David Dalle
Thursday June 6th, 2024 with David Dalle
30 for 30 with Goran Bregovic's "Underground" and the Kocani Orkestar; Bruckner's 2nd symphony.

We will continue celebrating my 30 years on-air at CKCU with 30 of the most significant albums in my musical evolution. This week, we look at the incredible soundtrack to Emir Kusturica's film "Underground". This film from 1995 charts a slightly idealized, from the Serbian viewpoint, history of Yugoslavia from just before the Nazi invasion in 1941 to the wars in the early 1990's following the break up of Yugoslavia. It is one of my favourite films. However, I did not see the film until a number of years after I heard the soundtrack. This soundtrack, along with the first album from Macedonia's Kocani Orkestar, were shared with me by a Serbian friend living in Ottawa at the time, introduced me to the Balkan brass music of the Roma. I was already enamoured with Roma music from Hungary, Spain, and France, but this was Roma music made primarily with brass instruments. I fell passionately, obsessively in love. A love which has persisted and only grown. The brass music on the soundtrack is performed by the Boban Markovic Orkestar, which we have heard countless times on my show. I also saw them in Ottawa perform in a church basement for the Serbian community and they played with wild abandon to the crowd dancing and drinking until wee hours of the morning! The other big part of today's show will be the continuation of my Anton Bruckner symphonic cycle, for the bicentennial of his birth (Sep 4, 1824), with his 2nd symphony. His 2nd symphony was completed in 1872 in Vienna. Like most of his symphonies, it was not well received when it was premiered in 1873 by the Vienna Philharmonic with Bruckner conducting. However, it could be considered his first mature symphony, sharing so many of the wonderful traits of all his subsequent symphonies. As always, in four movements, with an opening in sonata form, but greatly expanded. This massive music moves with great momentum, building up to enormous climaxes, until it reaches the final apotheosis. This is Earth-shattering, glorious music! We will hear the recording from Austrian-Canadian Georg Tintner. His recording of all Bruckner's symphonies from late in his life (1995-1998) are definitive, and several of the symphonies I will feature will be from this set. His recording features the first, 1872 version, which was not published until 2005 (Tintner's recording used a pre-publication)! All of the performances and recordings of Bruckner's 2nd from the 1890's until the mid 1990's used other versions, with cuts and alterations. The original is best! 1. Lustmord "The Monstrous Soul" Side Effects 2. Ludwig Van Beethoven/Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert Von Karajan et al. "Symphony No. 9" Deutsche Grammophon 3. Doudou N'Diaye Rose "Djabote" Realworld 4. Julius Eastman/Lutoslawski Piano Duo with Joanna Duda, Mischa Kozlowski "Unchained" Dux 5. The Master Musicians of Jajouka featuring Bachir Attar "Apocalypse Across The Sky" Axiom 6. Ustad Bismillah Khan & Party "Shehnai Recital" EMI India 7. Franz Liszt/Claudio Arrau "12 Etudes d'exécution transcendante" Philips 8. Ludwig Van Beethoven transcribed Franz Liszt/Cyprien Katsaris "Symphony No. 9" Teldec 9. Malek Masoudi "Mandir" Shahram 10. Shahram Nazeri "Aatash Dar Neystaan" Shahram 11. Kayhan Kalhor "Scattering Stars Like Dust" Traditional Crossroads 12. Goran Bregovic "Underground" Polygram 13. Kocani Orkestar "A Gypsy Brass Band" Long Distance