What are you listening 2 now?

[vandermolen]

No extracts of Columbus on the Chandos, Jeffrey. I have found the Naxos CD on qobuz and saved it for later, thank you.

Excellent! Hope you enjoy it Olivier. I like the March from CC. Count me as a fan of Grace Williams, especially Penillion and Symphony No.2

[Papy Oli]

Count me as a fan of Grace Williams, especially Penillion and Symphony No.2

I enjoyed the symphony on Lyrita in the past, hence my further explorations. Will have to check out Penillion.

"The Dancers" on the CD I posted earlier was a particularly peculiar experience with the 2 sopranos. It felt like 2 mermaids enticing you with their singing, and you can't listen away 

I did sample that one below as well earlier, did not work for me:

[Papy Oli]

A first listen to Ron Goodwin's film music :

[Todd]

[Mookalafalas]

Well,this is certainly another crown jewel.

In general I prefer a HIP based performance but I'm by no means a purist.

In recent years there have been many recordings that excel in hectic, rushed tempos that cramp the melodies. After the Mozart period, I no longer find HIP so important.  Frans brüggen is a warm blooded musician with a vibrato that brings the melody to life. I have no taste for the low calorie content of many recent recordings.
However, there are in the non-HIP world also directors who presses Beethoven in the same straight jacket,  they have the same anemia and are almost elevated as the new standard.
It is all so exaggerated I cherish many old recordings that appeal to my romantic heart and have nothing to do with the academic aridity , it is a fashion and it will  be  be outdated in time.
The Telemann Paris Quartets I listened to this morning are a good example of fine musicianship.

  I couldn't agree more. I love that whole Northern group: Bruggen, the Kuijkens, Leonhardt, etc.  I also really like the British group around Hogwood.  In general, I like a lot more than I dislike. Listening to random disks, I am frequently struck by how good they are.  We are living in a golden era of music appreciation--so many fine new performances, and so many old classics being made available at discount rates.

[aligreto]

Atterberg: Violin Concerto [Wallin/Epple]





I like the intensity and lyricism of this work and it is wonderfully played.

[Madiel]

Faure, Fantasie for piano and orchestra, op.111

First listen for over 6 years, and one of the Faure works I know the least.



Not the cover I have, but Amazon has done its bizarre thing of having a message in Dutch about not showing the picture...

EDIT: It doesn't strike me as a reason to get excited about Faure's orchestral music. Maybe some other performance makes a better case for it?

[Mirror Image]

Now playing Sværm, Op. 190b from this set:

[Harry]

Armass Järnefelt.
Orchestral Music.

Symphonic Fantasy.
Suite in E flat major.
Serenade.
Berceuse.

Lathi SO, Jaakko Kuusisto, (Also solo violin)

This CD was a best buy in 2019, and I prolong it into 2020. Järnefelt is of of the best composer out of his era, and can fully compete with all the greats from his time. I have listened so often to this CD, that I can hum the whole 77:00 minutes of music note perfect. When a friend of mine had to correct something in my bios, I was humming the Berceuse, and when I was done he said I want that music, and I quickly obliged, by telling him where it came from. So, Järnefelt is a great orchestrator, endless dreamy melodies and quirky folk tunes. state of the Art recording, and able to amaze every second, wherever in the score.
Recommended, and absolute must by.

[Mirror Image]

Dipping my feet back into Rubbra's symphonies starting with the 5th:

[Biffo]

Jean Cras: Élégies - Philippe Do tenor with Orchestre de Bretagne conducted by Claude Schnitzler from the album Les Mélodies avec orchestre

[Papy Oli]

Parry - second symphony

[Biffo]

Prompted by the Holst thread - Egdon Heath - Hickox/LSO

[Mirror Image]

Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57 from this recording:

[André]

Two of the song groups have instrumental accompaniment, the other three are sung a capella. Sensitive, subtly shaded choral compositions. Nothing harsh or blatty. A fine disc. I can imagine listening to it on a sunny winter day.

[ritter]

First listen (after much anticipation) to Pierre Boulez's early, withdrawn piano work Prélude, toccata et scherzo, played by Palph van Raat:

[asin]B085R72KBZ[/asin]
This substantial composition (27') is interesting in itself and also to understand where the Boulez we know (and who started to emerge immediately after WW2) came from. The title would indicate a kinship with Honegger (Boulez was studying with the composer's wife, Andrée Vaurabourg), and--as van Raat points out in his concise but illuminating booklet note--, the  Swiss composer is present (along with Jolivet and, most particularly, Messaien) in the first movement. In the toccata, we get closer to the soundworld of the "real" Boulez (we shouldn't forget that the first two pianos sonatas are from just 2 and 4 years later, respectively), not so much in the material, but rather on how it is used and developed (the extremes of dynamics, the sudden "violent" outbursts). The closing scherzo is again IMO remiscent mainly of Messiaen, but somehow one notices a stylistic continuity with the first of the 12 notations (the work that follows on the CD, and which is Boulez's first acknowledged composition).

The playing by Mr. van Raat is beyond reproach, and the whole program of the CD is really enjoyable. None of the other pieces have enjoyed wide circulation, but some of them are really great (e.g., Debussy at his most tender in the late Les soirs illuminés par l'ardeur du charbon, Messaien at his most debussyesque in the 1934 Morceau de lecture à vue, Ravel as usual a goldsmith in the tiny Menuet in C sharp major). The inclusion of the solo piano movements from Messiaen's late Des canyons aux étoiles... perhaps is a little odd, but still fits in the bigger picture. Highly recommended!

[Todd]

Starting in on Op 59.  While the quartets represent a step up qualitatively from Op 18, with the Medici the improvement is more pronounced than normal.

[aligreto]

Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 [Haitink]





I think Haitink to be a very fine Brucknarian.

[kyjo]

Groven: Symphony No.2 'The Midnight Hour' (1938-43)
Not as dark as its title and dates of composition might suggest.
I enjoyed hearing this lyrical and somewhat 'folksy' symphony and imagine that it would appeal to admirers of Kurt Atterberg as sections reminded me of his music:

You had me at Atterberg!

[SonicMan46]

Spohr, Louis (1784-1859) - String Quartets & Quintets w/ the performers below - newly arrived 'small' package from BRO (about $20 USD) - over a period of 25 years or so (1989-2014), Marco Polo has recorded the 36 String Quartets of Spohr (along w/ some additional fillers), performed by 3 different groups, initially the New Budapest Quartet and then the Concertino SQ; the Dima Quartet did a single volume - 17 total volumes were released - reviews of the three quartet volumes are attached.

Spohr composed these works over a span of 50 years - his style bridges the classical-romantic periods but was pretty much unchanging, and the quartets were not recorded in chronologic order, so probably makes little difference where one starts.  At the moment, I now own 5 of the 17 volumes; not sure that I need any more?  These quartets are all well composed and pleasant listening - not in the highest tier of the era but quite crafty and charming.  Dave