What are you listening 2 now?

[Que]

Morning listening:



Q

[vandermolen]

The whole set is pretty cheap (at least for download), so I can also recommend it for 2 and 3 (haven't listened to 1).

TD:  Holmboe: Concerto for Recorders, Celesta & Vibraphone



Why aren't there more modern recorder concertos?  As long as the concerto is not too long (under 20 minutes here), it's an enjoyable bright and perky sound.  Even the overblowing used here (judiciously) is charming.

Earlier:

Haydn: Symphony No. 97

[asin] B0000041AR[/asin]

Oops, I misheard the Hurwitzer, it's Davis's No. 98 that he recommended.  Anyway, this is lovely.

Thanks.

Thought that I should have another go with Bax's 6th Symphony. Thomson's is a much stronger performance and much better recorded than Del Mar's Lyrita version. I also like the 'Festival Overture' coupling which I think is a much finer work than the title suggests.

[Que]

Simple psalm settings for liturgical use.
Nothing fancy, but pretty and in luxurious performances.

Q

[Madiel]

Kyjo, you would give me many interesting paths to follow you down, if only I wasn't so busy following Papy Oli through French composers.   

[Papy Oli]

Kyjo, you would give me many interesting paths to follow you down, if only I wasn't so busy following Papy Oli through French composers.   

You have my blessing to temporarily stray off the French path  ...but only to go and check Kinsella 3/4/10   

[Madiel]

You have my blessing to temporarily stray off the French path  ...but only to go and check Kinsella 3/4/10 

Between my own 25 listening projects, and my discovery of database software that might finally let me redo my Holmboe discography, there's no time!

[Papy Oli]

Cecil Armstrong Gibbs - Symphony No.3 "Westmorland"

[MusicTurner]

Shosty -
- Symphony 9 /Rozhdestvensky, USSR CultSO /melodiya CD
- Symphony 10 /Shipway, RPO /membran CD
- Piano Concerto 2 /Uhlig, Starek /hännssler CD
- Cello Concerto 2 /Ma, Ormandy /cbs-sony CD
- String Quartets 3+7+9 /Rubio Quartett /brilliant classics CD
- Symphony 8 /Haitink, CtGeb /decca CD

[Christo]

Cecil Armstrong Gibbs - Symphony No.3 "Westmorland"

[Todd]

Rock 'n' roll Eroica.

[Traverso]

Machaut

CD2

[Iota]

Prokofiev: Sonata No.6

Oleg Marshev (piano)


A less relentless, more nuanced performance than many, though there's plenty of turbo in the tank when required. An impressive combination of poet and lion. Have already set course for more of his Prokofiev.

[Maestro267]

Corigliano: Symphony No. 1
NOI PO/Miller

Benjamin: Symphony
London PO/Wordsworth

[Symphonic Addict]

Raff: String Quartet no. 7 Die schöne Müllerin



Listened to this at Cesar's recommendation. What lovely music it is, above all the first movement with its flowing lyricism and bittersweet harmonies. It's also a rare example of a programmatic chamber work (I can also think of Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht and Onslow's String Quintet The Bullet). And unlike Schubert's song cycle of the same name, the work ends happily (well what do you expect, it is Raff after all)!


Zemlinsky: String Quartet no. 1 and Clarinet Trio

 

The quartet is one that improves with each successive movement, culminating in a riveting, joyous, thematically memorable finale in which the spirit of Dvořák can be heard. In the trio, it's the brooding, passionate first movement which is the highlight, with its deeply haunting main theme.


Kinsella: Symphony no. 10



I enjoyed this more than his Symphonies nos. 3 or 4. Scored for a classical-sized orchestra, I loved the punchy rhythmic energy this music possesses. The music's dynamism is helped in so small part by the prominent and virtuosic timpani part.


Rouse: Symphony no. 4



Another superb 21st-century symphony. It's in a bipartite form, with two movements titled Felice (happy) and Doloroso. They are, as you would expect, polar opposites. Rouse's masterful orchestration effectives highlights the differences in mood and texture between the two movements.


Boëllmann: Piano Quartet



An absolutely marvelous work, with one memorable melody following after the other. It's quite similar to Saint-Saëns in style (witness the secondary themes of the scherzo and finale, for instance), and, indeed, can match that composer in terms of inspiration. I have a hard time choosing between this recording and the one by Hungarian musicians on Marco Polo; the Trio Parnassus have a more elegant, "French" sound and can boast the excellent partnership of violist Gérard Caussé, while the Hungarian musicians play with more overt passion and I overall prefer their brisker tempi.

Very nice, Kyle. Good to know you enjoyed the Raff. Yesterday, curiously, David Hurwitz uploaded a video talking about that quartet:

https://www.youtube.com/v/Dh0pqZ1veC4

Thumbs up for the other works, except Zemlinsky' Clarinet Trio which is not much of my liking.

[Traverso]

CE DIABOLIC CHANT

[Christo]

Celebrating Vasks:

[Maestro267]

Fricker: Symphony No. 1
BBC PO/Thomson

Simpson: Symphony No. 1
Royal PO/Handley

Simpson: Symphony No. 2
Bournemouth SO/Handley

[vandermolen]

Nympholept

[Todd]

I really, really wanted to love this recording.  Alas, the period piano prevents that from happening.  The decays don't last long enough, and the playing cannot thunder when it should (eg, Funérailles).  Bonatta can play, as his Brahms indicates, but this is something of letdown.

[JBS]

A double dose of English Baroque opera
Before lunch
[asin]B084P2QZP2[/asin]
After lunch
[asin]B08DBZD7TD[/asin]