What are you listening to now?

[Mirror Image]

I think it is wonderful! Rich sound, great pace, the phrasing seems just right, evocative and endearing! However, do not make me choose between Barbirolli and Boult (yet..). There is no question that Barbirolli is top shelf Elgar!

Great to hear, Moonfish. Yes, Boult and Barbirolli were such natural Elgarians. I don't think I really would choose now either.

[HIPster]

Borrowed from our Public Library :

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A French Soirée
Enjoyed in the light of day
(and it includes Marais!)

Nice.

I've made a note to explore this group.  Thanks for the heads-up here.   

[Mirror Image]

Now:



A stunning performance of RVW's A London Symphony.

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

Nice.

I've made a note to explore this group.  Thanks for the heads-up here.   

Welcome, I'm sure! This disk is my intro to the group and I find them as delightful as they are intellectually stimulating ("liner notes" are fascinating and include thought-provoking comments by violinist Rachel Barton Pine):  here, the trio uses a tuning of A=392, ways lower than the typical A=415 of most Baroque music.  They approach the music with both warmth and a bit of humor.  A remarkable and immediately likable disk. 

[André]

Mahler: Symphony no 8. Berlin Staatskapelle, Pierre Boulez (DGG). A very fine interpretation, splendidly recorded. I can't be overenthusiastic about it (as the work would surely demand) because of a sense of pedagogical, micro-managerial mind at work here. Still, kudos to all concerned (am pretty sure they did not have a job or a life if they failed to meet Uncle Pierre's exacting standards).

[SonicMan46]

For the afternoon, switching over to some British chamber music w/ the two composers below - quite a change of pace from the morning - Dave

 

[André]

Mozart: Great Mass in c minor, K. 427. Nathalie Dessay, Véronique Gens, Topi Lehtipuu,
Luca Pisaroni. Le Concert d'Astrée (PI band), Louis Langrée. Very neat and proper. Mozzarellart WAM.
I wonder who sings the Laudamus Te ? It doesn't sound like Dessay, although she is labeled first soprano. Cool voice, but weak in the coloraura.

[Mirror Image]

For the afternoon, switching over to some British chamber music w/ the two composers below - quite a change of pace from the morning - Dave

 

Very nice, Dave. I need to check out more of Ireland's music. Of course, that RVW set is great.

[Philo]

Bacewicz's Piano Sonata No. 2 followed by Poulenc's Oboe Sonata followed by Hindemith's Piano Sonata No. 1

[Moonfish]

de Machaut: Ballades        Ensemble Musica Nova/Kandel

Every time I listen to this recording I am awed by the beauty put forward by Ensemble Musica Nova and suddenly I vow to explore this music further. Ahh, so many auditory landscapes to travel through....

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[Bogey]

 

[North Star]

de Machaut: Ballades        Ensemble Musica Nova/Kandel

Every time I listen to this recording I am awed by the beauty put forward by Ensemble Musica Nova and suddenly I vow to explore this music further. Ahh, so many auditory landscapes to travel through....

Do you have the Ensemble Gilles Binchois discs, Peter? I think I'll listen to some of that later tonight.

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Thread duty

RVW
Five Mystical Songs
Five Tudor Portrait*
Sarah Walker*, Henry Herford
Guildford Choral Society, The Philharmonia Orchestra & Hilary Davan Wetton
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[Moonfish]

Do you have the Ensemble Gilles Binchois discs, Peter? I think I'll listen to some of that later tonight.

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Yes, I do (thanks to GMG, of course ). Such a great idea! I think I will wander into the Binchois Ensemble later on this evening as well!!!  Thanks for the inspiration! Would you recommend the ensemble Gothic Voices as well?

How was RVW's Tudor Portraits?

[North Star]

Yes, I do (thanks to GMG, of course ). Such a great idea! I think I will wander into the Binchois Ensemble later on this evening as well!!!  Thanks for the inspiration! Would you recommend the ensemble Gothic Voices as well?

How was RVW's Tudor Portraits?

I don't know Gothic Voices' recordings, but Giordano Bruno & others seem to recommend it, I'm sure it's a sage bet  0:)
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I'm still listening to  Tudor Portraits, very nice it is, though. 

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Sinfonia Concertante. A great work IMHO.

[Todd]

Disc 13.  Franck's Symphony in D Minor, the 1950 mono recording.  I have accumulated at least a half dozen versions of this symphony without trying.  Generally speaking, it doesn't do much for me, though Giulini makes it work.  So does Monteux.  Maybe even more than Giulini.  The SFSO plays better in 1950 than in some of the war-time recordings, too. 

[Philo]

https://www.youtube.com/v/M9ljiWGavY0

[ritter]

CD 3 of the Maria Tipo / J.S. Bach set on EMI (which in my case is part of a larger 10-CD set with Janos Starker playing the cello Suites, and Johann Martzy the violin Sonatas and partitas, et al.):



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Hat tip to Moonfish 

[jfdrex]

Just listened to CD 5 from this box--a astounding collection of recordings by one of Mrs D's all-time favorite pianists:

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Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2 (with Vladimir Golschmann conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra), plus solo works by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, and Liszt.

[André]

Mozart: Grrrreat Mass in c minor, K. 427. Karajan, the BP and soopranos Janet Perry and Barbara Hendricks.

Even as a suckling in Salzburg, Karajan had Mozart in his blood and in the air he breathed. No surprise that the main ingredient in this work is right there for us to hear: energetic yet leisurely tempi. As the proper rythmic framework is laid out, all the melodies, textures and colours of the Mass fall into place.

What's missing is a sense of elation in the all-important soprano exchanges, and a little bit of spring in the step here and there. Beautiful, but the team of sopranos in Fricsay's historic version is still unbeatable. As for a total package that comprises all these virtues as an ensemble, the Levine version (DGG) still rules.