What are you listening 2 now?

[Symphonic Addict]

Symphony No. 2

I had forgot how compelling this symphony manages to be. I'm in the first movement and it's thoroughly engaging to say the least. There are some cleverly disguised Dvorak gestures here, but with American accent.

[classicalgeek]

To close out this Thursday:

Alfvén
Dalecarlian Rhapsody
Symphony no. 3
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic
Neeme Järvi



The Rhapsody, of course, is as lovely as ever. And the Third Symphony, on the whole, I really liked as well. I love the sunny warmth of the first movement (even if the attempt at a humorous ending left me rolling my eyes), the heart-on-sleeve romanticism of the slow movement (what a meltingly gorgeous tune!), and the gently lilting scherzo. The finale to me was the weakest movement of the four in my view - I just kept waiting for it to build up head of steam, and when it finally did (the passage from about 8:07 to 8:53 was tremendously exciting), the very end was a letdown (I get that it's kind of a motto theme - the rising major third which turns into an octave - but it just didn't work for me.) All in all, though, I really enjoyed it, and I definitely connected with it most among the Alfven symphonies I've heard.

[Symphonic Addict]

Rightly so,don.t be ashamed  for having great feelings.....

[André]

Koechlin is recent discovery for me as well! I don't think I've heard the string quartets, but I have listened to a lot of his other chamber music (especially for winds and piano) and found it immensely gratifying. His orchestral music was what really gripped me, though. Part the Debussy/Ravel soundworld, part Messiaen-before-there-was-Messiaen, but wholly and completely original. There are a number of tone poems, some based on The Jungle Book by Kipling which have received numerous recordings. Two of my favorite non-Jungle Book tone poems are Vers la voute étoileé, which is suggestive of nighttime starry sky and is absolutely gorgeous, and Le Docteur Fabricius, sort of an hourlong Also sprach Zarathustra on acid . I'm also particularly fond of the Seven Stars Symphony, more a suite than a true symphony, which offers a musical portrait of seven different Hollywood film stars. Have fun exploring Koechlin! He's one of the most unique compositional voices I've heard.

Amen to all that ! Koechlin is one of the most original among originals !

[André]

It really is!

OK, that's what I thought! A lot of streaming services used to offer much lower bitrates (128 kbps was long a standard, and I believe the free version of Naxos Music Library was 64 kbps) so it's good to see them raising their standards. I've been thinking about switching to Qobuz because they offer FLAC, for a few extra dollars. Still on the fence about that.


Phenomenal!! One of the best performances of one of my favorite symphonies!

I really loved the complete Bergakungen. Some gorgeous melodies... and the orchestration (always something I listen for) is to die for! I've been meaning to check out The Seasons.

Yeah, I was really impressed by Phedre - definitely closer to Stravinsky and Prokofiev than those French composers. Not that there's anything wrong with Poulenc et. al. - I absolutely love Les Biches!

I have Checkmate on my radar as well - if it's as good as Adam Zero, I'm going to really like it! I'm guessing those are anvils at the beginning of Adam's Fates?  Another one I really want to hear is Electra by Malcolm Arnold. I really enjoy Arnold's symphonies and concertos - I have to imagine a ballet by him would be just as delightful!

Great stuff, all of them. Do check Bliss' Miracle in the Gorbals (Naxos). Another wonderful ballet that takes place in a busy borough of Glasgow.

[Klavier1]

[Madiel]

Couldn't decide what to do on a Friday afternoon where the working from home isn't really happening.

Decided to try having a first ever listen to Mahler's 9th.  Wish me luck,

[Mirror Image]

Koechlin appeals to weird people like me. 

Me too.

[JBS]

Three bright, sunny, cheery American violin sonatas with very faint folk/jazz influences and an "open-air" American musical language, generous with melody:



I've never heard of Tony Schemmer (b. 1946) or Paul Gay (b. 1936), and this is the first time either of them has had a work recorded in the Naxos Music Library, but their sonatas are charming and clearly romantic in tone. This album is probably best for people who wish contemporary music didn't have all that "atonal honking"  , as the musical styles are very conservative in harmony. But even if they sound like they were written by people whose only exposure to music post 1930 is Poulenc, Barber, Schickele, etc., it's all super enjoyable. The final movement of Gay's sonata is particularly well done. The performers are Ukrainians who are now BBC "featured young artists" or whatever that program is called, and the two living composers produced the recording sessions. I'll give this another listen at least.

I see what you did there.
TD
Music by Schumann, Stravinsky, Ravel and Mozart

Last 2 CDs of this set.  Almost all the CDs in this set have short running times, so the two together add up to 85 minutes or so.

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Mahler
Symphony No. 4 in G
Kiri Te Kanawa, soprano
CSO
Solti

[Linz]

Listening to a problematic recording of Zoltan Fekete conducting Bruckner' Third Symphony I believe it once was a Berkey download

[Linz]

Now Cd 8 of this fine set

[Que]

Morning listening - the remainder of this 3CD set:



These recordings have been taken live at the ensemble's Festival of 2019, but you can hardly notice it is live at all.
It does account for the slightly odd programming of anything polyphonic. It is actually still mostly Franco-Flemish Renaissance repertoire, with some exceptions from Spain, Italy, Poland, Germany, and even a Bruckner motet.

[aligreto]

A Secret Labyrinth CD 7





CD 7: This CD comprises the music of Antoine Brumel

There are two works on this CD; Missa Et Ecce Terrae Motus and Sequentia ''Dies irae, Dies illa''.

I already own a version of the Missa Et Ecce Terrae Motus performed by the Tallis Scholars. It is a wonderful Mass that employs wonderful polyphony throughout. The musical language is very engaging as all of the various voices clamour to be heard. This does not result in a babel of voices but rather a very pleasingly homogenous sound that is very appealing, atmospheric and quite captivating. It is a compelling presentation which is very well sung and recorded. The tone is not overly devotional and both the work and performance are always expansive and eloquent. The performance has a fine presence to it. All of the vocal contributions are excellent.

The Sequentia ''Dies irae, Dies illa'' is wonderfully sung and recorded. It also has the added dimension of an occasional instrumental accompaniment provided by a brass ensemble which is very engaging.

[Tsaraslondon]

Barbirolli's pioneering 1969 recording of Mahler's 5th was once considered a top recommendation for the symphony. No doubt it has now been superseded by more modern, better played alternatives, but I still have a great deal of affection for it.

[Florestan]

[Mandryka]

Two comments, on what I think is the start of a little private Gothic Voices festival for me. This one chosen pretty well at random.

1. How incisive and dramatic their singing was at the time of this CD. And how intense. There's a sense of freshness, discovery.

2. There is definitely a 15th century courtly style of song in France and Italy, I guess this recording is designed to show that. And there's a lot which could have gone wrong with this: there's not much variation of texture for example, the harmonic language is quite similar etc. But the singing is so good it makes the whole recording -- which really consists of 13 similar numbers -- very listenable from start to end.

[aligreto]

Stanford: Irish Rhapsodies Nos. 1 & 2 [Handley]

[foxandpeng]

George Antheil
Symphony 4 '1942'
Symphony 5 'Joyous'
Over the Plains
John Storgårds
BBC Philharmonic
Chandos

More of George's marvellous medicine. Symphony 5 is the highlight of this particularly good release, for me.

[The new erato]

A very fine disc: