What are you listening to now?

[Mandryka]

http://www.youtube.com/v/zwbJ4F2Ug1g

Wilhelm Furtwangler plays Brahms's 1st symphony finale in 1945.

I sometimes think that you can hear the connection between genius and madness in these wartime performances, God alone knows what was going through WF's mind when he was making music like this. Same for Cortot - he has the same mad quality sometimes.

[Mandryka]

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I'm all tied up in this after only a few minutes!

It's interesting. I wonder whether you'll enjoy what she does with the big bad fugue in the 3rd sonata - I didn't very much, too fussy, but I should revisit it with fresh ears.

[Mandryka]

Switching to this, early into disc 3 of the Hungaroton box (same contensts as most of disc 3 and all of disc 4):

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I very much enjoyed the way he plays mikrokosmos there.

[Harry]

Some early evening music.

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2014/06/guerrieri-agostino-sonatas-opus-1.html?spref=tw

[Brian]

Ohhhh! 
The sound from their No.2 is some of the best I've heard, it's amazing how such clarity can compliment a piece of music. And I did enjoy Oramo's take on the work, not the final say but very fine.
I will purchase this. Thanks for the heads up, Brian! 

I'm now back-to-back listening to both albums. No. 1 is recorded at a higher level than No. 2, so with the Second Symphony I needed to turn up the volume a few notches. So if your tastes happen to be similar to mine, the new album even manages to improve on the sound!

I think my problem with the Second Symphony interpretation is that he seems to conduct No. 2 as if it were No. 1. Big grand romantic sweep, but the ugly or violent or dark bits get sort of reduced to elegiac lyricism. The funeral march kinda reminded me of Brahms or Bruckner!

[Harry]

The best Haydn SQ ever. Second rerun. CD 1.


http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2014/06/haydn-joseph-string-quartets-opus-20-no.html?spref=tw

[Moonfish]

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I'm all tied up in this after only a few minutes!

Yes, Meyer is a gem in so many ways.

Schmitt's recordings look intriguing....
I am a sucker for the Bach solo sonatas and their haunting qualities. Besides, I am starting to get quite impressed with the Alpha label..   
Thanks for bringing my attention to these recordings!!

[Moonfish]

JS Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I     Schiff

I tend to always return to Schiff for my Bach (piano) (in addition to Tureck of course... )

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[Moonfish]

Elgar: Symphony No 1       BBC Symphony O/Andrew Davis

E1 is growing on me rapidly.... Not sure if I prefer the Davis version over Barbirolli...

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[king ubu]

Schmitt's recordings look intriguing....
I am a sucker for the Bach solo sonatas and their haunting qualities. Besides, I am starting to get quite impressed with the Alpha label..   
Thanks for bringing my attention to these recordings!!

I'm in the same boat ... bought a dozen or so alpha discs in the past few months, all wonderful releases (though I don't really have the time to indulge in all those booklets with long liner notes right now). One of the first I got is the wonderful Delalande disc ("Tenebrae") by Le Poème Harmonique/Vincent Dumestre. That ensemble is a favourite of a friend's and I can by now see (rather: hear) why! Its Tessier and Castaldi discs are great as well, and so is the Belli disc with Guillemette Laurens (a singer whom I've discovered on a pair Teldec/Das alte Werk/apex releases initially - that Kapsberger disc and the "Lettera amorosa" one). Laurens is also on the Castaldi disc, while the Tessier features Claire Lefilliâtre, Bruno Le Levreur, Jan Van Elsacker and Arnaud Marzorati.

The Bach discs by Café Zimmermann are wonderful as well - easily my favourite of most works included. I might prefer other violin and piano concertos - non HIP ones - but the Café Zimmermann discs are terrific, all the way through! (I got the box of them all, it comes with a fat booklet, I guess compiling all the individual booklets of the previous releases). Café Zimmermann also did a wonderful Vivaldi disc more recently (last year, I think - I'm usually not one to run for new releases, to much on my list, so much unheard stuff piling up).

I have a few more waiting to be explored, such as the two Couperin 2CD-sets by Frédérick Haas and several Rameau discs ... oh, and I also enjoyed the Bembo disc quite some! Brooding, dark stuff, but I like it! There's also a set of recodings by L'Arpeggiata/Pluhar - some old music proper, a pair from the white series with word music kinda stuff, which I enjoy a lot as well - after all, I'm still and probably always will remain a jazz guy at heart ... give me Gianluigi Trovesi and I'm a happy man!

Thread duty: just wrapping up a second listen to the second Partita by Schmitt - and enjoying the Chiaconne. It's different, but I like it! Now putting on with Vol. 2:

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[SonicMan46]

LeClair, Jean-Marie (1697-1764) - Flute Sonatas w/ the outstanding Barthold Kuijken on a Baroque flute - little information about the instrument in the liner notes, but found the second pic below, i.e. a flute after G.A. Rottenburgh (ca. 1745) - the sound is wonderfully warm w/o the occasional shrills of a modern metal flute - his brother is on the 'Viola da Gamba' and Robert Kohnen on the harpsichord - highly recommended for all 'wooden' flute lovers -   Dave

 

[Brian]

This:

[EigenUser]

Rigel's "Symphony No. 10". First listen to this composer. Enjoyable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO4kr8wWXq4

Now: Havergal Brian's "Symphony No. 31"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn12y-J2tdg
EDIT: A minute in, and I'm really liking it!

[TheGSMoeller]

Going through my Prokofiev 6th recordings and forgot that I had Slatkin/NSO, will spin it now...

[Moonfish]

Kühnel: Sonata No 7        Wenzinger/Flugel/Neumeyer
JS Bach: Sonatas for Viola da gamba and Harpsichord  No 1-3     Wenzinger/Neumeyer

This is a great compilation if you like the Viola da gamba!

cd 3 from:
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[EigenUser]

Rigel's "Symphony No. 10". First listen to this composer. Enjoyable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO4kr8wWXq4

Now: Havergal Brian's "Symphony No. 31"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn12y-J2tdg
EDIT: A minute in, and I'm really liking it!

Brian's 31st goes on my list of "Great pieces with bad endings", right alongside Messiaen's "Oiseaux Exotiques"

[TheGSMoeller]

[Ken B]

1&2 from

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[TheGSMoeller]

Babes, and Ives...

[Ken B]

Comparing Shosty 2 from the Rubio

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(Actualy the Brilliant 5 cd box now OOP)

to my newly acquired Brodsky.

First impression based on 5 or 6 minutes: Brodsky on all counts. But we shall see.
Final impression, I do distinctly prefer the Bodsky, who I think are clearly better in all the fast bits. Tighter ensemble. But these are very different readings from two quartets at the "cool and controlled" end of the spectrum. Proof of the greatness of the music that they both work.

Update. Rubio 8. I generally like the cool approach to these quartets, but not in 8 really. I have always found this a bit underpowered. The Brodsky too, but I am warming to their 8 after a couple hearings.  Comparing these again I favor the Brodsky.