What are you listening 2 now?

[Harry]

Good morning all, to those who's days begin.

Johann Gottfried Walther.
Complete Organ Music.
CD V. Chorale settings IV.

Simone Stella plays on a Francesco Zanin organ 2006.

While sipping my coffee, the fourth track makes me sit up properly. What a magnificent rendition of "Herr Gott, dir loben alle wir". If one would not know that the organ is from 2006, we might assume it is as old as the composer. I really love the chorale settings, and could listen to them endlessly without fatigue. The recording is magnificent; How beautiful the notes come out, as the Bordone 16 from the Hauptwerk, and the Subbasso 16, plus Trombone 16, from the Pedal roll out like thunderous blasts. Magnificent.

[Mandryka]

Geoffrey Parsons' piano playing is so good that it steals the show

[Harry]

Niels W. Gade.

The Symphonies.
CD IV.
No. 5 in D minor & 6 in G minor.
Stockholm Sinfonietta, Neeme Järvi.

Violin Concerto in D minor.
Anton Kontra, Violin.
Malmö SO, Paavo Järvi.

A worthy close with this box. CD 5 I will not play for obvious reasons. I had forgotten about the irritating piano in Symphony No. 5, so in effect it's an pianoconcert. Well that spoils the fun for me. Although Pontinen is an able pianist, I really dislike this, it interrupts the flow of the music considerably. But that's just my personal opinion.

[Madiel]

Beethoven, Violin sonatas 1-3



The plan is the complete trio of works, only on the first right now.

[Florestan]

I hate to be unhelpful, Andrei, but I don't really have a favorite recording of Rach's 2nd Symphony. Like I said, I haven't found the ideal recording yet. I've heard the Ashkenazy/Concertgebouw, which is certainly very well-played but missing that voluptuous Romantic passion that I look for in the work. Litton/Bergen Philharmonic is my favorite so far, I just wish his tempi in the fast sections were quicker.

Thanks anyway and agreed about Litton/Bergen PO, it's my favorite so far too.

[Que]

Morning listening:



Anoher collection of of 15th century English music by the Binchois Consort, built around the Missa Nobilis et pulchra by Walter Frye. Amazing performances. Again, recommended for those interested in Early English polyphony!

https://earlymusicreview.com/music-for-saint-katherine-of-alexandria/

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Jun/Katherine_Alexandria_CDA68274.htm

[Florestan]

Vasily who? One born Vasilios Kalafatis into a Crimean Greek family (Greeks had been living in Crimea for mor more than 2,000 years). He was a student of Rimsky-Korsakov and eventually became one of Stravinsky's teachers. Despite such credentials, there's very little Russianness in his music, if any at all; as for Greekness, there's not the slightest trace of it. He is firmly in the cosmopolitan territory inhabited by such contemporaries as Tchaikovsky, Liadov, Arensky and early Scriabin although he doesn't sound quite like any of them, except hints of Tchaikovsky here and there. Other distant echoes I detected were Chopin, Schumann and even Beethoven (in the last movement of the 2nd Piano Sonata) but his style is far from derivative and quite hard to pigeonhole. His melodic gift is not negligible and the music has some interesting twists and turns. If you have any interest in Russian piano music from around 1900, give this disc a try. It might surprise you as pleasantly as it surprised me. Recommended.

[LKB]

Geoffrey Parsons' piano playing is so good that it steals the show

Ouch...

But then I've heard this singer live, and I'm afraid it's easy to imagine Mr. Parsons dominating the proceedings.

[aligreto]

JS Bach: Cantata, "Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott" BWV 101 [Gardiner]





Bach, apparently, thought very highly of this Cantata. One immediately hears in the opening choral that the scoring is rich and detailed, and so are the vocal lines. The scoring for the oboes is terrific. The tenor aria which follows has a wonderful pizzicato bass line. The tone, thus far, has been reasonably buoyant. In the third movement, soprano aria, this changes to a more contemplative and measured approach. The fourth movement is a bass aria with various tempo changes and the return of those wonderful oboes. The richness of the scoring is very apparent in this movement. The sixth movement is a duet for soprano and alto. It has wonderful music for obligato flute and oboe da caccia. The tone is solemn and the final choral offers a brighter light of hope.

[foxandpeng]

Pēteris Vasks' Violin Concerto 'Distant Light' 
    Juha Kungas, Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, John Storgårds (violin)

I seem to be having a concerto morning! More solo violin than I am entirely comfortable with, too!

Outstanding works, but then Vasks has become one of my favourite composers.

Thread duty:

Anton Bruckner
Symphony 5
Riccardo Chailly

Couple of days unexpectedly without any real time for music, but glad to be back to normal. Picking up Bruckner where I left off.

[Harry]

Pjotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky.
The Sleeping  Beauty
Bergen PO, Neeme Jarvi.
James Ehnes, Violin

The music and performance is perfect, it gets you thoroughly into the ballet.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Changed that for you.

Cheeky lad!

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Morning listening:



Anoher collection of of 15th century English music by the Binchois Consort, built around the Missa Nobilis et pulchra by Walter Frye. Amazing performances. Again, recommended for those interested in Early English polyphony!

https://earlymusicreview.com/music-for-saint-katherine-of-alexandria/

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Jun/Katherine_Alexandria_CDA68274.htm

That's a rather gruesome-looking cover! 

PD

[Traverso]

Mozart

CD1   with his earliest symphonies

[foxandpeng]

Anton Bruckner
Symphony 5
Gunter Wand
Kölner RSO

[aligreto]

JS Bach: Partita for Solo Flute in A minor BWV 1013 [Musica Antiqua Koln]






I do not know the name of the soloist here but he/she has the measure of the work. The range is within their competency and the phrasing is excellent. The rhythms are also keenly interpreted and the forward momentum of the music is always maintained. I also like the sonority of the instrument employed.

[Harry]

Bohuslav Martinu.
Symphonies.
CD III.

No 3 & 4.

Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Bryden Thomson.

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Falla
Homenajes
Cincinnati SO
López Cobos



I first heard this work about 14 years ago on a local college radio station back when they actually had a dedicated program to classical music. The style itself sounded so familiar, but I listened to the whole piece and waited until the host mentioned the composer, work and the conductor/orchestra. I remember I immediately bought this López Cobos recording when I got home.

[Traverso]

I don't understand why I don't see this recording more often on the forum.
it's a desert island for me.
In addition to being charming and exciting, the playing is also a fine example of musical joy that really radiates from the playing of the Kuijkens.

[Mirror Image]

A selection of mélodies from this Poulenc Complete set: