Queen’s 4Corpus/Wadham 1Queen’s made a convincing start to their college hockey season with 4-1 defeat of Corpus/Wadham on Saturday. Queen’s dominated territory and possession, and their attacks down the flanks looked particularly threatening. Putting out an almost unchanged side from the team which lost just one match last Hilary, and bolstered by schoolboy star Ed Norman, they look set to be a tough prospect this season. Corpus/Wadham can take positives form the match, defending resolutely and scoring an excellent goal, but they will have to control the ball for longer periods to compete. Initially, the Corpus/Wadham defensive unit frustrated Queen’s, with goalkeeper Ollie Buckley in fine form. However, Queen’s broke this breakthrough with two quick goals from Dan Shepherd and Norman. Though Corpus/Wadham captain Ben White pulled one back with a brilliant counterattacking run, once Queen’s reasserted themselves they did not look likely to lose their lead. Goals from Fred Tatham and another from Shepherd put the match beyond doubt. Queen’s followed up with another win, this time beating Hertford by two goals to nil.ARCHIVE: 2nd week MT 2005

They walked onto the podium wearing black socks and no shoes, to symbolise black poverty, and the badges of the Olympic Project for Human Rights. As the Star Spangled Banner began to play in honour of Smith’s victory, the pair turned to face the Stars and Stripes being hoisted to their right. Each then closed his eyes, bowed his head and raised a single, black gloved hand into air for the duration of the anthem. Neither reacted to the increasingly loud booing of the 70,000 strong crowd at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario. The pair left the arena in silence, stopping only to once more raise their gloved hands just before exiting. It was a symbolic gesture of genius. During the Olympic victory ceremony, signifying the pinnacle of fair play and equal, honest competition, as the two best known symbols of the United States were simultaneously unfurled, the protest of two men representing the US delivered an awesomely powerful statement that in the US fair play and equal, honest competition were not at work to an audience of 400 million people around the world. Smith’s performances throughout the event had been outstanding. He broke the Olympic record in his first heat, and, after Peter Norman had pushed down the record further, posted another quickest ever time during the third round. In the final, he demolished both the rest of the field and the world record. Despite raising his arms in triumph metres from the finish, he crossed in 19.83 seconds, becoming the first man under 20 seconds and posting a world record that would hold for more than a decade. Carlos and Norman crossed in 20.0, completing the fastest 200m race in Olympic history. The bravery of Smith and Carlos’ protest is hard to fully appreciate today, without an awareness of the hostility of the sports establishment (and much of US society in general) to their cause. Racial tension in sport was fierce in 1968: that year Muhammad Ali was stripped of his heavyweight title for refusing the draft and the Olympic Project for Human Rights (of which Smith, Carlos and other prominent Olympians were members) had seriously considered a black boycott of the games. In view of this, US track coaches Payton Jordan and Stan Wright repeatedly issued statements declaring that there would be “no trouble whatsoever”. Smith and Carlos’ action saw them suspended from the US team and expelled from the Olympic village on the charge of bringing politics into sport. Once home, they faced widespread criticism from sections of the media (the Los Angeles Times described their action as a “Nazi-like salute”) and even death threats. We can be thankful that today, Smith and Carlos are commended, not ostracised for their actions. In 1998, the pair were honoured to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of their protest. Other accolades have poured in: Smith was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1978, Carlos in 2003; Smith is now a university professor, while Carlos received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater. But their actions should serve as a reminder that sporting events are not isolated from the world around them. This remains as relevant today as it was in 1968, with cricket tours to Zimbabwe and the Beijing Olympics. One can only hope that Smith and Carlos’ actions will inspire some of their successors to attempt to make the same impact they had.Thirty seven years ago last Sunday Tommie Smith and John Carlos created one of the proudest moments in the history of sport. Their spectacular silent protest during the medal ceremony for the 200m sprint at the Mexico Olympics became the most recognisable symbol of the Civil Rights movement in the US. Smith and Carlos had gained the attention of the world with athletic performances of true champions, and they used the platform they had won to make the most positive impact they could on their society, despite the greatest opposition the world’s sporting administration could muster. So significant was the event that in her recent book ‘Not the Triumph but the Struggle’ Amy Bass argued it was a defining moment not only in the Civil Rights movement but in the whole history of the African-American athlete. Smith and Carlos’ protest was exquisitely carried out.ARCHIVE: 2nd week MT 2005

The frenzy surrounding Andy Murray’s emergence at Wimbledon earlier this year was overwhelming. You could hardly open a newspaper without seeing his face gurning back at you. The way most fans reacted, you would be forgiven for assuming he’d won the competition, rather than been knocked out in the first week.The hype surrounding young British sporting hopes such as Murray is immense, irrespective of his success. After all, Murray’s skills are still limited, as borne out by the straight-sets defeats he suffered at the racket of Federer.This is not to say that Murray lacks the potential to succeed. A year ago, he captured the US Open junior singles title while ranked 479th on the senior ladder. In March, he became the youngest ever British Davis Cup player and as a result, he went into Wimbledon in 317th place. After becoming the first Scotsman ever to reach the third round of Wimbledon he shot up to 213th. And after reaching an ATP final this month, the youngest player to achieve this since Andre Agassi, he rocketed up to 72nd. While this falls short of Federer’s performance at this age, or even fellow young gun Rafael Nadal, it is undoubtedly an impressive climb for someone who was unknown even in Britain a year ago.Murray’s rise coincided with British tennis’ previous golden boy Tim Henman’s slide to 28th in the world rankings: a sharp fall from grace for a man who once found himself inside the top ten. When Henman has underperformed at Wimbledon he has tended to blame to media for inciting ‘public pressure’. Indeed, Henman has been quick to urge Murray to ignore the ‘hype’ and has chastised the press for increasing the pressure on Murray unnecessarily. However, it’s exactly Murray’s appetite for pressure that feeds his game.When asked about the so-called ‘hype’ Britain’s Davis Cup captain Jeremy Bates said “Andy is not going to rest now: he has tremendous drive and fortitude and he will keep going for it”. Murray’s coach Mark Petchey likened him to Wayne Rooney, a noteworthy comparison, considering not only their talent, but their temperament. Last month Murray was asked what it is he likes best about playing tennis. His answer: “I just enjoy winning. Winning is the most amazing thing. I hate losing” therein summing up the difference between himself and the current British number 1: while Henman likes to do his best, for Murray, his best will never be good enough. This is the sign of a true champion.At the moment, the world of tennis seems dominated by one name – Federer. However, Murray is still only eighteen; this leaves him plenty of time to capitalise on the injuries or misfortune of others. And you can rest assured that Murray is not the kind of player to shy away from such opportunities. Despite his preference for clay, Murray’s sheer grit and determination can give the public hope that they may see a British champion again on Wimbledon soil.ARCHIVE: 2nd week MT 2005

Even for a man who’s been to seven Olympic games, numerous Wimbeldons and has travelled to World Cups and European Championships, October is going to feel like a busy month for Des Lynam. Not only does he begin a new career in the Countdown chair, he also has a new book to plug (which he was eager to do in the course of this short interview and which, incidentally, is a remarkably honest, warm and funny account of Des’ career and is available in all good bookshops for just £18.99). Most importantly, this month he will hear the fate of his beloved Brighton and Hove Albion, and whether, after eight years of waiting, they will finally have a stadium to call their own. It is one of the longest running, and most significant sagas of recent football history, but, among the hyperbole of the Premiership it is a story that has fallen out of the national spotlight. For fans of Brighton and Hove, however, it is an issue that cannot go away. Without a favourable resolution Brighton could join the likes of Accrington and Aldershot on the list of towns who have lost clubs to the commercially driven world of football. In sport generally, and particularly football, exaggerated fears of impending disaster are all too common, but in this case all too real. The club is forced to play in a shockingly inadequate stadium while the government drags its heels, and the future of the club, not to mention the livelihood of the players and the lifeblood of the fans, is left hanging by a thread. Lynam has been at the forefront of a four year campaign to persuade John Prescott to provide planning permission for a much needed 22,000 seater stadium for the city. Last week he was one of 10,000 Brighton fans who marched through the city in a last desperate attempt to influence the Deputy Prime Minister. Even now, however, with the final verdict less than a month away, he seems more hopeful than assured.“The chairman of the club is optimistic and if he’s optimistic so am I, because he knows more about the details of it than I do. I’m trying to be optimistic because if they can’t get a new proper football ground I suspect the club will gradually fade. I would ask him [Prescott] seriously to give the go-ahead. But I suspect that won’t matter because I suspect he’s decided now one way or the other and he’s just waiting to make the announcement.” Lynam attributes his success as a broadcaster to his ability to sympathise with the viewer and be “the barometer of what the average person was thinking.” It is in the same mould of passionate sports fan that Lynam now speaks, a supporter like any other, desperate to see the continued existence of his adored club. It is a passion that has taken him on numerous marches and to the front door of 10 Downing Street. Not even his famously pristine moustache was too good for the campaign as fellow Brighton fans poured bucket-loads of water over him. “The city needs a new football ground, it’s as simple as that. Prescott comes from Hull and he’s seen the benefit of the new football ground for his own city and what it has done for the club. He knows the benefits, he knows how it matters to a community when they’ve got a long standing football club with the heritage that club has got.“It’s a beautifully supported club, the fan base is terrific. Of course at the present time only 6,000 of them can see the home games because it’s a tight little ground. The home games are now played in an athletics stadium where it’s most unsatisfactory. The club has been going for a hundred-plus years and its part of a proper city nowadays and so it needs a proper football ground.”For a presenter renowned for his imperturbable style such fervour is refreshing. The position of the football club in his life is clearly central. The ease with which he talks about the club, particularly when he has his own agenda to promote, is admirable and should be a lesson to the Premiership snobs, myself included, who complain with tireless banality on phone-in shows whilst looking down on the lower leagues with disdain. Lynam’s reaction to people who couldn’t give two prawn sandwiches for the plight of a club like Brighton or Nottingham Forest sees his voice alter slightly from the demure, so familiar to Grandstand viewers and so much-loved by house-wives across the land. When I raise Peter Kenyon’s argument that lower-league clubs should go part-time in order to maintain their place in the football league Lynam’s animated response leaves me embarassed for raising the point: “A football club like Brighton has a vital position. So much of the community love it and get great satisfaction from it whether they can get to the game or not. I’m on this book tour at the moment (he couldn’t resist that plug) and everywhere I go I get Brighton football supporters coming up to me. They seem to be everywhere. They love the club. It’s so much a part of the community: what else in a community like Brighton and Hove attracts so many people and gets so many people worked up about it?”But such passion also breeds a sense of injustice at the plight of his football club and the nature in which the ordeal has been dragged out. “I do feel that if we’d been in the Premiership this would have been dealt with a lot quicker. The city council voted 11 to 1 for this new ground, and I think you’ll find that when Arsenal were going for their new ground the local council squeezed it through just about 8 to 7. But nobody felt the need to investigate any further. If we were Arsenal I suspect it would have gone through by now. It doesn’t help that they’re not in the Premiership.“They’re not so high profile, it’s as simple as that. I don’t think there’s anything personal in the decision as far as Prescott is concerned but for those of us who are connected with the club, we cannot see any real, valid reasons for that site not being allowed to be a football ground. And it’s for the community as well, not just the football club. Nothing happens on that site at the moment, its just a field. It’s part of Brighton University land which was given to Brighton University by the council in the first place.” Despite the injustice of it all he remains enthusiastic about the sport as a whole. He cannot agree, perhaps with the perspective brought by his own club’s position, with those who argue the game is in crisis.“When you get a club like Chelsea who look to be utterly dominant at the moment, and the other clubs are struggling to compete with them, suddenly everyone goes ‘ah, it’s boring.’ I don’t think the Premiership is boring. I think the Premiership is alive and well and happy. I think it has got more sophisticated, the coaches are tactically more aware, the technique of the players is much higher than it was a few years ago and so defence is paramount. You don’t see so many goals anymore. But generally speaking I think the quality of the play is very fine.”Lynam’s zeal for Brighton leaves us little time to discuss other matters, and we do not get the same enthusiastic response when we arrive belatedly at his own achievements and, for those daytime television watchers, his appointment as the successor to Richard Whitely as presenter of Countdown.He demonstrates his customary dry wit when I call him ‘the face of British sport’ but becomes slightly prickly when asked about his infamous ‘defection’ from BBC to ITV.“It created a lot of ructions at the time, some of my old colleagues were very unhappy with me and it created a lot of misery around the place for them. It was a difficult situation. If you are asking me ‘would I make the same decision again’, knowing everything that I do now, maybe I wouldn’t. I don’t know but I was certainly happy to have made it at the time and I had a very happy five years there.” Fortunately, however, he is much more accessible when I enquire of his latest career move to Channel 4. Self-derogatively he states it was Carol Vorderman who persuaded him to take the position and that his appearance on a celebrity edition proved that “not only was I not good at the Conundrum but I wasn’t much good at the show. You play along at home, that’s part of the game, and sometimes you outdo the people on the show, but very rarely.”It is to be hoped that Brighton, or more specifically John Prescott, can find a solution to their own conundrum and save a proud and historic football club. If not, you feel Carol Vorderman will not be greeted by the predictably composed Des Lynam the nation has come to know and respect so well.                 ARCHIVE: 2nd week Mt 2005

So, how long do we have to stand in this queue?Well, everyone in Oxford wants to see the no confidence debate. Unless their lack of confidence rests with the Union not with the Government. But don’t worry; by Trinity everyone will have remembered that the Bridge is the place to be on a Thursday, and the only people queuing in the rain on St. Michael’s street will be for the homeless shelter next door.
I heard it’s the world’s most famous debating society and invites amazing speakers.It’s certainly unique: where else is ‘librarian’ actually a desirable position? And you do get to see amazing world figures (and Jordan) shamelessly plug their new autobiographies. But nevertheless to my mind it’s still nothing on the Norwich Union.
What is the difference between the Union and OUSU?Left wing OUSU faces regular criticism for supporting Bolivian basket weavers above the interests of real students, while the Union, where politics can be divided into the right wing and the wrong wing, is slammed for cradling delusional basket cases above the interests of real students. If they appreciated their common disdain for the actual Oxford undergraduate the relations of the two institutions would be improved immeasurably.
I might be interested in getting involved. Who actually runs the union?The fat man on the door at speaker meetings. And he answers to Moscow. The elected officer’s responsibilities extend to sweeping up vomit after the termly balls-up, and working through their stalker-like tendencies by writing repeatedly to celebrities.
But do the officers get a lot out of it?Certainly. Not least the popularity they always craved at school. Any self respecting hack will have hundreds of friends, and at least five of them won’t be just on facebook. And if you harbour an ambition to be a nineteenth century Conservative politician the Union is undoubtedly the best place to start.
When do the elections happen? In 7th week, to allow the inevitable Tribunal to be settled by the end of term. Most Union elections offer more slates than Blaenau Ffestiniog, malpractice to rival a Hogarth painting, and a turnout lower than LMH’s position in the Norrington table.
What about Presidential Drinks? They sound fun: how should I go about getting an invitation?Well, that skirt is probably a start. But if that fails you’ll have to pay off the Abumafia like the rest of us. Once there you will swill gin and tesco value tonic from a plastic beaker, listen to various violent proposals for dealing with asylum seekers, and watch a fifty-something backbencher lure a upwardly mobile seccie to his hotel room with promises of work experience. At least by 3am you’ll be able to see who is really on the (still) standing committee.ARCHIVE: 2nd week MT 2005

Think of the one-man band and if you’re like me you’ll think of Dick van Dyke’s Bert in Mary Poppins, stamping and flapping his way around the streets of London. Chances are you
won’t think of Thomas Truax. But you should. Having just played at
Glastonbury this year for four nights in a row in the Lost Vagueness
Chapel, the eerily voiced troubadour hit Oxford on Tuesday and on
Wednesday night was featured on Radio One in a one-man band special.
And this one-man band is special. “I was just fed up of working with
live drummers” he drawls, “it kind of came about organically”. Truax decided that as a
substitute for unreliable bandmates and to fulfil his musical needs,
he’d design and construct his own instruments. And these are no normal
instruments, but rather the Cadillac Beatspinner Wheel, the Hornicator,
the Backbeater and his latest addition, Sister Spinster.“She’s retired actually”, he says lovingly of the Cadillac BeatspinnerWheel, a “Flintstones-era drum machine” whose primary feature is a
small motorised bicycle wheel that rotates, clacking, clanking and
chiming its way past various musical
adornments on its frame. In fact she’s been usurped, her throne taken
by Sister Spinster, a similar but smaller contraption. “I made Sister
Spinster mainly because she can fit on an aeroplane,” Truax explains,
although it’s hard to imagine the faces of airport security staff back
home at JFK Airport in New York, especially when Truax’ luggage also
contains the Hornicator, a modified
gramophone horn with strings and microphones that twang and sqeak with
various other-worldly noises, and the Backbeater, a multi-pronged
backpack that flaps and snaps in rhythm. I ask Truax if these
prehistoric solutions to the one-man act problem are a reaction against
the digital and synthesised age. “I haven’t made it a rule that I’ll
never do something with a laptop,” he replies, “but it can be an
unsatisfying live experience to see somebody bending over their
computer. I try to think of what would interest me if I were in the
audience”. And it works. In the endless parade of sharp-suited,
sharp-riffed and synthesised bands that plague modern music, jaws drop
when anything as original as Thomas Truax strolls up on stage. “I like
to see where the sounds are coming from,” he says, and without
realising it, the audience find that they do too.
But this is no straight novelty act either. This isn’t a man
desperately crying “Look at me, I’m wacky”. There’s music here too.
Often rich in lyrics, Truax’ sound ranges from “dark, romantic
lullabies to lively rock melodramas” and he is seen as part of the New
York based ‘antifolk’ movement that prizes honesty, integrity and
originality above everything else. “Personally, I try to steer away
from any specific labels,” he emphasises, “but the antifolk scene doesn’t really define a particular sound or even a particular approach”. Truax’ ghostly and mysterious tales hook the ear with their
melody and the mind with their words, calling for references to Captain
Beefheart’s originality coupled with Tom Waits’ narrative abilities.But Truax’ creative drive isn’t limited to music. For several years he
was a stop-motion animator for MTV’s ‘Celebrity Deathmatch’ and his
dedicated fanbase is kept up to date through the Wowtown News, a
sporadic e-mail newsletter detailing the latest happenings in Truax’
own fictional world, Wowtown. “I was brought up in Denver,” he
explains, “and it’s known as ‘Cow Town’. So Wowtown was my ideal place
to escape from the Cow Town”. In fact, the success of these stories alone has led
to requests from London’s Resonance FM for Truax to do an hour-long
show based upon them. “They wanted me to do it off the top of my head,”
he says, “but I kind of have to be in the right mood for that, so I
recorded some stories with sound-effects and music”.With a smile he adds, “I’m one of those people who just bites off more than they can chew”.
Nevertheless, things seem to be going from strength to strength for
Truax. “The crowds keep building each time I go to a town,” he states
matter-of-factly and he’s extremely modest about a recent NME article
branding him as achieving “musical godhood”. Certainly, the interest is
kindled by the unique gadgets and contraptions surrounding him on
stage, but it’s the songs that charm you and regardless of whatever
gimmicks surround them, a good song never loses its novelty.ARCHIVE: 2nd week MT 2005

Paul LewisThe Sheldonian Theatre13 OctoberPaul Lewis has won much praise from critics for his CDs of the sonatas of Schubert, and rose to prominence as a performer at this year’s Last Night of the Proms. He now turns his attention to Beethoven’s thirty two piano sonatas, which he is recording for Harmonia Mundi and performing in their entirety in London, Edinburgh and Oxford. He inaugurated the Oxford cycle at the Sheldonian Theatre, and this will be followed by a further seven concerts in the next two years.He chose to begin with the three sonatas from Op.31, and the sonata Op.78. The Op.31 sonatas were designed as a contrasting set: the comedic G major and graceful E flat major sonatas surround the dark D minor sonata, sometimes called The Tempest, after Beethoven told his secretary, asking about the meaning of the work, to “just read Shakespeare’s The Tempest”. These were coupled with the Op.78 sonata, sometimes referred to as À Thérèse, a pupil of Beethoven’s, who could possibly have been his Immortal Beloved.From the outset of the G major sonata, Lewis’ style of Beethoven playing was made apparent. His range of dynamic contrast is extreme, fitting the sometimes exaggerated gestures of these works, and he emphasises the humour of Beethoven’s work with absolute clarity of fingerwork and phrasing. I have never heard a pianist highlight the ‘false ending’ of the first movement of this sonata with such wit, causing chuckles of amusement in the audience. The following Adagio grazioso in which a simple melody becomes progressively more over-ornamented was nonchalantly delivered despite the score’s ever-increasing demands. The rondo was given a charming finish, as the ending cadences, which become successively less confident, drew further laughter from listeners.The Tempest sonata then demonstrated the ‘minor-key’ side of Beethoven’s music. Lewis underlined the contrast between the two first movement themes, with the Adagio sections drawn out to near-stasis, sustained through skilful pedalling, while the frenetic Allegro was intensely driven. Following the balm of the slow movement, the final Allegretto, a sinister moto perpetuo, led ominously towards the depths of the keyboard for the inconclusive closing bars. After the interval, the brief Op.78 sonata was elegantly delivered, particularly the second movement, where the rapid passages of alternating notes between the hands were cleanly executed throughout. This sonata served as a prelude to the final sonata from Op.31. The fortissimo outbursts of the energetic Scherzo caused several people to be visibly jolted in their seats, perhaps as was Beethoven’s intention. The gentle Menuetto led into the last movement,a boisterous tarantella which built up to its close with an inexorable accumulation of momentum, ending the concert in grand style. Taking the peformance as a whole, Paul Lewis’ performance gave the impression of impulsiveness under great control, and a feeling of freshnessthat many performances of these sonatas lack. His next concert will be on the Friday 9 December, and it is something to look forward to with the utmost anticipation.ARCHIVE: 2nd week MT 2005

El PresidenteEl Presidenteout24 OctoberSince Franz Ferdinand smashed into the mainstream, the British music press has been looking to the Scots for the new band of the moment. This search seems to have resulted in virtually every new Scottish band being labelled “the next big thing”, even the mind numbingly mediocre. So it is no surprise that Glaswegian outfit El Presidente’s rise to prominence has been swift since the release of their limited single Rocket last year. From this success they have gone on tours with Kasabian, Oasis and Soulwax. There has been a high level of anticipation for their debut album, with the Guardian labelling them “the Glaswegian Scissor Sisters” but, with all the hype, the question is whether this album could see El Presidente become even bigger.The short answer is no. In truth, there can be no denying that founder and front man Dante Gizzi has the ear to write a good tune. The opening track, Without You, is basically a nice, friendly pop song for nice, friendly people: it combines singalong lyrics with a very gentle pop-funk riff. Rocket, evidently describing a hard drug binge, is a straight mix of a good dance beat with pop melodies, providing a vivid and driving mix, while Count on Me has a ridiculously catchy tune.However, catchy alone doesn’t do enough to mask the painfully pathetic lyrics, which Gizzi intersperses with random, mistaken ‘intellectual’ references, with little congruity with the subject. These can only be explained as half-hearted attempts to hide his near-total absence of artistic flair. If Gizzi had a good voice, his foolish and irrelevant musings might have been less noticeable. The problem is that he actually seems to take pride in his limitations, constantly repeating daft phrases until he sounds like a whining cat.These flaws are thrown into sharp relief when compared with bands such as the Scissor Sisters, whose ability to mix genres, interchange older styles with newer ones and amalgamate pop, funk, and dance into a fluctuous sound makes them brilliant. In contrast, El Presidente achieve this only in bits and pieces: I Didn’t Really has moments of Cure-like mellowness, while Come on Now makes a good dance track. The problem for El Presidente is that they haven’t brought their musical influences together, and seem to be constantly imitating a particular genre without concern for their own individuality. The result is that their album drifts at points into sounding more like a band covering older pop. Turn This Around is nice enough in itself, but leads the album into briefly sounding a bit too Spandau Ballet-esque for comfort. 100Mph is a meaningless rock song of the bad Aerosmith early-eighties phase.Ultimately, El Presidente do have their moments. They just need to rethink their style and choose what sort of band they’re going to be. Above all, there’s absolutely nothing Glaswegian about this band. Whereas Franz Ferdinand have simultaneously drawn on both the Glasgow art scene and a general northern down-to-earthness, El Presidente have no real individuality in their music or presentation. Their songs are of a distinctly poor pseudo-American ilk, with little innovation. They would do well to redefine their styles and settle on a music form that suits them.ARCHIVE: 2nd week MT 2005

In 2004, Leif Ove Andsnes won a Gramophone Award for his coupling of piano concertos by Grieg and Schumann with the Berlin Philharmonic.Unfortunately, for all the anticipation surrounding this release, the result is a disappointment. The impulsiveness of his earlier live Rachmaninov recording has been lost in the frigid studio environment in the First Concerto, while even the live Second Concerto fails to produce the same spark, further hindered by misbalanced sonics.In the First Concerto, the first movement’s opening fanfare is taken at a rousing tempo which Andsnes fails to meet, giving a flaccid reading of the opening solo. The relief of the movement’s tension in the gigantic cadenza is frustrated by Andsnes’ emotional restraint. After a routine Andante, the final movement is much as the first: virtuosic and note-perfect but emotionally uninspiring. The infamous opening chords of the Second Concerto are judiciously executed with fine tone. When the orchestra enters, Andsnes subsides into an accompanying role, as the soloist in this concerto frequently must. Regrettably, he doesn’t emerge for the rest of the concerto. The second movement is probably the finest performance here. The extra orchestral volume aids the music, and Andsnes’ style fits the music perfectly. The quasi-glissando run at the opening of the final movement is then delivered in a rather asthenic fashion, setting the tone for the rest of the movement. Even at the majestic climax of the movement, the piano becomes lost within the orchestra, leading to a disappointing close.This release is an unfortunate combination of two rather ‘off’ performances by Andsnes. As his earlier releases have shown he has quite phenomenal pianistic technique and insight. However, neither of these is obvious on this disappointing disc.ARCHIVE: 2nd week MT 2005