What are you listening 2 now?

[Mister Sharpe]

Warlock's Curlew, courtesy of Ian Partridge, my fave of the singers I've heard in the work.  Some of the most affecting music on record by a composer who knew how to skillfully, sometimes ingeniously, interweave melody, emotion and tonal color, here with novel instrumentation that underscores (literally!) the unusually intense nature of the experience.  And Warlock's skills were not limited to the somber side of human nature; I'm thinking of Pretty Ring Time, of course, which never fails to buoy one's spirits, mine anyway. But bear this in mind, AI says, "Hearing the Curlew's call" (so impressively dramatized here by the cor anglais) "at night, traditionally associated with bad omens, death, or calamity, could induce anxiety and fear in individuals who believe in these superstitions..." Or even if you don't, says I.

[Iota]

Vivaldi: "Vedro con mio diletto" (from Il Giustino)
Jakub Józef Orliński (counter-tenor)

A rather surreally beautiful acoustic, which combined with Orliński's almost impossibly beguiling voice and Vivaldi's note-spinning, creates a pretty heady mix.

[Karl Henning]

.

[hopefullytrusting]

This is why the internet was made: Finnissy plays Finnissy's English Country-Tunes (with dancer, Kris Donovan)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXBR0JcFO48
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdO2oBU9nOA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHp9CG8Y-c0

Followed by Rzewski playing Rzewski, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Goldfaden, Wolff, and Cage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY2P7abQQC4

[JBS]

The public library had a small stash of CDs from this series in the used CD sale rack. So I've been going through them bit by bit.

[DavidW]

A nice way to start the day:

[Harry]

Transatlantic.
Works by: Adams, Arnold, Bernstein, Britten, Gershwin, Horovitz, Langford, Price, Vaughan Williams, Walton.
See back cover for details.
Onyx Brass, John Wilson.
Recorded: Fleming Hall, Royal College of Music, London, 2024.
Streaming: FLAC 96kHz/24 bit. SOTA recording. Reference performance.
Label: Chandos, PDF file attached.

I pulled this disc from the virtual shelf expecting a light amuse-bouche, perhaps an amiable hour of brass-band bravura. What I received was something far more compelling: a radiant, precision-cut gem of a programme, delivered with unfailing poise by the Onyx Brass ensemble under the guiding presence of John Wilson.

The title Transatlantic is apt — it charts a musical voyage between the New and Old Worlds, where wit, lyricism, and rhythmic vitality freely mingle. Gershwin's easy swagger, Price's noble lyricism, and Bernstein's kaleidoscopic energy sit alongside the sturdy craftsmanship of Arnold, the airy charm of Horovitz, and the folksong-inflected warmth of Vaughan Williams. Walton contributes his trademark brilliance of orchestration, here distilled into brass textures of glitter and bite. Even Britten, whose music can sometimes play coy in less assured hands, emerges here with a clarity and grace that feel inevitable.

Every performance is cut and polished with diamond precision: articulation gleams, balances are immaculate, and tempi breathe with a natural musical instinct. These are players who listen as keenly as they play. The only cloud in my personal sky was John Adams' contribution — serialism has never been my cup of Darjeeling — but this is purely a matter of taste, not of execution.

Chandos has given them a sonic frame worthy of the artistry: luminous, spacious, and startlingly lifelike, with a bloom that makes brass textures positively glow. This is music-making that respects tradition while relishing the colours and character of the present day — and a disc I will return to with pleasure.

Postscript: The inclusion of Florence Price is worth pausing on. The first African-American woman to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra, she wrote with a voice steeped in late-Romantic lyricism, African-American spirituals, and a certain unforced nobility. Her music, long neglected, is at last stepping into the light — and here, framed alongside such a distinguished company of composers, it shines all the brighter.

[Karl Henning]

A nice way to start the day:

Weird bit of personal trivia: I saw Suitner conduct Beethoven IX in Tokyo in the mid-1980s

[Harry]

Malcolm Arnold (1921–2006).
Commonwealth Christmas Overture, Op.64 (1957).
Concerto No.1, Op.20 (1948) for Clarinet and Strings.
Divertimento No.2, Op.24/Op.75 (1950) for Orchestra.
Larch Trees, Op.3 (1943) Tone Poem for Orchestra.
Philharmonic Concerto, Op.120 (1976) for Orchestra.
The Padstow Lifeboat, Op.94a (1967) March for Brass Band.

Michael Collins – Clarinet.
BBC Philharmonic, Rumon Gamba.

Recorded: MediaCityUK, Salford, Manchester, 2019 (Clarinet Concerto No.1, Divertimento No.2, Larch Trees, Philharmonic Concerto); 2022 (other works)
Streaming: FLAC 96kHz/24-bit – SOTA recording, reference performance
Label: Chandos, PDF file attached

I came late to this disc — shame on me, for it is a feast in the best sense, an eclectic celebration of Arnold's astonishing craft. Here is a composer who could be as riotously playful as he was capable of deep tenderness, his orchestral colours ever bold, his wit sometimes sly, and his sense of drama unfailingly keen. England has been blessed with more than its fair share of fine orchestrators, but Arnold, to my mind, stands proudly apart — the "odd one out" whose music I can never resist.

From the opening Commonwealth Christmas Overture, with its generous sweep and jubilant brass writing, through to the bracing nautical swagger of The Padstow Lifeboat, there isn't a bar that lacks personality. The First Clarinet Concerto is a particular highlight — Michael Collins navigates its virtuosic demands with a fluidity and assurance that borders on the miraculous, his phrasing as natural as conversation, his agility dazzling without ostentation. The Philharmonic Concerto (Op.120) is another gem: full of rhythmic bite, unexpected turns, and the kind of orchestral interplay that keeps the listener leaning forward.

The BBC Philharmonic under Rumon Gamba give nothing short of a model performance, marrying precision with a genuine sense of fun where Arnold's humour glints through. The Chandos engineering is, quite simply, state-of-the-art: a stage image of remarkable depth, instrumental textures rendered in three dimensions, and a satisfying punch when the full orchestra lets rip.

This is Arnold in full colour — inventive, irrepressible, and utterly alive. I would happily take more of this journey.
 

[Henk]

Brahms - PS 1
Schumann - Theme & variations

[Harry]

Julius Ernst Wilhelm Fučík. (1872– 1916)
Orchestral works.
See back cover for details.
David Hubbard, Bassoon.
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Järvi.
Recorded: Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow; 16 and 17 February 2015.
Streaming: FLAC 96kHz/24 bit SOTA recording, Reference performance.
Label: Chandos, PDF file attached.

If you were to wake me in the dead of night, whisper "Fučík" in my ear, and point towards the listening room, I would not grumble — I'd run. Here is a composer who can make the heart skip not merely a beat, but an entire bar, simply out of sheer, orchestrated joy. Few have handled an orchestra with such unerring colour and wit; each piece here is its own self-contained little universe, spinning merrily in a galaxy of melody.

Whether it's the buoyant sparkle of Uncle Teddy, the sea-spray effervescence of Marinarella, or the gleeful hammer-and-anvil of Die lustigen Dorfschmiede, the music glows from within. And then there's Der alte Brummbär, where David Hubbard's bassoon rumbles and dances in equal measure — a lovable old bear with impeccable manners and a surprisingly light step.

Neeme Järvi, a perennial favourite of mine, is in rare form here — no mere reading of the score, but a full-blooded embrace of it. I've lost count of the Järvi recordings on my shelves, but this one dances somewhere near the top, crackling with affection for every phrase. The Chandos sound captures it all with unflappable elegance — rich, spacious, and, like the music itself, sprinkled with pure delight.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Weird bit of personal trivia: I saw Suitner conduct Beethoven IX in Tokyo in the mid-1989s

Karl, I was in Tokyo at that time! It was a good time.

[Symphonic Addict]

Svendsen: Norwegian Rhapsodies 3 and 4, Norwegian Artists' Carnival and Two Icelandic Melodies

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Boiko Symphony No. 2.

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 7 in E Major, 1885 Version with some Modifications by Bruckner. Ed. Albert Gutmann
Berliner  Philharmoniker, Jascha Horenstein

[AnotherSpin]

Abel, Bach, Baltzar, Biber, Ortiz

[Henk]

[Linz]

Joseph Haydn Symphony No. 33 in C Major
Symphony No. 36 in E flat Major
Symphony No. 108 in B flat Major, 'Partita'
The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Julian Bream.

[Linz]

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74 "Pathétique"
Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture
Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32
Philharmonia Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini