THE FIRST FIVE CDS I BOUGHT AT TOWER RECORDS!

Memories of Tower Records, Seattle WA.
Sadly closed, and now sadly demolished.

Ah, those were the days. That was even before Tower Records opened its first shop in Singapore, at Pacific Plaza on Scotts Road. The year was 1991, and CD sales were hitting the roof worldwide. I had visited Seattle, Washington State and was on a lookout for some CD shopping. The biggest CD shop was Silver Platters but that was out of town, and the nearest was good old Tower Records, located near the Seattle Opera House and the Space Needle.

This was the first Tower Records I had ever been to, and was bewildered by the supermarket concept of CD shopping, with rows upon rows of CDs all arranged by category and in alphabetical order. Being more acquainted with the boutique concept, this was absolutely mind-blowing. And the idea of getting recordings not easily available in Singapore - especially the American labels - was the idea. 

Tower Records eventually opened in Singapore in 1993, and since then I had been to Tower all around the world (Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Kyoto, London, New York City and the original outlet in San Francisco). Nothing beats the first experience, and this was what I bought.

I had just heard the legendary Gyorgy Sandor
perform Bartok's Second Piano Concerto with the
SSO and had to get this for US$13.95
Later autographed by Gyorgy Sandor.

A new work by the still-living Olivier Messiaen,
from that 20th century specialist Salonen.
Later autographed by Esa-Pekka Salonen
and horn player Michael Thompson.

You couldn't find the American Arabesque
label in Singapore then.
Later autographed by Ian Hobson. 

Budget-priced historical recording at US$9.95
Also wondered what Tchaikovsky's 
"Seventh" Symphony sounds like.

Noticed this was the time when CBS Masterworks
was the label that issued those Ormandy recordings.
That was before Sony Classical came into being. 

Exercise in absolute nerditude: Anybody wants to know what I first bought at Kuala Lumpur's Tower Records?

SINGAPORE'S VINTAGE EATING PLACES: COMMONWEALTH CORNERS III: BLOCK 118

We've come to the third of four corners at Commonwealth Crescent. That's Block 118 (think of Brahms' Sechs Klavierstucke) or "hard luck corner". There has always been a restaurant / coffee shop here but the turnover is so rapid one can scarcely remember what restaurant occupies this spot. 

The latest occupant is Chuan Ye Seafood Zichar, and before that was Yat Yat Fat (118) which had a short-lived Moo Moo Mookata, and before that was Seafood Village (or Seafood Palace I cannot remember), where we had dim sum meals under $10. D'Life vegetarian restaurant was here a couple of years, and before that it was a bunch of hawker stalls which had been a good place for breakfast. And that was more than ten years ago.

This corner also has the only caifan (economy rice) stall in the four corners of Commonwealth Crescent, which does brisk business before closing at dusk. Although Chuan Ye does decent meals, I think its days are numbered, judging by the low traffic. Its footfall comes from old people having caifan meals, beer drinkers and the occasional horse-racing punters. Even the bookie uncle does not visit often, and the tattooed loner is no longer employed to do cleaning up. 

This restaurant has the neatest kitchen area,
which means it doesn't do much cooking.

Only memories, seafood white beehoon and har cheong kai (prawn paste fried chicken) bring us back, which may be paid with CDC vouchers. The F&B competition in these parts is awfully stiff, and to think its neighbours are the well-established Hong Kong Street Old Chun Kee and Two Chefs Eating Place. It's sad to see this one go, and its back to "here we go again", wondering what the next restaurant will be all about. 

Empty chairs at empty tables,
so says a Les Miserables song,
 are a worrying sign.

PIANO: GREAT RECORDINGS from SONY MUSIC / Review Part I

 

PIANO: GREAT RECORDINGS

Sony Music 88843091752 (30 CDs)

Here is another “piano cube”, a boxed-set released by the German division of Sony Music in 2014, comprising 30 discs from the vast back catalogues of the leading American labels RCA Victor and Columbia Masterworks. A total of 30 pianists are represented, and is presented in chronological sequence, from historical pianists during the monaural era to the early 2010s. Its selection across the board is rather impressive, but by not having 50 CDs, for me, is a lost opportunity.

It is almost regrettable to consider how many great pianists and their recordings have not been chosen. The likes of Jorge Bolet, William Kapell, Van Cliburn, Gary Graffman, Charles Rosen, Eugene Istomin, Lazar Berman, John Browning, Fou Ts’ong, Peter Serkin, Cyprien Katsaris, Tedd Joselson and even Denis Matsuev / Sergei Edelmann / Vladimir Feltsman – all of whom recorded for RCA / Columbia – could have easily filled another 15 discs. As I said, a lost opportunity.

We should be satisfied with what we have, and there are still lots to be discovered and enjoyed. The earliest recordings date from 1940 and before, and there can be no more definitive performances than those of Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943). This compilation includes only short pieces – a selection of Preludes, Etudes-tableaux and transcriptions – all short enough to fit a single side of a 78 rpm disc. The second disc sees Bela Bartok (1881-1945) in a selection of Mikrokosmos and his legendary recording of Contrasts with violinist Joseph Szigeti and clarinettist Benny Goodman. These are historically significant recordings, and thus a great start.

All the great early performers were emigres to American from the Old World including the Bohemia-born Rudolf Serkin (1903-1991) in performances of Beethoven’s First and Third Piano Concertos. From the stylish Frenchman Robert Casadesus (1899-1972), ne gets to hear Mozart's Piano Concerto No.21 and 24, performed with his own cadenzas. 

The pair of Ukraine-born Vladimir Horowitz (1903-1989) and Poland-born Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982) are highlighted in repertoire they championed, for which they were justly celebrated. Horowitz in Domenico Scarlatti Sonatas and Rubinstein in Chopin’s Waltzes and Impromptus were nigh unimpeachable, even to this day.

During the post-Stalinist thaw in the Soviet Union, two Russian pianists made famous debuts in USA to great acclaim. Emil Gilels (1916-1985) came first, immortalised by his recording of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto with Fritz Reiner – famously described to have been “stewed in Russian juices”. “Wait till you hear Richter!” was his response to just accolades, and Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997) obliged with Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto with Erich Leinsdorf and the Chicago Symphony. Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata (Op.57), from his 1960 American tour, is the substantial filler. Both these recordings have become priceless relics of the Cold War.

Continued in Part II:

pianomania: PIANO: GREAT RECORDINGS from SONY MUSIC / Review Part II

PIANO: GREAT RECORDINGS from SONY MUSIC / Review Part II

PIANO: GREAT RECORDINGS

Sony Music 88843091752 (30 CDs)

Continued from Part I:

pianomania: PIANO: GREAT RECORDINGS from SONY MUSIC / Review Part I

A generation of OYAPs (Outstanding Young American Pianists) were born in the 1920s, gaining fame and prominence in the 1950s and 60s. They are represented by Leon Fleisher (1928-2020), whose recordings of Beethoven piano concertos (the Second and Fourth Concertos included here) with George Szell are still celebrated for freshness and vigour. Byron Janis (1928-2024) was a natural in Romantic repertoire, and here we enjoy his takes on Schumann’s Piano Concerto and Liszt’s Totentanz.

Several non-Americans also made their mark with Columbia and RCA. From Frenchman Philippe Entremont, both Liszt Piano Concertos with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy are excellent if not wholly representative of his art. The Canadian Glenn Gould (1932-1982) is surprisingly not represented by either his 1955 or 1981 recordings of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, instead one hears the Six French Suites and his humming along. From the Briton John Ogdon (1937-1989), one gets his mighty take on Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata and very unusually, the Chaconne (Op.32) and Suite (Op.45) by Danish composer Carl Nielsen.

There are five women pianists in this set. The Hungary-born Lili Kraus (1903-1986) was a born Mozartian, and one will enjoy her performances of the first five Mozart Piano Sonatas (K.279-283) and Rondo in D major (K.485). Instead of Spanish repertoire (Albeniz, Granados and Mompou), its most significant champion Alicia de Larrocha (1923-2009) is instead heard in Mozart’s Piano Concertos No.22 and 26 with the English Chamber Orchestra led by Sir Colin Davis. Honestly speaking, she deserved two discs.

From Martha Argerich is a rare solo disc from 1976, with Schumann’s Fantasy in C major (Op.17) and eight Fantasiestucke (Op.12), before she abandoned recording solo repertoire altogether. Filipina legend Cecile Licad, last winner of the Leventritt Award, gets her due in Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto and Paganini Rhapsody with Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Claudio Abbado. The fifth woman pianist, is part of the duo of Yaara Tal and Andreas Groethuysen, who perform both books of Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances (Op.46 and 72).

The unique Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000) comfortably straddled between classical and jazz, and his album Mozart No End and The Paradise Band is piano marmite, an acquired taste for sure. He performs Mozart in an inimitably free-spirited way; the Fantasie and Sonata in C minor (K.475 and 457), with several jazz pieces of his own. Love it or hate it. Emanuel Ax is represented by four popular Sonatas of Haydn, Hob.XVI: 20 (C minor), 23 (F major), 48 (C major) and 50 (C major), all worth listening for their wit and humour.

Continued in Part III:

pianomania: PIANO: GREAT RECORDINGS from SONY MUSIC / Review Part III

PIANO: GREAT RECORDINGS from SONY MUSIC / Review Part III

PIANO: GREAT RECORDINGS

Sony Music 88843091752 (30 CDs)

Continued from Part II:

pianomania: PIANO: GREAT RECORDINGS from SONY MUSIC / Review Part II

The multi-Grammy and Gramophone Award winner Murray Perahia has three discs - the most for a single pianist - to his name. His disc of Bach’s Goldberg Variations edges out Glenn Gould, for reasons only known to record executives. I would have loved Perahia and Gould included, simply for the sake of comparison. His Gramophone Award winning album of Handel’s Keyboard Suites (including The Harmonious Blacksmith) and selection of Scarlatti Sonatas (no doubt an influence by Horowitz) is excellent. 

The third disc is the best-selling piano duo recital with Radu Lupu (1945-2022) which had Schubert’s Fantasy in F minor, Mozart’s Sonata in D major (K.448), Variations in G major (K.501) and Fantasy in F minor (K.608). If only this “billion dollar” duo had recorded more than this.

By no means making the numbers are the German Gerhard Oppitz who is totally idiomatic in the rarely heard and performed Carl Maria von Weber Konzertstuck in F minor (Op.79) and both piano concertos with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra and Colin Davis. The Uzbekistan-born Yefim Bronfman is the fire-eating virtuoso in an all-Russian disc of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Stravinsky’s Three Movements from Petrushka and Tchaikovsky’s Dumka.

The younger generation has not been ignored. Evgeny Kissin is totally idiomatic in Chopin’s Four Ballades, Berceuse, Barcarolle and Scherzo No.4, where musicality, intellect and virtuosity find a rare parity. His compatriot Arcadi Volodos should have been honoured with his 1997 Sony debut disc of encores, but we get instead Schubert’s incomplete Sonata No.1 in E major (D.157) and Sonata No.18 in G major (D.894, the so-called Fantasie), fine performances nonetheless.

After Volodos, the fall-off in terms of big name appeal is a marked one, with recitals by Martin Stadtfeld, Juan Jose Chuquisengo and Nikolai Tokarev, all of whom are not household names despite their interesting programmes. 

For all the discs, original cover art has been retained. While track-listings are available on the back, there is no booklet or biographical essays to speak of. Without sounding like a broken gramophone, despite its successes, this collection still comes across as a missed opportunity.

LEGACY: THE NEXT PIANO GENERATION / Soloists with Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra / Review

LEGACY: THE NEXT PIANO GENERATION

David Chen & Roman Blagojevic

Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Wednesday (17 March 2026)

This review was first published on Bachtrack.com on 19 March 2026 with the title "Argerich grandsons make a splash with the Thailand Philharmonic in Singapore".

Music runs in families. There were the Bachs, Mozarts and Mendelssohns, and more recently, the Tcherepnins, Sanderlings and Järvis. Two grandsons of great Argentine pianist Martha Argerich, 19-year-old Roman Blagojevic and 17-year-old David Chen, have now joined the worldwide concert circuit. Their 2026 Legacy Tour with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra led by Argentine conductor Dario Ntaca, presented by Altenburg Arts and 54 Entertainment, included concerts in Bangkok and Singapore.

Blagojevic is the son of Argerich’s third daughter Stéphanie, director of the Argerich family docu-movie Bloody Daughter, and grandson of American pianist Stephen Kovacevich. He appeared tense and ill-at-ease in J.S.Bach’s Keyboard Concerto in F minor (BWV.1056) but was able to project and articulate with clarity, with accompanying strings kept as discreet as possible. Entering one bar late in the Largo could have derailed the movement, but its aria’s elegance partnered by string pizzicatos was sustained through its short duration. The brisk and business-like run-through in the finale suggested he was more comfortable away from the stage.

Photo: Ung Ruey Loon

David Chen is the son of Martha’s eldest daughter violist Lyda Chen-Argerich and pianist-composer Vladimir Sverdlov-Ashkenazy (nephew of Vladimir Ashkenazy). He was by far the more confident of the two, possessing nerve and chutzpah to take up the challenge of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in B flat minor (Op.23). The striding chords of its famous opening were resonant and well-projected, and the cadenza showed he clearly had the fingers for the well-worn warhorse.

He channelled his grandmother’s fiery temperament but also the tendency to rush fences, as if on a whim. When Martha transgresses, it is through authority and instinct but for someone this young, impetuosity and indiscipline are more likely reasons. The slow movement was somnolent until sparks flew in the Prestissimo episode, and the finale was a race of the fastest thoroughbreds, the stampeding octaves culminating with that rolled Horowitzian chord. Undeniably brilliant in the final pages, the audience was duly thrilled, but he is still scaling a steep learning curve.

Photo: Ung Ruey Loon

Both pianists had each an encore playing four-hands piano with Ntaca, in movements from Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite - Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty (Roman) and The Fairy Garden (David). The latter, who received longer and louder applause, also offered Chopin’s Mazurka in C major (Op.24 No.2), displaying more liberties and a free spirit.

The Thailand Philharmonic was more an accompanist than partner in the concert’s first half, and thankfully had its own show for the balance of the evening. Founded as recently as 2005, it has since made rapid progress. This reviewer has been fortunate to have witnessed very commendable performances of Mahler, Sibelius, Schoenberg and Shostakovich at its 2000-seater Prince Mahidol Hall in the outskirts of Bangkok. Its touring programme was, however, to be lighter and more popular.

Directed from memory by Ntaca, Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture received a suitably rousing performance. The orchestra, peopled by mostly young Thai nationals with a handful of expatriate musicians, generated the impetus and momentum for its succession of popular drinking songs. By the time when the valedictory Gaudeamus igitur rang out, brass and percussion were at full throttle for one final carouse.

More substantial was Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture, which revealed more of the young orchestra’s qualities, including proficient woodwinds and a sonorous bass of low strings. There was no shortage of passion for the Montague and Capulet feud, later rising for the memorable love theme which swept the board. From the encouraging audience response, TPO’s first visit to Singapore may be judged a success.

Photo: Altenburg Arts

Star Rating: ***

The original review on Bachtrack.com:

Argerich grandsons make a splash with the Thailand Philharmonic | Bachtrack