What are you listening 2 now?

[aligreto]

A lovely work! Bax at his sunniest and most "Dvorakian". I think I'm relatively alone in saying that it's among my favorite works by the composer!

Yes, I really like that work a lot.

[aligreto]

   

+1 - own both of the above - Dave 

Cheers Dave. I thought that you might.
Great music and music making.

[Harry]

They certainly do!  Or, I do anyway.
My favourites are symphonies 1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Piano Quintet
Harp Quintet
Tintagel
Northern Ballad 1
November Woods
Symphonic Variations
Nympholept
Festival Overture
Christmas Eve on the Mountains
The Tale the Pine Trees Knew
Paen

If the youngsters on here think that Bax is a composer appreciated by a few let me say, that before many of you were on GMG or even buying classical music, I bought all the LP'S with his music from Chandos, and that goes for a host of other British composers as well.  And members long gone now, they either died or left of their own accord, were rightly debating the lack of recordings, apart from the Lyrita label, and amongst them there were many admirers of Bax, Moeran, Hamilton Harty, etc etc etc.

[Irons]

Yes, you are. 

I wish I had the same enthusiasm with his SQs as you, but they leave me cold, moreso his violin sonatas. The latter are just prolixity. 

I very much agree as far as the violin sonatas are concerned after investing in the Naxos CD of these works. Good to hear it's not me!

[Thom]

If the youngsters on here think that Bax is a composer appreciated by a few let me say, that before many of you were on GMG or even buying classical music, I bought all the LP'S with his music from Chandos, and that goes for a host of other British composers as well.  And members long gone now, they either died or left of their own accord, were rightly debating the lack of recordings, apart from the Lyrita label, and amongst them there were many admirers of Bax, Moeran, Hamilton Harty, etc etc etc.

And a good morning to you as well Harry.
It was not immediately a match between me and Bax but eventually I came to appreciate his music. I started with some Naxos cd's, his 5th symphony and the Tale the Pine Trees knew to start with.

[Harry]

And a good morning to you as well Harry.
It was not immediately a match between me and Bax but eventually I came to appreciate his music. I started with some Naxos cd's, his 5th symphony and the Tale the Pine Trees knew to start with.

The Bax Naxos recordings are not bad at all, I have most of them, and I must add for completeness, that British vocal works are a no go zone for me. meaning from 1750 onwards. But many chamberworks and orchestral works are represented in my collection, but then again I have a very large collection

[Irons]

They certainly do!  Or, I do anyway.
My favourites are symphonies 1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Piano Quintet
Harp Quintet
Tintagel
Northern Ballad 1
November Woods
Symphonic Variations
Nympholept
Festival Overture
Christmas Eve on the Mountains
The Tale the Pine Trees Knew
Paen

Good list, Jeffrey. My enthusiasm for English music is boundless but oddly Bax is the one I struggle with as I find his music diffuse at times. I sometimes lose my way and then concentration. I have no such problems with the 5th Symphony, a great work. The 6th and 7th I like too. My favourite work is November Woods, Bax hits the spot there, another tone poem I like a lot and surprised isn't on your list, The Garden of Fand. Of course Tintagel is a great piece.

[Madiel]

Madiel, are you familiar with this?

I'm far from being an expert on singing, particularly Faure singing, but the reason I liked this is first and foremost the perfect, incredibly perfect diction of Marc Mauillon. I speak French and was able to understood 99% of the words, which is something that never happened to me before, not even with Gerard Souzay.

My recollection, if I have the right album, is that I briefly sampled when it came out and was not fond of the tone. But I will check again.

EDIT: Interestingly, Presto has this review excerpt:

"On the plus side, every word Mauillon sings is audible and he has an enchanting mezza voce, which he sensibly doesn't use too often. But although described here as a baritone, he lacks the richness of tone and the array of colours one needs to perform this music...Anne Le Bozec provides rather more variety."

Not right now, though, because I'm listening to this:



My current, and growing, interest in French song readily extends to at least Debussy, Ravel and Duparc, the other composers represented on this album!

[aligreto]

Good list, Jeffrey. My enthusiasm for English music is boundless but oddly Bax is the one I struggle with as I find his music diffuse at times. I sometimes lose my way and then concentration....

I wonder if that is because he is not strictly an English music composer. He was heavily influenced, as you know, by Celtic themes and mysticism which heavily permeates his music? I wonder if that difference is making itself heard on your ear. There is nothing wrong with that but it is a possibility.

[aligreto]

JC Bach: Bassoon Concerto in B flat major [Ward/Halstead]





This is a wonderful work and I was particularly impressed with the quality of the orchestral accompaniment in this one.

[Traverso]

Chopin

pianoconcerto No.1  Gilels / Ormandy
The Philadelphia Orchestra

Glad to have this recording back after selling my LP's

[vandermolen]

+1 for all the above but I would also add the 4 Piano Sonatas and 3 violin sonatas.  The first two piano sonatas are big sprawling one movement works (clearly influenced by Lizst) but darkly glowering and tragically epic.  Bax as arch-Romantic in full inspirational flow.  The violin sonatas are less immediately appealing but grow on you.  I like the elusive No.2 "The Grey Dancer in the Twilight" and the compact and terse No.3 (compact and terse not being words that most people associate with Bax....)

I need to investigate these chamber works. Until Cesar (SA) I think and Kyle introduced me to the wonderful, epic Piano Quintet I only ever listened to the Harp Quintet amongst the chamber work. Isn't one of the piano sonatas the First Symphony in disguise?
Yes it is! I have both these CDs which I enjoy:

[vers la flamme]

Chopin

pianoconcerto No.1  Gilels / Ormandy
The Philadelphia Orchestra

Glad to have this recording back after selling my LP's

Awesome! I've been listening to this a lot too. Just got it at the used bookstore a few weeks ago.

[Traverso]

Awesome! I've been listening to this a lot too. Just got it at the used bookstore a few weeks ago.

I just found it in the mailbox,and yes,it certainly  is a very sympathetic recording,Gilels is a inspiring pianist for sure.

[aligreto]

Bax: In the Faery Hills [Lloyd-Jones]





This is a relatively light but entertaining Tone Poem. It demonstrates Bax's writing and his orchestration abilities well. It is an appealing and atmospheric work.

[Madiel]

Trying this:



Sorry Florestan, but I do not like his voice enough to rate this really highly. Well actually, what I think of his voice shifts every couple of seconds. Some of it is very pleasant, but then he makes certain vowel sounds and it's all "reedy" (to borrow a word from a review of a different album of his).

It's weirdly inconsistent. When he lets rip in a bolder song (Chant d'automne, track 3, or parts of Larmes, track 20) it's a nice, full sound. But when he's aiming to be delicate and a little coy, that's when the vocal tone sometimes disappears.

Some of the performances also feel a bit casual or glib to me, partly because of fast tempos (this is not a universal problem by any means, some songs seem spot on).

It's by no means terrible, but it's not going to be one of my top recommendations.

[Mandryka]

My current, and growing, interest in French song readily extends to at least Debussy, Ravel and Duparc, the other composers represented on this album!

See what you think of this, my favourite French song not by a Frenchman

https://www.youtube.com/v/G_YokuLpgQ8

[Traverso]

Schönberg & Korngold

[aligreto]

Barrios [played by John Williams]





La catedral

Medley
a) Madrigal [Gavota]
b) Minuet
c) Mazurka appassionata

This is wonderful music and playing.

[Madiel]

See what you think of this, my favourite French song not by a Frenchman

https://www.youtube.com/v/G_YokuLpgQ8

Well, the music I rather like, but the choice of text is a trifle bizarre...