What are you listening to now?

[TheGSMoeller]

Very fond of that disc, I am.

Polyansky has released some very good, and well programmed, Prokofiev discs.

Happy Sunday, Karl!

[EigenUser]

4
[asin]B000001GKP[/asin]

[Moonfish]

Vaughan Williams:
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Five Variants of 'Dives and Lazarus'
Job - A Masque for Dancing

London PO/Handley

Serene and delicate, whispering and ethereal! A great recording!

Review on MusicWeb

[Wakefield]

Mine wins, challengingly looking directly into your eyes.

You look quite confident, but I warning you: Elisabeth Joyé is a winner and her Duphly disk is one of the best I have heard. 

[aligreto]

Donizetti: Messa Di Gloria e Credo....

[Wakefield]

C.P.E. Bach: Sonatas, Rondos & Fantasias
Gustav Leonhardt, harpsichord, fortepiano & clavichord
SEON, 2-CD set

A previous incarnation of part of this set:



I'm a great Leonhardt's fan, but this disk hasn't worked out for me. The music doesn't flow...

Curiously, I had the same sensation 2 weeks ago, with his Duphly disk on SEON. IMO, his student Elisabeth Joyé is there vastly superior to him. 

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

No, not Raskolnikov.  Interesting though that would be.  Raskatov.

[asin]B00O4DRYT4[/asin]

[André]

John Foulds (1880-1939). Lyra Celtica, Three Mantras from Avatara; Apotheosis (Elegy) op. 18, Music-Poem no 4, for violin and orchestra; Mirage, op. 20 Music-Poem no 5 for orchestra. City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo. Disc 1 from the Warner twofer. I rate Foulds on the same plane as Aylwyn, Sainton, Rubbra, Arnell. Too bad he didn't write symphonies - he would be much more famous 

[Moonfish]

Now:



Listening to Symphony No. 3. Great stuff.

+1
I like Segerstam's Sibelius as well! 

[EigenUser]

Listening to Takemitsu's Quotation of Dream and reminiscing about the time I tricked Ken into listening La Mer...
[asin]B00000I0L6[/asin]

(it was for his own good)

[Moonfish]

Sibelius:
Concerto in D minor for violin and orchestra Op 47 (original version) transcribed for violin and piano

Sato/Gräsbeck

Sibelius did a fantastic job in his transcription. I certainly prefer the original Violin Concerto, but this is delicately performed by Sato and Gräsbeck. Beautiful! A bit more low key compared to the "real" thing.

from
[asin] B001FNBDT8[/asin]

[North Star]

Sibelius:
Concerto in D minor for violin and orchestra Op 47 (original version) transcribed for violin and piano

Sato/Gräsbeck

Sibelius did a fantastic job in his transcription. I certainly prefer the original Violin Concerto, but this is delicately performed by Sato and Gräsbeck. Beautiful! A bit more low key compared to the "real" thing.

from

Is there more information on this in the booklet? Elsewhere I saw that Kalevi Aho had done some finishing touches to the transcription.

[Moonfish]

Is there more information on this in the booklet? Elsewhere I saw that Kalevi Aho had done some finishing touches to the transcription.

It states that Sibelius did all the work on the final version (1905). In this 'original version' (1903-04) it is a blend depending on the movement. From the booklet:

"It is clear that Sibelius planned to make a transcription after the first performances with the orchestra: a manuscript in the National Library of Finland contains his own adaptation of parts of the first movement in which a few details of the violin part have already been modified. The transcription is fragmentary and the piano part was completed by the composer Kalevi Aho in 2007, with reference to the complete orchestral score of the first version and the published transcription of the definitive version. The Sibelius Museum in Turku possesses manuscripts of the second and third movements, but the second movement is already in its revised 1905 form and so, in order to avoid creating a spurious 'hybrid' version, we have used the violin part from the orchestral original for this recording. The third movement of the 1903-04 version, on the other hand, was transcribed in its entirety by Sibelius; to judge the confusingly laid out manuscript, he used his transcription when planning which passages to cut in the revision." [Andrew Barnett]

[North Star]

It states that Sibelius did all the work on the final version (1905). In this 'original version' (1903-04) it is a blend depending on the movement. From the booklet:

Thanks, Peter. It was obviously sensible for Sibelius to transcribe the final version.

[Moonfish]

Thanks, Peter. It was obviously sensible for Sibelius to transcribe the final version.

Karlo,
It makes the most sense doesn't it? However, both versions were very enjoyable and quite different in feeling compared to the actual violin concerto. I will definitely return to them.  The disk pairs both the original and final versions which is a bit odd (double dosage).

[Moonfish]

Sibelius:
Concerto in D minor for violin and orchestra Op 47 (final version - 1905) transcribed for violin and piano

Sato/Gräsbeck

from
[asin] B001FNBDT8[/asin]

[Moonfish]

Berlioz: Overture 'Benvenuto Cellini'            RCO/Monteux          10/39
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No 4                Casadesus/RCO/Monteux      10/39

The Berlioz overture was beautiful, but marred by the sound quality. However, definitely inviting in so many ways. I very much enjoyed Saint-Saëns's piano concerto. Casadesus brings grace and poetry to the performance and the Monteux/RCO soundscape embraces the work.  Occasional clicks and hisses are present, but one easily forgets about them as Casadesus's playing is sublime and ethereal. He is a pianist I haven't heard much overall, but if a 1939 recording can sound fabulous he is surely worth exploring.

[André]

The magic of the Concertgebouw (the venue) is that it sounds as clean and intimate as your own listening room, while having the capacity to suggest that your ears are in danger of being blown off by the volume of the orchestra. In reality, the orchestra doesn't play all that loud. They never force, which preserves their tonal qualities.

[San Antone]

[Green Destiny]

Taking a cue from the Forum and listening to some Early Music - playing random works from these 2 Byrd sets:



Both very good sets: the Naxos compares favourably to the Hyperion. The Hyperion set contains a lot more music - a plus in my book as William Byrds keyboard music is very nice .
Edit: Wasn't really in the mood for the Bartok I posted earlier - gone back to listening to the Byrd box with Moroney