What are you listening 2 now?

[Symphonic Addict]

Karajan Holst Planets on this Super Audio CD

Some hot stuff here, both work and recording.

[Symphonic Addict]

Schubert: Symphony no. 10 (reconstructed by Brian Newbould)



Well, I guess I'm no purist, but this still exceeded my expectations! In my opinion, Newbould crafted a convincing work out of Schubert's sketches; indeed, much of the material here is prime late Schubert - witness the extraordinarily haunting and beautiful second subject of the slow movement. Great stuff - I'll now have to check out the rival completion by Pierre Bartholomée as well as Berio's Rendering which is based off it.


Schubert: Grand Duo, D. 812 (orch. Joachim)



Another "inauthentic" Schubert arrangement which I enjoyed very much. There are some delicious harmonic surprises in the first movement especially which really made me sit up and take notice!


Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem and Ballad of Heroes



Of course, the powerful, moving Sinfonia da Requiem is a great favorite of mine which packs quite a punch in its mere 22-minute duration. The lesser-known Ballad of Heroes for tenor, chorus, and orchestra has a savagely compelling central movement Scherzo (Dance of Death) which is, if anything, even more exciting than the central Dies Irae of the Sinfonia. The outer movements are a bit less inspired, but still worth hearing. These performances by the LSO under Hickox are as fiery and passionate as one could wish for!


Rachmaninoff orch. Respighi: 5 Etudes-Tableaux



Apparently Rachmaninoff was very pleased with Respighi's orchestrations, and it's not hard to see why! The Etudes-Tableaux are rather unique in Rachmaninoff's output in that they largely lack the ultra-Romantic, long-breathed melodies that characterize so many of his other works. I should revisit the piano originals - I recall finding them surprisingly elusive.


Dopper: Symphony no. 2 Scottish



Dopper is one of those composers whose music is quite far from being "profound" in any way but I find it so enjoyable in its sheer tunefulness and joie de vivre. Like Mendelssohn's 3rd, this is a very convincing "Scottish" symphony by a foreigner. The real gem of the work is the 2nd movement scherzo, which is an absolute riot of stamping, whirling energy and incredibly catchy tunes (I'm not sure if they are authentic folk tunes or Dopper's own - I would guess the former). Unfortunately, the finale heads into "academic" territory, but still manages to be enjoyable enough.

Good selection of works! The Dopper is very fine indeed. I haven't heard Ballad of Heroes yet, methinks. Sounds mostly enticing for that movement you highlighted.

[André]

The Credo symphoniacum is Olsson's 2nd organ symphony. It was composed in 1918. It lasts 45 minutes and is cut in 3 movements of equal length: Introduction and Allegro, Choral and Finale. Widor's 1900 organ symphony no 10, Symphonie romane is his most famous. It is in 4 movements.

There are tenuous but tangible links between the two works/composers. Both were famous organists. Olsson liked and played Widor's works. Between them 2 Nobel Peace Prize winners form the second link. Albert Schweitzer studied organ technique under Widor. In turn, Schweitzer introduced his teacher to Bach's chorales. Widor wrote the foreword to Schweitzer's book, Bach, le musicien poète. It just so happens that Olsson dedicated his Credo to the archbishop of Stockholm, Nobel prize winner Nathan Soderblöm, himself a close friend of Schweitzer's. Soderblöm was instrumental in helping Schweitzer pursue his ministry in Lambaréné.

The 'peace' factor may have influenced both composer's artistic personalities, then  0:). Whatever what one may think of these extraneous details, the two works show esthetic similarities, based as they are on gregorian chant and displaying a strong spiritual fervor. Swiss organist Georges Athanasiadès has been titulaire of the Saint-Maurice Abbey organ for 60 years. The sound is very good, warm yet with not too much reverberation.

[JBS]

First listen.



The most interesting work on this CD is the String Quartet. The Introduction Nocturne and Rondo is a pleasant duo for mandolin and guitar. The three choral works are exactly the sort of music you would expect to find on a program by your local church choir.

In a twist on the usual situation, at the first performance of the Wedding Cantata (a wedding in Harvard's chapel) the composer had to play the keyboard part on a harpsichord because the Chapel had no piano, the instrument he had written it for.

[Daverz]

Brouwer: Concierto Eligiaco (Guitar Concerto No. 3)

[vers la flamme]

Another case for: better late than never. Hurrah!

Ha! I didn't mean just now. It was the first recording of the symphony I ever heard, about 8 years ago 

[Symphonic Addict]

Ha! I didn't mean just now. It was the first recording of the symphony I ever heard, about 8 years ago 

That changes the things quite a bit. 

[Symphonic Addict]

Prokofiev: Symphony No. 7

The "cinderella" among his symphonies. It gives me that impression. In spite of his charming and innocent character, the symphony has bold passages that are not only heartfelt and optimistic, but powerful in the climaxes and in the more heart-on-sleeve passages. I didn't expect the "happy" ending on this recording, nonetheless, it worked quite convincingly.





Arthur Benjamin: Symphony

This work has a good balance between dynamism and "soulfulness". A quite effective work, and even more so taking into account its context.

[bhodges]

Martinů: Sinfonietta 'La Jolla' (1950) -- First heard this a few years ago as the music to 'Rush' by the Philadelphia Ballet, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, and loved it (and the choreography). Quite engaging.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxn5ymcxuUE

--Bruce

[Mirror Image]

Nathan Milstein is one of my favorite violinists.  Good choice! 

PD

I liked his playing, but this performance didn't really connect with me like so many other performances of this workhorse have done.

[classicalgeek]

So precious little time to listen to music all this week... I had to end the workday with an old favorite:

Brahms
Variations on a theme by Haydn
Berlin Philarmonic
Claudio Abbado
(on Spotify)



So beautiful, the way Brahms transforms the theme into a better version of itself... there's something about the culmination of the final variation, when the full orchestra states the theme (complete with rushing scales in the woodwinds), that just gets me.

[bhodges]

Martinů: Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano and Timpani (Frankfurt Radio Symphony / Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Conductor) - Browsing YouTube for recent performance of this masterpiece, I found this one, recorded last year (3 June 2020), during the height of the pandemic. Orchestra members are spaced apart, and there appears to be no audience. In any case, the performance is great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m8WYEANIj0

--Bruce

[Mirror Image]

Now playing Copland Conducts Copland: Appalachian Spring (w/ the LSO)

[Mirror Image]

Now playing Markevitch conducting the LSO in Stravinsky:



A glorious disc!

[bhodges]

Scriabin: Le Poème de l'Extase (Muti / Philadelphia) - Muti's Scriabin series with this orchestra might be the best thing he did during his time there, and that's saying something.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPyiEdgKgnQ

--Bruce

[Linz]

Continuing with the Uchida set i am now listening to CD 3

[T. D.]

Weird, and not something I'd listen to every day, but enjoying it tonight.
Shockingly, Distler at classicstoday.com rates this release 10/10. Generally his tastes differ strongly from mine in relatively modern music. 

[Linz]

I will start myChristmas Listening with this

[Florestan]

First listen to this intelligently programmed CD, inspired in the world of Marcel Proust:



First and foremost: the hitherto unknown to me Shani Diluka is a superb pianist. Her phrasing, clarity of tone, and nuanced handling of dynamics are quite extraordinary. First, and I mean really first, rate!

We start with the Piano Concerto of Reynaldo Hahn, a person very close to Proust throughout his life (even if Proust could not have known this piece, as it was composed after his death). Diluka is excellent as the soloist, capturing the nostalgic mood of this music perfectly. Unfortunately, Hervé Niquet's conducting is not entirely to my liking: tempi that feel slow (even if the timings do not differ much from those of alternative recordings) and, particularly, a lack of "snap" and playfulness when the music livens up (e.g. in the march-like second theme of the first movement). In any case, it's good to have a new recording of this charming concerto, and even more so with such a great soloist.

We then get Debussy's early Rêverie, not among my favourite pieces by the composer, but beautifully played here (as is a more languorous than usual L'Isle joyeuse near the end of the disc). A Hahn trifle, Ninette, goes by almost unnoticed, but Wilhelm Kempff's arrangement of Gluck's Orpheus' Lament is quite wonderful. Nathalie Dessay sings Fauré's Au bord de l'eau really touchingly (she later does Le Secret).

Some more Fauré (the Romance sans paroles No. 3 and Les berceaux arranged by Diluka for solo piano) is also very good, as are the Prélude from Franck's opus 18 (I found this surprisingly enjoyable), a Nocturno by Richard Strauss (billed as a world première recording) and Wagner's Elegie (one of the better of the composer's not too significant or representative piano works). At the end, we get actor Guillaume Gallienne reading the famous madeleine episode from Du côté de chez Swann, with another, more substantial and enjoyable Hahn miniature (Les Rêveries du Prince Églantine from Le Rossignol Éperdu) as a backdrop. It works beautifully (actually almost brought me to tears — what a text!).

What doesn't work that well IMHO is a concocted "Sonate de Vinteuil" for violin and piano, which uses the Hahn Nocturne as its first movement, a quite terrible Ysaÿe Mazurka as the second, and a bland Sérénade Espagnole by Chaminade as its finale. Here we're really in salon music territory, and it's played as such (with an adequate thin tone) by Pierre Fourchenneret. And, of course, the mystery of the "petite phrase" remains unsolved. 

Despite the not so fantastic orchestral accompaniment of the concerto, and the failed recreation of the fictional "Sonate de Vinteuil", this generous (81') CD is very enjoyable, and the playing of Mme. Diluka is simply wonderful.

Most interesting and detailed review, Rafael. Wishlisted.

Shani Diluka is a refined and sensitive pianist. Her Schubert disc comprising D960 and an assortment of dances is a peach.

[Que]

Morning listening on Spotify: