Ep. 26: Brana Records and Mike Ladouceur

*All Talking Classical podcasts formerly on SoundCloud have now been redirected to Anchor.*  In this podcast, I'm showcasing the beautiful restorative work of Brana Records and the atmospheric debut album of Mike Ladouceur, Between Worlds. Brana Records is a label that is focused on restoring the wonderful rare recordings by the Polish/Brazilian pianist, Felicja Blumental. As well as recording the great masterpieces such as the piano concertos of Grieg and Rachmaninoff, Ms Blumental championed neglected early 19th century piano composers such as Clementi, Kuhlau, Czerny, and solo piano music by Spanish and Portuguese Baroque composers. She enjoyed a relationship with leading composers such as Penderecki and Villa-Lobos - he dedicated his Fifth Piano Concerto to Ms. Blumental, which she performed under the composer with leading orchestras of Europe and recorded for EMI in Paris with the Orchestre National. Her appearances in South and North America brought her further stardom. Many of these recordings are now released on Brana Records and all CD covers feature the fine art prints of Felicja Blumental's husband, Markus Mizne. It was a delight to receive a copy of one of these CDs; Ms Blumental's beautiful artistry and shimmering pianism shines through her recordings. branarecords.com.  Last week, I spoke to Mike Ladouceur, known for working on blockbusters like Ad Astra and Mission Impossible – Fallout, as well as the BBC hit TV series His Dark Materials. Mike's debut album, Between Worlds, is out now. It features 42 of London's top musicians - the music was recorded at Angel Studios and is published by Warp Publishing. Between Worlds was designed as a multi-artform, immersive experience. The album is accompanied by bespoke videos, presenting space scenes from NASA's satellite photography with stunning landscapes taken on earth from drone footage filmed by Phillip Whiteman. Nick Denman's album artwork uses the Automatic Drawing process, and is a series of paintings with acrylic and charcoal on canvas. In this interview, we talked about some of the ways online teaching can benefit music students during this current crisis. We also discussed the importance of narrative and individuality within a composer’s voice, and this is something that is very much at the heart of Between Worlds. We talked about the creative process behind the album and the collaboration between other narrative media. Many thanks to Jonathon Tester for putting me in touch with Mike about his wonderful projects, and to Mike for taking the time to talk to me! Interview recorded 1st May 2020; published 9th May 2020. mikeladouceur.com