What are you listening 2 now?

[vers la flamme]

Striking while the iron is hot and listening to Symphony No.5 on the same disc. This one sounds good too. I like the second movement. I'll have to hear Karel Ančerl's recording of same again soon with the Czech Philharmonic. That was my first Martinů CD and I have not heard it in years.

& now Symphony No.2, which seems to be perhaps the best one yet. I'm happy and pleasantly surprised to be enjoying these Martinů symphonies so much more than I usually do!

[Todd]

Compared masterings of K279 to see if I should start in on the Mozart solo pieces in the big box.  I prefer the References transfer.  While the recordings are mono, one can hear more of the recording space in the older transfer.  The piano tone in the newer transfer sounds warmer, perhaps, but less real.  Art & Son Studio did not do a best in class job on the new box.  The Seth Winner transfers included in disc one were better.  Also, Mozart Volume 1 in the box I own contains the first five sonatas. 

[vers la flamme]

Damn good idea, old San Antone.



Béla Bartók: Piano Concerto No.1, Sz 83. Géza Anda, Ferenc Fricsay, Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin

Haven't heard this, or any Bartók concerto, in many years. It sounds excellent.

This one more time tonight. I love the slow movement, the "night music", and how it transitions into the quick finale.

[Symphonic Addict]

Three stupendous symphonies:

Hindemith: Symphony in E-flat




Raff: Symphony No. 5




Hartmann: Sinfonia Tragica

[DavidW]

Inspired by Ray and Todd,

Martinu's String Quartets 3, 6, and 7 Prazak Quartet.  It is from the box, and no individual release has the same couplings... so no cool cover art.

[JBS]

Interesting, as I have very little of Vask's music in my collection, the main source being this CD:

I went on a Vasks spree last year but limited to his orchestral works: I have yet to get his string quartets. How is that Navarra Qt recording?  [ETA: You already posted about it; I just hadn't gone far enough in the thread.]
 The Oboe Concerto CD is excellent. The only work which didn't succeed with me is the Cello Concerto @Papy Oli posted (btw, Vasks wrote a second cello concerto after that recording was made, so that concerto is now CC1) which is earlier and stylistically different from most of his output. But anything else--in almost any recording--I'd recommend.

[JBS]

In many ways Emelyanychev and Il Pomo d'Oro deliver a standard HIP performance of the Jupiter symphony. Punchy sonority, quickish tempos, hard-stick timpani, very little eccentricity. (This isn't like Rene Jacobs.) However, I must say I especially appreciate the softness and sensitivity of the muted violins in the slow movement.

And I'm about to put that one in my CD player.
The one I just finished


I've been even less into lieder than I used to be (and I wasn't that much into lieder to begin with), so this new one is my first foray in a while.
I suppose I should dig out the Schwangesang Padmore recorded with Paul Lewis a dozen years ago for comparison.

[San Antone]

Liszt : Années de Pèlerinage
Mûza Rubackyté

[Karl Henning]

CD 9 Saison 1912

Mily Balakirev
Thamar (Tamara) symphonic poem
Philharmonia Orchestra
Lovro von Matačić

Maurice Ravel
Daphnis et Chloé choreographic symphony
Chœurs René Duclos
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
André Cluytens

I've long been a fan of Daphnis, of course, and this is the best I've ever heard it. The surprise for me was how splendid the Balakirev is. Which is exactly the sort of surprise for which I rely on this box.

[Symphonic Addict]

Gounod is one of those composers whom I rarely approach. His Messe solennelle en l'honneur de Saint Cécile, the symphonies and the ballet music from Faust are the only works I know of his, so today I decided to try his five string quartets. They're pleasant, sound like nice background music in general, but nothing remotely special. And they're performed on period instruments, it didn't help that much either.

[Brian]

Inspired by Ray and Todd,

Martinu's String Quartets 3, 6, and 7 Prazak Quartet.  It is from the box, and no individual release has the same couplings... so no cool cover art.

How is the packaging of that box? Sleeve art, backs of sleeves, booklet, etc.

[Symphonic Addict]

Prokofiev: String Quartet No. 2
Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 3

[vandermolen]

Bliss: A Colour Symphony/Things to Come

[Harry]

Franz Xaver Murschhauser.
Prototypon longo-breve organicum (1703/1707).
Leon Berben plays on a Balthasar König Organ, 1738, St. Josef. Beilstein.
It has been perfectly restored by Hubert Fasen in 2002.
A halftone above A1 = 440 Hz.
Temperament: Modified meantone ,,König-Stimmung" mit Wolfsquinte gis - dis.
Playing time: 75 minutes. Release date March 2003.

I must admit I never heard of this composer, but by what I hear I am impressed. The Organ sounds fantastic, also due to the more then excellent recording. A full yet clean sound, with a fine disposition. He was a student of Kerll, and published two collections of organ music in the tradition of the South German school, intended for use with the Catholic liturgy; these consist of short toccatas, fantasies and fugues written using the psalm tones and plainchant melodies.

The first collection is entitled Octi-tonium novum organicum, octo tonis ecclesiasticis, ad Psalmos, & magnificat (Augsburg, 1696), and contains 89 pieces.

The second collection is in two parts of 34 pieces each, entitled Prototypon longo-breve organicum; (part I, Nuremberg, 1703; part II, Nuremberg, 1707). Both may be found in Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Bayern XXX, Jg.xviii (1917).

[Que]

Morning listening - Spanish Renaissance songs from a collection in the Royal Library:




https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancionero_de_Palacio

It's a huge collection, so any recommendations of other recordings are welcome!

[Harry]

Giovanni Croce.
MOTETTI A OTTO VOCI. LIBRO PRIMO (VENICE 1594)
SACRAE CANTIONES QUINIS VOCIBUS CONCINENDAE (VENICE 1605).

Omnes gentes.
Canzon Decimaquarta a doi violini, o cornetti & quattro tromboni – Giovanni Picchi (1571 or 1572–1643)
Anima mea liquefacta est.
Percussit Saul mille.
Toccata del primo tuono – Vincenzo Bell'haver (1540-41–1587).
Egredimini et videte.
Canzon Terza a quattro – Giovanni Gabrieli (1557–1612).
Ornaverunt faciem templi.
Canzon ariosa – Andrea Gabrieli (c 1553–1585).
Ave virgo.
Canzon Terza a sei – Giovanni Gabrieli.
Virgo decus nemorum.
Canzon Settimadecima – Gioseffo Guami (1542–1611).
Hodie completi sunt.
Toccata Terza del duodecimo detto sesto tuono – Claudio Merulo (1533–1604).
Quaeramus cum pastoribus.

Lia Andres soprano
Christina Boner-Sutter soprano
Gabriel Jublin countertenor
Jan Thomer countertenor
Matthias Deger tenor
Dan Dunkelblum tenor
Ivo Haun tenor
Raphael Höhn tenor
Tobias Wicky baritone
Davide Benetti bass
Concerto Scirocco
Giulia Genini director
Pietro Modesti cornetto, mute cornetto
Johannes Frisch violin, viola da brazzo
Claire McIntyre alto sackbut, tenor sackbut
Nathaniel Wood tenor sackbut, bass sackbut
Giulia Genini tenor dulcian, bass dulcian
Amélie Chemin viola da gamba
Luca Bandini violone in D (16'), violone in G (8')
Francesco Saverio Pedrini, 2015, organ: Graziadio Antegnati, 1565 (Mantua, palatine church
of Santa Barbara.
Pitch 466 Hz, Meantone temperament 1/4-comma.
Recorded 12-15 October 2015 and 6 March 2017 (tracks 3, 9, 15) in the palatine church of Santa Barbara in Mantua, Italy

Voces Suaves, Concerto Scirocco, Giula Genini.

On all accounts a wonderful recording. There is so much to discover in the music. Voces Suaves makes a path through the ages, and are able to project an image which appeals to the senses. Regarding the background of the music there are some interesting Wikipedia sources,(THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GIOVANNI CROCE AND HIS MOTETTIA 8 VOCI, LIBRO PRIMO, VENICE, GIACOMO VINCENTI, 1594)  that made me much the wiser, regarding the background of this music. Much to read though. As always I am much impressed by sound of the Graziadio Antegnati organ, 1565, in the, Palatine church of Santa Barbara, Mantua. It is well tuned. Voces Suaves, and Concerto Sirocco deliver a pristine performance, and the recording is exemplary, with plenty of detail and an uncluttered front to back image.

[Florestan]

Listened to the whole thing over a few days.

I'm very sorry (which is a way to say I'm very glad) to report to our esteemed colleague and moderator @ritter that I found absolutely nothing vulgar whatsoever, let alone revolting, neither in the subject matter (which is actually quite bland for a verismo opera: nobody dies, nobody gets killed, nobody gets mad, there is no abject poverty, there are no prostitutes and no ruffians; it's a bourgeois drama through and through: cabaret singer seduces millionaire and falls genuinely in love in the process, subsequently finds out her lover is married with child, meets the child and the wife and eventually leaves his lover for the sake of his child who needs the father --- quite Victorian, I'd say) nor in the music (which is actually delicately scored, mostly for strings, winds and harp). The only complaint I have is that the tunes are not as memorable as those in Pagliacci. All in all, a very enjoyable work.

[Harry]

Mieczyslaw Karlowicz.
Orchestral Works.
Volume II.
Bianca de Molena, Symphonic prologue.
Serenade for String Orchestra.
Rebirth, Symphony.
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda.
Recorded at Studio 7, New Broadcasting House, Manchester; 8–10 October 2003.
TT- 72:45.

The second volume is as impressive as the first. Karlowicz music grows on me. I like his wayward streak in the music. You even hear some traces of Bruckner in his music, especially in Bianca de Molena. It is a pity that Chandos only recorded three volumes in this series.

[aligreto]

That is a very fine set.

[aligreto]

A description of most Vasks' works I have heard so far   

OK, that is good for me in the sense that I know what to expect when exploring his music further.