What are you listening 2 now?

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Villa-Lobos: Choros No.10, 'Rasga o Coração', for orchestra and choir



"Cinematic" is about the best adjective I can come up with for this. Honestly, I wasn't really feeling it in the first half, and while it's very atmospheric I found myself wondering where the music was going (it's some years since I listened to the recording). Is it really a choros? WELL. It turns out it's a preparation for the amazing second half. When the choir comes in, the music takes off. Amazing stuff that feels like you should be standing in front of a waterfall in the jungle.

Yes, this is a work that kind of took me by surprise when I first heard it. I thought the first half of the work was meandering, rambling and then as you mentioned, things all of sudden take off. First starting with that kind of tribal, ritualistic percussion part and then the chorus comes in and it does feel like I'm deep in the jungle with Tarzan or Mowgli.

[Spotted Horses]

I noticed DavidW listening to Weinberg string quartets and was reminded that I never made it through them. Maybe a revisit is in order. I listened to the forth quartet, the first work in volume I of the series.



Now I remember why I never made it through. Horrid!

But then I noticed that there is a new cycle from the Arcadia quartet on Chandos. Listened to the first movement of the fourth quartet.



What a difference! I may like Weinberg string quartets after all. (I think my issue with the cpo set is the audio, which to my ears is congested and opaque, compared to the audio in the Chandos recording.) Alas, the cycle is not complete yet. One installment to go.

[Traverso]

Albinoni

CD 4

[André]

Michael Gielen did a recording of the Missa Solemnis with Orgonášová too. Have you ever compared Gielen's versions?

I didn't listen to his other version, just this Zurich one.

[AnotherSpin]

I didn't listen to his other version, just this Zurich one.

I see four versions of Missa Solemnis conducted by Michael Gielen on Qobuz, each with different orchestras and soloists. I don't think I've heard any of them, but I usually find Gielen's recordings interesting, so I'll definitely try some.

[Madiel]

Shostakovich insomnia edition: Violin Concerto no.1 (Lydia Mordkovitch)

[Symphonic Addict]

Sauguet: Tableaux de Paris
Korngold: Between Two Worlds - Judgement Day

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Wagner: Orchestral Music. Ormandy/Philadelphia. 1954.

[ritter]

Jumping on the Scènes de ballet bandwagon, with this performance by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.



Also listening, on the same CD,  to Stravinsky's Ode, Scherzo à la russe, Concertino, Canon, and Variations: Aldous Huxley in memoriam.

[Linz]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano in E-Flat Major, K. 498 "Kegelstatt"
Louis Spohr Adagio-Allegro from Octet, Op.32
Arthur Bliss Conversations, Oboe Quintet, Clarinet Quintet:
Cecil Aronowitz, Gervase de Peyer, Melos Ensemble

[brewski]

This afternoon, a last-minute ticket to the concert below, with pianist Emanuel Ax, conductor Dalia Stasevska and The Philadelphia Orchestra. At the opening, Stasevska entered with her 2-year-old daughter, and asked all "mothers, grandmothers, and mothers in spirit" to stand, a nice gesture.

The whole program was superb, especially the Lutosławski, which I'd never heard.

Ravel: Pavane for a Dead Princess
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 17
Ax encore: Liszt: Valse oubliée No. 1

Lutosławski: Symphony No. 4
Ravel: La Valse

[Karl Henning]

Jumping on the Scènes de ballet bandwagon, with this performance by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.



Also listening, on the same CD,  to Stravinsky's Ode, Scherzo à la russe, Concertino, Canon, and Variations: Aldous Huxley in memoriam.

Superb disc!

[Karl Henning]

This afternoon, a last-minute ticket to the concert below, with pianist Emanuel Ax, conductor Dalia Stasevska and The Philadelphia Orchestra. At the opening, Stasevska entered with her 2-year-old daughter, and asked all "mothers, grandmothers, and mothers in spirit" to stand, a nice gesture.

The whole program was superb, especially the Lutosławski, which I'd never heard.

Ravel: Pavane for a Dead Princess
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 17
Ax encore: Liszt: Valse oubliée No. 1

Lutosławski: Symphony No. 4
Ravel: La Valse

The Ravel is a little creepy on Mothers Day. Just saying. 

[DavidW]

What a difference! I may like Weinberg string quartets after all. (I think my issue with the cpo set is the audio, which to my ears is congested and opaque, compared to the audio in the Chandos recording.) Alas, the cycle is not complete yet. One installment to go.

You may also want to try this ensemble:

And while you're at it, Silesian is also great in Bacewicz:

[Symphonic Addict]

Roussel: Le Festin de l'araignée

Much as I love Roussel's music, I have to say that this is one of my least favorite works by him. Probably this performance has to do with my impression.

[brewski]

The Ravel is a little creepy on Mothers Day. Just saying.

OK, that made me chuckle.    Maybe an Addams Family occasion?

[foxandpeng]

Ruth Gipps
Symphony 4
Rumon Gamba
BBC NOoW
Chandos

Gipps is back on the horse with this, after #3. I still don't know why #3 doesn't resonate with me, but #4 brings her back in the game.

[Symphonic Addict]

Schulhoff: Variations on an original Dorian theme and Fugato, op. 10

[Symphonic Addict]

Sciarrino: Il suono e il tacere

My first encounter with this composer. What a strange work. It seems repetitive (there's a motive that runs throughout with little changes), but somehow it manages to catch the attention if you have the patience for it, of course.

[VonStupp]

Benjamin Britten
Phaedra, op. 93
A Charm of Lullabies, op. 41
Lachrymae, op. 48a
Two Portraits
Sinfonietta, op. 1

Sarah Connolly, mezzo
Maxim Rysanov, viola
BBC SO - Edward Gardner

A mix of vocal and orchestral music from Britten. Britten's purely instrumental music often takes a while for me to grasp, but his vocal music is always an immediate pleasure.

I really need to revisit Dame Janet's Phaedra.
VS