Desert Island Discs

BBC radio has a fun feature where they invite famous guests and ask them, "If you were stuck on a desert island...what eight recordings would you bring with you?"

I've thought long and hard about what I'd say if I was stranded on a desert island...and this is what I've come up with (in no particular order):

1. Glenn Gould: Bach Toccatas.  Everything Bach wrote was genius...and I could say the same thing about everything Glenn Gould played.  But my all-time favourite Glenn Gould recording is that of Bach's keyboard toccatas and fugues...the contrapuntal magic he works in the epic fugues is crazy amazing.
2. Mitsuko Uchida: Mozart Sonatas.  Mozart is not a composer I think is particular deep at all...mostly  superficial, one might say.  That's before I heard this crazy woman named Mitsuko Uchida.  She coaxes out this endless beauty and heart-breakingly elegant and poignant quality in Mozart that is so incredibly complex. 
3. Sarah Chang: Shostakovich and Prokofiev.  Sarah Chang's recording of the Shostakovich's violin concerto is just absolutely incredible...it just spoke to me on so many levels.  The music itself is very enigmatic and strangely wonderful...but Sarah Chang creates a sonic world that immerses you in this incredibly odd music in a way like no other.
4. Natalie Dessay: Cleopatra.  Operatic arias are perhaps not very soul-searching, but Handel's vocal music never fails to touch me...it's so intimate and heart-rending.  Giulio Cesare is one of his finest operas, and Natalie Dessay's portrayal of its Queen Cleopatra is just amazing...sympathetic, suicidal, triumphant, girlish...transcendent.  I would consider it her crowning achievement on record to date.
5. Johnny Hollow.  Johnny Hollow is a Canandian indie/goth metal/ambient electronica/classically influenced band that has a special personal connection for me.  The music on their first debut CD is so weird...but it is so evocative and incredibly profound...it's beautiful in a twisted, dark, and haunting way.  The lyrics are puzzlers...it would take an eternity to figure out what they're getting at...
6. Yo-Yo Ma: Bach Cello Suites (first recording).  Yo-Yo Ma is such a huge name in classical music, but before the hype was this humble offering of Bach's unaccompanied cello suites.  Absolutely incredible...intimate, soul-searching, magnificently dance-like...I never thought that a single line of music could say so much - until I heard this recording, that is.
7. Martha Argerich: Solo Recordings.  Martha Argerich is a phenomenon.  What a pianist.  This woman's technique is just insane.  In this collection of Liszt, Chopin, and others, she never fails to wow me.  And the repertoire she plays is equally as fiercely passionate and powerful as she is.
8. Tron Legacy Soundtrack.  Surprisingly, my favourite soundtrack EVER.  The shifting harmonies remind me of Bach and I love the ominous ostinatos throughout and the brilliant mixing of orchestral and electronic sound colours.  It really tickles my soul...Daft Punk is so cool!!

There's so more many things I would take with me though!  Why couldn't I just take my iTouch?!