What are you listening 2 now?

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing Koechlin Vers la voûte étoilée, Op. 129

[Roasted Swan]

Alfredo Campoli and London Philharmonic Orchestra/Pierino Gamba.

LOVE Campoli!

[Florestan]

I've rarely understood the desire to listen to a whole CDs worth of music when the music was not originally designed to be listened to in that length.

Especially when the CD contains the same genre in several guises, for instance six violin concertos. Whoever listened back then to six violin concertos in a row?

[prémont]

However, I think how music was composed for listening to in the Baroque period might be a good thing to inform ourselves with when listening to Baroque music.

I've rarely understood the desire to listen to a whole CDs worth of music when the music was not originally designed to be listened to in that length.....

Listening to music nowadays is of course an abstraction where lots of compromises have to be done, concerning home listening maybe the most.

For instance I don't wear a wig when I am listening to Baroque music, and my HIFI system and my rather modern apartment are as anachronistic as it gets.

But I am thankful for the fact that I to day can listen to music in the way I want, instead of having to accept the most often unserviceable circumstances in earlier ages.

[Spotted Horses]

I listened to the Gipps oboe sonata a few days ago, and it brought to mind a work I remember listening to at least a decade ago, the Howells clarinet sonata. I couldn't say exactly why, of all of the sonatas for wood instrument and piano, it reminded me of this one. Something about the rhapsodic writing for the oboe, and the rich harmonic texture.



Anyway, I went back to the Howells piece in the Thea King recording on Hyperion. Utterly brilliant work in two movements, the first slow, the second fast, although both movements have dramatic shifts in tempo.



I'm also reminded of the wonderful series of recordings Thea King made for Hyperion in the 80's, including many works by British composers (Maconchy, Frankel, Cooke, Jacobs) etc, as well as more mainstream works (Brahms, Mozart). Time for a revisit.

[Spotted Horses]

Following on my rediscovery of the Howells clarinet sonata, listening to the Howells oboe sonata. Following with the Rubbra oboe sonata, which is another beautiful, richly conceived work.

[Harry]

PROKOFIEV, Sergei Sergeyevich (1891-1953).
Romeo and Juliet.
Suite No.1, Op. 64bis (1936); Suite No.2, Op. 64ter (1936) Suite No.3, Op. 101 (1946).
Performed in the order the music appears in the ballet score!
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton.
Recorded in June 2005 at the Grieg Hall, Bergen, Norway.

This recording got a lot of negative flac, so of course I wanted to know why. Andrew Litton is a conductor I highly respect, hearing his recordings for quite some years, so time for me to check this one out, and find out if it deserved the criticism it got from a few quarters. It got thumbs down on the recording, performance and expression, lack of passion, ragged ensemble playing, lack of instrumental coherence, and imprecise in the department of woodwinds, etc, etc, with other words a total letdown. I have some things to add in this respect; the recording quality is SOTA as per usual by the likes of BIS, the performance is of a total different level, true the intense drama is lost on Litton, the passion is not absent, but rather of a polite character, a performance totally focused on the ballet, and accordingly the tempo's fitted to the movement of the corps de ballet. This is understandable, but where the passion is needed it comes out, but not in a loud manner, that's all. I did not hear ragged playing, but only a few musical impurities, in the woodwinds, but nothing to get irritated about. What you get is not orchestral bombast, but delicately formed details that tell a lot more about the music, as I heard in other performances. A lot of those details I did not hear before. Therefore, recommended.

[Karl Henning]

How music was listened to in the Baroque period does not oblige us in any way. I simply wanted to point out to Mandryka that the CD in question might - for the reason Mandryka states - be better served by being listened to in smaller bits at a time.

I find just the same with Webern, e.g.

[Karl Henning]

The third quartet was composed as a reaction to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the fourth one was inspired by Brueghel's paintings of children's games. Very raw, rough, distressing music, but also stimulating.

I must listen to his cycle at some point!

[Karl Henning]

There's some beautiful music in here.

I need to revisit that!

[Karl Henning]

There is. Heard it live in Amsterdam in December, paired with Dona Nobis Pacem by Vaughan Williams. On that occasion I had plenty of time to peruse Tippett's own lyrics more seriously, and I didn't find it easy: suggestive drivel, if you will. Thus the whole piece, typically Tippett, hangs together from associations. By comparison, Vaughan Williams won on all fronts. With Tippett I especially appreciate the four symphonies, also often associative but in symphonic form I can appreciate that. 

Sounds like great programming. 

[Harry]

Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893).
Orchestral Works, Volume I.
See back cover for details.
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Alpesh Chauhan.
Recording venue City Halls, Glasgow; 18 – 20 July 2022.

A few days ago, I played Volume 2 in this series and was impressed, by the light he shed on the music by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, light that made this music a lot more interesting in ways it can be expressed. And I was also amazed because this conductor dug out details of the music that escaped me in previous recordings. It had a lot to do with the SOTA recording Chandos produced. Even the pppp came through clear as a bell. That means I could connect other melodies better in the total picture. I was rather negative when the first volume came out, in terms of, to slow, no intensity or God forbid an excess of passion. None of this. But when hearing the second volume I decided to try it again, and it clicked right away. The sound is not as good, still very slow, but boy what a details emerged. All the pieces, apart of Francesca da Rimini, are not often recorded, and to be frank it does not make a lasting impression on me, but still I got much pleasure in the detailing. Francesca da Rimini, gets a ravishing performance, and is slightly better recorded.

[Karl Henning]

Shostakovich

Song of the Forests Op.81

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra



 

An unalloyedly fine piece, which surprised me a little simply because I first became aware of it from a critic's easy derision.

[ritter]

Reynaldo Hahn: Le Rossignol éperdu (first suite). Earl Wild (piano).

[SonicMan46]

Hoffmeister, Franz Anton (1754-1812) - Clarinet Quartets & Duo Sonatas on the recordings below; short bio also; Hoffmeister was an important composer and music publisher in Vienna - his oeuvre does not seen to be catalogued but he wrote dozens of works for the flute (chamber and many concertos), over 50 Symphonies and more - I own about 20 recordings (click on the attachment if interested).  The clarinet works are excellent but for us period instrument aficionados, all are done on modern instruments - now where is Eric Hoeprich when needed?     Dave

ADDENDUM: According to Klöcker's notes, Hoffmeister wrote 2 sets of 6 clarinet quartets each - they play 4 from the second set; the first 6 were published by Pleyel in Paris and are performed in the second recording shown.

Franz Anton Hoffmeister was a German and Austrian composer and music publisher. At the age of fourteen, he went to Vienna to study law. Following his studies, however, he decided on a career in music and by the 1780s he had become one of the city's most popular composers. However, his reputation today rests mainly as a music publisher. By 1785 he had established one of Vienna's first music publishing businesses, second only to Artaria & Co, which had started five years earlier. Hoffmeister published his own works as well as those of many important composers, including Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Clementi, Albrechtsberger, et al. These famous composers were also among Hoffmeister's personal friends: Mozart dedicated his String Quartet in D to him. (Source)

   

[foxandpeng]

Curious about your experiences with all of her symphonies. The Second is one-movement and also in this respect differs from the other four, which are all four-movement and possess more "symphonic drama." The Second seems to stem from a unique, personal experience, a kind of diary, in other words. 

Happy to post my thoughts as I go. I probably need to listen a couple of times each, though 😊

I've been a little surprised by the effusion of praise that I've seen here for her her music, so probably need to get my oars in the water to see what the fuss is about!

[Mapman]

Saint-Saëns: Africa, Op. 89
Hough; Oramo: CBSO

I'm not sure exactly what is "African" about this, but it's an incredibly fun work!

[Christo]

Happy to post my thoughts as I go. I probably need to listen a couple of times each, though 😊

I've been a little surprised by the effusion of praise that I've seen here for her her music, so probably need to get my oars in the water to see what the fuss is about!

Me too, even very much so. For me, Gipps is one of the typically lyrical, melodic symphonists of the past century. In her "category," I think of such composers as Madetoja, Melartin, Englund, Tubin, Alfvén, Alwyn, Groven, Andreae, Rota, Kinsella, Sauguet, Damase, Braga Santos, Diamond, Villa-Lobos. For me, in their midst she has a unique, distinct sound, and her five symphonies in particular I think are among the best in the field. That some people hear otherwise totally amazes me. As if her distinctive lyricism does not touch everyone (I notice a similar disdain sometimes with Respighi or Vaughan Williams). 

[Karl Henning]

Cross-post:

[foxandpeng]

Me too, even very much so. For me, Gipps is one of the typically lyrical, melodic symphonists of the past century. In her "category," I think of such composers as Madetoja, Melartin, Englund, Tubin, Alfvén, Alwyn, Groven, Andreae, Rota, Kinsella, Sauguet, Damase, Braga Santos, Diamond, Villa-Lobos. For me, in their midst she has a unique, distinct sound, and her five symphonies in particular I think are among the best in the field. That some people hear otherwise totally amazes me. As if her distinctive lyricism does not touch everyone (I notice a similar disdain sometimes with Respighi or Vaughan Williams). 

Considering the impressive field of comparison, this is high praise. All the more reason to test out my taste buds 😁