What are you listening to now?

[Que]

Morning listening - just in:

[asin]B00005LWC6[/asin]
The little known and recorded Italian early Baroque composer Giovanni Valentini makes a strong impression here.
performances are excellent with good solo singing (strong & dramatic, some vibrato). And I didn't know that organist Stefano Molardi also conducted but here is...

Q

[The new erato]

Stravinsky's Agon (Ashkenazy) and The Flood (Knussen) from this box:

[asin]B013FFSG7U[/asin]

Cool and detached music for a Saturday morning.

[The new erato]

Sounds like a disc I'm going to have to pickup at some point. I recall enjoying Wiren's symphonies (on CPO).

His string quartets on the Daphne label are truly excellent as well:

[asin]B000BRP21Y[/asin]

[You did it]

Stravinsky - The Flood

[The new erato]

Now for some assorted Roussel suites from this very fine box:

[asin]B074R7QC9W[/asin]

[Que]

Newly in:

[asin]B00HFDKT8I[/asin]
Got this cheap at jpc, with modest expectations on the music by politician-composer Ferdinando Richardson.
As it turns out barely half of the disc is filled with his "complete works for harpsichord", which is quite a mouthful for 8 pieces...
Tsss tsss... Naxos..... 

But then the good news: the music is wortwhile, Glen Wilson's is as per usual stellar, and I'm quite happy with the "fillers" by contemporary composers and earlier anonymous pieces.

Q

[You did it]

Stravinsky - Les Noces

[Jo498]

Noted. The Oslo4 on Naxos is the other group that I've noticed a lot of pretty positive reviews for. But to be honest I'm not expecting to deviate to another group. For one thing, I know I'll never find better sound quality with anyone else. Da Capo are consistently superb these days.

The sound is considerably better on Dacapo although the Naxos is good enough. I am still at the comparison but the sound and general liveliness make me favor the Danish.
If you have not bought the separate issues with the quartets yet, the Dacapo chamber music 6-CD-box is available for 15 EUR in Europe now. It has the quartets/quintet as hybrids, the rest as CDs and all recordings are very good (both sound and performances) with the exception of the two discs with piano music which were recorded in 1981 by the Danish Radio and sound rather tinny. But even these are very interesting because the pianist is the composer Herman Koppel who studied with Nielsen.

[Que]

This recent arrival completes the Froberger Edition by Bob van Asperen on my shelf (I already had volume 8 ):

[asin]B0049761QM[/asin]
Q

[You did it]

Cage - Song Books

[You did it]

Stravinsky's Agon (Ashkenazy) and The Flood (Knussen) from this box:

[asin]B013FFSG7U[/asin]

Cool and detached music for a Saturday morning.

I didn't see your post before, I see we both had The Flood on our minds 


Agon is amazing too but think I've worn it out though from so much repeated listening earlier this year 

[The new erato]

I thought I was your muse!

[aligreto]

Schubert: Symphony No. 8 [Wand]....





Wand does a great job with this interpretation. There is a great clarity and determination in its execution. It is a very thoughtful and sensitive performance and thoroughly enjoyable.

[aligreto]

Lepo Sumera. The only time I saw him live, was in the Summer of 1995. In Tallinn, I saw him dancing leisurely - literally so - in the Kloostri Ait, with a band playing folk music. Our company was small, but I saw no reason to talk with him - though I knew his symphonies already - and so I didn't. Five years later I read the news of his untimely death.

That is a very nice lasting memory to have.

[aligreto]

Sounds like a disc I'm going to have to pickup at some point. I recall enjoying Wiren's symphonies (on CPO).

Yes, it is definitely worth acquiring.

[aligreto]

Couldn't find that on Tidal, but was able to find this one with the Cello Concerto:

[asin]B0000665BF[/asin]

...a really beautiful recording.

Noted and thank you for posting the recommendation.

[eljr]

Cecilia Bartoli / Sol Gabetta / Cappella Gabetta
Dolce Duello

Release Date November 10, 2017
Duration01:16:40
Genre
Classical
Styles
Opera
Recording DateMarch 8, 2017 - March 14, 2017
Recording Location
Evangelisch-reformierte Kirchgemeinde, Zürich-Oberstrass, Switzerland

[ritter]

First listen to this new arrival:

[asin]B071Y8QCTV[/asin]

I knew Marinuzzi the conductor from his highly-regarded 1943 recording of Verdi's La Forza del destino, and the composer from his opera Jacquerie  (on long OOP Nuova Era CDs, which I have little recollection of and should revisit soon).

The Symphony in A (from 1943)  is an ambitious work, in three movements lasting over 40 minutes. Very late romantic in style, but with some interesting harmonic twists and captivating  melodic material. This is a very well constructed symphony, and deserves wider circulation.

The much earlier  (1909) Suite siciliana, in four movements, is also very engaging. Its use of folk-based material is very clever, as it isn't "picture postcard", but rather incorporated into a rich and elaborate orchestral tapestry .The third movement, valzer campestre, very effectively incorporates a wordless women's chorus. 

The liner notes by Paolo Isotta praise the composer and this music through the roof (they're adapted from a book of his I had read), to the point of almost predisposing the listener against the music. And yet, this CD proves to be most interesting and enjoyable.

[aligreto]

Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 3 [Ruske/Mackerras]....

[listener]

After a very pleasant evening celebrating the 90th anniversary of our Orpheum Theatre and the refurbishment  of its Wurlitzer organ (one of the very few still in its original location and unmodified) back to listening to what I have at hand and must file.   I'm losing track of too many things so reducing the clutter will help.
old but recent: KÜNNEKE: Piano Concerto, Serenade, Zigeunerweisen
and from the Jacques Mercier box of French music I picked up yesterday at my local b&m (Sikoras)  Florent SCHMITT: 3 Suites from the music for the feature film Salammbô