What are you listening 2 now?

[Mirror Image]

More Malipiero from this recording:

[San Antone]

Vasks & Brahms : Piano Quartets
Et Arsis Quartet



I prefer this recording of the Vasks piano quartet, mainly because it is coupled with the Brahms which is a work I think is much better than the one on the other recording.  But also, Et Arsis Quartet play this music extremely well.

[Symphonic Addict]

G. F. Malipiero
Cello Concerto
Silvia Chiesa, cello
Massimiliano Caldi
Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI



Better than anything Respighi or Pizzetti wrote. Again, Malipiero and Casella have proven themselves to me and have remained my favorite Italian composers. I love Dallapiccola and Scelsi, too, of course.

Mmmm I must hear this then.

[Symphonic Addict]

Lajtha: String quartets 2, 5, 6 and 7

SQs 2 and 5 contain more dissonances than 6 and 7, whilst the latter sound more approachable, and have a rustic flavour that make them more interesting to my tastes, even I felt some Shostakovich-like gestures on them.

[Mirror Image]

Mmmm I must hear this then.

Yes, give it a listen. In particular, this performance.

[Mirror Image]

Berg
Wozzeck
Theo Adam (bass), Reiner Goldberg (tenor), Helmut Klotz (tenor), Horst Hiestermann (tenor), Konrad Rupf (baritone), Rolf Wollard (baritone), Ekkehard Wlaschiha (baritone), Gisela Schroter (mezzo-soprano), Gisela Pohl (alto), Norbert Klesse (boy soprano), Aloys Tinschert (tenor), Monika Vahle (soprano), Heidrun Zienecker (boy soprano), Frank Grundei (boy soprano)
Leipzig Radio Choir, MDR Sinfonieorchester
Herbert Kegel





A towering performance from Kegel. All of the soloists are outstanding. This one doesn't quite edge out Boulez's, but it comes in a close second-place. It certainly has the better audio quality compared to Boulez's.

Finishing up this recording from earlier. One of the greatest operas I know.

[Mirror Image]

Schoenberg
String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10 (arr. Schoenberg)
Faye Robinson, soprano
Salonen
Stockholm Chamber Orchestra



Since I listened to the original version of the 2nd SQ from Schoenberg the other day, I figured I'd revisit this arrangement. Great stuff.

[Irons]

An interesting point. Don't get me wrong - I think that the PC is a great work it is just that I'm over-familiar with it. Irons said much the same about Prokofiev's 5th Symphony. The Legend is very magical I think. Also, I live in Sussex where Ireland lived (in a windmill) and when I walk on the South Downs, as I often do, in the scenery which inspired John Ireland I often have his music running through my head. Bax spent his last years locally (unsurprisingly perhaps living in a pub) and both composers mean a lot to me. What do you think of Delius's PC? It's my favourite of his works. That Hyperion CD is excellent in all respects.

The Sussex Downs and the Channel Islands and their ancient past are the inspiration behind much of John Ireland's music. At Rock Mill he befriended a Mrs Norah Kirby, who writes -The beautiful slow movement of the Cello Sonata was inspired by the (then) remote part of the West Sussex Downs, almost at the end of the County, the famous group of mighty barrows called the "Devil's Jumps" from which a gap in the western defences gathers character as it descends and, not half a mile away, it is unmistakably Roman, hard and wide, fossed and cambered...... I recall an orchestral work that depicts a Roman Centurion standing on the Downs which has a weird relationship with the present day, but I am unable to find the work so perhaps another composer but I'm fairly sure it is Ireland,

I guess the most famous Channel Islands work is the piano pieces Sarnia - An Island Sequence. A work I am greatly attracted to, like a lot of Ireland it creeps up on you. Although not obviously so his music goes a lot deeper then it seems on the surface.

[Irons]

Schoenberg
String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10 (arr. Schoenberg)
Faye Robinson, soprano
Salonen
Stockholm Chamber Orchestra



Since I listened to the original version of the 2nd SQ from Schoenberg the other day, I figured I'd revisit this arrangement. Great stuff.

I don't like Schoenberg - or so I thought. A step too far. The Piano Concerto isn't and I thought it a revelation with a brilliant Brendel performance.

A perfect CD for those like myself think they don't like Schoenberg and his gang.

[Traverso]

Chopin & Grieg

18 valses

sonata pour piano en mi mineur ,op.7
pièce lyrique

[San Antone]

Liszt : Consolations - Aldo Ciccolini

[Harry]

Dieterich Buxtehude.
Opera Omnia.
CD II-Harpsichord works.

Aria More Palatino.
Suites in C/g/C/A/d/D/d/C.
Preludium manualiter in g.

Ton Koopman, Harpsichord.
Instruments:  by Willem Kroesbergen, Flemish after Ruckers and Italian, after Giusti.

Once you get used to Koopman's energetic approach, Buxtehude is emerging with panache and very much alert and alive to your ears. Consistent playing, an ear for details, and a keen awareness for the entity Buxtehude was. The Aria "More Palatino" BuxWV 247, is a fine introduction to the second CD, and points to the rest of the performance style.
No reason to find, to say no to the Opera Omnia initiated by Koopman. There is much to gain, and nothing to compromise over, certainly not at this price point. The sound is very good, and it shows that Willem Kroesbergen made fine instruments.

[Tsaraslondon]

I get a bit fed up of Chistmas music at Christmas so see no harm in listenin to it out of season.

The Saint-Saëns is a charming work and, as far as I'm aware, not performed very often. The performance here is efficient rather than inspired, but it at least does the work justice.

On the other hand the Britten completely misses the mark. For a start it appears to be sung in German rather than the original Middle English, and it has no atmosphere, no magic. I couldn't even listen to the whole thing.

[San Antone]

Buxtehude : Membra Jesu Nostri - Diego Fasolis



In a crowded field, this modest recording stands out, IMO.

[vers la flamme]

If you can find Jacobs' or Kocsis' Debussy recordings, then please do so. I think you'll be great surprised by the authoritative way they have with the composer. I also like Ciccolini, Kodama (I wish she would recording more of his piano music) and Egorov. The biggest issue with Jacobs or Kocsis is the availability of their recordings.

Yes, I like Paul Jacobs' Debussy a lot. Haven't heard as much of the Zoltan Kocsis, but what I heard is quite good too. But it's true that both are not easy to find these days, especially the Jacobs.

[Madiel]

Streaming Grieg: op.5 songs, op.6 Humoresques for piano, op.7 piano sonata.

[vers la flamme]

Johann Sebastian Bach: Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971. Rosalyn Tureck.

[Traverso]

Shostakovich

Symphony No.14

NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo)

[Harry]

Giovanni Paolo Colonna.

Complete Motets for Solo voice and instruments.
Thriumphate Fidelis.
CD I.

Astrarium Consort.
Francesca Cassinari, Soprano.
Elena Carzaniga, Alto.
Paolo Borgonovo, Tenor.
Salvo Vitale, Bass,

An absolute gem Brilliant produced. It got little notice among classical music lovers, and judging the quality of these performances that is quite undeserved. For a fine team of singers and instrumentalists are creating the wonderful world of Colonna's music, in very good sound.
I find the music on this disc addictive, and he belongs to my favourite composers of that era.

[Carlo Gesualdo]

Francisco Geurrero on Church for the Advent conducted by Edith Ho
on Arisis, I wont hide my utter joy an amazement, this is a huge release for me.

I flip out, Geurrero was not an instant favorite but know I see is might is magic, quite enchanting sung whit the heart, beautiful rendition.

Do you expect me to lie to you kind folks, the answer is no I wont, this is by far, the best Geurrero album I heard in a life time, it's that good, may I dare says I like Church for the Advent, that I'm extremely impress, take my words for cash in the bank, heck you really like polyphony of renaissance , you got to hear this, you wont see franciscco geurrero has a minor to a midle actor in renaissance music but a well respect admirable composer... I'm breathless... I,m speechless this is so incredible...

Trust me on this ,what do you have to lose Mandryka you got to hear this, crucial recording , I don't know why but it's that good, it featured two missa, state of the art prodigious triumphant, it won an award a golden stamp of deprofundis(myself), if I says they are that good, trust me here there is no leap of faith to make.