Topic: What are you listening to now?

[kyjo]

Yoshimatsu - Alto Saxophone Concerto "Cyber Bird":

Despite some noisy sections which are meant to imitate free jazz, this is a spirited, entertaining work.


Howells - Piano Quartet:

A beautiful work, but a bit on the "generic English pastoral" side. That said, the slow movement is quite moving. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the performance, which lacks dynamic subtleties and a more refined tone color I think this work would benefit from.


Wellesz - Symphony no. 1:

This was my first exposure to Wellesz's music. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it - the first two movements are a bit on the "grey" side, but the third and final movement is a gorgeous neo-Brucknerian/Mahlerian adagio!


Dvořák - Piano Quartet no. 1:

For some reason, I didn't think much of this work when I first listened to it a couple years ago - I'm sure glad I revisited it! Though it may not reach the heights of his masterful 2nd piano quartet, it's still a really fine work, with great tunes and imaginative writing. The slow movement is a haunting theme-and-variations, and the spirited third movement creatively combines scherzo and finale. I was extremely impressed by the marvelously sparkling and characterful performance by the Busch Trio and Miguel Da Silva - I shall definitely be looking out for more performances by these talented young artists!


Tveitt - Hardanger Fiddle Concerto no. 1:

This concerto for the hardanger fiddle - which has twice as many strings as a regular violin and a less full-bodied tone - is more than just a novelty. My favorite movement was the catchy finale, which has an almost Copland-like folksy "stomp" and earthiness.

[Que]

Morning listening:


                               Picture is linked.

Q

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Haydn: Symphony in D, H.I No.31 - "Horn Signal"



Marvelous composition and interpretation. I thought I needed to rest, but immediately came the mesmerizing adagio of the symphony No.34... Just one more. 

Nay, I practically never find myself requiring a "break" from "Papa"!

[Biffo]

Another composer whose music I like.

I was introduced to Jean Cras in the Amazon UK forum. I have three albums of his works stored in my Spotify library and dip into them occasionally. The album containing the Legende is quite expensive from Amazon but, checking yesterday,  more reasonably priced from MDT - I might buy it next month.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Howells - Piano Quartet:

A beautiful work, but a bit on the "generic English pastoral" side.

But does the world really need more "sonic cowpat"? 

[Traverso]

The Organ in  the Renaissance and the Baroque

1. Ballo della Battaglia from "Selva" (1664)
  2. Canzona in G minor
  3. Ricercar No. 1
  4. Capriccio No. 8
  5. Toccata e Fuga tertia from "IX Toccate e Fughe" (1747)
  6. Sonata quinta (Adagio-Allegro-Adagio)
  7. Praeludium and Fugue in C minor from "Ariadne musica neo-organoedum" (1702)
  8. Praeludium and Fugue in B minor from "Ariadne musica neo-organoedum" (1702)
  9. Praeludium and Fugue in D Major from "Ariadne musica neo-organoedum" (1702)
  10. Praeludium and Fugue in E-flat Major from "Ariadne musica neo-organoedum" (1702)
  11. Toccata sexta aus "IX Toccate e Fughe" (1747)
  12. Preambulum sopra "Jesu, meine Freude" from "Klavierübung", Part I
  13. Preambulum sopra "Jesu, meine Zuversicht" from "Klavierübung", Part I
  14. Preambulum sopra "Von Gott will ich nicht lassen" from "Klavierübung", Part I
  15. Fugue in G minor

[Mookalafalas]

I am literally just grabbing handfuls randomly from this and loading them into my CD-carousel...so far they are all terrific---I'm about 1/3 of the way through.

[Traverso]

Bach

st.John Passion  The Netherlands Bach Society : Jos van Veldhoven

 

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

I am literally just grabbing handfuls randomly from this and loading them into my CD-carousel...so far they are all terrific---I'm about 1/3 of the way through.

I do love my two Bernstein boxes.

[Mookalafalas]

I do love my two Bernstein boxes.

  Me too, and the 3rd one is coming out soon!
BTW, I'm listening to the disk of Gould playing Brahms PC 1.  It is live, and the coughing is unbelievable--like people are doing it on purpose as a means of booing the performance.  Probably won't be rushing back to play this one again any time soon...

[Madiel]

I've decided to go all Scandinavian for the evening.

First off a couple of Nielsen songs from 1927 in streaming sources.

Dansk Vejr (Danish Weather)
Vocalise-Etude


I went looking for a bunch of others but didn't find them, and indeed several were pretty obscure. Nielsen wrote a heck of a lot of vocal music, and a lot of it was more for community performance than anything professional... and the couple of the ones I was looking for didn't even make the community-oriented publications. This is the danger of complete catalogues of works.

[Madiel]

Sibelius, Six Runeberg songs, op.90

I'm near the end of this set (this is the last published opus), and I know I've said things like this repeatedly while going through this set, but... op.90/1 is startling, stark and dissonant. And no.2 has some of the same tone. After that things become a bit more conventional, but I continue to think that Sibelius' songs are an important part of his output.  No.5 has a gorgeous change of mood and pace.

[Zeus]

My oh my, what a good way to start the day....

Cras: L'oeuvre pour orchestre
Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg & Jean-François Antonioli
Timpani

Includes the above-mentiioned Legende.  But IMHO Journal de Bord is even better!  Or maybe I say that just because I'm listening to it right now.

When I listen to this music, I feel such a rush of exhilaration.  I feel like maybe I'm going out to sea for the first time, perhaps on one of those tall sailing ships, or maybe on an ultra-modern catamaran.  Sailing somewhere where the overall beauty of the experience overwhelms the senses.

Anyway, it's all good, instantly likeable music.

[Judith]

One of my Twitter friends is a violinist for the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. He posted a radio catch up link of them performing Schumann Symphony no 2 conducted by Riccardo Muti. What a performance. Beautiful, especially the finish to the final movement. It was so full and fiery.

[Madiel]

Holmboe, Symphony No.9

The first movement tends to make me think of things crawling in the night...

[Madiel]

Nørgård, Cello Concerto No.1, "Between".

["Harry"]

Aram Khachaturian, Symphony No. 2.

Bernhard Molique. String quartets opus 42 & 44.

[Papy Oli]

Good afternoon all,

Kodaly - Hary Janos Suite, Dances of Galanta, Peacock Variations, Dances of Marosszek

Dorati / Philarmonia Hungarica

[Biffo]

Hartmann: Concerto for piano, winds and percussion - Maria Bergmann (piano) with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rafael Kubelik. This work was mentioned in the Six Piano Concertos thread by Karl and I listened to it out of curiosity. Probably need to get more familiar with it but I enjoyed it more as it went on. I have a couple of Hartmann symphonies, also conducted by Kubelik, must revisit them some time.

[TheGSMoeller]

Nørgård, Cello Concerto No.1, "Between".

I'm not sure if I've ever really listened to the music of Norgard, but this same disc is on Apple Music so I think I'll give it a go this morning.
Thanks, Madiel!