What are you listening to now?

[North Star]

I have listened to his recordings in my search for the 'perfect Schumann for me' a couple of years ago. Alas, not the perfect one for me. The brass are a little too prominent for my taste in some parts which cover up the colourful woodwind writing at times. It kinda detracts from the Mendelssohnian influence in orchestration. I feel Gardiner does superbly with Brahms though!

Alright. Yes, the Brahms is good. I need to get the discs with the symphonies and the choral works, as I just have the SDG Ein deutsches Requiem disc at the moment.

[Karl Henning]

It's quite a while since I listened to this recording last:

Сергей Сергеевич [ Sergei Sergeyevich (Prokofiev) ]
«Стальной скок», соч. 41 [ Le pas d'acier, Opus 41 ] (1925-26)
Государственний симфонический оркестр Министерства культуры СССР [ State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR Ministry of Culture ]
Геннадий Николаевич [ Gennady Nikolayevich (Rozhdestvensky) ]

Better than I remembered it, really.

Still, my clear preference is the Jurowski:  Better sound (generally), better playing on the part of the members of the band, equally musical and idiomatic.

[Monsieur Croche]

David Lang ~ Child

flute /piccolo, clarinet / bass clarinet, viola, cello, percussion, piano
...in five movements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkZibGtxkag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF9pDIfEUtc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7kx2gDP3Wk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=469MY0tdSno
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI0yRXD8tfk

[San Antone]

Johannes Brahms : String Sextets
L'Archibudelli

Might not be for everyone, since these musicians downplay Romanticism and go for a more restrained performance on gut-stringed period instruments.

Gramophone had this to say in 1996, "the actual style of playing has more than a whiff of period performance about it, with sparing vibrato, attenuated phrases, rough-cut tuttis and a studied avoidance of anything vaguely resembling 'sentimentality'. Cellist Kenneth Slowik reveals all in an unusually penetrating essay that quotes Brahms's biographer Max Kalbeck. "No romantic fog hangs over the [First] Sextet," writes Kalbeck, "and no shimmering moonlight obliterates its contours. No, it is as clear as a brightly-lit day ... The melodies sound as if they were being sung by a healthy, well-rested voice". "Well-rested" might here be interpreted as 'relaxed' and in marked contrast to the vibrantly intense readings of, say, Casals and his colleagues in the First Sextet and Heifetz and his in the Second."

I love it.

[Brian]

Baaaack!!!

Did I miss anything fun?

-

this morning



...there's a GMGer who knows why...

[Karl Henning]

Welcome back, Brian!

[Que]

I'm wondering if you'll think that Meno van Delft is too Puritan, I found things to enjoy in it, but I have a Puritan tendency.

I find van Delft introvert and reflective.
Never thought of him as being puritan.
The word puritan I would associate with Moroney I e.g.

I would qualify Moroney's Art of the Fugue as puritan, definitely. Different story with Moroney in French or Renaissance music, however.

As to Van Delft's AoF. At the beginning I thought "this is rather on the slow and dry side".... but the level of intensity and expression soon picked up.
It is a nice, reflective and elegant interpretation.

Thanks to you, premont, for mentioning it quite some ago. 

Q

[jlaurson]

#morninglistening to #Mahler w/@DavidZinman & #Tonhalle on RCA/@sonly_classical: Symphony ... http://ift.tt/2cj9DYk

[HIPster]

Yes, very dramatic!

[asin]B000F6YWO4[/asin]

  Well-sung and played by Modo Antiquo.

A must read, Gio review in the amazon link. . .

[aligreto]

Symphony No. 2 -





I found the second Symphony to be a wonderful work, one which I really enjoyed.

[Ken B]

Baaaack!!!

Did I miss anything fun?

MI quit.

[Sergeant Rock]

Haydn  Variations in F minor, Hob.XVII:6 played by Tom Beghin




Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Baaaack!!!

Did I miss anything fun?

MI quit.

That was fun 

Sarge

[Brian]

MI quit.

Whoa!! See, now that's news.

[San Antone]

Alfonso X El Sabio: Cantigas de Santa Maria
Jordi Savall / La Capella Reial de Catalunya / Hespèrion XX

[Sergeant Rock]

Haydn Piano Sonata in E flat, Hob.XVI:52 played by Tom Beghin




Sarge

[Karl Henning]

It's quite a while since I listened to this recording last:

Сергей Сергеевич [ Sergei Sergeyevich (Prokofiev) ]
«Стальной скок», соч. 41 [ Le pas d'acier, Opus 41 ] (1925-26)
Государственний симфонический оркестр Министерства культуры СССР [ State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR Ministry of Culture ]
Геннадий Николаевич [ Gennady Nikolayevich (Rozhdestvensky) ]

Better than I remembered it, really.

Still, my clear preference is the Jurowski:  Better sound (generally), better playing on the part of the members of the band, equally musical and idiomatic.

I've actually spun this one twice today.  May find myself inspired to write up a compare-&-contrast.

[Florestan]

Earlier today, while driving, two peaches on the Romanian classical music radio station

Ravel
Piano Concerto in G
Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Pierre Boulez, Cleveland SO

Probably the most lyrical and poetic version of this work I´ve ever heard.

Friedrich Gulda
Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra
Răzvan Suma, Gabriel Bebeșelea, Romanian NRSO



Firsr listen, work and performance. Gorgeous!

[Sergeant Rock]

Holst Suites 1 & 2 for band, Fennell conducting the Cleveland Winds




Sarge

[Ghost Sonata]

Very tasteful readings of these works, even if one (this one, anyway) would like a bit more fire in the cello concerto; super engineering from Erato; and tasty packaging.   

[asin]B00EAH3GNC[/asin]