What are you listening to now?

[Mandryka]

This new release of music from Josquin to Scheidt:



Super good. And the instrumentarium is interesting - Antonini alone plays 8 different models of recorder/flute.

Yes, very good fun.

[Mirror Image]

Although I do not have a strong opinion on the matter, with regard to any particular performance Ormandy would not be one whose interpretation I would deliberately seek out. However, this one I do find rather intriguing.

[See purchases thread]

[Mirror Image]

Enescu
Cello Sonata No. 2 in C major, Op. 26/2
Valentin Radutiu (cello), Per Rundberg (piano)

[Mirror Image]

Debussy
Préludes, Livre I
Hiroko Sasaki, piano

[André]

No 9. Second performance of the symphony in the set, with Schaller's own completion of the finale (the other one has the Carragan completed finale). One more disc to go (Mass no 3) and I'm done with this set, 14 months after unwrapping it.

[Mirror Image]

No 9. Second performance of the symphony in the set, with Schaller's own completion of the finale (the other one has the Carragan completed finale). One more disc to go (Mass no 3) and I'm done with this set, 14 months after unwrapping it.

Sounds like you couldn't wait to finish it.

[André]

Sounds like you couldn't wait to finish it.

Sort of. I'm no fan of "Cathedral Bruckner". It skews the sound completely IMO and steers the music in the wrong way. Ol' Anton knew perfectly well he was composing for concert halls, not churches. But then some people have always known better than the composer...

[Mirror Image]

Sort of. I'm no fan of "Cathedral Bruckner". It skews the sound completely IMO and steers the music in the wrong way. Ol' Anton knew perfectly well he was composing for concert halls, not churches. But then some people have always known better than the composer...

Ah, yeah, I'm not a fan of the 'Cathedral Bruckner' sound either. Favorite Brucknerians: HvK, Wand, Giulini, and Celibidache.

[JBS]

First listen to this
[asin]B07MWQ9CL8[/asin]

Not sure how to describe it. Strauss leavened with orchestral Debussy, perhaps.
The composer died at age 36 of TB, one reason the CD clocks in at just under an hour.

[Kontrapunctus]

No.3-5.

[TheGSMoeller]

In the past few years this has become one of my favorite symphonies. It's awesome!

[HIPster]

I see from my notes that some time ago a MusicWeb reviewer trashed this disc.  Without going back and re-reading the review, I can't imagine why, frankly.  Maybe, just possibly, the voices aren't the absolute best in the business.  But honestly they sound quite nice to me.

Arias for one and two voices from Gasparini, A Scarlatti, and Handel, interspersed with a trio sonata and works for solo organ and harpsichord, makes for a varied and enjoyable listening experience.  What's not to love?

As I write this I am listening to the last track.  I certainly wouldn't mind starting the disc over and listening to it again.  Only the "opportunity cost" holds me back.

Strongly recommended !!

Hope this helps.  YMMV.

Thank you, Zeus!

Helps a great deal.  I've added this to the wishlist. 

As a point of reference, this is my go-to Arcadian Academy disc:

[asin]B00HX6FDN8[/asin]

Cheers!

TD:
Beethoven
Op. 59, no. 1
Fine Arts Quartet

[HIPster]

This new release of music from Josquin to Scheidt:



Super good. And the instrumentarium is interesting - Antonini alone plays 8 different models of recorder/flute.

Thank you, Brian!

Looks excellent.  Another wishlist addition. 

[Irons]

Miaskovsky: 21st Symphony.



A rarity in so far a Miaskovsky symphony not recorded in Russia. In a single movement (only 16 minutes) which alternates between slow and fast but also reaches a climax which falls away to a beautiful Coda for strings only. A noble work.

I have seen a few recordings of David Measham conducting Australian Orchestras of British works which I have ignored. I think that view needs revising after this recording of Russian music.

[Christo]

I have seen a few recordings of David Measham conducting Australian Orchestras of British works which I have ignored. I think that view needs revising after this recording of Russian music.

For me, two of his recordings in particular are classics: the best Barber cd I know (first on lp) and the most inspired performance of Goossens' First Symphony (that never made it to a cd):

[SimonNZ]

[ritter]

First listen to CD 1 of the Erato Albert Roussel Edition, that arrived today:

[asin]B07M6TL69W[/asin]
Piano music played by Jean Doyen, plus Segovia (Turibio Santos, guitar), Impromptu (Lily Laskine, harp), and Joueurs de flûte (Jonathan Snowden, flute, and Andrew Litton, piano). All this music is new to me. The Suite pour piano, op. 14 so far is proving most enjoyable. Unmistakebly French, but more assertive (for lack of a better term) and less mysterious than the French piano literature I know from around the time (1910). Neo-classical (the movement titles--e.g. Sicilienne, Bourrée--give that away), but not quite. Interesting.

[Papy Oli]

Good morning all,

Continuing the Beethoven Wand edition cycle with No. 3 & 8.

Really good.

[Madiel]

Sibelius, Har du mod? (Have you courage?)



A song of less than 2 minutes, and Sibelius produced four orchestral versions (as well as non-orchestral arrangements). First in 1904 for the premiere of the Violin Concerto, then 1911, 1912 and 1914. That's a lot of attempts at what is frankly a pretty minor piece of music.

The 1904 version is a fairly square-sounding march. But that's not actually a problem for something so short.

The 1911 version (where everything gets sung twice), the accompaniment seems at times to be warring with the melody. It has that peculiarly Sibelian effect of different things happening in different timeframes. Interesting, but for this material it feels overworked.

The 1912 version has a much brighter, lighter feel, though with some oddly timed rumblings to keep something ominous.

The 1914 version is somewhat similar to 1912, with a bigger orchestra and slightly more intrusive accompaniment.

[Biffo]

Sibelius: The Tempest Suite No 1 - Leif Segerstam conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra - some atmospheric pieces in this suite (The Oak Tree, The Storm) but mostly the contents are very short giving a rather bitty feel.

Sibelius: Symphony No 1 in E minor - Orchestre Metropolitain de Montreal conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin - not a bad performance but nothing special either