What are you listening to now?

[Traverso]

Artistically. EMI Electrolla gave him a more balanced sound than DG did in that era, and allowed his recording of Bruckner 7 to bloom in a way the DG didn't.

  I was joking  ,but you are right,the EMI, recorded in the Jesus-Christ Kirche in Berlin,same location as the famous Beethoven cyclus sounds better. Karajan must have had more affinity with Bruckner,he never completed a Mahler cycle.
I love Mahler but if I had to choose it would be Bruckner.

[Karl Henning]

I love Mahler but if I had to choose it would be Bruckner.

I do not say you are at all wrong.

[Irons]

Boy, does she ever look ill on that picture  . Strange, as the real thing has a sepia colouration. Anyhow, goes with the music, I guess. There is an abruptness in her music that must come from the welsh landscapes, I think. Mind you, I'm just surmising. The program notes do mention "national" influences: these works make no use of folksongs or traditional melodies, but their lines are unmistakably moulded by the rythms and cadences of welsh oratory and poetry. Daniel Jones' music has that kind of bracing cragginess and unpredictable stride in the musical flow.

The Symphony and Ballads were originally released on the BBC Artium label in 1980.

[North Star]

Mozart
Requiem
Emőke Baráth (soprano), Eva Zaïcik (mezzo), Maximilian Schmitt (tenor), Florian Boesch (bass)
Collegium Vocale Gent
Orchestre des Champs-Elysée
Philippe Herreweghe (20.10.2018, Liszt Academy, Budapest)

[aligreto]

Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra [Zinman]





Having recently watched both of the films 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: The Year We Make Contact I thought that it would now be appropriate to listen to Also Sprach Zarathustra. There is so much more to this work that the magnificent opening movement. This is a very fine rendition of Zarathustra. It is really very beautiful in places. Zinman does this work great justice with a fine sweeping interpretation.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

This just popped up unannounced on Naxos Music Library. Interesting! From live performances in 2013-14.

Hey! I wonder if it is too much to hope for that it is the first installment in a Stenhammar series.

[prémont]

Well I seem to be the only one on GMG that bought this fantastic set. The only thing I can say, you have no idea what wonderful things you miss, by not having it. The organ sounds fantastic, and the music is instantly lovable, due to an excellent performance.

No  I got it a while ago, and I have also purchased his son Serge Schoonbroodt's recording of the three first suites. Excellent interpretations and organs. And the music is often inventive, but it remains "Kleinkunst" in my book, because most of the movements are too short for much elaboration to take place.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Schumann

We're both listening to Argerich. Lucky us!

That complete Argerich box is full of gems. I have more-or-less the same content in the series of Argerich box sets that DG released over the last few years.

[Mandryka]

A pretty woman, for sure.... And I like her style... 


Another thing that recently came in:



Q

That prompted me to listen to one of the more unexpected combinations in recorded music, Fiocco and Koopman. Almost as extraordinary as Forqueray and Koopman!



What with you and me  listening to Fiocco, and Harry and Poul listening to Chaumont, we really are going quite far  into French music today.

[aligreto]

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition [Berman]





The performance of the original piano version by Berman is quite fine with some lovely interpretations. Berman has a light touch but he can also be powerful and assertive when called for; a fine performance.

[Florestan]

Medtner:
Stimmungsbild Op. 1 (Prologue)
Fairy Tale Op. 51/3
Sonata reminiscenza in A minor, Op. 38 No. 1
Skazka (Fairy Tale), Op. 20 No 1 in B flat minor
Skazka (Fairy Tale), Op. 26 No. 1
Canzona matinata in G major, Op. 39 No. 4
Sonata tragica in C minor, Op. 39 No. 5

Rachmaninov:
Prelude Op. 23 No. 4 in D major
Prelude Op. 23 No. 5 in G minor
Prelude Op. 32 No. 5 in G major
Prelude Op. 32 No. 6 in F minor
Prelude Op. 32 No. 12 in G sharp minor
Prelude Op. 32 No. 13 in D flat major

[Brian]

Hey! I wonder if it is too much to hope for that it is the first installment in a Stenhammar series.

BIS also has an ongoing Stenhammar orchestral series from conductor Christian Lindberg, and they don't usually duplicate repertoire like that, so I think here they saw a golden opportunity to get the music recorded with a legendary conductor and jumped for it. BIS emails out a little note from Robert von Bahr telling the story behind every new album, so we should find out in a week or so. I'll make sure you see it if the email contains our answer.

[JBS]

Should have passed on this one
Brian Current Seven Heavenly Halls for solo tenor, chorus and symphony orchestra
Wlad Marhulets Concerto for Klezmer Clarinet
Lukas Foss Song of Songs for soprano and orchestra.
Not at all helped by the shouty tenor in the Current or the past her prime soprano in the Foss.
Nor is the lack of texts in the booklet helpful.

The Marhulets is nice, but at only 16'51" not worth getting the CD just for that. The Foss can be had in at least one other recording, I believe. The Current left me unimpressed.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

BIS also has an ongoing Stenhammar orchestral series from conductor Christian Lindberg, and they don't usually duplicate repertoire like that, so I think here they saw a golden opportunity to get the music recorded with a legendary conductor and jumped for it. BIS emails out a little note from Robert von Bahr telling the story behind every new album, so we should find out in a week or so. I'll make sure you see it if the email contains our answer.

Goops, I just noticed the Lindberg series on Amazon, I should look into it. I haven't found existing recordings of Stenhammar too attractive. Seems like the Jarvi clan is trying to corner the market.

[aligreto]

Volans:





Walking Song: This is an intriguing and beguiling piece written for flute, harpsichord and four handclappers. It is a short work but an inventive and very engaging one.
Leaping Dance: This is another very inventive and intriguing work. This version is an adaptation for the Netherlands Wind Ensemble from the original two piano score. I do not know the original score but this is a wonderful score for wind instruments. The music is very engaging and the instrumental textures are very appealing.

[akebergv]

BIS also has an ongoing Stenhammar orchestral series from conductor Christian Lindberg, and they don't usually duplicate repertoire like that, so I think here they saw a golden opportunity to get the music recorded with a legendary conductor and jumped for it. BIS emails out a little note from Robert von Bahr telling the story behind every new album, so we should find out in a week or so. I'll make sure you see it if the email contains our answer.

BIS also released a Stenhammar album with Neeme Järvi the other month, so they seem to have three conductors going at the same time: http://www.eclassical.com/conductors/jarvi-neeme/stenhammar-sangen-symphonic-cantata-1.html

This recording just received a review in MusicWeb by John Quinn: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2018/Nov/Stenhammar_Sangen_BIS2359.htm

[Draško]

[North Star]

Gershwin
Songbook
Frank Braley
[asin]B00GUXX0C6[/asin]

[Traverso]

We're both listening to Argerich. Lucky us!

That complete Argerich box is full of gems. I have more-or-less the same content in the series of Argerich box sets that DG released over the last few years.

I was lucky to purchase it for only 60 euros.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

I was lucky to purchase it for only 60 euros.

Yes, I was not nearly so lucky with regards to price, but no regrets. I've been enjoying these recordings since I got them when they were first collected in the Argerich Editions.