What are you listening 2 now?

[steve ridgway]

Scriabin - Prelude For Orchestra (Rêverie)

[steve ridgway]

Takemitsu - Landscape I

[steve ridgway]

Messiaen - Vingt Regards Sur L'enfant-Jèsus

All good listening today - nothing needed skipping (or deleting) .

[Wanderer]

[Harry]

Joseph Touchemoulin.(1727-1801)
Concertos & Symphonies.
A FRENCH CHAPEL MASTER TO THE PRINCELY HOUSE OF THURN UND TAXIS.


Only scant information has survived about Joseph Touchemoulin, who spent more than fifty years of his life as a highly respected violinist and Kapellmeister at the princely courts of Bonn and Regensburg. Charming, well-crafted music that combined Italian influences with contemporary tastes dictated by the Mannheim School and the rules of the galant style and Empfindsamkeit.
His music contains melodies with a Italian flair and there is also a pleasing freshness and commitment in the sometimes virtuosic demands the music dictates. This ensemble caught the "Geist" and concept of Touchemoulin's music admirably. Beautifully mastered by the performers on this disc, recorded in a pleasing acoustic, which render an image close to SOTA sound.

[Irons]

Embarrassment of riches. Even without the provenance you mention a definitive set.

British Oboe Quintets.
See back cover for details.


The legendary British oboist Leon Goossens inspired the composers to create the oboe works in quintet scoring collected here. Another special feature of the recording is that Nicholas Daniel was given permission by Goossens' daughter to play his instrument, now over a hundred years old, in Delius' "Two Interludes", and it sounds as it must be, a bit like definitive interpretations. The works on this CD have a feel of reference, and authenticity so you will, that makes it essential, just listen to the magic of the Bax Quintet. SOTA sound. An indispensable acquisition, for anyone who loves these works.

Apologies for not being clear. All positive, with what I should have said - added providence of recording using an instrument owned and played by Goossens.

Your post inspired me to listen to the Bliss Quintet for Oboe and Strings (Melos). I found this interesting from the notes by the composer "My Oboe Quintet is an earlier work then its companion. It owed its existence to an invitation from that great patron of chamber music, Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge who, wanted a new work for Leon Goossens to play at one of her International Festivals".

[Que]

This caught my eye:



Excellent performances, interesting repertoire.

https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2015/Dec/Midst_life_v1_SIGCD408.htm

https://earlymusicreview.com/in-the-midst-of-life-music-from-the-baldwin-partbooks-i/

[Harry]

This caught my eye:



Excellent performances, interesting repertoire.

https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2015/Dec/Midst_life_v1_SIGCD408.htm

I bookmarked this disc on the basis of your impression and the excellent review of the link you posted. Most of the time I am disappointed by British choirs. We will see if it works, 9 to 10 people is for me not a small choir, and there are sopranos to consider, but all in all I am curious enough to try it.

[Harry]

Apologies for not being clear. All positive, with what I should have said - added providence of recording using an instrument owned and played by Goossens.

Your post inspired me to listen to the Bliss Quintet for Oboe and Strings (Melos). I found this interesting from the notes by the composer "My Oboe Quintet is an earlier work then its companion. It owed its existence to an invitation from that great patron of chamber music, Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge who, wanted a new work for Leon Goossens to play at one of her International Festivals".

I am still a bit overwhelmed by the impression I got from listening to the works on this CD. I was not prepared for its excellence. Even my wife who was listening from behind her desk, noticed that it was something very special. As indeed it was. Pure magic.

[Harry]

L'Arte del Violino Solo.
Works by: Locatelli, Tartini, Vivaldi, Campagnoli, Paganini.
Maria Kristinskaya, Violin.


She is a brilliant if somewhat robust violinist. Passionate in approach of the music, but subtle enough to let details shine. You hear right away that she means business, there is no Hanky-Panky with her. The instrument she is using defines her personality and seems to melt in her art. It is about the third CD I heard from Kristinskaya, and although at first I had my doubts, but her persuasion tolerates no denial. So I am smitten as you might understand. The recording is SOTA, and her performance overpowering. Could not find a back cover, and there is no PDF file on Qobuz, which annoys me.

[Que]

Another new issue in the Krebs series  (Bach's favourite pupil) by Steven Devine! Wonderful & exciting.

On disc (considerably) more expensive than the bargain set on Brilliant by Michele Benuzzi, but artistically so much better and more interesting. Performances by Steven Devine, a harpsichordist I hold in high esteem (try his Bach), feel pretty much definitive.

[Harry]

Giuseppe Sammartini. (1695-1750)
Concertos & Overtures.
Benoit Laurent, Oboe, Les Muffatti, Peter van Heyghen.


Giuseppe Sammartini was regarded by his contemporaries as one of the most important composers of his generation. In his adopted country of England, his concertos and overtures were considered on a par with the works of Corelli and Geminiani, and were even held in higher esteem than those of Handel. Peter van Heyghen and his ensemble solidified and succeeded in convincingly rehabilitating the Italian, perhaps even correcting one of the great injustices of music history.
With meticulousness and enthusiasm, the musicians present eight unknown works by the Englishman by choice. His Concerti Grossi make you sit up and take notice, because Van Heyghen and his ensemble play as smoothly as they do rhythmically and also allow cantilenas to swing sweetly. To my ears a great success, in performance as well as sound.

[Wanderer]

[brewski]

Berio - Corale (Su 'Sequenza VIII')

Very glad to know of this recording, perfect for the big Berio centennial — today!

[Madiel]

Medtner: Goethe songs (first set), op.6



While I'm embracing the chance to listen to all the songs complete, there's a bit of a problem... I don't like Ekaterina Levental's voice all that much. She's not terrible, but there aren't many songs where I find her voice all that appealing either. The louder the music gets, the less attractive her timbre is to my ears.

That's only from op.1 (Russian) and op.6 (German), but I'm not going to be rushing out to buy the box set. I don't know whether I'll buy some of the other, more piecemeal offerings at some point instead. I still don't understand why Delphian, which did such a good job with Rachmaninov's complete songs, decided that a bits-and-pieces approach was okay for Medtner, beyond them thinking they couldn't get the sales.

[Todd]

[Harry]

Forgotten Voices Rediscovered.

Henriette Bosmans (1895-1952) Sonata for Violin and Piano (1918) and Piano trio, 1921.
Fania Shapiro. (1926-1994) Sonata for Cello and Piano No.2.
Brundibar Ensemble.

Really a fine selection of works and female composers. Henrietta Bosmans works I know by now, but Fania Shapiro was a great unknown composer for me. she has a distinctive own voice with some strong jazzy influences in the last movement, but very much approachable. Prokofiev is never far away.
The performances are superb, as is the sound, recorded in the ambiance of the Menuhin Hall in Cobham.
Recommended.

[AnotherSpin]

The recordings were made in 1928. In my set, the sound is more than convincing. As for the artistic merits, everything has already been said before me.

[Madiel]

Medtner op.6 again, the other full version available.



This is rather more pleasing as a performance. I wouldn't actually say that Gritton is a favourite singer - at least as recorded here she can just a tiny bit shrill - but there's just a much greater sense of control. And some songs feel less hurried.

But while op.6 is complete, I already know that some other opuses chosen for this album aren't. If they were I probably would have bought this some years ago.

[Madiel]

Beethoven: Piano sonata in F major, op.10/2



Signing off for the night with a relatively undemanding bit of Beethoven piano.