What are you listening 2 now?

[Traverso]

Dufay

Missa Se La Face ay Pale

Diabolus in Musica

Antoine Guerber

[71 dB]

Buxtehude - Wacht! Euch zum Streit Das jüngste Gericht - La Capella Ducale - Musica Fiata / Roland Wilson

(Disc 1)

It is amazing how little I like this. It is Buxtehude, it should be a fine performance and I listened to it on five speakers (SACD 5.0). For Buxtehude the music seems avoid of emotion, ambition and depth. For a modern multichannel recording the sound is weird and thin. The singers are too loud compared to the instruments. The sound doesn't have a 17th century feel to it. It has a 19th century feel. I bought this maybe 5 years ago and it was a massive disappointment. Now I am trying again to see if I just don't get the greatness of this or if it really is that bad. 

[aligreto]

Beethoven: Overture - Consecration of the House [Schmidt-Isserstedt]





This is a fine piece of music and this is a very good presentation of it. It is measured and stately in its opening phase and subsequently becomes busy. Speaking of busy, it is oftentimes interesting the way listening to a new version to you can reveal some small detail in the score which was not apparent to you before. So it is here with that very busy and wonderful bassoon line. The string writing is wonderful but the music is really enriched by both the woodwind and brass scoring which are all very apparent here. The pacing is also exciting with a fine conclusion to the work; a wonderful version.

[Traverso]

Beethoven: Overture - Consecration of the House [Schmidt-Isserstedt]





This is a fine piece of music and this is a very good presentation of it. It is measured and stately in its opening phase and subsequently becomes busy. Speaking of busy, it is oftentimes interesting the way listening to a new version to you can reveal some small detail in the score which was not apparent to you before. So it is here with that very busy and wonderful bassoon line. The string writing is wonderful but the music is really enriched by both the woodwind and brass scoring which are all very apparent here. The pacing is also exciting with a fine conclusion to the work; a wonderful version.

Enjoy your Beethoven Fergus. 

[aligreto]

Enjoy your Beethoven Fergus. 

Thank you Jan. PM sent 

[Florestan]

I can never have too much Mozart and I can never have too much of his piano sonatas.



Bazzini's praises were sung by none other than Schumann, not exactly famous for his love of virtuosi and their music. This disc feature a nice violin sonata, classically cut but romantic (small r) in content, and some shorter but not less charming pieces.

[prémont]

Buxtehude - Wacht! Euch zum Streit Das jüngste Gericht - La Capella Ducale - Musica Fiata / Roland Wilson

(Disc 1)

It is amazing how little I like this. It is Buxtehude, it should be a fine performance and I listened to it on five speakers (SACD 5.0). For Buxtehude the music seems avoid of emotion, ambition and depth. For a modern multichannel recording the sound is weird and thin. The singers are too loud compared to the instruments. The sound doesn't have a 17th century feel to it. It has a 19th century feel. I bought this maybe 5 years ago and it was a massive disappointment. Now I am trying again to see if I just don't get the greatness of this or if it really is that bad. 

I have had a few less good experiences with other recordings by Musica Fiata / Wilson, so I tend to avoid them.

[Undersea]

Currently:




Haydn: Syphony #48 in C, H 1/48, "Maria Theresia"

[Que]

[71 dB]

I have had a few less good experiences with other recordings by Musica Fiata / Wilson, so I tend to avoid them.

Well, based on my experience with this Buxtehude I'll avoid them too in the future. 

[Traverso]

It slipped my mind, obviously....

Anyway:



BTW there are quite a few recordings of Dufay songs on offer these days. Time to take my pick. 

These ones with the secular songs  are of course in your collection 

[Traverso]

Bacheler

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Yes it is played on period instruments.

Thanks!

PD

[Todd]

131 & 135.

[Sergeant Rock]

I guess all hope of Fey's return to the podium is now gone...

I'm afraid so. Johannes Klumpp has taken over.




Sarge

[Iota]

Arnold: Symphony No.1

Andrew Penny/National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland


For whatever reason, I've not really paid much attention to Malcolm Arnold, but Radio 3 tossed up a Wind Divertimento the other day which I found very captivating, and deciding to look further I ended up listening to the first symphony as above, which on first hearing seemed to me really quite a weird creation. Quite apart from anything else it seemed noticeably unsymphonic, not really feeling like it moved an inch in any dynamic symphonic sense. More like a series of arbitrary utterances.
But something good must have been happening as my interest didn't flag for a moment. It being a first hearing I may have missed a larger cohesion which is there, but really the main thing was that I felt fully drawn in. He seems compulsively creative, with an incredibly natural ability to rustle up colour and character from any number of sources, and has an unpretentious and distinct voice, whichever part of the emotional spectrum he's in.

[aligreto]

Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 [Ashkenazy]





This symphony has a wonderful opening. It is enchanting music and it is well delivered here. As the music progresses in the movement the music explodes wonderfully and it is both powerful and lyrical in turns. The second movement is a spirited affair and I particularly like the scoring for the woodwinds. The slow movement is presented wonderfully lyrical and expansive here. The final movement is an exciting affair and the work concludes with a satisfactory and definitive resolution. This is a very fine presentation of this music; it is both driven and sensitive and it achieves a fine balance between those two elements. The scoring is also noticeably very fine and rich.

[vers la flamme]

Round two this weekend with this recording:



Anton Bruckner: Symphony No.9 in D minor, WAB 109. Günter Wand, Sinfonieorchester des Norddeutschen Rundfunks, live at Lübeck Cathedral

The phenomenal third movement has just started. Does the beginning of this movement remind anyone else of the finale of Mahler's 10th? (Of course I'm aware the influence would be the other way around.)

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Jacques Ibert: Overture de Fete. Yutaka Sado.

[vers la flamme]

Jacques Ibert: Overture de Fete. Yutaka Sado.

What do you think of the disc? I'm curious about this composer and have not yet heard any of his music.