What are you listening 2 now?

[aligreto]

Handel: Harpsichord Suites Nos. 1 & 2 [Nicholson]





Excellent playing on a robust sounding instrument.

[vers la flamme]

Handel: Harpsichord Suites Nos. 1 & 2 [Nicholson]





Excellent playing on a robust sounding instrument.

Nice! I've been listening to the Richter/Gavrilov Handel suites on a modern piano (which I believe we've already discussed recently) and I've learned that they are wonderful works, of a completely different character than exact contemporary JS Bach's much more famous keyboard suites, but no lesser than them (or not much, anyway!)—I also have Anthony Newman on Sony playing them on a harpsichord, but I'm a little less enthused with that one, his instrument is kind of buzzy and abrasive to my ears.

Having finished disc 1 of the B minor mass, I'm putting the second disc on hold for a minute and have instead put on...:



Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No.9 in E-flat major, op.70. Vasily Petrenko, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

I really love this symphony, the goofy first movement, the mysterious, plaintive second, the purely Shostakovian scherzando third, etc. I think it's unfairly dismissed as Shostakovich's "joke" symphony, and while it does contain elements of Haydnesque humor, it ultimately contains a lot of good, serious music. I'd go as far as calling it my favorite Shostakovich symphony, tied with the first.

The Petrenko/RLPO cycle is absolutely phenomenal. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get into Shostakovich, and I must say thanks to those here who recommended it to me when I was still in the market for a cycle.

[vandermolen]

Finally arrived!
Jeremiah Symphony
Sounds like a fine, rather Sibelian performance, reminding me, in places, of Roy Harris's 3rd Symphony:

[aligreto]

Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 [Monteux]





This is a wonderful version. It is robust, assertive, atmospheric and well driven.

[aligreto]

Nice! I've been listening to the Richter/Gavrilov Handel suites on a modern piano (which I believe we've already discussed recently) and I've learned that they are wonderful works, of a completely different character than exact contemporary JS Bach's much more famous keyboard suites, but no lesser than them (or not much, anyway!)—I also have Anthony Newman on Sony playing them on a harpsichord, but I'm a little less enthused with that one, his instrument is kind of buzzy and abrasive to my ears.

Yes, they are fine works. I do not know the Anthony Newman version but I do prefer to hear this kind of music on a harpsichord rather than on a piano.

[aukhawk]

Verklarte Nacht, version for sextet led here by Isabelle Faust, recent release.
In fact I've listened to this twice, once last night and again this mid-day.



I've up to now preferred the orchestral version (and have over the years collected a fair few recordings) but this sextet rendering is outstanding, really intense and they're not afraid to play ugly, with scraped and edged notes giving an almost vocalised sound of anguish.  Even in the 'transfigured' second half they continue to sob and sigh their way to the end, missing out on the sensual beauty that can be found in some other versions - but the total effect is of raw emotion laid bare.

Faust's sextet here includes Jean-Guihen Queyras on cello, and it's interesting to compare his version, recorded a few years ago for the same label, he leads a larger group of musicians and misses that rawness but he is still striving for intensity over beauty and you can hear his hand in the newer recording.

 

For sheer melt-your-heart beauty I have always enjoyed Mehta / LAPO an elderly but sumptuous recording still available on CD (but vinyl sleeve shown here) and another interesting oldie is Mitropoulos / NYPO, a recording dating from the very earliest days of stereo vinyl.  These are all orchestral versions and I haven't heard a sextet version that even comes close to the new Faust.

   

[aligreto]

Leopold Mozart: Sinfonia da Caccia for Four Horns and Strings




Charming.

[vers la flamme]

Finished:



Walter Frye: Trinitatis dies, Missa Flos Regalis, Ave Regina, Sospitati dedit. Hilliard Ensemble

Amazing stuff... & now onto another English choral work from about 500 years later:



Benjamin Britten: Rejoice in the Lamb. Christopher Robinson, Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge

[vers la flamme]

Dieterich Buxtehude: Suite in A major, BuxWV 243; Canzonetta in D minor, BuxWV 168; Suite in F major, BuxWV 238; Prelude in G major, BuxWV 162. Lars Ulrik Mortensen, on Naxos (originally Dacapo).

Damn good music all. I am always impressed with everything I hear from Buxtehude. Also, Mortensen's Harpsichord sounds great.

[SonicMan46]

Haydn, Joseph - The Seasons w/ Paul McCreesh and many!  English version in a new 2016 recording - reviews attached for those interested.  Dave
.

[Maestro267]

Penderecki: Piano Concerto ("Resurrection")
Douglas (piano)/Warsaw PO/Wit

[vers la flamme]

Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major, op.61. Itzhak Perlman, Carlo Maria Giulini, Philharmonia Orchestra

This is a great performance of a great work, recorded in really clear early digital sound. I'm glad to be just discovering the Beethoven VC, as there's a lot of Beethoven's music from this time that I have rather burned myself out on, but this one still sounds fresh, to my ears.

[T. D.]

Discs 4, 5, 6 - Binchois/Ockeghem, Ockeghem, Josquin/Compere/Brumel/de la Rue

[steve ridgway]

Penderecki - Kadisz.

[vandermolen]

L.Bernstein: Symphony No.2 'The Age of Anxiety'
Seems appropriate.
Another IMO fine performance. I especially liked the sensitivity of the concluding section and the majestic 'restoration of Faith' coda. This is as moving a performance as I have heard.

[André]

Bernard Zweers wrote his symphony in 1886-1890. It is cast in the four traditional movements and its argument is in the spirit of Smetana's Má Vlast, but in strict symphonic form: movements are titled In the Dutch Forests, In the Country, On the Beach and at Sea and To the Capital. Tuneful, colourful, life-affirming music. It's a big work (63 minutes) but the structure hangs together very well. The trio section of the vast scherzo has a fervent, hymn-like tune that sweeps all before it. I hadn't listened to it in years, I'm happy to have reacquainted myself to it.

Anybody knows if the first two symphonies are on the same level?

[Karl Henning]

Excellent! We're a bad influence on each other  .

Not exactly a time of remorse ....

[vandermolen]

Not exactly a time of remorse ....

True! 

[Symphonic Addict]

Bernard Zweers wrote his symphony in 1886-1890. It is cast in the four traditional movements and its argument is in the spirit of Smetana's Má Vlast, but in strict symphonic form: movements are titled In the Dutch Forests, In the Country, On the Beach and at Sea and To the Capital. Tuneful, colourful, life-affirming music. It's a big work (63 minutes) but the structure hangs together very well. The trio section of the vast scherzo has a fervent, hymn-like tune that sweeps all before it. I hadn't listened to it in years, I'm happy to have reacquainted myself to it.

Anybody knows if the first two symphonies are on the same level?

No, his other symphonies are much less ambitious and not as interesting, the No. 3 is clearly the best. However, it's fair to say that the first two symphonies are good in their own right, above all the 2nd one in E flat major.

[André]

No, his other symphonies are much less ambitious and not as interesting, the No. 3 is clearly the best. However, it's fair to say that the first two symphonies are good in their own right, above all the 2nd one in E flat major.

Fine, that's what I had gathered (the album notes for no 3 hinted at that). I might look for no 2 if I find a cheap copy  .