What are you listening 2 now?

[ritter]

Chamber music by Maurice Emmanuel... Sonata for Cello and Piano, Trio Sonata for Flute, Clarinet and Piano, Suite on Popular Greek Themes (violin and piano), Sonata for Bugle and Piano, String Quartet.



Délicieux!

I say it again: I miss the Timpani label sooo much! 

[Brian]

I've been listening to Szymanowski's violin and piano music a lot recently, but it's been more than a decade since I heard either violin concerto.



Going with No. 2 as I read that it was more folk music influenced rather than ripe late romantic.

[Linz]

Felix Mendelssohn Overture to 'Fingal's Cave'
Franz Schubert Symphony No. 4 in C minor, D.417 'Tragic'
Igor Stravinsky Symphony in Three Novements
Richard Wagner Die Meistersinger von Nürunberg: Prelude to Act 1
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Otto Klemperer

[Brian]

I've been listening to Szymanowski's violin and piano music a lot recently, but it's been more than a decade since I heard either violin concerto.



Going with No. 2 as I read that it was more folk music influenced rather than ripe late romantic.

Wowza, that was wonderful. I need to make up for lost time!

[Brian]

Catching up on what seemed to be GMG Album of the Week last week...

[Brian]

Catching up on what seemed to be GMG Album of the Week last week...

The playing is predictably superb and the ensembles' approaches blend very well together, but I have two minor gripes with the Mendelssohn performance. One, the sound is a little bit cramped, and in particular it seems like there's a wall right behind the violins. Two, the tempo relationship between the end of the scherzo and the beginning of the finale does not seem quite right to me. It's almost like they played the scherzo, took a nice long break, had shots of espresso, and came back 

[Bachthoven]

[Daverz]

Ropartz: Symphony No. 3, Michel Plasson & Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse.

This is a big (over 55 minutes) choral/symphonic extravaganza in an effusive and engaging late Romantic style.  I think Ropartz must have been at least a little familiar with Mahler's symphonies.

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner Symphonie  No. 7 in E Major, 1885 Version. Ed.Leopold Nowak
Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Georg Solti

[Madiel]

Wowza, that was wonderful. I need to make up for lost time!

Another reminder that I intend to revisit Antoni Wit's series. Every indication is that he's a good conductor for Szymanowski.

[Madiel]

Gott is unsre Zuversicht, BWV 197



A wedding cantata in 2 parts (before and after the ceremony). With a lot of beautiful music. Though finishing with a chorale in a minor key seems so very Bach/Lutheran. Yes there's a Picardy ending, but still.

[JBS]

More Handel

Original incarnation dates from 1992 (recording date)/1994 (issue date)

[VonStupp]

Malcolm Arnold
Larch Trees, op. 3
Serenade, op. 26
    London Musici - Mark Stephenson
Sweeney Todd, op. 68a: Suite
Carnival of Animals, op. 72
A Grand, Grand Overture, op. 57
    Royal PO - Vernon Handley
Beckus the Dandipratt, op. 5
    London PO - Eduard van Beinum (1947)


A colorful array of orchestral music, with no lack of wit in many of these works.
VS


CD2 from this set:

[Madiel]

Vivaldi bassoon concertos

RV 469 in C major
RV 491 in F major



The 2nd movement of the F major is based on a complex chord sequence that Vivaldi was very fond of. But generally it appears in his religious music (such as the Magnificat). So having it in a concerto without any obvious sacred connotation is interesting.

[Linz]

Antonín Dvořák Symphony No. 9 in G minor Op.88 "New World"
Slavonic Dances, Op. 72, B. 147: No. 2
Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, B. 78: No. 3
Cleveland  Orchestra, George Szell

[Madiel]

Haydn: Symphony no.74 in E flat (composed 1780)



It actually forms a pair with symphony no.62 - this is the one with the more accurate number, it's just a bit curious that they got separated.

The first movement is big and dynamic, top notch stuff. The minuet had me occasionally doubting I knew where the start of the bar was, and the trio has a charming bassoon part, with the almost typical Haydn trait of having one bar too many in each phrase. The finale is a fast 6/8, with quiet passages alternating with loud whirlwinds.

The whole symphony is good, but the first and last movements in particular are a strong advertisement for why the range of Haydn symphonies that are commonly performed really needs to be expanded.

[AnotherSpin]

J.S. Bach: Dritter Theil der Clavier-Übung

Friedrich, Felix

Friedrich's Clavier-Übung III is a flawless architectural drawing: every beam, arch, and vault rendered with ruler-straight precision, so that the entire edifice stands revealed at a glance, without fog, shadow, or romantic blur to soften the edges.

Where others drape Bach in expressive haze and sentimental bloom, Friedrich strips away warmth and lets the cold light of structure shine. Polyphony becomes transparent geometry, visible symmetry, form as an open secret.

His refusal of emotional swell is not austerity but clarity. The music's inner rigor gleams like polished marble, inviting contemplation rather than surrender.

In an age that often mistakes feeling for depth, Friedrich reminds us that profundity can reside in clarity itself, an intellectual radiance that satisfies the mind after passion has faded.

[DavidW]

I've lost track of when I posted and what I posted... sorry for any repeats:


Great Simpson of course!! Been too long.

Great Haydn

Love the Dumbarton Oaks Concerto!

Didn't like it. Too much rubato sounded weird.

Loved it, I'll say it is my favorite listen of the week

[Que]

J.S. Bach: Dritter Theil der Clavier-Übung

Friedrich, Felix

Friedrich's Clavier-Übung III is a flawless architectural drawing: every beam, arch, and vault rendered with ruler-straight precision, so that the entire edifice stands revealed at a glance, without fog, shadow, or romantic blur to soften the edges.

Where others drape Bach in expressive haze and sentimental bloom, Friedrich strips away warmth and lets the cold light of structure shine. Polyphony becomes transparent geometry, visible symmetry, form as an open secret.

His refusal of emotional swell is not austerity but clarity. The music's inner rigor gleams like polished marble, inviting contemplation rather than surrender.

In an age that often mistakes feeling for depth, Friedrich reminds us that profundity can reside in clarity itself, an intellectual radiance that satisfies the mind after passion has faded.

You found it! 
The clarity and the articulation, that's what I like so much about this recording as well. And the sound of the organs. The result feels unusually "light" and airy for a Bach organ performance IMO.

[AnotherSpin]

You found it! 
The clarity and the articulation, that's what I like so much about this recording as well. And the sound of the organ. The result feels unusually "light" and airy for a Bach organ performance IMO.

Yes, this recording is available on Qobuz, but instead of the original cover, there's a picture of an organ.