What are you listening 2 now?

[Que]

Early Venetian Lute Music: Music by Vincenzo Capirola [Wilson]

Love that recording!

Q

[aligreto]

Love that recording!

Q

Yes, it is wonderful, Que. It has a gentle magic to it, I think.

[André]

How are the performances?

Fine, I guess. I'm no Alkan expert and have no point of comparison, since the works here are mostly little known. The notes mention the strong connection with Chopin, which is what Mastroprimiano is interested in bringing out. I prefer his Clementi integral set to Spada's, so I suppose it's fair to extrapolate and assume his Alkan is also very good. Being a fortepiano specialist, his tone and playing are very different from, say, Hamelin.

[staxomega]

Fine, I guess. I'm no Alkan expert and have no point of comparison, since the works here are mostly little known. The notes mention the strong connection with Chopin, which is what Mastroprimiano is interested in bringing out. I prefer his Clementi integral set to Spada's, so I suppose it's fair to extrapolate and assume his Alkan is also very good. Being a fortepiano specialist, his tone and playing are very different from, say, Hamelin.

Thank you, it sounds interesting.

[Florestan]

Love that recording!

Q

+ 1

[aligreto]

Handel: Keyboard Suites





No. 1 [Gavrilov]
No. 2 [Richter]

[vers la flamme]

Handel: Keyboard Suites





No. 1 [Gavrilov]
No. 2 [Richter]

Nice, I just got this recently. Really good! I wasn't expecting Gavrilov to keep up with Richter so readily, but he does.

[aligreto]

Nice, I just got this recently. Really good! I wasn't expecting Gavrilov to keep up with Richter so readily, but he does.

Not that I would really know but I do find Gavrilov quite good here.
BTW there is a Vol. II in case you do not know. I posted it yesterday, I believe.

[Spineur]

Recent releases: Some excellent french mélodies in perfect diction.  The first one is dedicated to the Boulanger sisters (mostly Nadia and some Lili) sung by the wonderful tenor Cyrille Dubois.  He has a vocal technique in which he attacks the notes without any vibrato and let it grow.  It is rarely done as it require a perfect pitch right on.  This technique suits the french repertoire best.  Add to this, the delightful music of the Boulanger sisters never performed.  This is a fantastic CD not to be missed



Marc Mauillon is best known in the medieval and renaissance repertoire.  Here he sings some of the best Fauré repertoire.  His diction is just amazing, not only because you hear all the words distinctively, but also because he understand the texts ans is able to express all their pathos.  Very good.   



Of the two, I would say the Cyrille Dubois/Boulanger sister is the best: better music and a fantastic voice.

[Mandryka]

It's very very good, it even sounds good!

[Biffo]

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 5 in D - London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult - couldn't resist it

[vers la flamme]

Not that I would really know but I do find Gavrilov quite good here.
BTW there is a Vol. II in case you do not know. I posted it yesterday, I believe.

Yes, I noticed that; there was a Beethoven sonata included, no? Curious pairing.

[aligreto]

Mozart: Two works for the Glass Harmonica [Bloch]





Adagio KV 356
Adagio und Rondo KV 617

Apparently KV 617 was Mozart's last chamber music work and on its first public performance Mozart played the viola part. It is a wonderfully intriguing piece scored for Glass Harmonica, Flute, Oboe, Viola and Cello.

[aligreto]

Yes, I noticed that; there was a Beethoven sonata included, no? Curious pairing.

Yes, you are correct, on both counts 

[aligreto]

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 5 in D - London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult - couldn't resist it

Good stuff. I hope that you enjoyed it.

[vers la flamme]

Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No.4 in C minor, op.43. Vasily Petrenko, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Inspired by Mahlerian's comments yesterday that the 4th represents Shostakovich at his most—well, Mahlerian—I have decided to give it a listen. I've only heard this symphony once before. So far, so good. The first movement (of three) is extremely expansive. 

[Mahlerian]

Inspired by Mahlerian's comments yesterday that the 4th represents Shostakovich at his most—well, Mahlerian—I have decided to give it a listen. I've only heard this symphony once before. So far, so good. The first movement (of three) is extremely expansive.

I hope you enjoy! Karl and I both attended a very memorable BSO concert a few years back where this work was performed, and it was an overwhelming experience.

For myself:

Schoenberg: Violin Concerto, Op. 36
Isabelle Faust, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, cond. Harding

[vers la flamme]

I hope you enjoy! Karl and I both attended a very memorable BSO concert a few years back where this work was performed, and it was an overwhelming experience.

For myself:

Schoenberg: Violin Concerto, Op. 36
Isabelle Faust, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, cond. Harding

Awesome. I bet that was a great live experience. The only Shostakovich I've seen live was the Leningrad, with the Atlanta Symphony, about a year ago, coupled with Bernstein's 3 Meditations from Mass. It was a great concert.

As for that Schoenberg, I really want to get that CD. Looks excellent. But I'm trying to exercise restraint with music purchases, lately.

[Papy Oli]

More Sibelius. The 6th still with Blomstedt.

I think I am finally having a breakthrough with his music. There are some magnificent moments across what I have listened to so far.

I really liked the 1st and 3rd. The 4th still eluded me overall though. Distracted listen to the 5th earlier today, i need to queue it again. Only the 7th to try and I'll finish at the end with the 2nd, the only symphony of his i used to like.

[San Antone]

Two Renaissance masses (Josquin, Bawldeweyn), and one motet (Brumel) well-sung by The Tallis Scholars (released in 2019)

With Missa Mater Patris and Missa Da pacem our project to record all of Josquin's Masses runs into controversy. Who wrote these pieces, and when? In the case of one of Josquin's greatest Mass-settings, Missa Mater Patris, its style is so unusual that some scholars have questioned its authorship. With Da pacem these questions become more pressing. Having been thought during the nineteenth century to be the most typical and perfect of all Josquin's Masses, it has recently been shown to be by the little-known Noel Bauldeweyn. Or is it?

Josquin's Missa Mater Patris is one of his most forthright compositions, full of daring in a bracingly simple style. In many people's minds 'simple' tends to mean 'early' when categorising an artist's output. But where the simplicity is the result of an artist having refined something which has evolved over a lifetime, then it can also indicate 'late', as many elderly writers, painters and musicians have shown over the centuries—Arvo Pärt is a current example. And paring down a highly developed method is exactly what Josquin shows in his Missa Mater Patris. Gone is the dense polyphonic argument of so much of his earlier music. In its place are light, open textures delivered with a good deal of wit, even playfulness. The Hosanna shows exactly this. (Hyperion booklet)

Early Music Review