What are you listening 2 now?

[hopefullytrusting]

Just got through Rubin Goldmark's A Negro Rhapsody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egdc81d3pEs&list=RDegdc81d3pEs

A thoroughly enjoyable piece of music - very nationalistic - with maybe the most traditional ending in all of classical music. I would love to see this played more often, but I suspect that its title (as long as the overall unnotability of the composer) has kept it off the books - it is a nice piece of pomp and circumstance.

Now, Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-YwjICCLN0

[Harry]

Edvard Grieg
Complete Symphonic Works
Volume I
See back cover for details.
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Eivind Aadland.
Streaming: 48kHz/24 bit. SACD.
Label: Audite. No PDF file attached to this recording.
Recorded: 2010, Venue unknown.

The first instalment of this five-volume journey into Grieg's orchestral voice opens, perhaps predictably, with some of his most cherished and oft-recorded works: the Symphonic Dances, the twin Peer Gynt Suites, and the solemn Funeral March in memory of Rikard Nordraak. Predictable in choice, perhaps, but not in execution.

Eivind Aadland's Grieg is stripped of the syrup and sentimental haze that has clung to these scores since their Romantic over-polishing by the likes of Karajan. Aadland prefers a tauter palette: lean, transparent textures, tempi that breathe without dragging, and an avoidance of the swelling crescendi that can so easily turn "Morning Mood" into a postcard cliché. His is the Grieg of clean lines and honest phrasing — a direct link to the Norwegian folk pulse beneath the orchestration, unvarnished yet glowing with its own quiet light.

The Symphonic Dances, with their earthy rhythms and sly harmonic sidesteps, gain in structural clarity under this approach, while Peer Gynt benefits from a dramatic restraint that allows Ibsen's dark ironies to breathe beneath the beauty. "Solveig's Song" here feels almost unbearably intimate, and "In the Hall of the Mountain King" dances with precision rather than bluster.

Yet there is an elephant in the control room — the sound. This 48kHz/24-bit production captures the orchestra in startling detail and depth, the front-to-back image near holographic, but the upper string register — particularly the first violins — veers into a glassy, borderline abrasive glare. It is not a question of interpretation; it is a mastering artefact, likely a side-effect of the then-nascent high-resolution techniques. The flaw is most pronounced in the Symphonic Dances and the first Peer Gynt Suite, slightly tamed in the later sessions but still enough to jar sensitive ears.

It is a pity, for when the sonic halo aligns, the results are both revealing and exhilarating. As it stands, this volume remains an intriguing, if flawed, first step into Aadland's Grieg cycle — a performance that, artistically, I will happily revisit, but sonically, I approach with a measure of caution.

If your speakers err on the analytical or your ears are sensitive to treble sharpness, this disc may bite — hard. For those willing to moderate volume or apply some judicious EQ, Aadland's clear-headed Grieg is worth the effort; for others, it risks turning a feast of music into a test of endurance.

[Wanderer]

[Harry]

Strauss in St Petersburg
See back cover for details.
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra – Neeme Järvi
Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn, 2012 & 2015
Streaming: FLAC 48 kHz/24 bit • SACD – SOTA
Label: Chandos • PDF file attached

What a tonic this is! Strauss in St Petersburg under Järvi's baton is unadulterated delight – a high-spirited promenade through the waltzes, polkas, quadrilles and marches of Vienna's first family of musical mischief. This is not Strauss drowned in syrup, nor dressed up in spurious sentiment; Järvi gives us the dance floor unvarnished, with the glitter and vitality coming straight from the score itself.

Johann Strauss II and his clan were the architects of a musical empire where charm was never shallow, and rhythm was a form of seduction. Even Brahms – no man to squander praise – admitted he wished he could write such tunes. Here we have a glittering sampling: the compact punch of the Persischer Marsch and the sly, lilting Russischer Marsch; the courtly sway of the Grossfürstin Alexandra-Walzer, polished to ballroom perfection; and the refined splendour of Wein, Weib und Gesang! – more elegance in a single phrase than some composers manage in a lifetime.

Then there is An der Wolga, a gently majestic evocation of the river's breadth and mystery, in which Strauss proves that he could be subtle without ever losing his melodic charm.

Järvi shapes all of this with the best kind of showmanship – the kind you hardly notice, because the music is too busy winning you over. His tempi breathe naturally, the phrasing sparkles, and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra respond with playing that glistens with precision and warmth. Chandos's sound is full-bodied, spacious, and crystalline in detail – a clear cut above the Naxos Complete Works, which may be serviceable, but here sounds positively monochrome by comparison.

If your spirits need lifting, this disc could do the trick before you reach the second track. And if you think Strauss is mere fluff, Järvi's account here might just persuade you otherwise.

[Irons]

Elgar: Cockaigne Overture.



A good Elgar anthology which includes my favourite Cockaigne.

[hopefullytrusting]

Just completed Alkan's Op. 31 Preludes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lvppKC79S0 (good music for somber reading).

To follow up that somberness, I am listening to Bloch's Symphony in C# minor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzwqZO8oGYk

[AnotherSpin]

Naim's PRAT goodness, that brilliant mix of Pace, Rhythm, and Timing, brings Antonio de Cabezón's second album to life in a way utterly lost on anyone still convinced they're hearing music properly through their cheap little boxes. It's not just about technical accuracy; it's how the music breathes, flows, and grooves that makes the performance feel startlingly immediate and alive.

[Iota]

Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K219 'Turkish'
Isabelle Faust (violin), Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini

They capture the 'Turkish' passage in the last movement with real colour and life. Though the whole concerto is so much fun, and danced through nimbly and eloquently with the mutual sensitivity of a chamber ensemble that has been playing together for years.

[pjme]

Elsa Barraine (1910–1999) remains one of the more elusive figures in 20th-century French music.

"Musique rituelle" (organ, 2 percussionists : tamtam/gong and xylomarimba) has been recorded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvOt0iVYttQ&list=PLOUZHqMiw4RSaZUJkkePSyZUKaIY6oH0a&index=1

• Musique Rituelle, d'après le Bardo Thödol, pour grand orgue et percussions (1966-1967), Premier prélude et fugue sur un chant de prière israélite (1928), Deuxième prélude et fugue. Psaume CXVI (1929), Élévation (1959), Chant de mariage. Reflets magyars (1961). Raffi Ourgandjian, orgue, Benoît Cambreling, xylo marimba, Jean-Luc Rimey-Meille, gong et tam-tam. Marcal Classics MA101001, 2010.

Here, I'm reminded indeed of Messiaen and other now forgotten composers who worked in the shadow of Messiaen-Boulez: Charles Chaynes, Serge Nigg, Jacques Charpentier, Jacques Castérède....

[Roasted Swan]

"Musique rituelle" (organ, 2 percussionists : tamtam/gong and xylomarimba) has been recorded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvOt0iVYttQ&list=PLOUZHqMiw4RSaZUJkkePSyZUKaIY6oH0a&index=1

• Musique Rituelle, d'après le Bardo Thödol, pour grand orgue et percussions (1966-1967), Premier prélude et fugue sur un chant de prière israélite (1928), Deuxième prélude et fugue. Psaume CXVI (1929), Élévation (1959), Chant de mariage. Reflets magyars (1961). Raffi Ourgandjian, orgue, Benoît Cambreling, xylo marimba, Jean-Luc Rimey-Meille, gong et tam-tam. Marcal Classics MA101001, 2010.

Here, I'm reminded indeed of Messiaen and other now forgotten composers who worked in the shadow of Messiaen-Boulez: Charles Chaynes, Serge Nigg, Jacques Charpentier, Jacques Castérède....

Barraine was an exact contemporary at the Paris Conservatoire and life-long friend of Messiaen.....

[hopefullytrusting]

My program for whenever I wake up:

Gnessin's Jewish Orchestra at the Ball at Nothingtown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WHkS2LNjPM
Achron's Kindersuite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkIjoyIsFw
Shatin's Vayter un Vayter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqqx45Ms1GM
Weiser's all the days were purple: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5DGaYS0fcw

[Madiel]

After a longer hiatus than planned, back to the Haydn sonatas.

Sonata no.45 in A major



An extremely curious/experimental music, with the 3 movements joined together: an allegro, an adagio arioso, and a theme and variations on a minuet where the variations are on the capricious side.

The whole thing is a little strange but undoubtedly interesting. Haydn was not afraid to try things, perhaps moreso in these keyboard works than in some other genres.

[Madiel]

Haydn: Mass no.14 in B flat, "Harmoniemesse"



Haydn's last major work. My quest to better know the 6 late masses is not entirely succeeding yet - and I'm thinking I might spend some time comparing the same section in each mass. Nevertheless, there are times when I'm definitely picking up the different colouring of this mass because of the full wind section that Haydn had at his disposal. And also it has an unusually expansive and quite beautiful Kyrie.

EDIT: And a super-vigorous Dona nobis pacem!

[pjme]

Today: high energy symphonism - Rafael Kubelik as conductor and composer/conductor.

[Linz]

Joseph Haydn  Symphonies, Volume III CD2
Symphony No. 9 in C major
Symphony No. 12 in E major
Symphony No. 13 in D major
The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood

[AnotherSpin]

[Linz]

Carl Nielsen Symphony No. 2, Op. 16 "The Four Temperaments", Morton Gould
Symphony No. 4, Op. 29 "The Inextinguishable", Helios Overture, op. 47, Jean Martinon
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Fog is Lifting (Tagen Letter) James Galway, flute, Sioned Williams, Harp

[Mister Sharpe]

The violin concerto is my favorite classical music form and there are some many days I crave hearing at least one. Weill's VC, composed in 1924, with its potent amalgam of Stravinskian coolness, Busonian intensity and Weill's own theatricality really sings to me. After many years of listening to it, I can never cue it up without asking "So how come Szigeti (its dedicatee) with all his ambitious discography never recorded it?" That question still nags. Weill's VC had to wait 'til '55 for release on MGM, below.

[Brian]

An adventurous program of French cello sonatas. What's not to love?

[AnotherSpin]

The violin concerto is my favorite classical music form and there are some many days I crave hearing at least one. Weill's VC, composed in 1924, with its potent amalgam of Stravinskian coolness, Busonian intensity and Weill's own theatricality really sings to me. After many years of listening to it, I can never cue it up without asking "So how come Szigeti (its dedicatee) with all his ambitious discography never recorded it?" That question still nags. Weill's VC had to wait 'til '55 for release on MGM, below.

Maybe Szigeti wasn't sure whether he liked this music? It seems to me he mostly recorded top-tier concertos first: Brahms, Beethoven, Bach, Prokofiev, Berg, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Tartini — that sort of pieces.