jeff Scott.
The final movement of the Coleman, named after the young boxer Claressa Shields, featured the clarinetist Mark Dover who brilliantly navigated the movement's darker, almost frightening passages. He was eventually joined by the other players of Imani Winds and a full-ensemble crescendo, followed by several great crashes, triumphantly announced the conclusion of Phenomenal Woman and a resoundingly successful world premiere. It's something that will demand to be heard many times again.
That must not be said, however, for the final work of the evening. This was the world premiere of Three Principles of Noir, a song cycle by the young composer Alex Temple. Temple, according to the composer's bio, "writes music that distorts and combines iconic sounds to create new meanings, often in service of surreal, cryptic, or fantastical stories." In fairness, that description could be perfectly applied to Three Principles of Noir, a rather silly time travel fantasy about an historian's ill-fated attempt to murder the ancestor of a professional rival. What I wouldn't call it is well-conceived, musically engaging (that's why we're here, isn't it?), or just plain good.
The work's musical voice is set rather fixedly in the realm of showtunes—indeed, much of the piece sounded like it could have been lost numbers from the musical Chicago. It is curious for a story set in three different eras (present day, the late 19th century, and the distant future) that the composer did not take advantage of more musical possibilities. Why not, for example, introduce a little cakewalk music for scenes set in the 1890s? Why not play with modern pop clichés for scenes set in the present? Why not try something wild and experimental for scenes set in the future? Alas, the musical style went virtually unvaried throughout its entire twenty minute duration.
Much praise should be given to the all-in performance given by the vocalist Meaghan Burke, but the part itself, which is wordy past the point of being overwritten, is unrelenting, pausing only for long costume changes during the time travel sequences. But, again, instead of applying any interesting musical gestures from the orchestra here, Temple opted for patched-in synthesizers, leaving the whole ensemble to sit quietly while Burke struggled to get in and out of her period attire.
In a pre-performance talk during which he warned about some foul language in Three Principles of Noir, ACO President Edward Yim described the cycle as "millennial." One can only hope that other members of this generation will heartily reject such uses of the term, which seemed here to represent little more than kitschiness, pretense, and vulgarity. It was a frustrating way to send off an otherwise enjoyable evening of music at Carnegie Hall.
Anna Steiger Sings Chausson
Above: Anna Steiger
When I began rescuing recordings from my vast cassette collection and turning them into MP3s, one of the first transfers that I made was of a tape my friend Mollie had sent me of a 1985 BBC broadcast of soprano Anna Steiger singing Chausson's Poème de l'amour et de la mer, conducted by Norman Del Mar.
This recording is very special to me, firstly because the singing is so poetic, and secondly because it was the first time (incredibly) that I heard this gorgeous piece of music. The recording is one of the treasures of my collection. And now I am sharing it here:
Poème de l'amour et de la mer (Chausson) - Anna Steiger ~ Norman Del Mar ~ BBC 1985
Anna Steiger, the daughter of actors Claire Bloom and Rod Steiger, has sung a vast range of music throughout her career: from Monteverdi and Mozart to Britten, Janacek, and Weill. A winner of prestigious prizes and awards, she made her professional debut in 1984, going on to sing at Covent Garden, the ENO, Glyndebourne, Amsterdam, Stuttgart, La Fenice in Venice, Salzburg, Seattle, Los Angeles Opera, New York City Opera, and at BAM.
In the 1990s she moved into mezzo-soprano territory, performing such gem roles as Magdalena in MEISTERSINGER, Marcellina in NOZZE DI FIGARO, and Auntie in PETER GRIMES. She lives in Paris, and is this season singing at Toulouse, Rennes, and Rouen.
Ms. Steiger is Despina on the Harnoncourt recording of COSI FAN TUTTE and Concepción on Sir Simon Rattle's recording of Ravel's L'HEURE ESPAGNOLE.
Anna Steiger's striking performance of Varèse's Offrandes, conducted by Pierre Boulez, may be seen here.
Celebrating Francesca Todesco
Above: Francesca Todesco in Isadora Duncan's REVOLUTIONARY; photo by Julie Lemberger
Sunday November 4th, 2018 matinee - Francesca Todesco, a dancer whose performances in works by Isadora Duncan and Anna Sokolow have moved me in recent seasons, celebrated her twenty-year journey in New York City today with a program of danceworks in which she shared the stage with longtime colleagues in pieces choreographed by Isadora Duncan, Anna Sokolow, Catherine Gallant, Rae Ballard, and Jim May.
The performance took place in Speyer Hall, at University Settlement on Eldridge Street: kind of a long trek for me, but eminently worthwhile in the long run. In a finely-paced production, gorgeously lit and featuring live music from the excellent young pianist Nathaniel LaNasa, the value of seeing dance in an up-close-and-personal setting was again affirmed.
Dancers Rae Ballard, Eleanor Bunker, Ilana Cohen, Daniel Fetecua-Soto, Catherine Gallant, Samantha Geracht, Erika Langmeyer, Lauren Naslund, Loretta Thomas, and Margherita Tisato all participated in Francesca's fête today. The legendary Jim May appeared as The Poet in Anna Sokolow's IDEAS OF AN ACROBAT (from MAGRITTE, MAGRITTE).
Solo works by Anna Sokolow and Isadora Duncan opened the performance, with Francesca Todesco dancing the choreography of the two iconic female dancemakers with whom the dancer is closely associated. For Ms. Sokolow's POEM (1995), composer Bruno Belthoise wrote a new piano score (Poème) which is pensive to begin with, then begins to ripple. The dancer is quite still, her hands and arms slowly becoming animated. As the music rises in passion, she enfolds an empty embrace and then backs away.
Above: Improvisation to Brahms, photo from MeemsImages
While Ms. Todesco changed costumes, Mr. LaNasa played one of Johannes Brahms' piano solos from Opus 118 whilst all the women dancers filled the space in what seemed like an improvisational dance with sylphlike lightness and gestural language in the Duncan vein. As this interlude progressed, individual dancers would sometimes pause - close enough for me to reach out and touch - making me feel almost a part of the dance.
Above: Francesca Todesco in Isadora Duncan's HARP; photo by Julie Lemberger
The Isadora Duncan solo HARP (c. 1917) refers to the mythic Aeolian Harp and is danced to a Chopin étude. Now gowned in flowing white, with long draping sleeves, Ms. Todesco moves radiantly to the rippling piano music to and ecstatic ending. Simply gorgeous!
Above: Loretta Thomas and the ensemble rehearsing Isadora Duncan's POLONAISE MILITAIRE
Loretta Thomas led a quartet of women in Isadora Duncan's marvelous POLONAISE MILITAIRE (c. 1914), also set to Chopin. Eleanor Bunker, Ilana Cohen, Erika Langmeyer, and Margherita Tisato - all wearing classic Isadora tunic-style frocks - were excellent, and Ms. Thomas danced with distinctive authority. This work is an affirmation of feminine power and sisterhood.
Music of Chopin brought Ms. Todesco forth in two Isadora Duncan solos, NARCISSUS (1904) and MINUTE WALTZ (1905). In the first of these, Ms. Todesco - in a rose-shade over-tunic - moves expressively to the sad, familiar melody. As the tempo accelerates, she executes soft turns in place before taking a series of poses on the floor and finally collapsing.
In MINUTE WALTZ, Ms. Todesco is bathed in warm light; she begins to sway gently, then fills the space with restless, questing movement.
Above: Catherine Gallant, Eleanor Bunker, and Margherita Tisato in Catherine Gallant's WAVE; photo from MeemsImages
Catherine Gallant's WAVE (2001) continued in a Chopin mode (his Mazurka #43); from a statuary pose, three women - Ms. Gallant, Eleanor Bunker, and Margherita Tisato - dance a sisterly trio in an homage to Isadora. At its end, they resume their original pose. To all these Chopin works, Mr. LaNasa's playing brought freshness and verve.
For the piano four-hands pieces by Florent Schmitt used by Isadora Duncan for her 1914 work, REFLETS D'ALLEMAGNE, Isidora Vladic shared the keyboard with Mr. LaNasa. In the first of two excerpts, Lübeck, Eleanor Bunker, Catherine Gallant, and Loretta Thomas display the trademark movement motifs and gestures that define the Isadora style: their dancing has a natural grace and musical affinity. They are joined for Nuremburg by Ms. Tisato; fleeting solo passages here are lovingly communicative.
Concluding the program's first half, Ms. Todesco had one of her dreams come true as she danced Jim May's 1985 duet SLEEPING BOUQUET, which she had first seen some 20 years ago and always wanted to dance. The only work today performed to recorded music (the familiarly romantic Adagio from the Rachmaninoff second piano concert), Ms. Todesco was partnered here by Daniel Fecetua-Soto, former Limón principal.
After the interval, there was a piano four-hands prelude to the program's second half: Mr. LaNasa and Ms. Vladic played Brahms' Hungarian Dance #8 in such a lively manner that I half-expected audience members to rise and kick up their heels.
Above: Jim May as the Poet in IDEAS OF AN ACROBAT; photo by Meemsimages
Anna Sokolow's IDEAS OF AN ACROBAT (from MAGRITTE, MAGRITTE) is performed to a specially-composed piano work by Haziel Masiello. Jim May, standing directly before me in a suit and bowler à la Magritte, intones poetry by Paul Eluard with his hauntingly inflected voice as dancers Eleanor Bunker, Samantha Geracht, and Lauren Naslund perform a stylized, ritualistic dance. Spotlit, the women's shadows become part of the movement. The dancers become more animated, yet remain stationary for the most part. This atmospheric work ends in fading light.
Above: Daniel Fetecua-Soto and Francesca Todesco in Rae Ballard's FADOS DOS AMANTES; photo by Julie Lemberger
Two premieres with a Portuguese flavour are next, both choreographed by Rae Ballard - a name new to me. These were commissioned by Ms. Tedesco. In the first, FADOS DOS AMANTES (music by Eduardo Burnay and Alexandre Rey Colaço), a pair of lovers move thru various states of their relationship.
Ms. Todesco dances the first movement while Mr. Fetebua-Soto slumbers on the floor: Francesca wears a long black dress, sometimes giving her skirt a provocative twitch. The male solo is more searching, and more animated. The concluding duet shows the couple bound to each other, for better or worse.
Above: from Rae Ballard's PORTUGUESE SUITE; photo from MeeemsImages. From left: Ms. Ballard, Lauren Naslund, and Samantha Geracht
Rae Ballard's lyrical choreography for herself and Mlles. Geracht and Naslund in EXCERPT FROM PORTUGUESE SUITE is lovely to behold. They dance in silence, and also to music by Luis Costa. This excerpt is part of a work-in-progress to be premiered in 2019.
To conclude the program, Isadora Duncan's SCRIABIN ÉTUDES (1921-1923) were strikingly played by Mr. LaNasa and superbly danced by Ms. Todesco. In the course of the work's three movements, we can savour Francesca's gift for making emotional connections both to the music and to her audience. Clad in red, the dancer's expressive face and sublime use of gesture move from anxious animation thru the quiet despair of bereavement, to the embodiment of a passionate revolutionary: a woman who peers out at us and who utters a series of silent screams.
Bouquets were presented as a lively standing ovation greeted Francesca and all her colleagues at the end of this truly wonderful performance.
Mariinsky Orchestra @ Carnegie Hall
Above: pianist Nelson Friere
~ Author: Ben Weaver
Wednesday October 31st & Thursday November 1st, 2018 - Christmas season officially arrived to NYC on Halloween when the Mariinsky Orchestra, under direction of Valery Gergiev, performed Tchaikovsky's perennial holiday favorite The Nutcracker ballet at Carnegie Hall. Tchaikovsky never intended the work to be a holiday occasion. It was premiered on a double bill with the opera Iolanta. It is a strange pairing of two completely unrelated - dramatically and musically - works and it is never performed that way today. Indeed, The Nutcracker on a double bill with anything would be unthinkable.
Tchaikovsky's parade of greatest hits in The Nutcracker (the last of his 3 great ballets) is filled with endless invention of melody and orchestration. The delicate Overture (scored for violins and violas only) quickly introduces the audience to the magical story to come. (Interestingly, the strings only overture of The Nutcracker is a nice contrast to the winds-only introduction to its former sibling, Iolanta.) Maestro Gergiev and his Mariinsky forces played this lovely piece to perfection. The Mariinsky Theater premiered the ballet in 1892, so this music is part of their heritage and they play it with obvious love and affection.
Act 1 of the ballet is set at a Christmas party as kids and adults exchange gifts and decorate the tree. Tchaikovsky's music remains light and delicate, though each number possesses a unique character and sound. The famous March for the children brings in horns and trumpets. Minuets and polkas, waltzes and lullabies, and a quote from Michael Haydn's Toy Symphony, give way to a dark and sinister snowy night as Clara and her Nutcracker-cum-Prince, alone at night, must now battle the Mouse King. The charming, elegant music of the party, which dominated the score until now, changes completely. The darker score - including a gun shot - is filled with wailing flutes, a marching drum and bugles calling everyone to arms. When the Battle ends, comes a calming Waltz of the Snowflakes (which includes an off-stage children's chorus, not featured in this live performance).
The Enchanted Palace Confiturembourg, where Act 2 is set, is filled with some of the most famous melodies Tchaikovsky ever composed: when the composer pulled a concert suite out of the ballet, he used almost the entire Divertissement. Spanish Dance, Arabian Dance and Chinese Dance introduce some whimsy and exoticism to the proceedings, the galloping Russian Dance provides a dizzying whirl. (It is now fashionable for people to apologize for the musical stereotyping of these movements. Occasionally political correctness really does become a silly tyrant.) There are gently piping miniature flutes of the Mirlitons and the celesta (an instrument Tchaikovsky was taken in by in Paris and was eager to introduce to the Russian public before another composer scooped him) of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. The Waltz of the Flowers begins with a magnificent introduction from the harp (played beautifully by Sofia Kiprskaya) and then gives way to what is surely one of the most beautiful and famous melodies ever composed by anyone. The Pas de deux may not be as famous with the outside world, but every time I hear it I am convinced that more ravishing music has never been composed.
Maestro Gergiev (above) and his Mariinsky forces played all this to perfection. With his odd finger waving, which his orchestra understands without a problem, Gergiev shepherded a lively, perfectly paced and articulated performance. Tchaikovsky provides endless opportunities for every player in the orchestra to distinguish themselves. And this night they certainly did.
On the second night of the Mariinsky' Carnegie Hall visit, the orchestra presented two German works: Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto (with soloist Nelson Freire) and Richard Strauss' symphonic poem Ein Heldenleben.
Brahms' two piano concertos are both highly symphonic in nature and length: each running close to an hour, they are like Mount Everests of the piano repertoire: some pianists choose not to climb. The great Brazillian pianist Nelson Freire is not one of them. The 74-year-old Friere has been wowing the public with his artistry for many decades. A Brahms Piano Concerto (either one) is a fiendishly difficult work to play: demanding great stamina and the ability to compete with the sound of a massive orchestra, Brahms can defeat anyone. Freire, however, still possesses everything needed to triumph over Brahms' obstacles. He never wavered. Maestro Gergiev was a great partner in this; he pulled the orchestra back, allowing the piano to dominate, but unleashing torrents of beautiful sounds during the strictly orchestral passages. Freire's scales were clean, each note clearly etched out. Magnificent solos from the horn (in the first movement) and cello (third movement) were gorgeously dispatched by members of the orchestra.
The audience's warm response and a standing ovation convinced Freire to perform an encore: Gluck's Mélodie from Orfeo ed Euridice, transcribed for piano. This may have been Freire's most profound playing of the night: just him and the piano with Gluck's searing melodies, the audience seemed to be holding its breath.
Richard Strauss' massive, retrospective tone symphony Ein Heldenleben was completed in 1898. Strauss told the writer Romain Rolland that he didn't see any reason why he couldn't compose a symphony about himself. "I find myself quite as interesting as Napoleon or Alexander." The "symphony" contains more than 30 musical quotes from Strauss' previous works, including from Also sprach Zarathustra, Don Quixote and Till Eulenspiegel. It is made up of 6 parts, each describes a part of the hero's life. It is written for a massive orchestra - the stage of Carnegie Hall was filled - including 5 trumpets, 8 horns and an array of percussion. Massive orchestral passages alternate with chamber-light ones, including an extended violin solo beloved by all concertmasters. This evening guest concert-master Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcowici dazzled with his virtuosity and passion. Gergiev's high voltage conducting was perfect for Strauss and the orchestra met every demand. From the bombastic cacophonies of 'The Battle' to the stillness of 'Hero's Works of Peace'. And the big romantic sweep of the 'Love Theme' has given life to many film scores.
As an encore, the orchestra played Stravinsky's majestic Berceuse and Finale from The Firebird. An exotic, thrilling way to end the two-night extravaganza.
I should note the presence of some protestors outside of the concert hall on both evenings. A handful of people peacefully held signs criticizing maestro Gergiev's long-standing support of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
~ Ben Weaver
The Art of the Quintet @ CMS
Above: clarinetist Tommaso Lonquich
Friday November 2nd, 2018 - Three quintets, written over the span of a hundred years, were on offer at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center tonight. A group of top-flight artists gathered on the Alice Tully Hall stage to play music by Mozart, Reicha, and Glazunov.
Written in 1791 - the last year of his life - Mozart's Quintet in E-flat major for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Cello, K. 614 is a luminous jewel. This evening's ensemble featured Sean Lee and Alexi Kenney (violins), violists Yura Lee - she of the sparkling shoes - and Misha Amory, and cellist Nicholas Canellakis.
The violas kick off the quintet's opening Allegro di molto, which has a charming, dancelike air about it. Sean Lee's violin sometimes sailed into his blissful high range whilst his fellow violinist Alexi Kenney (new to me) showed a vivid sense of articulation. Nick Canellakis - always a favorite of mine - invested every note with radiant tone while his rhythmic acuity gave the movement a really nice energy.
In the courtly Andante, with its passing sighs in the minor mode, the original melody from the lower voices melody is repeated, first with Sean Lee weaving a lithe obbligato and then again with Mr. Kenney playing a counter-song.
Above: Sean Lee
Applause between movements makes the audience relax too much and start shuffling about, leaving the players to re-establish the mood...which they did convincingly for the Menuetto: Allegretto, in which a descending theme is beautifully harmonized. Later, Sean Lee leads a waltzy section with graceful distinction.
Mr. Lee also added zest to the concluding Allegro with some shining excursions to the high range. This brisk finale has a light touch, with some fun pauses. After a brief visit to the minor, Mozart dances us on to the finish.
Two musicians I was hearing for the first time this evening:
Misha Amory (viola)...
..and Alexi Kenney (violin)
We then welcomed clarinet paragon Tommaso Lonquich back to Tully Hall for a performance of Anton Reicha's Quintet in B-flat major for Clarinet, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 89 (c. 1809). Mr. Lonquich made a vivid impression in his previous appearances here, and his playing tonight was magnificent.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Lonquich announced from the stage that the players were making an addition to the program: before commencing the Reicha, they performed a truly lovely arrangement of Robert Schumann's Abend-lied, transcribed for clarinet quintet from its original piano form by Ferruccio Busoni. Mr. Lonquich and the string ensemble (Mssrs. Kenney, Lee, Amory, and Canellakis) made a poignant blend in this brief twilight work, evoking a feeling of calm.
Anton Reicha's music has a bel canto feeling; the featured clarinet passages seem to be 'sung' rather than played. Mr. Lonquich's remarkable clarity of tone, his uncanny spinning of tone thru a vast dynamic range, and his command of the florid style made a tremendous impression throughout the piece. A particularly impressive passage in the opening Allegro finds the strings plucking whilst the clarinet reels off virtuoso phrases with dazzling command.
The bel canto feeling is in full flourish during the Andante, where the cavatina-like melody drew simply gorgeous playing from the Italian clarinetist. Mr. Kenney's playing shone forth in a solo passage, then Ms. Lee's viola takes up a melody that is transferred to Mr. Canellakis' cello. Simply gorgeous playing from everyone.
In the animated Menuetto: Allegro, Mr. Lonquich's feeling for subtlety constantly delighted the ear; in full-voiced phrases, his clarinet filled the rather chilly hall with roseate sound. Duetting with Mr. Kenney over a plucked accompaniment, Mr. Lonquich kept our spirits high. A superb cello solo from Mr. Canellakis brought us back full circle for the da capo.
Above: Nick Canellakis
In the final Allegretto of the Reicha, which has a lovely lightness about it, Mr. Lonquich's fluent scale passages and pinpoint coloratura were exhilarating. Mr. Kenney again delighted in a solo played over a graciously plucked accompaniment. A fugue springs up, and returns again as the quintet rolls on to its finish. The players were greeted with lively enthusiasm by the crowd as they took their bows.
A rather long intermission ensued, the hall seeming very chilly indeed as we sat there worrying about the upcoming mid-term election. A splendid performance of the Glazunov warmed our spirits and help us cast our cares away...at least for a time.
In greeting us at the Society's opening night concert in October, Wu Han remarked that we'd be hearing a lot of Russian music the months ahead: in March, a four-concert series entitled Russian Panorama serves as the centerpiece of the season. Tonight, Glazunov's Quintet in A major for Two Violins, Viola, and Two Cellos, Op. 39 (1891-92), was a wonderful post-interval treat.
Cellist David Finckel (above) joined the two Lees, and Mssrs. Kenney and Canellakis for the Glazunov. The richness of Mr. Finckel's deep notes as this Russian treasure evolved gave me chills of the best kind.
By now, I felt on a first-name basis with the players: Yura (above) opened the quintet with a solo of burnished warmth, followed by solos from Nick, Sean, and Alexi which felt like re-connecting with friends, one after another. The theme comes back to Yura, and then Sean plays a high-lying passage with shining tone. The integration of the voices draws us deeper and deeper into the music, whilst Mr. Finckel's sustained notes give it a sustaining richness. Alexi takes up a theme that is passed about, and Nick's cello sounds simply wonderful. The tempo picks up, to a bracing conclusion.
Sean and Alexi commence the Scherzo with plucked notes; and indeed, plucking permeates this movement. The players take turns playing pizzicati as their colleagues engage us with melodic motifs. Sean's animated plucking sets up a light end to this charming movement.
David Finckel's playing as the Andante sostenuto begins is bathed in sadness; Sean takes up an affecting melody under-pinned by David's cello which has a sense of yearning. The mood lightens a bit, with Yura, Sean, and Alexi each have solo phrases. But sadness returns, the Finckel cello drawing us down to the depths. A lovely solo from Sean Lee brings an exquisite end.
After a darkish start, the concluding Allegro moderato becomes a folk dance. A fugue develops, but then the mood becomes tranquil with Sean in a silky solo passage. Alternating currents of speed and relative calm being us to a final acceleration, with Nick Canellakis having a final say.
A prolonged ovation greeted the musicians, and they were called out for a second bow.
Barber Violin Concerto @ The NY Philharmonic
Above: Frank Huang, concertmaster of The New York Philharmonic
Thursday November 1st, 2018 - Two scores that have been choreographed by Peter Martins for New York City Ballet were on offer tonight at The New York Philharmonic: Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto and Sergei Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances. Both ballets are among Martins' best works. The Philharmonic's concertmaster, Frank Huang, was soloist for the Barber; Juraj Valčuha was on the podium.
This program was red-lettered by me when the Philharmonic season was announced months ago. Unfortunately, the more one is looking forward to something, the more likely it will be sabotaged...as witness the Czech Philharmonic's recent Mahler 2nd at Carnegie Hall. Distracting audience behavior sent us packing early tonight.
This Philharmonic concert opened with Erich Korngold's Much Ado About Nothing Suite. This very attractive music has the feel of a Hollywood film soundtrack. Tall and handsome, Maestro Valčuha looked truly dapper in his tux as he led the Philharmonic players thru this pleasant but ultimately unmemorable score: this is music that asks nothing more of its listeners than that they sit back and let it wash over them.
All well and good, especially in a performance so perfectly executed as tonight's, strewn with lovely opportunities for the Philharmonic's solo players. Each of the Suite's movements relates to the Shakespeare play, commencing with a blithe and bonny Overture. Maidens in the Bridal Chamber features a delectable cello solo from the wonderful Eileen Moon-Myers which sets up a mood of wistful romance. I could not see the solo flautist, but Pascual Martínez-Forteza's clarinet sounded dreamy.
The comic characters Dogberry and Verges of the Night Watch are portrayed in a wryly ironic march; during a lull, Cynthia Phelps's viola sounds with lovely clarity. Harp, piano, and cello (Ms. Moon-Myers again) play the lullabye-like Intermezzo, which gets quite sentimental. Ms. Phelps's viola sings again: simply gorgeous.
The finale's Hornpipe dances along with bustling horns and a general sense of merriment.
Barber's is my enduring favorite among violin concertos; a close runner-up, the Prokofiev 1st, was just performed at the Philharmonic last week by Gil Shaham. Over the years. I have heard this concerto more than a dozen times as played by the NYC Ballet's fine orchestra, usually with one of their estimable concertmasters - Arturo Delmoni or Kurt Nikkanen - as soloist. Up until this evening, my only chances to hear the Barber in a concert setting have been played by Augustin Hadelich at Carnegie Hall in 2014 and by Lisa Batiashvili (with the Philharmonic) in 2015.
Tonight, Frank Huang's performance of the Barber - and the brilliant music-making of his Philharmonic colleagues - made for a deeply rewarding experience. Maestro Valčuha delved into the emotional depths of the music, exploring the darkish aspects of the score whilst savouring its heartfelt lyricism. Truly magnificent!
However, things did not start well: Mr. Huang had tucked his violin under his chin - with his colleagues at the ready, the Maestro poised to give the downbeat - when a phone rang. This did not sound like a cellphone, but rather a landline. It finally stopped, and the restive audience settled in. But just as the music commenced, the phone rang again.
At last the Barber began, with the piano (what a terrific stroke of imagination on Barber's part to include it!) immediately making its mark. Mr. Huang had a score near him on a stand, but he hardly ever seemed to refer to it. His tone - luminous and heartfelt - gave great pleasure throughout the concerto's first two movements, then appropriately turned skittish and wiry in the complex, fast-paced Presto in moto perpetuo.
Throughout the first movement, the orchestra played with compelling richness and passion; Maestro Valčuha's clear affinity for this music summoned up an ideally rhapsodic quality from the players which was beautifully sustained. There were a few bars when the orchestra nearly swamped Mr. Huang, but that was soon remedied.
There is a spectacular moment as the first movement reaches its climax: the basses and celli take a vertiginous plunge that never fails to send chills up my spine. Tonight, it was again thrilling to experience; and from this, Mr. Huang restates the main them with glowing tone.
While the violinist lavished each phrase with colour and emotional depth, the pianist (Eric Huebner is listed, but I had no view of him) continually made his mark. The solo passages from Mr. Forteza and oboist Sherry Sylar were ravishing.
Ms. Sylar brought tears to my eyes with the plaintive melancholy of the long oboe solo at the start of the Andante. Some people have wondered at Barber's giving such a prominent passage to an instrument that is not the one for which the concerto is written. But, as played by Ms. Sylar, it creates an atmosphere that is thoughtful and truly touching. Mr. Forteza also has his moments here, and so does the horn player (who I could not see).
When Mr. Huang does finally make his entry, the effect is heavenly. As the Andante flowed on, I felt so deeply connected to this music and to the musicians playing it. Sustaining a long note that fades to a shimmer, Mr. Huang had me under his spell.
The concerto's surprisingly brief and edgy Moto perpetuo is full of eccentric accents and deft counter-punches. Mr. Huang reveled in the abundance of notes, played at high speed. Following the concerto's brisk ending, the audience gave the violinist a rousing reception. And Ms. Sylar rightly won bravas as she stood for a bow.
It's always a pleasure to be at a Philharmonic concert when one of the home players steps into the spotlight. Mr. Huang truly deserved the prolonged applause that greeted him at his bows.
Maestro Juraj Valčuha (above)
But for all its excellence, this evening's performance of the Barber tested my patience. Aside from the dreadful ringing of the phone, we had talkers in front of us and coughers behind. My quiet "shhhh" as Mr. Huang began playing drew a nasty glance from the woman who was talking. And the afflicted cougher of course required a brisk unzipping of a pocketbook, the scavenging for a lozenge, the unwrapping of same, and the re-zipping the purse. No sooner had that fire been put out than another coughing jag commenced nearby.
Primed as we had been to hear the Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances, the lack of consideration of those seated around us decided us instead to forego the big exciting Russian work and head home with the Barber fresh in our minds.
People have sometimes told me that I am too sensitive, and that I need to immunize myself against audience distractions and learn to ignore them. The truth is, I shouldn't have to.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Scalable compression for image browsing
A. Jain, S. Panchanathan
In this paper, we present scalable compression algorithms for image browsing. Recently, the International Standards Organization (ISO) has proposed the JPEG standard for still image compression. JPEG standard not only provides the basic feature of compression (baseline algorithm) but also provides the framework for reconstructing images in different picture qualities and sizes. These features are referred to as SNR and spatial scalability, respectively. SNR scalability and spatial scalability can be implemented using the progressive and hierarchical modes in the JPEG standard. In this paper, we implement and investigate the performance of the progressive and hierarchical coding modes of the JPEG standard and compare their performance with the baseline algorithm.
IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics
https://doi.org/10.1109/30.320820
10.1109/30.320820
Dive into the research topics of 'Scalable compression for image browsing'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Scalability Engineering & Materials Science 100%
Image compression Engineering & Materials Science 41%
Jain, A., & Panchanathan, S. (1994). Scalable compression for image browsing. IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, 40(3), 394-404. https://doi.org/10.1109/30.320820
Scalable compression for image browsing. / Jain, A.; Panchanathan, S.
In: IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, Vol. 40, No. 3, 08.1994, p. 394-404.
Jain, A & Panchanathan, S 1994, 'Scalable compression for image browsing', IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 394-404. https://doi.org/10.1109/30.320820
Jain A, Panchanathan S. Scalable compression for image browsing. IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics. 1994 Aug;40(3):394-404. doi: 10.1109/30.320820
Jain, A. ; Panchanathan, S. / Scalable compression for image browsing. In: IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics. 1994 ; Vol. 40, No. 3. pp. 394-404.
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title = "Scalable compression for image browsing",
abstract = "In this paper, we present scalable compression algorithms for image browsing. Recently, the International Standards Organization (ISO) has proposed the JPEG standard for still image compression. JPEG standard not only provides the basic feature of compression (baseline algorithm) but also provides the framework for reconstructing images in different picture qualities and sizes. These features are referred to as SNR and spatial scalability, respectively. SNR scalability and spatial scalability can be implemented using the progressive and hierarchical modes in the JPEG standard. In this paper, we implement and investigate the performance of the progressive and hierarchical coding modes of the JPEG standard and compare their performance with the baseline algorithm.",
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