What are you listening to now?

[vandermolen]

Wonderful quartets. Jeffrey and Kyle will agree too.

Definitely!

[Andy D.]

I heard Turangalîla-Symphonie for the first time last night (Hewitt) and was delightfully impressed. First piece also I've heard from Messiaen.

I also had the pleasure of first experiencing Xenakis' music, Synaphai (Howarth) which I find really interesting!

[Harry]

New arrival.

August Joseph Norbert Burgmuller.
Orchestral and Chamber music. CD II.

String Quartets No 4, opus 14 in A minor & No. 2, opus 7 in D minor.

Mannheimer Streichquartett.
Recordings licensed from MDG.

Almost needless to say that the performances and sound are top notch. In this respect the label MDG does not disappoint. I am a great admirer of this composer, and his SQ I rate very highly. They already points towards Beethoven, with the lightness of Mendelssohn its wake. The first movement of No. 4 in a point in case, a happy optimistic vein is throbbing through the notes, with quite some weight in its expression.
Robert Schumann lamented the early death of this composer and he was right, for in him is lost a composer that would have grown into a famous figure. He was a very sensitive human being and not really able to cope with the strenuous aspects of life. His nerves were easily scattered, which happened many a time during his short life. It is more or less reflected in these SQ, all the ups and downs.
Added to all this, epilepsy, which came about when the Kassel opera singer Sophia Roland broke off their engagement and died shortly afterwards. Burgmuller's  death was tragic, for he drowned in the Quirinius Bath during a spa stay in Aachen. Mendelssohn wrote a funeral march for his much lamented friend.
The music is worthwhile and should not be forgotten.

[Traverso]

Bach

[vandermolen]

'Scapegoat' PC No.1
One of my favourite works by Lloyd. Quite dark, as befitting its title and war-time inspiration, but also jazzy and catchy in places:

[pjme]

Contrasting music for a sunny day :

https://www.youtube.com/v/tJS-HZWB3wE

and
https://www.youtube.com/v/x-2078stCVM

[Traverso]

Contrasting music for a sunny day :

https://www.youtube.com/v/tJS-HZWB3wE

and
https://www.youtube.com/v/x-2078stCVM

Well,de Machaut sound almost the same as Wannes.

La Morra,fine Ensemble !

[pjme]

Well, here he is:

https://www.youtube.com/v/CEq46zpFbGo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannes_Van_de_Velde

Peter

[Traverso]

Well, here he is:

https://www.youtube.com/v/CEq46zpFbGo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannes_Van_de_Velde

Peter

encore.

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

[Harry]

Backlog.

Georges Onslow.

String Quintets, volume III.
No 28, in G minor opus 72 & 29 in E flat major, opus 73.

Elan Quintet.

Enough has been said about the quality of these performances, the excellence of the music, and the top notch recording. Their interpretations are the ones to go for. I certainly did not hear them any better as what the Elan Quintet produced sofar.

[pjme]

Wannes inspired me again for this contrasting combo:

https://www.youtube.com/v/JhfR9jo09RA

https://www.youtube.com/v/3ezefB7ODEk

[Traverso]

Wannes inspired me again for this contrasting combo:

https://www.youtube.com/v/JhfR9jo09RA

https://www.youtube.com/v/3ezefB7ODEk

Well, Sternefeld is a well-known name, just like Lutgart Simoens.
I used to listen to BRT3 every Wednesday evening for the early music program

[pjme]

BRT 3 - is long gone! KLARA (https://klara.be/) tries to reach out to a larger and (possibly younger?) public. But for me the music offered is too diverse (folk, jazz,cross over combined often with just the most tasty bits of iron repertoire...).

Anyway, I might go to some concerts in AMUZ ( Laus polyphoniae) and later in Utrecht (Festival Oude Muziek).

Laus Polyphoniae 2019: 16 - 25 augustus

MARY OF BURGUNDY (1457-1482) & THE BURGUNDIAN COURT

Mary of Burgundy was one of the most powerful women in Western Europe in the late Middle Ages. When the duchess came to power in the Netherlands in 1477, at the age of 20, she did not face an easy task. Her warmongering father Charles the Bold had left her with an empty state treasury, hostile neighbouring countries and domestic revolts. Thanks to her diplomatic approach, the young woman succeeded in calming the situation, in Flanders at least. Her position made her the most sought-after bride in Europe. Various candidates were eager for the chance to marry her, and ultimately Maximilian of Austria had the honour. Their marriage linked the House of Burgundy to that of the powerful Habsburgs. Sadly, Mary's fate was not a happy one. She died in 1482 after an unfortunate fall from her horse whilst out hunting with her falcon. She was only 25 years old.

The 26th edition of Laus Polyphoniae explores the flourishing cultural scene in the time of Mary of Burgundy. Her favourite city, Bruges, was not just an economic hub, but an artistic centre as well. So it is particularly fitting for Sollazzo Ensemble to open the festival with a concert dedicated to three key moments in Mary's life. In turn, the Belgian ClubMediéval has drawn inspiration from a portrait that the artist Hans Memling painted of the singer and composer Gilles Joye. Memling's studio was in Bruges, where he worked on panels that became famous under the name Christ with Singing and Music-Making Angels. These panels now take pride of place at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp. In partnership with the museum, Oltremontano has reconstructed the instruments depicted on the panels. They will be presented to the public for the first time during Laus Polyphoniae.

Here's an old friend... possibly one of the first LPs I bought.  I love the voice of Jantina Noorman!
She can accompany my household chores this afternoon.

https://www.youtube.com/v/ZH9kSScl8vU

[Harry]

Backlog.

A French Soiree.

Music by:
F. Couperin: Allemande; Sarabande; Sicilienne; Gavotte; Troisieme Concert
Leclair: Sonata G major.
Lully: Ballet Royal de Flore. (part)
Marais: La Guitare; Prelude; Chaconne
Rameau: Concerto Nr. 4
Rebel: Sonate Nr. 8 D Minor.

Trio Settecento.

It is a good way, spending time with Trio Settecento, and the music that they are offering on this CD.
It can compete with any other recording on the market.

[Traverso]

BRT 3 - is long gone! KLARA (https://klara.be/) tries to reach out to a larger and (possibly younger?) public. But for me the music offered is too diverse (folk, jazz,cross over combined often with just the most tasty bits of iron repertoire...).

Anyway, I might go to some concerts in AMUZ ( Laus polyphoniae) and later in Utrecht (Festival Oude Muziek).

Laus Polyphoniae 2019: 16 - 25 augustus

MARY OF BURGUNDY (1457-1482) & THE BURGUNDIAN COURT

Mary of Burgundy was one of the most powerful women in Western Europe in the late Middle Ages. When the duchess came to power in the Netherlands in 1477, at the age of 20, she did not face an easy task. Her warmongering father Charles the Bold had left her with an empty state treasury, hostile neighbouring countries and domestic revolts. Thanks to her diplomatic approach, the young woman succeeded in calming the situation, in Flanders at least. Her position made her the most sought-after bride in Europe. Various candidates were eager for the chance to marry her, and ultimately Maximilian of Austria had the honour. Their marriage linked the House of Burgundy to that of the powerful Habsburgs. Sadly, Mary's fate was not a happy one. She died in 1482 after an unfortunate fall from her horse whilst out hunting with her falcon. She was only 25 years old.

The 26th edition of Laus Polyphoniae explores the flourishing cultural scene in the time of Mary of Burgundy. Her favourite city, Bruges, was not just an economic hub, but an artistic centre as well. So it is particularly fitting for Sollazzo Ensemble to open the festival with a concert dedicated to three key moments in Mary's life. In turn, the Belgian ClubMediéval has drawn inspiration from a portrait that the artist Hans Memling painted of the singer and composer Gilles Joye. Memling's studio was in Bruges, where he worked on panels that became famous under the name Christ with Singing and Music-Making Angels. These panels now take pride of place at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp. In partnership with the museum, Oltremontano has reconstructed the instruments depicted on the panels. They will be presented to the public for the first time during Laus Polyphoniae.

Here's an old friend... possibly one of the first LPs I bought.  I love the voice of Jantina Noorman!
She can accompany my household chores this afternoon.

https://www.youtube.com/v/ZH9kSScl8vU

I share your love for Musica Reservata,"Muziek voor kerk en kroeg"was my first LP ftom this ensemble.I have not long ago purchased this box (5 LP"s ) and CD
I sold most of my classical LP"s but I soon discovered that this  music was hard to find on CD and not complete so I bought it again.





https://www.youtube.com/v/nbEme6VmiG4

[Madiel]

Faure, 4 songs op.51

Using volumes of the Hyperion song edition and the power of iTunes to rearrange them back into opuses, and my fabulous wifi-connected player...

I love Faure's version of Spleen. I haven't yet tried directly comparing Faure and Debussy when they've set the same poem, it's on the to-do list. Give it a few years.

Au Cimetière is also excellent.

[Traverso]

Musica Reservata

[Mandryka]

Another attempt to get my head round late Marais. The CD came with vocal intros, which I've cut out of  each piece with audacity, someone would shout out "Prélude", "Le Petit Badinage" etc etc.  Cutting that out has resulted in  a great improvement.


The music, being French, is very subtle, refined, nuanced, elusive.

[Madiel]

Completely inappropriate to start this so late at night, but I'll play the next Naive Vivaldi album until I drift off...

[ChopinBroccoli]

The 19th is a definitive take... Serkin plays it with requisite elegance and the Szell Clevelanders are as tight and perfect as ever ... a great, warm and charming piece of music

The 20th is well played as you'd expect and certainly worth hearing but I take issue with Serkin's tempo in the crucial second movement ... as this movement opens with the pianist alone, the tempo of the main theme is decided immediately and Serkin chooses an unusually slow one which has the effect of undermining its natural charm and making it seem more of a lament.  (For contrast, compare with almost any high end reading but especially the mono Casadesus/Szell 20th from just a few years earlier where the tempo has to be a good 30 bpm faster) ... the second consequence is that it reduces the impact of the famously crisp rhythm of the Cleveland strings by forcing them to play unnaturally slow.  Serkin's incessant humming is more audible here as well which can be a little irritating after a while.  By the time the final movement begins, the sense of contrast between the first and second has been largely lost which makes the final seem less decisive.  Obviously I'm comparing this performance to the absolute ideal so it sounds like I'm destroying it.  It's totally enjoyable, don't get me wrong but it's below Serkin's and Szell's best

The 19th is a winner, though... classic performance