What are you listening to now?

[Mirror Image]

Now playing Sibelius' Pan & Echo, Op. 53 from this set before hitting the sack:

[Que]

Morning listening:

[asin]B003CH8WIU[/asin]
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org/cd_reviews/MyriosClassics_MYR001.html

Q

PS I have had this recording for a while now, but upon relistening...wow...very impressive....

[Camphy]

Via Qobuz:

[Karl Henning]

Cross-post:

https://soundcloud.com/jessop-maticevski-shumack/evolve

An excellent piece (as I remarked earlier on seeing the score) and an excellent performance. Bravo, Jessop!

[cilgwyn]

I'm listening to a cd-r of Daniel Jones' Second Symphony,now. One of this Welsh composers finest. Lyrita are going to be releasing this on cd. I know he's been called a Welsh Vagn Holmboe. I don't know about that;but he is very good. You can almost see the Welsh land/sea-scapes;but he's not as pictorial as Bax. This is more craggy;but his use of the orchestra is quite dazzling,once you get past the deceptively tough exterior. Like the best symphonies,I always feel this music is going somewhere.

[Harry]

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2017/04/coates-eric-1886-1957-orchestral-works.html?spref=tw

[Harry]

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2017/04/braga-santos-joly-1924-1988-orchestral.html?spref=tw

[Harry]

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2017/04/draeseke-felix-1835-1913-orchestral.html?spref=tw

Top recommendation.

[cilgwyn]

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2017/04/draeseke-felix-1835-1913-orchestral.html?spref=tw

Top recommendation.

I like that one,too! Very Germanic and brooding. I love the blazing finale. Very thrilling! The MDG recording is very good,too! I also like his First symphony. The MDG recording gives you his Piano concerto,as well.

[Maestro267]

Stanford: Stabat Mater
Bach Choir/Bournemouth SO/Hill

[Harry]

I like that one,too! Very Germanic and brooding. I love the blazing finale. Very thrilling! The MDG recording is very good,too! I also like his First symphony. The MDG recording gives you his Piano concerto,as well.

Yes the Finale of the symphony is indeed thrilling as you say. He is in all respects a brilliant orchestrator. I have the MDG recordings somewhere in my piles in the listening room. No doubt one day I will find them back. As to Draeseke, I like and love most of his orchestral works, and collect zealously all what is released.

[Harry]

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2017/04/francaix-jean-1912-1997-ballet-music.html?spref=tw

Delicious ballet music, very much off track music.

[Mister Sharpe]

I do love this label, yes I do. 

[Camphy]

Via Qobuz:

[Karl Henning]

Дмитрий Дмитриевич [ Dmitri Dmitriyevich (Shostakovich) ]
Симфония № 4 до минор, соч. 43 [ Symphony № 4 in c minor, Opus 43 ] (1935-36)
Giuseppe Verdi Symphonic Orchestra of Milan
Caetani

[asin]B000IY035U[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

Дмитрий Дмитриевич [ Dmitri Dmitriyevich (Shostakovich) ]
Симфония № 4 до минор, соч. 43 [ Symphony № 4 in c minor, Opus 43 ] (1935-36)
Giuseppe Verdi Symphonic Orchestra of Milan
Caetani

[asin]B000IY035U[/asin]

Фунты стол!

[Mirror Image]

Now playing The Origin of Fire, Op. 32 (Original Version) from this glorious set:

[Madiel]

Now playing Pohádka from this set:

One of the highlights of the set for me.

[Florestan]

A little delay in timing, gorgeous music nevertheless.

[Todd]

My first exposure to the playing of Saleem Abboud Ashkar.  Here he teams with Ivor Bolton, and an obviously very well drilled NDR Symphony Orchestra (thank you, Mr Hengelbrock!), to deliver some LvB.  First thing to note here is not the pianist, but rather what seems to be Ivor Bolton's love for the tympani, because as with his recording of Clementi's symphonies, they get some obvious attention.  That aside, the orchestral support is all world class. 

To Mr Ashkar's playing, it is generally light, somewhat small of scale (I'm guessing as a result of recording technique), clean, and while filled with individual touches, more of the straight-forward style.  His tone is softly metallic, which works intriguingly well, especially a few times when Ashkar plays a very delicate, barely perceptible piano and gently increases volume, creating an effect whereby the piano emerges from the orchestra in the first movement of the First, and his gentle touch adds a bit more beauty than normal to some trills.  The resulting C Major concerto is very much classical and more of the world of Haydn and Mozart than some recordings render it.  The G Major finds Ashkar turning up the wick a bit.  Bolton, too.  If not a powerhouse in, say, the Katchen or Pollini mold, Ashkar varies dynamics effectively, plays the first movement cadenza in a beefier fashion that he does in the C Major, but he never stops infusing the playing with small, individual touches.  The softly metallic tone pays dividends again in the slow movement, where the playing takes on an increasingly becalmed demeanor as Orpheus tames the Furies, for those who like this imagery.  The finale is delightfully crisp and light from Ashkar, with the weight coming from the band.

So, a definite success of a disc, if not a reference recording of either work, though the G Major can probably be considered one of the more successful recordings made this century, at least among those I've heard.  Given Ashkar's style, I'd like to hear him play some early classical and baroque music, maybe some Schumann (I'm thinking the Humoreske, in particular, for some reason), and some Debussy.  His other two extant releases are a Mozart/Schubert/Brahms ditty for EMI, and Mendelssohn's Concertos with Chailly on Decca.  I suppose of more interest to me ultimately is that his recital schedule shows a Beethoven piano sonata cycle in progress through July.  Now, I'm not saying for sure that I'd buy any recordings of these recitals - oh, who am I kidding, I would buy them right away were they to become available on disc.  Alternatively, I can wait until one of the anniversary years.  Surely Decca Italy needs to release a cycle.

Sound is just shy of SOTA.