#219 The Smell of Celestial Blue

The landscape of this song unwinds slowly, heavenly, and it never stops. There's no place to stop, no borders, it shines in all directions.

Upshaw is walking in the landscape. Dignified, humble. Always, always...

Composer: Kaija Saariaho
Work: Château de l'âme, II. A la terre
Recording: Dawn Upshaw, Schoenberg Choir, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen

#216 The Smell of Larkiness

The piano is like raindrops, drumming on the rooftops–but somehow lonely: a raindrop here, another one there. The song is sophisticated, enamored, and hopeless.

Royal balances the two: love and despair. It's a wish that cannot be fulfilled; she knows it, and yet she can be larky about it.

Composer: Hugo Wolf
Work: O wär dein Haus
Recording: Kate Royal, Malcolm Martineau

#207 The Smell of Tense

This song never ends but it's not a stream, it's not a spinning wheel. It's more elastic, tense, and strung. The smell is somehow honey-sweet and honey-fluid.

Hampson keeps the tense constantly, his voice is vehement and insistent.

Composer: Robert Schumann
Work: Diechterliebe, "Aus meinen Tränen sprießen"
Recording: Thomas Hampson, Geoffrey Parsons

#138 The Smell of Obligation

Emotions do not count. You have to go on. Death, victory–you are obliged to listen to the drum. The wheel is turning no matter what. Feind, Feind, Feind!

I've heard Hampson singing Des Knaben Wunderhorn several years ago. He was great and he's still great. Believable, flexible, with intrinsic authority. Here with a chamber orchestra, he's even more convincing. And when the orchestra is rattling bones (4'55''), it forces you to stand up and follow the drum. Trallali, Mr Mahler!

Composer: Gustav Mahler
Work: Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Revelge
Recording: Thomas Hampson, Wiener Virtuosen

#132 The Smell of Expectation

Das Wandern! What a goal without a goal, what a call! It's a plain text but together with the melody we have a masterpiece here. Very joyful, dancing and yet with a subtle sad tone.

Wunderlich is setting the picture so vividly I want to go walking right now. To get walking, fall in love and be romantic.

Composer: Franz Schubert
Work: Die Schöne Müllerin, I. Das Wandern
Recording: Fritz Wunderlich, Hubert Giesen

#126 The Smell of Endless Return

No matter what: there's always a return. She can be exalted, she can be mad–she's always back. It's a painful, hurting way back. There's anger and wrath and fury, and they all subject to enigmatic love.

For von Otter, this is a one-off performance. Orchestra sound is suppressed, not important; everything is in the voice.

Composer: Kurt Weill
Work: Happy End, Surabaya-Johnny
Recording: Anne Sofie von Otter, NDR-Sinfonieorchester, John Eliot Gardiner

#104 The Smell of Dead Child

From the very first moment, here comes an irreversible tragedy of splendid power. The total passing of father and son, non-acceptance turned to non-existence. Primary narrative, sonorous, deafening.

Anne Sofie von Otter is magnificent in four different roles. She augments the predestination: The winner is known.

Composer: Franz Schubert, arr. Hector Berlioz
Work: Erlkönig
Recording: Anne Sofie von Otter, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Claudio Abbado

#90 The Smell of Thirst

Wait for the strings: there's something in the air–slow strain, infinite waiting, determined pulsation. Combine it with the voice: trembling, soft, thirsty, sad.

Ludwig is so convincing you need to yield to her. Her voice is captivating–this song should never end.

Composer: Gustav Mahler
Work: Rückert-Lieder, II. Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft
Recording: Christa Ludwig, Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer

#89 The Smell of Curly Waves

From the whole album, this song fitted best my Amtrak way from Los Angeles to San Diego. Bright green grass with yellow flowers, small houses above cliffs, and indefinite calm ocean with irregular waves. I can smell the waves in the song, its rhytm is so floating, moving, and jumping–it's so curly.

Gefors is a Swedish composer living in Lund, the city I have a lot of memories of. Today, however, he and von Otter hit the mood of south California.

Composer: Hans Gefors
Work: Lydias sånger, V. Sfinxen
Recording: Anne Sofie von Otter, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Kent Nagano

#79 The Smell of Vaunt

The voice is fulfilled with the happiness, pride, and vaunt from the very beginning. It is saying: This is mine! That's all because of me! You don't need to understand the text to smell it.

Von Otter gives it a little twist, a pinch of irony. At the end, it's nur zu verkünden, isn't it.

Composer: Franz Schubert
Work: Geheimes, D.719
Recording: Anne Sofie von Otter, Bengt Forsberg

#66 The Smell of Private Event

Voices as the best instruments. They in your living room, nonchalantly sitting here and over there. And they're singing just for you, for your ears only. It's pretty conversational, natural.

Die Singphoniker bring chilling qualities. The way how they slow down, how they quiet down, how they bend the rhythm, how they anticipate–this is really unique.

Composer: Franz Schubert
Work: Jünglingswonne, D. 983
Recording: Die Singphoniker

#40 The Smell of Homesick

What else to listen to, in a hotel room in an unknown city, unknown (i.e. east) coast? The song shoves you into its thrill, the verses are building upon each other, and each is so different. It takes you so high and then, there are just tears and memories...

The symbioses of voice and piano is perfect. They're waiting for each other, communicating. It's like one person singing and playing in the same time.

Composer: Leoš Janáček
Work: Moravian Folk Poetry in Songs, Muzikanti
Recording: Magdalena Kožená, Malcolm Martineau

#26 The Smell of Black Flowers

Lay down and watch. The walls are fluttering. The lines are spreading across them: stems are everywhere, and they're sprouting. Leafs and blooms–all black. Incorporated into the walls.

The voice is forcing the flowers to appear; breathe with Goerne. The piano is holding them back; listen how Schmalcz sways between strophes.

Composer: Franz Schubert
Work: Nacht und Träume
Recording: Matthias Goerne, Alexander Schmalcz

#13 The Smell of Still Life

Four different still lifes. On the grass, on the beach, underground, and the last one–just hummed–everywhere. Beautiful stillstand, a cure for a hurried day. A poem by Octavio Paz.

Choir Polyphony needs just four minutes to slow down your heart beat and breath. Cool down. There's just una muchacha y un muchacho. Nothing more.

Composer: Eric Whitacre
Work: A Boy and a Girl
Recording: Polyphony, Stephen Layton

#1 The Smell of Intimacy

It's a quiet, very intimate setting. It's magic of the night. Smell the affection between alto voice and male choir when they repeat leise, leise. In that moment, music is not around you, it's inside you, spreading through your body. Sip hot tea–that's the feeling.

Schlaf du nicht, schlaf du nicht–do not sleep. Not now.

Composer: Franz Schubert
Work: Ständchen, D. 920
Recording: Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner