What are you listening 2 now?

[Madiel]

...and we're back!

Just watched on OperaVision: Verdi, Giovanna d'Arco (Joan of Arc).

Not one of his best I suspect, and the production didn't help, casting a Joan of Arc who was older than her own father. He was definitely too young (um, he gets called "old man" in the libretto more than once and they made no effort to hide that the singer is in his 30s) as well as her being too old.

The libretto just isn't very good. There are effectively only 3 characters and they don't do a lot. Joan of Arc doesn't even get burned at the stake in this version of the story.

[AnotherSpin]

[Mister Sharpe]

Bonjour, mes enfants! (How I resented being called a child in Mlle. LaTart's class in 11th grade French class...how I would love to be so addressed now!) Today, a special serving of aural indulgence and delight - above and beyond the usual dose, that is - Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges.  There are a surprising number of fine performances of this opera, I have three: the Maazel in the Ravel Box, Lombard and Previn. Probably Maazel today.

[DavidW]

Kondrashin Shostakovich 8, one of the greats!!

[AnotherSpin]

First drone-free night in two months. Either the Russians are running out, or they're saving up for something more theatrical next time.

Been sleepy all day, perhaps the tiredness is catching up with me. Or perhaps it's just one of those days.

For now, I've got more Bach. Radiant energy from luminous realm where, reassuringly, nothing actually happens.

[SonicMan46]

Marais, Marin - Spotify playlist w/ 4 recordings (first pic, plus each enlarged) - after spending several days listening to the 5 books of viol music (see list), I wanted to see what was available using wind instruments and found a nice selection on Spotify - I've owned the Musica Pacifica 2-disc set for years, and it does concentrate on the 'Pieces in trio for flutes etc' although recorders are used - highly recommended if you want some of Marais' music w/ winds.

The others I don't own so no liner notes - François Lazarevitch & Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien perform recently discovered manuscripts containing pieces for flute and basso continuo; Palameta on the oboe plays suites of Marais' various viol books (often the use of 'two treble instruments' is noted in his suite movements, so flute or recorder would be appropriate presumably); finally, Ensemble Fitzwilliam uses flute(s) in the 'Pieces en trio' according to the attachment.  Dave 

Works by Marin Marais (Source)
*Pieces for 1 and 2 viols, Book I (20 August 1686, only solo viols, 1 March 1689 first published with associated basso continuo)
*Pieces en trio pour les flutes, violon, et dessus de viole (published on 20 December 1692, dedicated to Marie-Anne Roland)
*Pieces for 1 and 2 viols, Book II (1701), including 32 couplets on "Les folies d'Espagne"
*Pièces de violes, Book III (1711)
*Pieces for 1 and 3 viols, Book IV (1717; includes the famous Suitte d'un Goût Étranger.)
La gamme et autres morceaux de symphonie (1723, includes La Gamme en forme d'un petit Opéra, Sonate à la Maresienne, Sonnerie de Ste-Geneviève du Mont-de-Paris)
*Pièces de violes, Book V (1725)
145 Pieces for viol (ca. 1680), about 100 pieces were published in Books I – III

 

 

[ritter]

First listen to this recent purchase.

Yves Prin: Dioscures, Ephémères, Le souffle d'Iris. Soliosts, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Bruno Ferrandis (cond.)



Very enjoyable! Hat tip to @71 dB . 

[Lisztianwagner]

Alexander Glazunov
The Seasons

Ernest Ansermet & L'Orchestre dela Suisse Romande

[ritter]

Robert Craft conducts Stravinsky: Perséphone (with Irène Jacob in the title rôle, and tenor John Aler), Symphonies of Wind Intruments, Concertino for twelve instruments, Zvezdoliki, and Octet for wind instruments. The Orchestra of Saint Luke's, the Gregg Smith Sigers and the Newark Boys Chorus.

[Karl Henning]

Robert Craft conducts Stravinsky: Perséphone (with Irène Jacob in the title rôle, and tenor John Aler), Symphonies of Wind Intruments, Concertino for twelve instruments, Zvezdoliki, and Octet for wind instruments. The Orchestra of Saint Luke's, the Gregg Smith Sigers and the Newark Boys Chorus.

I must have missed that volume in the Music Masters series!

[Mister Sharpe]

I must have missed that volume in the Music Masters series!

Me, too.  And the late, lamented Gregg Smith Singers (d. 2016), no less, who worked with Stravinsky for over a decade and whose discography and talents were wide-ranging.   

[Karl Henning]

[pjme]

This morning on Radio 4. Music I like - dark and wonderful indeed. 
I've listened to Roukens concerto fro two pianos (for the Jussen brothers) and recently a live performance of his Distorted fantasia after Sweelinck and keep on being happy, moved, surprised!

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Vera Danilina recital.

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner Symphony in F Minor, 1863 One version only -  Ed. Leopold Nowak
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Georg Tintner

[André]

The Beethoven and Sibelius concertos. Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under Karel Ancerl. Live performances from the late fifties (mono). Haendel's violin is miked a bit close but, having heard her live a number of times I can attest that this is her sound: big, searingly intense, with a control of vibrato on individual notes that boggles the mind.

Violinists often have an all-purpose vibrato, more a matter of producing a certain type of sound when, as in here, it is used to give individuality to specific notes or passages. Haendel's control of rubato (very free) intensifies the feeling: her violin weeps, shouts, spins a delicate thread of tone or rages furiously at will. Never for a second did I let my mind wander: she totally had me under her spell.

Haendel's playing reminds me of another female violinist's: Ginette Neveu. The main difference between the two artists lies in Haendel's consciously applied slavic-jewish heritage. Neveu is more severely classical, if just as forceful. The Beethoven concerto is a case in point. In this most classically conceived violin concerto Haendel brings a fire (first mov.), an intensity of feeling (the larghetto) and a sense of fun (finale) that are often surprising. She intensely feels the music rather than just perform it. She used to boast 'I am the violin'. Hearing her in the Sibelius concerto (hair-raising in I, desolate and inconsolable in II) one can believe it.

These two performances also have a great conductor at the helm - a big plus in the Beethoven, a work in which inattentive conductors can sleepwalk their way. The sound of the full orchestra is a bit rough (Ancerl would never stint on decibels) and Haendel's intonation is sometimes questionable. But that is of little concern considering the magic of these performances.

[Lisztianwagner]

Arnold Schönberg
Wind Quintet

David Atherton & London Sinfonietta

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Marko Tacjevic Piano Music (Complete).

[Henk]

Bartok

[Linz]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Mass in C minor K 427 "Great Mass"
Arleen Auger Soprano, Doris Soffel mezzo soprano, Thomas Moser Tenor, Stephen Roberts Bass, Wolfram Gehring organ
WDR Rundfunk Köln WDR Sinfonieorchester, Köln, Gary Bertin
Missa brevis in C major K 259, Organ solo Mass
Lothar Stadler soprano, Michael Hahn Alto, Genot Schimmel tenor, Eduard Claucig organ
Sinfonetta Linz, Peter Hrncirik