What are you listening 2 now?

[Florestan]

[Lisztianwagner]

Mr. Alwyn looks like a classic and very droll Englishman in that picture! 

I will need to investigate him!

True! 

I'm just at the beginning of the exploration of Alwyn's music, but so far I've been extremely enjoying it.

[Traverso]

The works of Marie-Claire's brother, Jehan Alain, are not to be missed!

e.g.

Don't worry Cato, of course I have the recordings of her brother who died much too young.
He was shot dead by German soldiers during a one-man patrol in 1940, but not before he had single-handedly killed sixteen opponents - he was awarded the Croix de Guerre for it.  Jehan Alain was the son of organist Albert Alain, and the big brother of organist Marie-Claire Alain.  He learned to play the organ from his father, who had built a four-manual pipe organ in the living room.  He counted Francis Poulenc and Olivier Messiaen among his friends and, despite his untimely death, left behind a number of masterpieces for the organ.

[Spotted Horses]

I continue to be amazed at the "Haydn Quartets" of Mozart, works that I used to listen to incessantly, but which I have neglected in recent years. Listening to the Amadeus Quartet this time.



Listening to the quartet in E-flat (KV428). The richness of the slow (second) movement is striking, particularly the complex harmony and voice leading of the central section. The Amadeus may not be HIP, but they bring out the "truth" of this music.

[Karl Henning]

Villa-Lobos: String Quartet #16
Danubius Quartet

Nice! I have the complete set by Cuarteto Latinoamericano.

[vandermolen]

Mr. Alwyn looks like a classic and very droll Englishman in that picture! 

I will need to investigate him!


Today, thanks to Dayton's full-time Classical Radio Station:

Mozart: Symphony No 30 in D K202

Sir Colin Davis, Dresden State Orchestra.

Excellent performance: Sir Colin Davis was BIG back in the good old days.  His performances of symphonies by e.g. Sibelius were considered top-notch.

Also, another legend:  Alicia de Larrocha

Ravel: Valses Nobles et Sentimentales


And if you think you do not - or would not - like a work with 24-notes per octave (i.e. 1/4-tones), check out the Christopher Columbus Prelude by Julian Carrillo.

Ethereal and mysterious: I came across this performance a few days ago.

Alwyn sent me a very nice letter in response to my hearing him conduct his 5th Symphony on the radio and sending him an appreciative letter (via Lyrita Records).

[Karl Henning]

(orchestra not named)

A little peculiar, that.

[vandermolen]

Bernard Herrmann: Symphony (1941)
Captures the spirit of the age.

[Karl Henning]

TD:


JSB
BWV 4 « Christ lag in Todes Banden »


JSB
BWV 80 « Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott »

[Harry]

MILI ALEKSEYEVICH BALAKIREV (1837–1910)
COMPLETE PIANO WORKS Volume 6.
NICHOLAS WALKER, Piano.

LA FILEUSE ('THE SPINNER.
AU JARDIN ('IN THE GARDEN – IDYLL-ÉTUDE.
MIKHAIL GLINKA (1804–1857)
KAMARINSKAYA (1848) (arr. Balakirev, 1902)
TAMARA (1867-82) (arr. Nicholas Walker, 2019)
POLKA IN F SHARP MINOR (1859)
ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF A MOSQUITO (1855) (completed by Nicholas Walker, 2019)
LA DANSE DE SORCIÈRES ('WITCHES' DANCE') (1856)(completed by Nicholas Walker, 2019)
MIKHAIL GLINKA
NE GOVORI: LYUBOV' PROYDYOT. DO NOT SAY: LOVE PASSES AWAY' (1834) (arr. Balakirev, 1903).
TYROLIENNE (1902).
PLATON VASIL'EVICH ZAPOL'SKY (1838–1904).
RÊVERIE (arr. Balakirev, 1890).
TOCCATA IN C SHARP MINOR (1902).
MIKHAIL GLINKA.
A FAREWELL TO ST PETERSBURG – NO. 10. ZHAVORONOK.
THE LARK (1840) (arr. Balakirev, 1864).
ISLAMEY (FANTASIE ORIENTALE) (1869).
Recording Date: 25–28 November 2019.
Recording Venue: St Silas the Martyr Church, Kentish Town, London, UK.
TOTAL TIME: 80:04

As with the previous volumes I have nothing but praise all around. Balakirev is served with honour by Nicolas Walker, he is truly a pianist who aligns perfectly to the idiom of this composer. And I confess liking the works more as I thought I would. I always liked his orchestral works, but never entered the field of his solo piano works. Walker made it possible to hear them in all its felicities and grandeur. The perfect recording helps too!

[Daverz]

A little peculiar, that [not naming the orchestra].

Not on Youtube, we're lucky to get the conductor and venue.

I'm guessing the orchestra is the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, but that venue hosts a lot of different things.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Is  優 an ambiguous word with two senses - gentleness and melancholy? Or does it signify a single complex mental/physical state which is the combination of gentleness and melancholy?  Wonderful if the latter, that in Japanese there's a single word for this strange and nuanced yet familiar aspect of human nature.

You won't be surprised to learn that now it's been put into my head, Kaori Uemura's  music making sounds to me like the perfect incarnation of  優 !

Nice cover art.
Japanese use Chinese letters, two Japanese alphabets and Anglo alphabet.
The Chinese letter on the cover means gentleness "or" excellence SEPARATELY.
However, if you remove the left portion, 憂 means melancholy. The both are pronounced Yuu (or you).
As the left portion indicates humans, the Chinese letter of gentleness suggests that gentleness (or excellence) is based on human with melancholy.
As most Japanese don't pay attention to this and don't know it, Uemura wants to stress the indication in question, I think.

P.s. The usage of Chinese letters in Japanese language is like the modification and adoption of Germanic words in English.

[Traverso]

Jehain Alain

CD 1

I have these and the recordings from his sister

[brewski]

It is the Dutch Radio PhO.

Thank you! I am amending my post.

-Bruce

[brewski]

A little peculiar, that.

Thankfully, @pjme filled in the blanks: the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest!

-Bruce

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

George Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue. György Cziffra, Hungarian State Orchestra/Zoltan Rozsnyai.

[DavidW]

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Bach

I listen to the whole recording of course.....I love to listen to "Herr Gott ,dich loben wir" BWV 725 and Marie Claire-Alain plays it just fine.

The third/last set of her? I heard that the instruments are fabulous.

[vandermolen]

Arthur Benjamin: Symphony
I love this score - v much of its time like the symphonies by Herrmann and Korngold.

[Karl Henning]

George Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue. György Cziffra, Hungarian State Orchestra/Zoltan Rozsnyai.

Most intriguing.

TD:
In harmony with @Spotted Horses and @JBS

"Wolferl"
String Quartet in B^b, K. 458
Amadeus Quartet

Also:

JSB
BWV 81 « Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen? »