What are you listening 2 now?

[Harry]

Chansons A Plaisir - Music at the time of Adrian Le Roy (1520-1598)
Compositions by: Adrian Le Roy (1520-1598) , Guillaume Morlaye (1510-1558) , Anonymous , Jacob (Jacques) Arcadelt (1507-1568) , Claude de Sermisy (1490-1562) , Pierre Attaingnant (1494-1552) , Thomas Crecquillon (1505-1557) , Didier le Blanc (fl. 1579-1584) , Pierre Certon (1510-1572).
Fires of love.
Frances Cooper, Marcus Claridge, Gordon Ferries, Jonathan Hugh-Jones.
Recorded: 2007 at the Crichton Collegiate Church, Pathhead, Scotland.

Quite a surprise, did not expect much, but apart from some recitation, the playing and singing is satisfactory. The Soprano, Frances Cooper has only a natural vibrato, and a soft high register. Fine Lute playing too, and a clean detailed and well balanced recording. I bookmarked two others on Qobuz, there were no more alas.

[Que]

Quite a surprise, did not expect much, but apart from some recitation, the playing and singing is satisfactory. The Soprano, Frances Cooper has only a natural vibrato, and a soft high register. Fine Lute playing too, and a clean detailed and well balanced recording. I bookmarked two others on Qobuz, there were no more alas.

The French love some recitations with their music... 

[Harry]

The French love some recitations with their music... 

   

[Belle]

La Doce Acordance.
Chansons de Trouvères, 12th and 13th Century.
Songs by: Soignies, Epinal, Givenci, Bethune, Champagne, Troyes, Coucy, Fournival, Herier, Vinier, Anonymus
Diabolus in Musica, Antoine Guerber.
Recorded in 2004, at the Chapelle du bon Pasteur a Angers.

Superb. Good performance and sound.

Wonderful, esoteric taste in medieval music!!  Such a pleasure to see this, compared to some of the bland and predictable offerings one finds on other music messageboards!!

[Belle]

Thanks for that - not one I know, and I'm still searching for the "perfect" Symphonic Dances.  I skipped to the last 5 minutes to check for 2 of my many criteria - I like the final Alleluia section fast (tick), and the final tamtam smash must go on for ever (here, sadly, it's cut off).  Playing and recording sound terrific, though, so will listen in full shortly.  Do you know Slatkin's recordings? - both his Detroit and St Louis tamtams go on reverberating for about 20 seconds.  Now that's what laissez vibrer means!
[/quote]

No, I don't know those Slatkin recordings but thanks for the heads-up!!

[Harry]

Wonderful, esoteric taste in medieval music!!  Such a pleasure to see this, compared to some of the bland and predictable offerings one finds on other music messageboards!!

I am happy you think so too! Thank you for this response.

[Papy Oli]

The French love some recitations with their music... 

"Et le bébé Jéééésus est apparuuuuuu juste comme çaaaaaa dans la graaaange, pouf !!! alléluiaaaaaaaaa..."


anyway, TD:   

That oratorio by that fella...

Part 1 by both Koopman and Herreweghe

[Henk]

Listening to this set:

[Papy Oli]

That oratorio by that fella...

Part 1 by both Koopman and Herreweghe

Now Dijkstra.

[VonStupp]

Anton Bruckner
Symphony 8 in C minor, WAB 108 (Haas)
Berlin PO - Herbert von Karajan

VS

[Daverz]

Listening to this set:

Love the playing of the Dresdeners in that cycle.

A recent listening highlight:

Jacques Hétu: Symphony No. 5

Stupendous!

Jacques Hétu was a Canadian composer.  His dates were 1938-2010.  He studied with Dutilleaux and Messiaen, but I'm also reminded of Shostakovich's 4th Symphony in terms of sheer volume.

[ritter]

Bruno Canino plays the solo piano part in Ildebrando Pizzetti's Canti della stagione alta. Antonio Ballista conducts the Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali.

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 4 in E Flat Major, 1878/80 Version (1880 with Bruckner's 1886 revisions) - Ed. Leopold Nowak
Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli

[Linz]

Leoš Janáček Choral Works
Netherlands Chamber Choir, Schonberg Ensemble, Reinbert de Leeuw

[Que]

It's Christmas Eve, so there I go as well:

[VonStupp]

JS Bach
Keyboard Concertos 1 - 5, BWV 1052 - 1056

Ramin Bahrami, piano
Gewandhaus - Riccardo Chailly

Five concertos on one disc, and with room to spare! And still, none of the middle movements sound at all rushed or glossed over.
VS

[Peter Power Pop]

Pascha - Christmas Mass, Christmas Carols (Musica Bohemica / Jaroslav Krček)

[Details at Discogs]

[Karl Henning]

Not Christmasy, but:

[Que]

[Cato]

Brahms: Piano Concerto no 2.



This performance of the Brahms concerto was taped live from the Concertgebouw on November 1, 1973. It has also been issued on Tahra. The sound is wide-ranging, with a deeper sound stage than what we usually hear on Philips or Decca. It's very slightly cloudy in places, but we get to hear both soloist and orchestra in a realistic perspective, with no discernible compression.

Musically this is slightly less polished but more exciting than the Gilels/Jochum/BP commercial release. Gilels hits a few wrong notes here and there, but my ! What incredible command of the keyboard, what depth of tone allied to delicacy of phrasing (Backhaus sounds a bit jackhammerish in comparison). And Jochum in Amsterdam is definitely more volatile than in Berlin. Some tutti have an explosive quality (the timps in particular spare no effort to drown the rest of the orchestra). Together they really go to town in Brahms' « little, little scherzo ». 

In the Andante we hear the great Tibor de Machula giving his all in his moving solos. Listeners familiar with Haitink's recording of Don Quixote will know what to expect: a sweet, almost weeping tone, the vibrato strong yet perfectly controlled, with some unabashed portamenti - possibly the most 'vocal' cellist I've heard. In this movement Gilels hits some keys almost ferociously, but barely brushes them in the hushed soliloquy before the return of the cello solo (more weeping) - an unusual take on this most romantic movement.

The finale has a power that is close to demonic: Jochum is almost volcanic here, and Gilels' hands thunder forth mercilessly. Not the carefree, joyful romp one often hears instead. 2 minutes shorter than the DG performance, it still clocks in at just under 50 minutes, a few minutes longer than Serkin, Pollini or Rubinstein.

As a musical experience this is hard to beat. As a recording, because of those tiny imperfections (wrong notes, slightly cloudy sound) it still ranks at the top. 9/10

Here it is via YouTube: