What are you listening 2 now?

[Mirror Image]

Great concert!

I thought you might agree, Jeffrey. All are lovely, gorgeous works.

[Mandryka]

Happy Christmas Florestan.

https://www.youtube.com/v/r187yGriBow&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=PaulaHriscu

[Symphonic Addict]

Roslavets: 'In the hours of the new moon'
Encouraged by discussion here I thought that I should give this hauntingly atmospheric work another spin and very good it is too. As soon as it was over I had to listen to it again:

Very nice, Jeffrey. It's been a remarkable rediscovery for me too.

[Mandryka]

A Romanian one it is. Several important Romanian poets have expressed their aesthetic relativism and tolerance but unfortunately their (very expressive) verses have not been translated in English.

For instance, a classical Romanian poet:

E unul care cântă mai dulce decât mine?
Cu-atât mai bine țării, și lui cu-atât mai bine.
Apuce înainte ș-ajungă cât de sus.
La răsăritu-i falnic se-nchină-al meu apus. --- Vasile Alecsandri.

and a modernist one:

Eu nu strivesc corola de minuni a lumii
şi nu ucid
cu mintea tainele, ce le-ntâlnesc
în calea mea
în flori, în ochi, pe buze ori morminte.
Lumina altora
sugrumă vraja nepătrunsului ascuns
în adâncimi de întuneric,
dar eu,
eu cu lumina mea sporesc a lumii taină -
şi-ntocmai cum cu razele ei albe luna
nu micşorează, ci tremurătoare
măreşte şi mai tare taina nopţii,
aşa îmbogăţesc şi eu întunecata zare
cu largi fiori de sfânt mister
şi tot ce-i neînţeles
se schimbă-n neînţelesuri şi mai mari
sub ochii mei-
căci eu iubesc
şi flori şi ochi şi buze şi morminte. --- Lucian Blaga

Both implies aethetic relativism and tolerance. If interested, I could try to translate them for you, just PM me. (Disclosure: I've been dabbling in poetry ever since my childhood.)

The response was --  Shall I not crush the wonder crown of the Earth. But he said his English wasn't good enough for the rest. Do it Andrei, "Shall I not crush the wonder crown of the Earth" sounds good.

[Daverz]

Really ? The recitatives are the Christmas story from the Gospel.

In German.  Despite a few years of high school German, I can't follow it.  If I was disciplined enough to sit and follow from a translation, I'd probably be disciplined enough to do the more important things that need to be done around the house instead.

[kyjo]

TD:



Andreae was obviously well regarded in his time. Wikipedia tells us that
That's quite a recognition of Andreae's activity in the musical life of Switzerland. He is also known as the first conductor to have recorded an integral set of the Bruckner symphonies (with the Wiener Symphoniker, in the 1950s). It seems his compositional skills were less widely recognized internationally.

The deceptively simple opening led me to expect a half-baked, watered down symphony (Andreae composed it at the tender age of 19) but as it proceeds the harmonies become more complex, the simple phrases develop into confident, well-written paragraphs and a world of beauty soon emerges. I blush at the thought of dismissing this if I had based my appreciation on a 30 second clip  . The second movement is in the same mould, the music gaining in stature as it unfolds. Really impressive. The intermezzo third movement has a dvorakian rusticity, the finale a nice sense of summation. Not a towering masterpiece, but a surprisingly solid and most agreeable work.

In 1915 the Swiss writer Hermann Hesse called Andreae's attention to the poetry of Li-Tai-Pe (of Das Lied von der Erde's fame) in a free adaptation by Alfred Henschke. The composer set some of the poems (not the same ones as Mahler) to music some 15 years later. By then his musical language had really come into its own and what we hear is much more 'advanced' than the resolutely tonal Symphony from 1898. Not that the music sounds harsh, spiky or dissonant - on the contrary. But it sounds freed from forms and formulas, words and music flowingly intertwining and giving each other meaning - looking forward to Britten in that regard. The cycle was premiered by Julius Patzak, who kept it in his repertoire - as would do another noted swiss tenor, Ernst Haefliger. It is sung very sensitively here by one Benjamin Hulett.

Andreae's next to last work, the oboe concerto from 1941 concludes the disc in splendid fashion, a work of great beauty that evokes the calm and loftiness of the Swiss Alps. It was given its broadcast premiere in December 1941 (under Andreae of course) and published in 1947 by Boosey & Hawkes. Coincidentally, B&H had just published Strauss' own oboe concerto, the world premiere of which had been given in February 1946 at the Tonhalle, Zurich, under Andreae. Strauss had dedicated his concerto to the swiss conductor. Oboist Marcel Saillet, principal of the Zurich Tonhalle orchestra was the soloist for both concertos. It's a small world...

Great analysis (as always) André, and great to see someone else paying attention to this very fine composer. The early Symphony in F may show influence from Brahms, Dvorak, and Bruckner, but it is a wonderfully warm-hearted work with a particularly moving slow movement. Don't miss out on his later Symphony in C (1919) and his two piano trios - masterpieces all!

[Mirror Image]

Program for tonight's listening:

World War I Remembrance

Holst: A Dirge for 2 Veterans, H 121
Delius: Requiem

-Intermission-

Vaughan Williams: A Pastoral Symphony

From these recordings:

And now I will commence with this program.

[André]

Great analysis (as always) André, and great to see someone else paying attention to this very fine composer. The early Symphony in F may show influence from Brahms, Dvorak, and Bruckner, but it is a wonderfully warm-hearted work with a particularly moving slow movement. Don't miss out on his later Symphony in C (1919) and his two piano trios - masterpieces all!

Thanks, Kyle. I'm still trying to locate a copy of that symphony - at a decent price of course 

......................................



A magisterial, strong interpretation, fabulously played by the WP. The engineering is a bit close and combined to the conductor's slow tempi, the result is slightly gloomy, close to being overbearing. To hear this work with this same orchestra recorded in the same hall but with more distant and better miking, I turn to Böhm's implacable, crack of doom version.



Composed in 1929, The Pit and the Pendulum is a Poe-based tone poem. Poe-derived music was very much the flavour of the time. It's a really splendid work, strong and concisely written. The cello concerto is anything but concise, with a very discursive, chatty solo part. It's quite wonderful, but a tad overwrought. I don't know what to make of the symphony. Holbrooke entered it into a contest for the centenary of Schubert's death. It had to be based on Schubert obviously, so we get something that is not classic/romantic, with its fanciful orchestration, and ends up sounding like british light music - which I confess to love. The last item, Pandora, is a 'suavely affectionate orchestral dance' (as per the fine booklet notes), a mini ballet number Holbrooke composed for a soirée at the British Ballet Company. Very nice.

[Symphonic Addict]

Changing a little my usual listening habits. Somehow the harpsichord timbre helps to refresh them too. I'm liking these works.

[Daverz]

Brahms: Sextet No. 2 arranged for string orchestra by Kurt Atterberg:



Continuing the evening with a German Swede and a Swedish Finn:

Berwald: Symphony No. 1



I think this is now the set of choice. 

Sibelius: Symphony No. 3



Heavenly listening.  I can imagine a bit better remastering, but I don't believe the newer Davis/Boston Sibelius box is remastered (?).

[Todd]

Quite probably the best played versions of these works I've heard.  Undoubtedly, the least Dvorakian versions I've heard.

[Brian]

Disc one.  One of the biggest draws of the Barbizet box.

If you can answer - I'm a little confused about the Chabrier piano catalogue. The Naxos complete edition is two full hours of solo piano stuff and an additional hour of two pianist duets (which of course isn't in the Barbizet). If the Barbizet set is two CDs that are "original jacket" of two LPs, is it more like 90 minutes of music? Or also two full hours with all the obscure stuff?

Also all I really know well is the Bourrée, Habanera, and the big cycle of 10 pieces. I have the Jean Casadesus and Angela Hewitt recitals. Is this a composer where completism is really needed? He certainly is super fun and charming, if maybe best heard once every right months or so. Hmmmm.

[Todd]

If you can answer - I'm a little confused about the Chabrier piano catalogue. The Naxos complete edition is two full hours of solo piano stuff and an additional hour of two pianist duets (which of course isn't in the Barbizet). If the Barbizet set is two CDs that are "original jacket" of two LPs, is it more like 90 minutes of music? Or also two full hours with all the obscure stuff?

Also all I really know well is the Bourrée, Habanera, and the big cycle of 10 pieces. I have the Jean Casadesus and Angela Hewitt recitals. Is this a composer where completism is really needed? He certainly is super fun and charming, if maybe best heard once every right months or so. Hmmmm.

The two discs are ~74 and ~64 minutes.  Jean Hubeau does second pianist duties on ten tracks.  It's either complete complete, or pretty close to it.  The only other complete set in my collection is by Rena Kyriakou, and Mr Barbizet is more my speed, even if other works like the Bourrée have been bettered here and there (like by short timer Naida Cole).  The entire Barbizet box - that I did not have already - is more or less filled with delights.  I already knew almost all the stuff with Ferras, which are basically core rep staples.

[Madiel]

Pejacevic, Cello Sonata

[Que]

 Morning listening:



This took a while to click.

Q

[Irons]

You won't be disappointed Lol.

Good to know, Jeffrey.

[Irons]

Vaughan Williams: 9th Symphony.

A stupendous performance! I have both vinyl and CD, on this occasion CD. I plan to compare the two one day but the music gets in the way!

[Harry]

Johann Sebastian Bach.
Complete Organ Works. Volume XII.
Dritter Theil der Clavier Übung (II)
Freie Formen, Choräle.

Bernard Foccroulle, plays on a Arp Schnitger organ in the Martini Church Groningen, The Netherlands.


Beautifully done, really! The second track "Aus tiefer not schrei ich zu dir", BWV 687 Manualiter is the greatest interpretation I know.

[Madiel]

Pejacevic, Piano Sonata op.36

Quite impressed with the first movement so far.



EDIT: Impressed with the whole thing. This is a really good work. I was already enjoying the miniatures on this album, but this sonata is a winner.

[Traverso]

Scarlatti

CD 34


sonatas  KK 81-88-91,287,288 & 328