What are you listening to now?

[Bogey]

More from one of Bach's favorites.

[jochanaan]

More from one of Bach's favorites.

I've played one of those Albinoni oboe concertos, in G minor.  Lovely piece and very fun to play!

[Brian]

"Carnival of the Animals," with Argerich, Lilya Zilberstein, and a bunch of friends in a chamber ensemble:



Surprisingly flat and humorless overall, except for "Pianists," where Argerich and Zilberstein are (surely) deliberately terrible, a little too perfectly capturing the teeth-grinding awfulness of total amateurs trying to play their scales.

[Wakefield]

Jiri (Georg) Benda, one of my favourite composers of the "transitional" (early Classical) era....



Q

Full agreement here, Que. He really composed some amazing music.

Did you finally purchase that 4-CD set set with the complete recording of his keyboard sonatas, superbly played by Sylvia Georgieva on Praga Digitals? 

[Bogey]

I've played one of those Albinoni oboe concertos, in G minor.  Lovely piece and very fun to play!

Which number, John?

[pjme]

This morning:

[asin]B005UU06D6[/asin]

I think that the death of bass dirk Snellings has gone unnoticed here.  I copy a text from The Gramophone
Dirk Snellings, the founder and Artistic Director of Capilla Flamenca, has died at the age of 55. Snellings was the bass singer of the quartet that lies at the heart of the Flemish vocal ensemble – an ensemble specialising in music of the 15th and 16th centuries. 

Snellings graduated with a First Prize in voice from the Antwerp Conservatory and, in addition to his duties with Capilla Flamenca, sang as a soloist with many ensembles including La Petite Bande and Il Fondamento. He also taught voice and early music history at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven, Belgium.

Snellings specialised in searching for vocal techniques appropriate to each stylistic period – particularly in polyphonic music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. His recording of Agricola's Mass for Ricercar was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award in the Early Music category in 2011. Earlier that year, he spoke to Gramophone about the complexities of Agricola's music: 'We studied the Mass for several months before performing it for the first time last year,' he said. 'Every time we perform it, it surprises us...His writing is rhythmically so rich and inspired; he is one of the most magnificent virtuoso masters we've ever encountered from the 1500s.'

Jérôme Lejeune, Artistic Director of Ricercar, paid tribute to the bass singer and musicologist: '[Like] Johannes Ockeghem, whose bass voice was described by Erasmus as 'Vox Aurea' – the golden voice – [so] Dirk Snellings had a voice that was recognisable by all...A tireless researcher, he created, with his Capilla Flamenca, the ideal instrument to promote the rich repertoire of Franco-Flemish composers.'

Concluding his tribute, Lejeune said: 'I will never forget his smile, his dedication, the memories of a passionate and fabulous musician, but more than anything the warmth of a friend with whom what is called work turns into pure pleasure. Maybe where he is now, he has joined his ancestor with the golden voice, Johannes Ockeghem?'

Peter

Dirk Snellings

[listener]

playing through some more Louisville Orchestra LP's this morning
Eric STOKES: The Continental Harp and Band Report: An American Miscellany  (for winds and percussion)
Dennis Russell Davies, cond.
(they celebrated 1976 with some cover changes)
The part for "a mime playing a frustrated salesclerk" may have been omitted for the recording.
from 1958: PISTON: Serenata   Van VACTOR: Fantasia, Chaconne and Allegro  BENTZON`: Pezzi Sinfonici op.109
from 1971:  Carlyle FLOYD: In Celebration     Jorge Mester, cond.
Morton GOULD: Soundings, Columbia     Gould cond.

[Lisztianwagner]

Leos Janacek
Jenufa

[asin]B000AC5B0M[/asin]

[The new erato]

Dirk Snellings

That is really sad to hear. RIP.

[Todd]

Second listen.

[Ken B]

Willem Kersters, Ulenspiegel de geus (1976) a ballet, from the Liège Phil box.
Vigorous, declamatory, enjoyable music particularly commended to Karl, Nate and Z7. Parts like Agon, parts like Copland's Symphonic Ode, and some parts that just ramble, but good overall.

[Que]

I think that the death of bass dirk Snellings has gone unnoticed here.  I copy a text from The Gramophone



Dirk Snellings

Very sad news indeed. And a great loss to the Early Music scene. 

Q

[Wakefield]

Very sad news indeed. And a great loss to the Early Music scene. 

Q

Sad news.

BTW, just few days ago, talking with a friend, he told me that Helmut Müller-Brühl died more than two years ago.

After this conversation, I did some research and he actually died on January 2nd, 2012. It was probably mentioned here, but I missed it.   

[EigenUser]

Messiaen's Trois Petites Liturgies, Spotify. I could have sworn that I listened to this before, but I guess not... How did I miss it? It's glorious! Very Turangalila-esque.

[Ken B]

Messiaen's Trois Petites Liturgies, Spotify. I could have sworn that I listened to this before, but I guess not... How did I miss it? It's glorious! Very Turangalila-esque.

My favorite Mess.

Sent you a time sensitive pm

[EigenUser]

My favorite Mess.

Nice! It will likely become one of mine as well. I remember you saying that you were disappointed with Messiaen (like, he wasn't as good as you thought he'd be). Out of curiosity, what did you mean? I am finding the opposite! First Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus, then Turangalila-Symphonie, then Et Exspecto Resurrectionum Mortuorum, then Oiseaux Exotiques, then Sept Haikai, now Trois Petites Liturgies. It's all great stuff!! I've heard Des Canyons aux Etoiles once and I really, really liked it. I think I'll try and figure that one out next.

Currently: Spotify, Stockhausen's Gesang der Jungeling.

[Ken B]

Nice! It will likely become one of mine as well. I remember you saying that you were disappointed with Messiaen (like, he wasn't as good as you thought he'd be). Out of curiosity, what did you mean? I am finding the opposite! First Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus, then Turangalila-Symphonie, then Et Exspecto Resurrectionum Mortuorum, then Oiseaux Exotiques, then Sept Haikai, now Trois Petites Liturgies. It's all great stuff!! I've heard Des Canyons aux Etoiles once and I really, really liked it. I think I'll try and figure that one out next.

Currently: Spotify, Stockhausen's Gesang der Jungeling.

The first Mess I heard was the QFET, these small liturgies, 20, Visions. I think those are his best stuff more or less. His gobsmackingly large orchestral stuff strikes me mostly as shallow and meretricious. More P T Barnum than Beethoven in it. Some of his organ music, again early, religious and smaller forces, is very good, some not.

Thread Gretry ballet music

[TheGSMoeller]

Bruckner: Symphony No. 3, 1889 version
Skrowaczewski - Saarbrucken Radio Sym.

[EigenUser]

The first Mess I heard was the QFET, these small liturgies, 20, Visions. I think those are his best stuff more or less. His gobsmackingly large orchestral stuff strikes me mostly as shallow and meretricious. More P T Barnum than Beethoven in it. Some of his organ music, again early, religious and smaller forces, is very good, some not.

Thread Gretry ballet music

I love the QFET.

Odd, though. To me, TPL seems almost exactly like the TS with an added chorus. Especially the third liturgy, with the loud hyperactive/overheated writing juxtaposed immediately with the lyrical "love-song" featuring the O-M and strings. TPL is nowhere near as bombastic as the TS, but I don't think bombast is a bad quality (like anything, it can be done well and it can be done poorly -- I find the TS to do it quite well).

What do you think of Oiseaux Exotiques and the Et Exspecto Resurrectionum Mortuorum? Both of those are scored for a small-ish ensemble (no strings in either). The EERM is one of my favorite pieces (my favorite Messiaen for sure), but I also love the OE. The back of our house faces the woods and it really is amazing how similar the piece sounds to the birds in the morning! I mean, sure, it isn't as high or as fast as birds, but all of the patterns are remarkable.

[Todd]