Hi-Fi Lausanne provided the playback equipment for the evening, with dCS Varèse paired with Stenheim’s alumine fives. Leboff’s first chosen track was Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides Now’, and one of the most exciting moments of the night was when Mitchell’s voice first emerged from the speakers with such natural-sounding, roundly enveloping warm clarity and precision that Leboff’s eyes widened, and his head slowly turned in wonderment to study the equipment behind him. This sonic warmth and clarity coloured the whole convivial evening with its magic.
Away from the world of classical recordings, the dCS/Stenheim pairing was also singing proud at UNLTD’s late-night ‘Off the Record’ listening sessions at the Experimental Cocktail Club, a now-annual gathering where musicians and personalities from the world of classical music discuss and play their favourite non-classical albums.
Over two hours, I hosted conversations with Gary Leboff – a former rock journalist, and now the UK’s top performance psychologist – and baritone Benjamin Appl. Leboff chose to talk about Joni Mitchell, whilst Appl discussed the world of 1920s and 30s German dance hall music.
Back to the Listening Room, and the plan is to continue next year, with a programme of both public and closed sessions curated by members of the Academy faculty and festival guests. To mark this year’s event, and another year of Verbier, I’ve curated a playlist featuring music from our Listening Room sessions and Off the Record. You can listen to recordings in full via the links below. Enjoy! – Charlotte Gardner
