What are you listening 2 now?

[North Star]

Schnittke
Seid nuchtern und wachet ... (Faust Cantata)
Malmö Symphony
DePreist/b]
[asin]B000027EI2[/asin]

Ligeti
Lontano
Atmosphères
Wiener Philharmoniker
Abbado
[asin]B00000E4G8[/asin]

Gesualdo
Sesto Libro di Madrigali (a cinque voci), 1611
La Compagnia del Madrigale
[asin]B009ZEHNH0[/asin]

[steve ridgway]

Ligeti
Lontano
Atmosphères
Wiener Philharmoniker
Abbado
[asin]B00000E4G8[/asin]

Oh yes I enjoy those . Just had a first listen to half of this Schnittke CD that arrived today and am having an intermission.

[asin]B000025460[/asin]

Concerto No. 4 was great, I also enjoyed the violins in Prelude In Memory Of Dmitri Shostakovich, am not too sure about the three pianos in Dedication To Igor Stravinsky, Sergej Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich although I did listen all the way through.

[Karl Henning]

Walton
Vc Concerto
Symphony # 2 in b-flat minor
Robt Cohen vc
Bournemouth Symphony
Litton

[steve ridgway]

Completed the Schnittke CD, loved the Quintet For Piano, Two Violins, Viola And Cello too.

[asin]B000025460[/asin]

Dancing Letters was OK, not so much going on for me with it being a solo instrument. The two big pieces are my favourites so this was well worth buying .

[André]

[San Antone]

Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri primo & secondo
Les Arts Florissants and Paul Agnew

[Que]

Good afternoon all,

Listening to De Leidse Koorboeken Vol. VI CD1

[asin]B00YJKUZ1Q[/asin]

Stunning boxset.

Absolutely! 

[Karl Henning]

Walton
Vn Concerto
Va Concerto
Nigel Kennedy
Royal Phil
Previn

[staxomega]

Mozart Piano Sonatas 7, 8, 9 (Gulda) and coming up both of Bacewicz's Piano Quintets

[San Antone]

Monteverdi : Il Quinto Libro De' Madrigali
La Venexiana

[Sergeant Rock]

Schnittke Suite from the Census List aka the Gogol Suite, Polyansky conducting




Sarge

[Kontrapunctus]

[André]

Good? I read a very positive review, the Jalbert work in particular was singled out for praise.

I should get it from JPC any time now.

[San Antone]

Gustave Samazeuilh : Piano Works
Stephane Lemelin

Gustave Marie Victor Fernand Samazeuilh (2 June 1877 in Bordeaux – 4 August 1967 in Paris) was a French composer and writer on music.

He studied music with Ernest Chausson until the latter's death in 1899, and then attended the Schola Cantorum de Paris, where he became a pupil of Vincent d'Indy and Paul Dukas. He was also much influenced by the impressionist school, and wrote a number of works for piano which are reminiscent of Debussy. His output was marked more by "fine craftsmanship" (to quote Slonimsky) than by quantity or commercial success.

A composer I'd not heard of before.  Music as described in Wikipedia article is accurate, coming out of the French style during the late 19th to early 20th century.

[Kontrapunctus]

Good? I read a very positive review, the Jalbert work in particular was singled out for praise.

I should get it from JPC any time now.

I enjoyed it. The contemporary works are primarily lyricial..Jalbert's has a few aggressive sections.

[mc ukrneal]

It is a sad thing, when a composer undeservingly vanishes into thin air, while his works are of a high quality. Armas Jarnefelt is such a composer. A Finnish composer who fits right into his time, but was severely hampered by the fact that his sister Aino married another towering giant, namely Jean Sibelius. That was a tall order for Jarnefelt, standing in his shadow, and barely could find his way out of this conundrum. When he wrote the Symphonic Fantasy from 1895, which is a very good work, superb even, he did not expect what was coming at it. Admitting freely that his work was influenced by Richard Wagner, immediately caused a reaction of resentment, against this work with the Finnish critics, called it obscure musical philosophizing! Which is a lot of bull! The influence is marginal, and the work is magnificent in its expression and musical worth. From thereon he never mentioned Wagner again, and kept writing gorgeous music, like the suite in E flat major from 1897, and the Serenade from 1893. Major works which are every bit as worthy as what Sibelius wrote. And the Berceuse for Violin and orchestra which he wrote in 1904, after watching his daughter sleeping with a high fever. He did write it down in one go. Deeply moving it is, and rather famous. Sadly Jarnefelt concentrated on conducting, instead of composing, and I consider that a great loss.
He could not have been treated better as by this orchestra and conductor. They have combined themselves in unisono to create the best possible performance. And BIS added State of the Art sound.

Excellent, excellent disc.

[André]

I enjoyed it. The contemporary works are primarily lyricial..Jalbert's has a few aggressive sections.

Thanks!

...................

TD



Like the Koppel disc of symphonies 1 and 2, I listened to this one twice to 'get' it. Koppel's mastery shows a progression from capable (1) to proficient (2), then confident (3) and, finally, bold and original (4).

[Daverz]

I think the only ones of the Koppel symphony cycle I'm missing.  Worth seeking out?

[André]

For symphony no 2, yes. No 1 was disowned by Koppel, but I think he was a bit harsh. If you like the others, these are not as accomplished, but they're still recognizably from Koppel's pen.

I'll proceed with 6 and 7 soon (listened to no 5 not very long ago).

[Mirror Image]

Yes, I'm very much enjoying them both; I'm particularly enjoying the SQ.  In both cases, I picked these up several years ago when I was getting into Janacek, and for whatever reason never really got around to giving them a fair hearing.  After seeing all of the enthusiasm from you and others here, I figured it was time. 

If I were to supplement the Thomson at some point, what would you recommend as a set that would provide a good contrast?  Feel free to just point me to the Martinu thread if that's been covered ad infinitum...

Thanks!

I think, basically, the Martinů symphony set that gets a universal recommendation is from Bělohlávek with the BBC Symphony Orchestra on the Onyx label. I'm still not 100% onboard with the audio quality, but the performances I believe save the day here. As a second choice, I'd highly recommend Järvi's cycle on BIS with the Bamberg Symphoniker. You really can't go wrong with either of cycles, so, really, I'd flip a coin to decide or go for whatever set is the cheapest. As I stated earlier, I don't like Thomson's Martinů at all as I believe he drives the music way too hard. Of course, there's a huge world of music to explore outside of the symphonies and string quartets, so if you need any other pointers about where to go next or just feel like asking some more questions, please feel free to ask. Martinů is one of my favorite composers and, through the years, I've amassed a rather large collection of his music. It's crazy how things just pile up and accumulate over time.