What are you listening to now?

[aligreto]

JS Bach: Trio Sonatas Nos. 1-4 [Rogg]


      


This set is one of the prides of my collection.

[Sergeant Rock]

Goossens Symphony No. 1, Handley conducting

https://www.youtube.com/v/KVMBJKqsuvY


Sarge

[North Star]

JS Bach: Trio Sonatas Nos. 1-4 [Rogg]

This set is one of the prides of my collection.

That looks like the perfect choice for a desert island - perfect for a raft. 

[vandermolen]

Well, Jeffrey, 82 of his 95 opus numbers are not operas/operettas.

A good point Karlo!

[aligreto]

That looks like the perfect choice for a desert island - perfect for a raft. 

Indeed Karlo, it would have many uses 

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Returned to Beethoven, Op 59, No 3.



Coming to the realization that the middle quartets don't quit do it for me. This one has some interest. The second (slow) movement is wonderfully melodic. The finale is a "devil of a fugue" (to use Elgar's phrase) although it is not really a fugue. But the third movement menuetto is relatively charmless, for me. The first movement is a rare Beethoven Allegro that doesn't really work for me. Recorded performance is first rate, I'd say.

[aligreto]

Returned to Beethoven, Op 59, No 3.



Coming to the realization that the middle quartets don't quit do it for me. This one has some interest. The second (slow) movement is wonderfully melodic. The finale is a "devil of a fugue" (to use Elgar's phrase) although it is not really a fugue. But the third movement menuetto is relatively charmless, for me. The first movement is a rare Beethoven Allegro that doesn't really work for me. Recorded performance is first rate, I'd say.

Snap!

Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 59 No. 3 "Rasoumovsky" [Hungarian Quartet]

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Snap!

Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 59 No. 3 "Rasoumovsky" [Hungarian Quartet]

Is that the mono or stereo set? 

I have the mono here:



and the stereo here:

[vandermolen]

Goossens Symphony No. 1, Handley conducting

https://www.youtube.com/v/KVMBJKqsuvY


Sarge

What did you think of it Sarge?

[aligreto]

Mozart: Concertone for two violins and Orchestra K.190 [Perlman/Zukerman/Mehta]





This is a thoroughly charming and attractive work. I  really enjoy the whole sum of the work and the orchestration is wonderful throughout. The most appealing aspect of the orchestration for me is the scoring for woodwinds, which is delightful.

[aligreto]

Is that the mono or stereo set? 

I have the mono here:



and the stereo here:

My vinyl is the stereo version. 

From what I am reading I do not think it is but I will still ask if the mono/stereo issue is colouring your "hearing" of the work?

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

My vinyl is the stereo version. 

From what I am reading I do not think it is but I will still ask if the mono/stereo issue is colouring your "hearing" of the work?

I'm generally happy with the performances of Op 59 I am listening to (Endellion) which has very good stereo sound. The two recordings by the Hungarian Quartet (mono and stereo) are relatively new acquisitions and I haven't had a chance to listen to them yet. When I do I will probably go straight to my favorite "late" quartets.

[SymphonicAddict]

Piano Quintet & Piano Trio

On second thoughts, I can see where Taneyev's reputation of dryness comes from --- and why it's not entirely groundless. The pervasive atmosphere of his music is one of uncompromising and unrelenting seriousness. Passionate, yes, but with a cold passion. Looks like this man never had even the briefest moments of genuine merriment and joy, never laughtered wholeheartedly, never had the notion of humor and never experienced life otherwise than as a stern and grim business. The most exact description of his music I can think of is "musical Calvinism". 

The Piano Trio fits this description the most, but the Piano Quintet... come on! 

[North Star]

First listen to this composer
Howells
Lambert's Clavichord
Julian Perkins (clavichord)
[asin]B075SXH5NF[/asin]

This is great fun so far.

[North Star]

Hip but not HIP.
https://www.youtube.com/v/_TRjTeQ-sIM

[André]

A Stenhammar afternoon. To the contents of the Naxos disc, Virgin has added two works, the Reverenza movement from his large-scale Serenade opus 31 and Two Songs opus 4.

I looked on Amazon and counted 7 versions of the symphony. I didn't think it was so well represented on disc. At about 45 minutes, it's a very substantial work. Quite conservatively laid out and developed, the balance of the argument is tilted toward a big finale, brucknerian in its length (16-18 minutes as per the 2 discs above) but not in idiom, contrary to the first symphony.

As a prominent conductor in Sweden, Stenhammar was a champion of Bruckner's works, as well as those of Nielsen and Sibelius. It's the latter that rears its characteristic head in that finale. It's a strangely structured movement. Two totally different musical episodes are exposed, developed but never meshed together. The first is a "nordic mood" passage, complete with sibelian trills in the horns, then the winds, which Howard Hanson must have thought of when he composed his first symphony. Pause. The second idea is then presented, a sort of busy, angular string fugato, gradually picked up by the winds - very perky, not far removed from Schumann and Brahms (the two Serenades). Another pause. Back to square one, and so on. More pauses, more exposition and development of the two ideas. These contrasting episodes never grow their material from each other. They are presented separately. Later on, toward the end (about 13 minutes in) the fugato reappears with elements of the nordic mood idea appearing (the horn trills). And on toward a big, affirmative recapitulation and coda. When it's over, my initial reaction is to say How did we get there? I was reminded of these rivers where, at the confluence, two streams of different origin and composition seem to share the same riverbed without merging until some way downstream:



Not really a patchwork movement, then, but an ambitious construction that is puzzling at first.


Excelsior is a big concert overture with a clear structure, where an upward moving motif is pressed on and pushed up, gathering energy as it proceeds. The Virgin disc is another 'portrait of' concept where the different elements should have been presented in a different order for optimal effect. But what counts is the choice of music, and as a program, it works very well. Von Otter sings superbly in the two songs.

[Mandryka]

First listen to this composer
Howells
Lambert's Clavichord
Julian Perkins (clavichord)
[asin]B075SXH5NF[/asin]

This is great fun so far.

I agree. Julian Perkins is my sort of musician too!

[André]

Revisiting this invigorating disc.

Ballads for Orchestra combines the character of traditional dances (welsh in this case) with a symphonic structure in four movements. She could have called it Sinfonietta. Fairest of Stars is a setting of part of Milton's Paradise Lost. At 14 minutes it's a substantial scene for soprano and orchestra. The excellent soloist here is Janet Price. The vocal writing is demanding but very grateful to the ear. Engrossing stuff.

The symphony is a big, craggy piece that catches and keeps the attention. The effect (on me at least) is not unlike the Honegger 3rd or a late Schuman symphony. It offers no concession to facility, but does not consciously attempt to place itself out of reach from the ordinary listener. IOW this is serious but accessible stuff. Very impressive.

Thanks to all those who have mentioned Grace Williams' music this year. I feel privileged to have discovered her music through your advocacy.

[vandermolen]

Revisiting this invigorating disc.

Ballads for Orchestra combines the character of traditional dances (welsh in this case) with a symphonic structure in four movements. She could have called it Sinfonietta. Fairest of Stars is a setting of part of Milton's Paradise Lost. At 14 minutes it's a substantial scene for soprano and orchestra. The excellent soloist here is Janet Price. The vocal writing is demanding but very grateful to the ear. Engrossing stuff.

The symphony is a big, craggy piece that catches and keeps the attention. The effect (on me at least) is not unlike the Honegger 3rd or a late Schuman symphony. It offers no concession to facility, but does not consciously attempt to place itself out of reach from the ordinary listener. IOW this is serious but accessible stuff. Very impressive.

Thanks to all those who have mentioned Grace Williams' music this year. I feel privileged to have discovered her music through your advocacy.

I like the Honegger comparison Andre. I hadn't made that connection but I think that you are right.

[vandermolen]

I suppose some reciprocity is called for. 

Now listening to:

[asin]B00000DO9V[/asin]

Symphony No. 6.

I'm not a great fan of Simon Rattle but I think that his recording of Sibelius's 3rd Symphony is the best I know.