New Releases

[Florestan]

It says the age was the age of avant-garde. Not that all the people were. They seem well aware that Medtner railed against what was happening in music of the time. The subtitle kind of gives you a clue.

The thought crossed my mind after posting.

[Mirror Image]

The thought crossed my mind after posting.

The editing feature is your friend.

[The new erato]

The editing feature is your friend.

As in I ordered this, oooops I deleted the order?   

[Mirror Image]

As in I ordered this, oooops I deleted the order?   

Bingo!

[classicalgeek]

Looks like a most interesting release!

I'm looking forward to it - as are several others!

I can't find a release date either not even on Capriccio's website. All I see is it mentioned under 2022 releases.

So it probably will be released later this year - any time between June and December!

That looks like a fascinating collection!

[Mirror Image]

So it probably will be released later this year - any time between June and December!

Indeed and to be honest, I'm not too worried about it as I have enough music to last me 30 lifetimes. I still have piles and piles of Aho that I haven't even heard yet and this is just one composer with the letter "A".

[amw]

The piano here has a bit of an uncanny valley effect—at first it just sounds like a regular Bechstein that just maybe hasn't been tuned in a few years, up until a sudden registral or dynamic shift makes you realise it's actually a fortepiano (although still a Bechstein one). Does make me wonder what Schumann would sound like on the piano Jean-Efflam Bavouzet used for his Ravel integral on MDG.

Not interested in listening to the Novelletten in full at the moment but Gesänge der Fruhe is just what I needed this month/year/lifetime, and the instrument does make a difference, although the largest deciding factor that makes it an essential performance is Helmchen's sense of rhythm and flux. I can't obviously say this is the "best" performance but it's probably up there.

[amw]

I have no idea if anyone else noticed this, but we have two recent-ish releases from different labels, released roughly simultaneously, featuring three of the same works: Shostakovich's Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok and Piano Trio No. 1, and Weinberg's Jewish Songs (in the same piano trio arrangement). The CPO release also includes Weinberg's Piano Trio, whereas the Chandos release includes additional folksong arrangements by Beethoven and songs by Stravinsky, Rachmaninov, Gubaidulina and Auerbach.



Has anyone compared the two? Does anyone care?? (I might, at least because of the Blok Romances.)

(Comparison note for the Blok romances at least:
- Katharina Konradi's voice is somewhat shriller, more "European", and more expressive and "youthful". Kateryna Kasper's is veiled, less resonant, more "Russian" and a bit more "mature". This is in the sense that critics describe voices, not corresponding in any way to actual nationalities or ages.
- Katharina Konradi is a bit more in tune, and brings a bit more immediacy to her singing, but is at times a bit too intense. Kateryna Kasper is not quite as secure with some rather wobbly notes, lacking the same sharp vocal attacks, but by no means unpleasant to listen to, due to the more muted timbre.
- The Chandos recording is louder.
- Trio Gaspard is faster in almost every song, sometimes notably so, except for nos. 5 and 7. The frozen, desperate moments feel more frozen in the Trio Vivente recording. The fast, loud moments feel about the same in both recordings. The gentle lyrical moments come across as more passionate in the Trio Gaspard moment, and more gentle in the Trio Vivente recording.
- Trio Gaspard plays more cleanly, with sharp attacks and no blurring from everyone, and a bit of portamento from the strings in preference to vibrato. Trio Vivente has a more old-fashioned playing style which on a surface listen feels a little more effective to me despite being less neoclassical and "stark", and more "romantic". The Trio Gaspard string players are a bit less in tune than the Trio Vivente string players, but the Trio Vivente string players are a bit more conventional in their handling of the instruments, while the Trio Gaspard players are arguably more in keeping with the character of the music.
- Trio Gaspard also has a better pianist, although the competition is fairly close, to be honest.  The piano effects come off slightly better in the Trio Vivente recording, but this may be dependent on your listening hardware.
- The musicians are: Trio Gaspard / Jonian Ilias Kadesha vn, Vashti Mimosa Hunter vc, Nicholas Rimmer pf; Trio Vivente / Anne Katharina Schreiber vn, Kristin von der Goltz vc, Jutta Ernst pf. Have not heard of any of them before.

Which do I prefer? I'm not sure. I have a relative shortage of good recordings of this song cycle, and I would consider both of these recordings excellent at minimum, so I'll probably get both and cycle between them and see which one ends up on the playlist more often.)

[JBS]

I haven't heard either of them...but I realized that CPO cover is familiar.


Some info about the image here
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamayun

[Madiel]

I haven't heard either of them...but I realized that CPO cover is familiar.


Some info about the image here
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamayun

It is indeed a rather obvious choice of cover for the Seven Romances.

[kyjo]

Enticing:

Damn, Capriccio is quickly becoming one of my favorite record labels! Dare I say they've released more interesting stuff in the last few months than any other label??

[kyjo]

Vers la voûte étoilée is a favorite of mine. The Seven Stars Symphony hasn't impressed me before, maybe with this recording it'll make me change my mind about the piece itself. And I mean, there already several recordings of it, why not to record the ones that haven't been brought to life in a recording and performance?

Yeah, I generally like Koechlin, but the Seven Stars Symphony has also left me cold in the past. Like you suggest, maybe this new recording will make me change my mind?

[Mandryka]

[Mandryka]

(very good sound!)

[Mandryka]

[Mandryka]

https://www.kairos-music.com/cds/0015119kai

[vandermolen]

I like the look of these two!

[Mirror Image]

I like the look of these two!

I recently received that Naxos recording, Jeffrey, but I haven't had a chance to give it a listen yet. Will do tonight hopefully and that Glazunov recording on MDG does look rather good.

[vandermolen]

I recently received that Naxos recording, Jeffrey, but I haven't had a chance to give it a listen yet. Will do tonight hopefully and that Glazunov recording on MDG does look rather good.

Thanks John - will be interested to hear your views when you get round to it.

[Artem]

https://www.kairos-music.com/cds/0015119kai

I have this. Got it together with other 4 Kairos disks realised this year. But I'm yet to find enough free time for it.