What are you listening to now?

[Sadko]

Thanks, John, so nice to be back among you brave & noble stalwarts! I wonder what you think of Kate Bush's paean to Delius? (Delius - Deus) In case you haven't heard it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CEmeiqGRlM (interspersed with scenes from the Russell film).

Kate Bush's is the only form of Delius in my house :-)

[Florestan]

[Harry]

Not so good, as I expected it to be.......

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2015/04/new-acquisition-music-of-habsburg.html?spref=tw

[Karl Henning]

Misha & Mitya

http://www.youtube.com/v/RKVU6TzM8gg

[Harry]

Extremely fine performances.


http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2015/04/new-acquisition-haydn-joseph-piano.html?spref=tw

[HIPster]

Contemplation
Marcel Peres - organ
[asin]B001716JL0[/asin]

[Florestan]

Contemplation
Marcel Peres - organ
[asin]B001716JL0[/asin]

Most intriguing. How (and what) is it?

[Mirror Image]

Thanks, John, so nice to be back among you brave & noble stalwarts! I wonder what you think of Kate Bush's paean to Delius? (Delius - Deus) In case you haven't heard it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CEmeiqGRlM (interspersed with scenes from the Russell film).

I don't care for that Kate Bush song, but I'm not a fan of her music anyway. I would be curious to know about your Delius collection. Do you own a lot of recordings?

[San Antone]

https://www.youtube.com/v/Xel78B1rlYg

[Florestan]

https://www.youtube.com/v/Xel78B1rlYg

The recording is ruined by the horrendous noise of someone mopping the floor around the pizzicato-ing celiist. 

[San Antone]

The recording is ruined by the horrendous noise of someone mopping the floor around the pizzicato-ing celiist. 

I quite enjoyed it.

[Drasko]

.[asin]B003S5QATE[/asin]

[North Star]

The first two discs from here, great stuff (as expected)
Chopin
Brahms, Prokofiev, Ravel, Liszt
Argerich[asin]B001BWQVSG[/asin]

[Todd]

Disc 46.  The well known and well above average Prokofiev 5th PC with Rowicki, and the new to me Britten PC with Britten.  The only other version I've heard that I recall is Barry Douglass', but it has been years since I listened to it.  I probably prefer the Richter, though I will not be rushing out and buying multiple recordings of the work.

[Pat B]

"Tempo di hoochie-koochie."

[asin]B000W99IJI[/asin]

[HIPster]

Contemplation
Marcel Peres - organ
[asin]B001716JL0[/asin]

Most intriguing. How (and what) is it?

Hi Florestan -

This is a recent purchase for me and I've listened to it a few times now.  Marcel Peres plays compositions he wrote based on reading the Egyptian Book of the Dead.  It's a very meditative recording.  Deeply personal to Peres, I'd say.

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=199269

The mystery of the ancients reflected in slow meditation.

There is a natural fascination with the distant past. That magnetic pull is potentially all the stronger when expressed in music. I first explored this in music with a review of a luxurious designed CD of ancient Egyptian harp material. There too, as here, the element of speculation was well to the fore. The collection was by Rafael Pérez Arroyo and was captured on the Natural Acoustic Recordings label on NAR-0010-01 by the Hathor Ensemble.

In Marcel Pérès's Contemplations the composer meditates across nine movements on a collection of ancient Egyptian texts known as The Book of the Dead. The texts - which are printed in French and English translation - reflect the 'transformation of consciousness' that occurs after physical death. The style is reflective - tonal yet with the sort of piercing harmonic crunches one encounters in the music of Howells. A sense of slow radiant light suffuses L'aube de la nuit while a darker accent grips Les lueurs de la Paix which is again slow and evolutionary although more assertive in its second section which introduces a Messiaenic harmonic edge. A discreet dissonance adds a Cimmerian otherworldliness to Heliopolis (1:56). A resonating bell seems to sound out in Le Gouvernail de l'Orient. More dissonance returns for angular stabbing figures which criss-cross the music's immanent slow gait in Le Passage. In L'Ancien des jours a subtle apotheosis has been completed and the music, again steadily glowing, harks back to L'aube de la nuit. Now though, the melodic content is a degree more candid - for the first time - a sort of liberation is achieved.

The music is lovingly played by the composer who brings great concentration to the piece. This is not for you if you are looking for a dramatic epic. On the other hand if you seek a sustained meditative experience and are prepared to trust in Pérès and immerse yourself then this is too good to miss.

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

[Moonfish]

3x

Bantock:
Celtic Symphony
The Witch of Atlas
The Sea Reivers
Hebridean Symphony

Royal PO/Handley


My first listen to Bantock (ever) and I find myself loving this music!  I listened to this recording three times over the last 24 hours! I simply cannot believe that I have not come across his works earlier in all my listening sessions. The soundscape invoked by Bantock is mesmerizing - it feels like reading romantic poetry while being surrounded by Waterhouse's art. It is a very romantic soundscape for sure. I wonder what his other works are like, but this is a true winner in my eyes/ears.  Wonderful! Perhaps one can argue that the Celtic Symphony is a bit simplistic with the combination of strings and harps, but it works very well. It was refreshing to have such a contrast in tone poem The Witch of Atlas as the orchestra's soundscape became more complex compared to the Celtic Symphony. Great stuff! I am surprised that Bantock has not been recorded very much (as far as I can tell). Did Handley really become the champion for Bantock with these recordings on Hyperion? What about all the choral works? Regardless, the Royal PO sounds marvelous in these performances. Fantastic! You have to excuse me now as I need to listen to this recording one more time...   

[Florestan]

Thanks a lot, HIPster.

[San Antone]

Hi Florestan -

This is a recent purchase for me and I've listened to it a few times now.  Marcel Peres plays compositions he wrote based on reading the Egyptian Book of the Dead.  It's a very meditative recording.  Deeply personal to Peres, I'd say.

Very interesting.  I had only known of him from Ensemble Organum, which is an excellent early music ensemble.  This recording sounds like something I'd enjoy.  Thanks.

[Que]

The 1955 mono recordings.

Q