What are you listening 2 now?

[vandermolen]

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 4 in F minor - BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins - fine performance, this disc is probably the best yet in Brabbins' ongoing cycle

Oh! More temptation for me. 

[vandermolen]

Interesting - I was distinctly underwhelmed.  Well played and good recording but essentially a fairly light-weight fluent and controlled performance that for me lacked the essential ferocity this work requires.  You don't want to think "how well this orchestra is playing" you want to hear them straining at the leash.  By NO means bad but simply not good enough in a crowded field - I must admit I was expecting better....

Oh, maybe I won't get this after all!

[Karl Henning]

Oh! More temptation for me. 

Just what you needed, Jeffrey! 

[vandermolen]

Daniel Jones - Symphony No.1

https://www.youtube.com/v/tevq1SFjzL8

If the first movement is anything to go by, that sounds like a future purchase.... the start of the second isn't too shabby either... 

I enjoyed Symphony 1 very much Olivier.

[Karl Henning]

Weinberg Symphony  # 20, Op.150 (1988)

[Mirror Image]

Oh, maybe I won't get this after all!

I rarely pay attention to reviews of a series I'm already familiar with and enjoy. Brabbins' RVW has been superb to me. I should be receiving his recording of Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 today, but I won't get around to it for awhile, so, in the meantime, I'll definitely keep you in suspense I'm sure.

[Roasted Swan]

Oh, maybe I won't get this after all!

I think the truth is that RVW has been extremely well served on disc from the days of the first Boult cycle on Decca.  I cannot think of one of the many complete cycles that doesn't offer insights and pleasures.  So it takes a "controversial" performance - say the recent Manze No.9 - to shake up the hen coup a bit and force people to reconsider long-standing positions.  There seems to be a performing tradition of RVW that has not varied much from the music's first performances.  Yes of course X may favour a faster treatment than Y but this range of variation is quite small.  Add on top of that the technical and musical excellence of these cycles and you can see that admirers of this music have been spoilt!  The biggest variation in recent times/cause of debate has been the emergence of different editions/revisions and also the nominal benefits of recording in SA-CD or Hi-res.  Interesting that - I think I'm right in saying this - Hyperion pretty much ignored the whole SA-CD bandwagon - the relatively few discs they did release in that medium seem to have been deleted.

I think that was disappointed me most about the Brabbins 4 was a relative lack of modernity.  He is such a strong conductor or contemporary/demanding repertoire that I expected him to underline those aspects of the work - instead its all a bit smooth in spirit !  I didn't mention the filler of the Sarabande.... another piece of unfinished RVW that his estate has deemed fit to release.  Its perfectly nice and again well performed.  The thing that struck me most here was just how "in his pocket" RVW had the whole musical/spiritual world of the Serenade to Music nearly 25 years before he wrote that work.  What is not clear is how much orchestration RVW indicated in 1914 or whether this is Brabbins orchestrating in the style of RVW circa 1938 rather than 1914.  Its a charmer of a work and one RVW adherents will be pleased to hear.

[Mirror Image]

I think the truth is that RVW has been extremely well served on disc from the days of the first Boult cycle on Decca.  I cannot think of one of the many complete cycles that doesn't offer insights and pleasures.  So it takes a "controversial" performance - say the recent Manze No.9 - to shake up the hen coup a bit and force people to reconsider long-standing positions.  There seems to be a performing tradition of RVW that has not varied much from the music's first performances.  Yes of course X may favour a faster treatment than Y but this range of variation is quite small.  Add on top of that the technical and musical excellence of these cycles and you can see that admirers of this music have been spoilt!  The biggest variation in recent times/cause of debate has been the emergence of different editions/revisions and also the nominal benefits of recording in SA-CD or Hi-res.  Interesting that - I think I'm right in saying this - Hyperion pretty much ignored the whole SA-CD bandwagon - the relatively few discs they did release in that medium seem to have been deleted.

I think that was disappointed me most about the Brabbins 4 was a relative lack of modernity.  He is such a strong conductor or contemporary/demanding repertoire that I expected him to underline those aspects of the work - instead its all a bit smooth in spirit !  I didn't mention the filler of the Sarabande.... another piece of unfinished RVW that his estate has deemed fit to release.  Its perfectly nice and again well performed.  The thing that struck me most here was just how "in his pocket" RVW had the whole musical/spiritual world of the Serenade to Music nearly 25 years before he wrote that work.  What is not clear is how much orchestration RVW indicated in 1914 or whether this is Brabbins orchestrating in the style of RVW circa 1938 rather than 1914.  Its a charmer of a work and one RVW adherents will be pleased to hear.

There's no denying that Vaughan Williams has been well-served on disc, but there's also no denying that the only way for younger generations of listeners to perhaps understand this is by way of newer recordings. As I told Jeffrey, I think both of Brabbins' RVW recordings have been interpretatively interesting. Perhaps the performances themselves could use a lightning bolt to jolt this or that section of the performance, but, overall, I think he's been extremely successful in conveying a deep understanding of the composer's sound-world. For me, there have been no other conductor working right now that has made me go "Wow, now this is different" when listening to an RVW recording other than Brabbins. Mark Elder and Andrew Manze haven't touched me in any way with the notable exception of Elder's performance of A Pastoral Symphony, which is one of the finest I've heard on record as of right now (right up there with Previn's classic account). I think Brabbins is going to bring something interpretatively different to the musical table and this is what I listen for in a new performance of his music. I'm looking for something new, otherwise, I'd just go back to those classic performances that have flooded the catalog.

[j winter]

[Mirror Image]

Selections from this exquisite recording:



The problem with Stravinsky (and this really isn't a problem per se) is that his music is like a box of chocolate covered cherries --- you simply cannot have just one. Before you know it, you've devoured the entire box, but the great thing here is there's no weight to be gained as a consequence only musical pleasure.

[Maestro267]

Mahler: Symphony No. 4
Roocroft (soprano)/City of Birmingham SO/Rattle

I've only just recognized an explicit musical quotation of the fifth movement of No. 3 in the finale of this work.

[Symphonic Addict]

Piano Quartet No. 1

Absolutely gorgeous. It's rather clear the influence of Fauré on this work, and nothing wrong with it, of course. I like the mix between subtleness and passion displayed here. The 2nd movement is sheer loveliness. It's thoroughly enchanting indeed.

[JBS]

Mahler: Symphony No. 4
Roocroft (soprano)/City of Birmingham SO/Rattle

I've only just recognized an explicit musical quotation of the fifth movement of No. 3 in the finale of this work.

Remember that the final movement of the Fourth was written as an independent song, then planned to be the final movement of the Third, before becoming the finale and focus of the Fourth.  So in terms of compositional chronology, it was actually the Third Symphony which quotes the Fourth. 

[San Antone]

https://www.youtube.com/v/JSBXkudd41I

Igor Stravinsky Suite from L'Histoire du soldat, for violin, clarinet, and piano (1919)

2017 Round Top Music Festival
Saturday July 8, 2017
Festival Concert Hall
Christiano Rodrigues, violin
Jonathan Gunn, clarinet
Lydia Artymiw, piano

I really like this chamber version of the Soldier's Tale suite.

[Mirror Image]

Piano Quartet No. 1

Absolutely gorgeous. It's rather clear the influence of Fauré on this work, and nothing wrong with it, of course. I like the mix between subtleness and passion displayed here. The 2nd movement is sheer loveliness. It's thoroughly enchanting indeed.

Pounds the table! Although I much prefer the second PQ, the first is still quite good. Good to see you listening to Enescu. He's been a solid favorite of mine after unlocking his music earlier last year. I will forever associate the illusion (granted, my illusion) of a haunted village beyond the forest in his music.

[Karl Henning]

https://www.youtube.com/v/JSBXkudd41I

Igor Stravinsky Suite from L'Histoire du soldat, for violin, clarinet, and piano (1919)

2017 Round Top Music Festival
Saturday July 8, 2017
Festival Concert Hall
Christiano Rodrigues, violin
Jonathan Gunn, clarinet
Lydia Artymiw, piano

I really like this chamber version of the Soldier's Tale suite.

Love it: great fun to play!

[Mirror Image]

Ended up listening to this whole recording:



I can only say that I'm deeply enthralled by this recording and can't wait to listen to the second volume. These are authoritative performances. Both Gringolts and Laul sound completely at home in the music. They rise to the technical challenges, but, also, are able to bring out all of the nuances in each work. Like, for example, I never heard the last movement (Dithyrambe) of Duo concertant played with such conviction and heart. I felt the emotion in these performances. So beautiful. I'm also confident when I say this is the best recording of any of these works I've heard and I'm quite aware of these works' discographies --- I also own Marwood/Adès on Hyperion and Keulen/Mustonen on Philips. The audio quality is also what you'd expect from BIS at this juncture. A+ all across the board.

[Karl Henning]

Ended up listening to this whole recording:



I can only say that I'm deeply enthralled by this recording and can't wait to listen to the second volume. These are authoritative performances. Both Gringolts and Laul sound completely at home in the music. They rise to the technical challenges, but, also, are able to bring out all of the nuances in each work. Like, for example, I never heard the last movement (Dithyrambe) of Duo concertant played with such conviction and heart. I felt the emotion in these performances. So beautiful. I'm also confident when I say this is the best recording of any of these works I've heard and I'm quite aware of these works' discographies --- I also own Marwood/Adès on Hyperion and Keulen/Mustonen on Philips. The audio quality is also what you'd expect from BIS at this juncture. A+ all across the board.

Cool.

[Karl Henning]

TD:
Liszt
Années de Pèlerinage
Daniel Grimwood

[Mirror Image]

TD:
Liszt
Années de Pèlerinage
Daniel Grimwood