What are you listening 2 now?

[foxandpeng]

Gavriil Nikolayevich Popov (1904-72).
Symphony No.2, Op.39 "Motherland".
USSR Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Provatorov.
Recorded in Moscow, 1961.

Symphony No.5, Op.77 "Pastoral".
USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Gurgen Karapetyan.
Recorded in Moscow, 1963.
CD edition remastered for ALTO by Paul Arden-Taylor.
1995 (tracks 1-4), 1997 (tracks 5-6), Olympia Compact Discs Ltd. Released by Alto Records under license.

A remarkable re-release, and a very welcome one too. It may not be High Fidelity but it is well remastered, and good enough to enjoy. Popov was a hugely talented composer, and well, Shostakovich said so too. I did not have recordings of his music but I am glad I have now. Fascinating music, well performed. I wish modern recordings were forthcoming. But we have to do with the present recording. And that is no punishment.

These are also very worthwhile!

[foxandpeng]

I remember when they were released, bought them and was duly impressed, but alas since then I did not play them again. Understandable, because I had a huge pile of CD'S waiting, and with streaming it only increased. Will however try to get to the Schumanns again

So much music, so little time!

[Harry]

So much music, so little time!

Could we apply for another 100 years on this earth?

[Harry]

New Release.

Miklós Rózsa.
Sinfonia concertante op.29 for Violin & Cello.
Rhapsody for Cello, opus 3.
Notturno Ungherese, opus 28.
Harriet Krijgh, Cello, & Nikita Boriso-Glebsky, Violin.
Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Gregor Bühl.
See for further details back cover.

This recording is a journey of discovery, so much I might say. And there is no disappointment, the recording is superb, and so are the performances.

According to Rozsa, the "Notturno ungherese" is "a nostalgic night piece that harks back to my childhood memories in Hungary". And the double concerto, the "Sinfonia concertante for violin and cello", a late work, is perhaps his most underrated masterpiece. Gregor Piatigorsky and Jascha Heifetz, who spurred him on, never played it, but Harriet Krijgh and Nikita Boriso-Glebsky did on this new album.

[Mookalafalas]

Stereo sound is spectacular, yet it is old as hell

[foxandpeng]

Could we apply for another 100 years on this earth?

Human lifespans are annoyingly and frustratingly short 😕

[Harry]

Human lifespans are annoyingly and frustratingly short 😕

What a disappointment....but maybe we can settle taking our collection of music with us, and of course also my equipment, that at least would be a great comfort.....

[Iota]

Boulez: Piano Sonata No. 2
Paavali Jumppanen (piano)

Jumppanen navigates the brilliant, pure waters of Boulez' assault on sonata form less violently than some perhaps, but makes it work to great effect. The chisel-on-stone intensity is still there when it needs to be, as are the extremely beautiful departures into reverie, but nowhere does it become manically aggressive, which suited me just fine. An astonishing and kaleidoscopic work.

[brewski]

Right now, live from London, the Viatores Quartet. Will be my second hearing of the Weir.

Haydn: String Quartet in B minor Op. 33 No. 1
Judith Weir: String Quartet No. 2, "The Spaniard"

[Traverso]

Buxtehude

Schütz

Dijkman

CD 2

[Madiel]

Prix de Rome 1900

Ravel: Les Bayadères - fails to reach the next round.

Prix de Rome 1901

Ravel: Tout est lumière - makes the next round.
Caplet: Tout est lumière - makes the next round.

Ravel: Myrrha - 3rd place
Caplet: Myrrha - Winner!



Ravel's first attempt at a chorus in 1900 is kind of slightly Spanish-exotic, and I don't think it's bad even though Nichols' biography regards it as dull. But we're in agreement that Tout est lumière in 1901 plays it really safe, and it worked. It doesn't sound like a Ravel work at all. Music to keep your old aunt happy. The Caplet setting of the same text isn't any more daring stylistically, but it does feel like there's a bit more conviction behind it.

So on to the final round and the big cantata. The text of Myrrha is pretty tiresome, frankly. It's all the kind of over-the-top "now it's time to die for the sake of love" you expect of late Romanticism. Ravel's cantata is perfectly listenable, but scarcely ever resembles even Ravel's early output. Mostly it resembles the histrionics of the text. I think Nichols is right to point out that the ending is somewhat abrupt, as if Ravel was eager to finish up once the words were over.

But is Caplet's setting of the text better? Well, honestly... yeah. It is. At almost every stage it's longer, moodier. The text includes scene-setting instructions for the instrumental passages, and the first part says that night is falling, and Caplet makes me believe that more. Suddenly the exact same text doesn't feel quite so histrionic. Admittedly I'm listening to 2 different conductors & orchestras here (and maybe I'll try the performance of the Ravel on BIS), but I suspect the difference is in the music itself with Caplet just providing more room for the scenario to breathe.

And to my mind, Caplet does a much better job of changing the tone and going for drama when the high priest arrives. This is when upping the music actually works, and for this 3rd and final scene Caplet just seems way more convincing. I mean, I'm still not sure listening to the Caplet setting is something I'd regularly want to do for 30 minutes, but it's honestly more rewarding than spending 25 minutes on the Ravel.

[Madiel]

Ravel: Jeux d'eau



And after that mucking about for the conservatives, Ravel goes and produces what I would argue is his first great work. Also the work that led to him being rather irritated when people gave Debussy credit for things that Ravel felt he'd done first. The first book of Images is still a work in progress when Jeux d'eau makes its debut.

There's good evidence that the kind of liquid blur Poizat creates is in line with Ravel's intentions.

[Madiel]

Krommer: Partita in E flat, op.79



It feels like a slightly more subtle or subdued work than the other ones until a really bustling finale. Still delightful.

And that's it. The end of the Philips recordings of the Netherlands Wind Ensemble. A pretty good run of 16 releases (one of them a double LP) in just under a decade. It looks like it took quite a while before they made some records for Chandos, then focused on their own live recordings.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras Nos. 4-6:

[brewski]

Live from London, the Terra String Quartet, another superb young group new to me.

Mozart: String Quartet No. 15
Britten: String Quartet No. 1

[pianococo90]

Naomi Pinnock
String Quartet No. 2

[SonicMan46]

Grieg, Edvard - Orchestral Music with Eivind Aadland and the WDR SO Köln - they did 5 recordings - own the 3 below - reviews attached.  Dave

   

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Grieg, Edvard - Orchestral Music with Eivind Aadland and the WDR SO Köln - they did 5 recordings - own the 3 below - reviews attached.  Dave

   

That is a great series, Dave!

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing Copland Symphony for Organ and Orchestra:

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Before heading out for the day --- playing Debussy En blanc et noir: