Topic: What are you listening to now?

[vandermolen]

A second listen to a couple of performances that didn't register earlier in the week -

Elgar: Symphony No 2 - Edward Gardner conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra, fine performance, beautifully played and recorded
Vaughan Williams: Dona nobis pacem - Edward Gardner conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus and soloists - from Prom 41 - moving performance.

I was there for Prom 41 and you are right that it was a very moving performance (being televised on 2nd December in the UK I think). I liked the soprano soloist being situated right at the back, behind the choir and spotlit just for her contributions. I was pleased that my wife and daughter enjoyed it to. My daughter said that she found the conclusion of Dona Nobis Pacem to be a bit too 'It's A Wonderful Life' but that's just an example of her cynicism and I very much disagreed with her.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

And today, in It’s Only MIDI:

(Brass tones, though . . . MIDI "voices" are ghastly.)

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/reGBWH_my20" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/reGBWH_my20</a>

[Traverso]

D'Anglebert
 
A very good recording,a very fine Cembalo and well played.

[Biffo]

I was there for Prom 41 and you are right that it was a very moving performance (being televised on 2nd December in the UK I think). I liked the soprano soloist being situated right at the back, behind the choir and spotlit just for her contributions. I was pleased that my wife and daughter enjoyed it to. My daughter said that she found the conclusion of Dona Nobis Pacem to be a bit too 'It's A Wonderful Life' but that's just an example of her cynicism and I very much disagreed with her.

I am not sure why the performance didn't click on first hearing, somehow my attention wandered. It must have been a great experience to hear it live. Listening to the radio broadcast the soprano soloist sounded rather disembodied, not sure that it was a good thing but she gave a passionate performance.

[vandermolen]

I am not sure why the performance didn't click on first hearing, somehow my attention wandered. It must have been a great experience to hear it live. Listening to the radio broadcast the soprano soloist sounded rather disembodied, not sure that it was a good thing but she gave a passionate performance.

Maybe it worked better actually seeing her, spot-lit at the back. I found it more moving than had she been at the front. Was a great concert anyway.

[Biffo]

Jean Cras: Legende, violoncelle & orchestre - Henri Demarquette (cello) with the Orchestre Philhamonique de Luxembourg conducted by Jean-Francois Antonioli

[Maestro267]

Elgar: Symphony No. 2
BBC SO/A. Davis

["Harry"]

My listening diet today:

Franz Krommer, Symphonies 2 & 3.
John Field, Piano concertos No, 1 & 2.
Paul Yuon, Orchestral works.

[Traverso]

Bach

CD 1 

Just arrived and now listening,first impression is good,no disturbing  idiosyncrasies ,it is too early to say much but it sounds promising.The recording is quite impressive in the low frequenties
No regrets and looking forward to the other recordings.

[Maestro267]

Weinberg: Trumpet Concerto
Balio (trumpet)/St. Petersburg State SO/Lande

When I woke this morning, I didn't expect I'd wind up wanting to listen to this, but out of the blue I fancied hearing some solo trumpet, and this is the only such work I have, so here we are.

[André]

Hi, Andre. I love it, up there alongside Wand/Berlin, Boulez/Vienna as my top 8th's. Knapps takes his time with the music, plenty of space for each theme to develop and reveal itself, so be prepared for a broad 8th. I also like some of the nuances that Knapps focuses on, mainly with the dynamics ,and articulation of some of the phrasing. I find the overall flow is very fluid, a more gradual ebb and flow, but still packs a punch at times.
They are performing the Schalk edition, which I believe this is the only recording I've heard of it. Highly recommended!

I had this version on lp, didn’t like it at all. Over the years I have become accustomed to it and now like it a lot. It is very different from other (earlier) Knappertsbusch 8ths, so much so as to wonder if it’s the same hand that wields the baton !

[Mandryka]

Linde Jacobs BWV 170. I was tempted to hear it firstly because I was enjoying Jacobs singing Dufay, and secondly because of this online comment which I found

Jacobs performances are truly special because they are truly different. The Flemish Jacobs pioneered the revival of the voce mezzana, the middle or intermediate voice with its falsetto tone and chest projection, and these performances are in a real sense a new way of hearing Bach's melodies. In the solo cantata Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, Jacobs sings with a voice somewhere between humans and angels, a beautiful voice that truly transforms the sound of the melodies. Better yet, Jacobs sings with great intelligence and expressivity. He grasps the music not just as his melody with an instrumental accompaniment but as the whole complex of music, words, and meaning.

[Mandryka]

Bach

CD 1 

Just arrived and now listening,first impression is good,no disturbing  idiosyncrasies ,it is too early to say much but it sounds promising.De recording is quite impressive in the low frequenties
No regrets and looking forward to the other recordings.

I agree about the bass there, the Freiberg Silbermann  sounds good, and I’d be surprised if you had real regrets because of the set!

[listener]

MENDELSSOHN:  3 Preludes & Fugues, op.37 Chorale & Variations on Die Tugend wird durch’s Kreuz geübet and an assortment of short pieces
Jacques Amade, organ of Les Billettes, Paris
SCHUMANN: 6 Études in the form of Canons, op. 56  4 Esquisses op.58, 6 Fugues on B-A-C-H op. 60
Georges Delvallée. Organ of Saint-Antoine de Quinze-Vingts, Paris
inventive pieces on good-sounding organs, not boring at all.

[André]

This is a 1956 mono recording. Despite slightly wiry string tone, there is ample space around and behind the orchestra. It could easily be mistaken for early stereo. Sawallisch was a great advocate of the composer’s music, going on to perform and record Antigonae, Der Kluge, Die Mond among other works. The 33 year old conductor marshals the huge forces with a sure hand. It is a zesty, earthy, colourful interpretation and an important link to a south german music-making tradition that has become quite internationalized in the last decades.

[North Star]

Dvorak
Symphony no. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 10 (B 34)
Neumann & Czech Phil

[Maestro267]

Bruckner: Symphony No. 5
Berlin PO/Karajan

Listening to the finale of this remarkable piece now, and I only just noticed how Brucker, during the fugal development, turns the chorale theme upside down!

[Traverso]

Strauss

One of the finest in my opinion,recorded in the Sofiensaal.

[vandermolen]

Jean Cras: Legende, violoncelle & orchestre - Henri Demarquette (cello) with the Orchestre Philhamonique de Luxembourg conducted by Jean-Francois Antonioli

Another composer whose music I like.

[SymphonicAddict]

Listening to some middle quartets (Op. 59-2, Op. 74, Op. 95). I think my favorite is the Op. 59-2 in E minor. It's one of the most cohesive and vibrant, besides there are pretty good themes you can hum.