Showing posts with label Simon Mulligan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Simon Mulligan. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Simon Mulligan - Christmas At Steinway Hall

Styles: Piano, Christmas
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:47
Size: 137,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:20) 1. Baby, It's Cold Outside
(5:25) 2. The Christmas Song
(4:29) 3. Winter Wonderland
(5:19) 4. O Holy Night
(4:48) 5. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
(4:27) 6. The First Noel
(4:46) 7. I Saw Three Ships
(5:37) 8. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
(5:16) 9. Away In A Manger
(3:23) 10. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
(5:19) 11. I'll Be Home For Christmas
(3:03) 12. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
(4:27) 13. Silent Night

The U.S. Steinway & Sons label has made a strong impact with albums by performers who evoke the concert atmosphere of a hundred years ago: the era, as it happens, when the Steinway piano was supreme. British pianist Simon Mulligan does this, but not with quite the same classical repertoire as other pianists on the label. Mulligan has played both classical music and jazz, but here he offers a kind of salon music that has improvised elements, but for the most part is not jazz. (The exception is the upbeat I'll Be Home for Christmas.) The music consists entirely of Christmas or holiday-season tunes, but even such a chestnut as Winter Wonderland is fresh, a bit meditative in Mulligan's hands. Steinway's engineers have made great strides forward in showcasing their home hall at its best, and the mood struck by the sound design here is deep. For a classy soundtrack to your Christmas gathering you couldn't do better than this, but there's more to Mulligan's album than simply background music.~ James Manheim https://www.allmusic.com/album/christmas-at-steinway-hall-mw0003113994

Christmas At Steinway Hall

Friday, January 5, 2018

Simon Mulligan - American Songbook

Size: 143,9 MB
Time: 61:35
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Jazz: Piano Jazz
Art: Front

01. Dream A Little Dream Of Me (2:43)
02. All Of Me (2:41)
03. Georgia On My Mind (5:06)
04. Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words) (4:20)
05. Misty (5:40)
06. Lazy River (3:43)
07. Desafinado (5:53)
08. Don't Get Around Much Anymore (3:10)
09. Two Sleepy People (2:42)
10. Stardust (6:32)
11. It Had To Be You (2:27)
12. I Should Care (6:41)
13. As Time Goes By (4:20)
14. One For My Baby (5:29)

British pianist Simon Mulligan has been described by The Times of London as ‘the most abundantly gifted of pianists’, by Yehudi Menuhin as ‘one of the finest pianists I have ever had the pleasure of performing with’ and by Herbie Hancock as ‘phenomenal’. Following his début with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Simon has performed and recorded with the BBC Symphony, Detroit Symphony (under Slatkin), English Symphony Orchestra (Boughton), Warsaw Sinfonia (Menuhin), Hong Kong Philharmonic (Atherton), Malaysian Philharmonic, and the Royal National Scottish Orchestra (Serebrier) to name a few.

Simon made his first compact disc under the direction of Yehudi Menuhin, which led to a seven-year collaboration and friendship, culminating in what was to be Lord Menuhin's final concert in Düsseldorf. Since then, recording highlights include Piano for Sony Classical, featuring his own arrangements, compositions, and adaptations for piano and orchestra. Simon has also made compact discs for Universal, Decca, Nimbus and Naxos. His recording The Piano Music of Alexis Weissenberg for Nimbus, includes spontaneous improvisations recorded in the presence of the composer.

As a chamber musician, Simon collaborates with many notable artists. Simon was just nineteen when he began worldwide tours with ‘cellist Lynn Harrell. He soon began recital tours with violinist Joshua Bell, performing at every major international venue as well as a live broadcasts for Lincoln Center and the Grammy Awards. Simon has performed for President Barack Obama, Her Majesty The Queen and the Royal Family, and has collaborated with Dame Shirley Bassey, Branford Marsalis, Liza Minnelli, Van Morrison, and Sting.

Alongside an extensive solo repertoire and almost sixty concertos, Simon’s focus on contemporary music has led to first performances of works by Hans Werner Henze, James MacMillan, Paul Moravec, Tobias Picker, Mark Anthony Turnage and Alexis Weissenberg. Simon’s passion for improvisation has featured in numerous publications including Downbeat, JazzTimes, International Pianist, and Gramophone. He enjoyed a close friendship with film composer Michael Kamen, and is soloist on Kamen’s album The New Moon in the Old Moon’s Arms (for Decca), with the BBC Symphony conducted by Leonard Slatkin. He also collaborated with Kamen and is featured on the soundtrack to the HBO television series Band of Brothers, produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. As a jazz pianist, he gives concerts with his London quartet and New York trio.

Last season saw a Beethoven album release on Arkiv, performances at Colombia’s Mozart Festival and concerto appearances with Leonard Slatkin and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Simon is a Steinway Artist and has recorded over forty hours of music for the Steinway Spirio, a new high-resolution playback piano.

A Music Scholar of St Paul’s School in London, Simon began his studies with Andrew Pledge, before winning a scholarship to study with Alexander Kelly at the Royal Academy of Music and Jacques Rouvier in Paris. He also studied Beethoven at the personal invitation of Alfred Brendel. Simon won a further scholarship to the International Piano Academy at Italy’s Lake Como where he began his studies under Alexis Weissenberg. Simon is one of the youngest recipients to be awarded the prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music for his musical achievements. He additionally counts among his mentors Charles Rosen and Murray Perahia.

American Songbook