What are you listening 2 now?

[Mirror Image]

Good morning all.

Satie - 3 Sarabandes

Lovely!

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Benjamin Britten's Diversions for piano (left hand) and orchestra with Peter Donohoe and Rattle with the City of Birmingham SO.  Liked it!

Courtesy of youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ0CfVCOua4

PD

[ritter]

Good day to you, Rafael. A very cool, fun work, indeed. I rather enjoy it --- the enthusiasm and joy in the music almost has an unhinged quality about it and I could say this about a good bit of Milhaud's work.

On a similar note...NP:

Milhaud
Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 263
Steinbacher
Munich RO
Pinchas Steinberg

Good day to you, John.

That's a disc I also need to revisit in my ongoing Milhaud-a-thon...

[vandermolen]

Williamson: Symphony No.5 'Aquero'
His thoughtful works always hold my attention:

[vandermolen]

Paul Ben Haim
Symphony No. 1.
Fanfare to Israel.
Symphonic Metamorphoses on a Bach Chorale,
"Wer nun den lieben Gott last walten".

NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Israel Yinon.

A fine performance.

+1 even though the new Chandos recording is even better IMO.

[Iota]

Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major

I often forget Roussel composed superb chamber music, and this sonata is a fine instance of that.

If it's anything like as beautiful as the Renoir on the front, it's unmissable.


Here:


Verdi: Quattro Pezzi Sacri (excerpts)

Pizzetti: Tre Composizioni Corali


The Verdi are gorgeous. The Pizzetti also strikingly attractive, impassioned at times.

[Mirror Image]

Benjamin Britten's Diversions for piano (left hand) and orchestra with Peter Donohoe and Rattle with the City of Birmingham SO.  Liked it!

Courtesy of youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ0CfVCOua4

PD

A phenomenal work, PD. I may even prefer it to his Piano Concerto. You must check out the Osborne/Volkov performance on Hyperion. That's my reference.

[Mirror Image]

Good day to you, John.

That's a disc I also need to revisit in my ongoing Milhaud-a-thon...

It's a fine one. What I like about Milhaud and this may turn some listeners off are his innovations in polytonality, but the way he uses it makes complete sense within the musical narrative.

[Mirror Image]

Some compositions from 1968 yesterday. Boulez Livre Pour Cordes, Lutosławski Livre Pour Orchestre, Birtwistle Nomos.

Two fine works from Boulez and Lutoslawski. I should actually revisit both of them --- perhaps later on today. How do you feel about Boulez's music in general? Do you think his music is only understood by aliens or do you feel a human connection to what he's doing? Personally, I thought I wouldn't like Boulez's own music, but how wrong I was! I went in with preconceived notions (the worse thing you can do with any music) and I was blown away. Almost sounds like a love story where you end up falling in love with the woman that you have despised for far too long, but deep down you know she's actually right for you, because she challenges you and makes you an even stronger person than you were before.

[Harry]

+1 even though the new Chandos recording is even better IMO.

I would like to acquire the Chandos recording of the first Symphony by Ben-Haim also Jeffrey, but I have to stop doubling up music I already have. Otherwise I will never get through my backlog. I am in the process of listening to acquisitions from 2009 all the way through to 2018. I gather about 350 discs in total which I only heard once. I am not blessed with eternal life, so I must start with all what is gathering dust in my listening room.

[kyjo]

Wm Schuman Song of Orpheus for vc & orch

A fine work! The great Leonard Rose made the premiere recording.

[Florestan]

String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major Op. 18

Amadeus Quartet, Cecil Aronowitz, William Pleeth

I forgot what an utterly charming piece of music this is.

Now on to the 2nd, with the same forces. Just as good.

There is not a single chamber music work by Brahms that I didn't enjoy.

[kyjo]

Dvořák is my favorite composer of the Romantic Era. Yes, he was an unbelievably good melodist, but the man just wrote incredible music. He's one of those rare composers where I say I haven't heard one bum note from him. The other composer I would say this about is Sibelius.

+1 

[kyjo]

String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major Op. 18

Amadeus Quartet, Cecil Aronowitz, William Pleeth

I forgot what an utterly charming piece of music this is.

Now on to the 2nd, with the same forces. Just as good.

There is not a single chamber music work by Brahms that I didn't enjoy.

Pounds the table! Although I'm not the greatest fan of the Amadeus Quartet's playing.

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Milhaud
Médée, Op. 191
Chansons de negresse (3), Op. 148b
Poèmes Juifs, Op. 34
Les Soirées de Pétrograd, Op. 55
Cantate nuptiale, Op. 168
Quatre Chansons de Ronsard, Op. 223
Les Quatre éléments, Op. 189
Bolivar, Op. 236
Fontaines et Sources, Op. 352
Various performers/orchestras

From this awesome set:



By the way, if anyone is interested in this set, it's on sale right now at Presto Classical and if you're at all curious about his music, then you should jump on this deal. Honestly, I'm still surprised it's in-print, but who knows for how long:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8040431--darius-milhaud-une-vie-heureuse

[Florestan]

Pounds the table! Although I'm not the greatest fan of the Amadeus Quartet's playing.

What's your favorite performance of the sextets?

[Mirror Image]

Hey Rafael, I was going to ask you, do you own the Milhaud Une Vie Heureuse box set on Erato?

[Harry]

Heinrich Kaminski. (1886-1946)

Works for String orchestra.
(Orchestral version of the String Quintet in F sharp minor, arr. Reinhard Schwarz-Schilling)

Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss, Lavard Skou-Larsen.

Quite interesting music, Kaminski's neglect in the musical arena is not deserved. He writes fine music, excellently arranged by another composer I admire, Schwarz-Schilling, of which Naxos recorded also orchestral works, which have an elated place in my collection.

[steve ridgway]

How do you feel about Boulez's music in general? Do you think his music is only understood by aliens or do you feel a human connection to what he's doing?

I don't know about a human connection, it's more like listening to the patterns found in nature - like a waterfall makes a similar sound without strictly repeating.

[Mirror Image]

I don't know about a human connection, it's more like listening to the patterns found in nature - like a waterfall makes a similar sound without strictly repeating.

That's an interesting analogy. I never thought about his music in that manner.