ciderlord

Wagner's Ring represents one of the most ambitious achievements in the history of Western music. it's evolution was long and complex, as befits an epic of its stature. Like any great work it challenges our experience of life and simultaneously adds to it. To condense a work of this length, around 16 hours and for full orchestra, chorus, soloists as well as the visuals, into a one man, home-made single cd is really attempting something. This in itself deserves the highest praise. A proper Ring cycle scares even the greatest, so top marks to Amadeus for giving it a go.

As for the music itself, Amadeus has done well with his limited resources. His track selection has been influenced by the constraints his home equipment has placed on him and so a few less familiar selections are included. The variance of German titling meant I struggled to fully identify certain pieces but no matter. Some nice keyboard work all round with just the odd blip, the end of track 12 for example tends to descend into a bit of a children's playground after its grand opening.

All round a great effort and much to my surprise the package works. No mean feat in itself. Thanks for all your time in creating this interpretation.

First impression, the group Arcana sprung to mind, no bad thing that.
An album of dark gothic. Doom and gloom surround you. Best listened to in the darkness with just a single flickering candle for company.
Musically, tracks 1 and 5, deep and fulfilling from a sound perspective. Great start and finish. In between somewhat more varied. Track 4 is fine but marred somewhat by some less than polished editing. That surprised me, as any half decent software will do a decent job but somehow this track is very jarry in the repeated places, poor looping?. Tracks 2 and 3 sound as if they come from some suspense laden B-movie soundtrack. Effects like thunder and dripping water abound. Track 2 builds okay but the ending drags on too long and track 3 is ideal if you want to climb a creaky staircase carrying the candle just to discover what is making the sound emanating from the top and scaring you to death. Again in this track there is evidence of less than perfect editing of the repeated layers.
Overall, a fine, enjoyable album let down by some production issues. Still liked it all though. Thanks my friend.

I didn’t know where to start this review until I remembered something I used to see at the end of old films, a disclaimer. It used to say some variation of “any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental”. My disclaimer for this review is “any reference to any instrument real or artificial is purely for the guidance of the reader only”. More on that later.

This piece is presented as one movement yet split into three distinct sections. They last for approx. 7, 5 and 4 minutes each. The first and last are cello led with the middle highlighting the piano. Although I personally am quite happy with the single movement, I can appreciate others may prefer to have the work presented as three separate movements, more in the style of a classical concerto. More on that later as well.

The music itself tackles a difficult subject and is treading the sensitive path between the acceptable and the crass. To its credit, it keeps the balance on the right side of the line and in the way of, for example, the third symphony of Henryk Gorecki, the result remains hauntingly beautiful without removing the sadness and horror of the original subject material and totally sanitising everything.

The first section is led by the mournful cello supported by a gentle mixed backing which smoothly and thoughtfully builds as it guides the piece along an ever darkening passage towards the arrival of the piano death section. Slower, darker, sadder and then some torturous discord as the suffering of life is ended. The mixture of sadness at the passing of life, yet relief at the ending of all its inflicted pain, is felt as the third section begins and the soul heads heavenwards. The cello again leads and guides us upwards towards the final brief chorus of awaiting angels, there to welcome the safe arrival of the innocent.

I found the opening section very reminiscent of a piece called “At Church” from the Slovak Suite by the Czech composer Novak. Another classical reference. Which leads me nicely to the “more on that later”. I could see this piece, in the right hands, transferring itself very well into a serious piece of pure classical music. The correct transcribing, a decent small orchestra and the result could be stunning. Think “Lento” by Howard Skempton as an example. A majestic result from humble beginnings if ever there was one.

There is no doubt this work is a very big step for Barton compared with his previous Jamendo offering. As before, I look forward to the next one but, for now, this one has done him proud. Many thanks for such a beautiful and thoughtful release. The guy done real good.

I've titled this review "Frustrating" because in one word this is exactly how this album comes across to me. It is a "near and yet so far" release, full of promise but leaving you with the feeling that the chances have not been taken. An album of familiarity but not one where that familiarity gives a comfort of warmth and affection but rather the one of yet more the same old thing again. At times it sounds as if it is turning into an album based around a couple of tracks which are constantly being remixed, re-remixed, re-re-remixed and so on. Everything becomes a variation on what has gone before. Tracks follow a formularic construction; a slow, simple start. Then some slightly dramatic opening which builds and develops before the introduction of a more structured theme enhanced by effects. This can work very well, the opening track, for example, is great. It almost sounds like a grand film theme, a mood setter to divert your attention from the joys of the opening titles and credits. I really like it. Track 2, has borrowed the "heartbeat" start from the Marillion album "Holidays in Eden" track called "Splintering Heart". Again the same musical construction and development but again it works OK. On the negative side, track 7 is pure filler. Repetitive and quite honestly I found it boring. But for me it is track 9 which sums up the album, great atmospheric start, good initial buid-up and then total ruination, firstly by the introduction of a musical "stop/go/stop/go/stop/go" policy which continues to the point of unlistenability. Add in a liberal dose of ill-judged effects and we reach the point where I could not endure the track any longer and switched in off. The question is, why ruin a good track with excessive and unnecessary effects? It was working fine in its opening, simplistic form so why not just keep it going and leave well alone?

Thanks for some fine tracks anyway. Those I did enjoy, I did enjoy.

Let me say straight off that my download of this album does not appear to be perfect. Certain tracks appear to be repeated (5 & 6) and one track, I think "duel" does not exist. That said, I will do my best with the rest.

I remember reading once about the versatility of the piano when used in conjunction with other instruments. In solo form it is much more restricted and this album is a perfect illustrator of that fact. Some tracks, such as 1 and 4 for example, work really well. The piano is playing to its strengths and is well within its capabilities. Start to push the boundaries a bit and the cracks appear and with no other instruments to hide a bit behind they don't come across well. Tracks 2 and 3 are just two examples.
There is plenty of different musical styling contained here and what works well is really excellent stuff. Variety is not always the spice of solo piano life however, just ask Einaudi.
Thanks for some great tracks though.