What are you listening 2 now?

[Harry]

Johann Sebastiaan Bach.
Complete Organ Works, Volume II.
Olivier Vernet, Organ.

Instrument:
Bernard Aubertin de Vichy, 1991.
Pitch: A= 440Hz. Temperament: Kirnberger III.

A fine organ, and very likable performances. It will not replace my favourites, but it definitively adds a dimension to my perception of Bach.
Well recorded. It is a large organ, but it can sound really intimate.

Grand-Orgue: C – g3 Portunal 16′, Montre 8′ (1 à 3 rangs), Flûte à Cheminée 8′, Salicet 8′, Quinte 6′, Octave 4′, Flûte Conique 4′, Quinte 3′, Doublette 2′, Mixture 6 rangs (1 1/3′), Sexquialtera 2 rangs, Cornet 5 rangs, Basson 16′, Trompette 8′.
Positif: C – g3 Montre 8′ (from G), Bourdon 8′, Octave 4′, Flûte 4′, Nazard 3′, Doublette 2′, Flûte 2′, Tierce 1 3/5′, Sifflet 1′, Fourniture 4 rangs, Dulciane 16′, Chalumeau 8′.
Récit: C – g3 Bourdon en Bois 8′, Flûte Traversière 8′ (from g°), Fugara 4′, Flûte 4′, Flageolet 2′, Quinte 1 1/3′, Sixtelette 2 à 3 rangs, Fourniture 2 rangs, Voix Humaine 8′ (B/D).
Pédale: C – f1 Principal 16′, Quinte et Tierce 2 rangs (10 2/3′ + 6 2/5′), Octave 8′, Bourdon 8′, Prestant 4′, Flûte 2′, Mixture 5 à 6 rangs (2′), Napoleon 32′, Buzène 16′, Trompette 8′, Cornet 4′, Cornet 2′.
Koppelingen: Accouplement du Positif au Grand-Orgue, Accouplement du Récit au Grand-Orgue.

[Traverso]

Buxtehude

CD 1

[Harry]

Buxtehude

CD 1

Still the best set of Buxtehude's organ music, well at least to me. It was the first set I bought, and it has not been bettered. The choice of organs is a incentive at itself, to get it, the playing is just as it should be, and well recorded it is too. Enjoy!

[vandermolen]

Allow me to provide the image...



An astonishing set. I've loved it for years and years.

+1

[vandermolen]

I guess I'll have to listen to the DG recordings.  Karajan's EMI 5s (both Berlin and Philharmonia) and 4 have long been among my favorites.



TD:



Great CD.  I was first introduced to Lopatnikoff's rhythmically exciting music on a Bernstein CD.  Helps I'm familiar with from his brilliant Symphony No. 1.  The PC #2 is similarly a blast.  And it's great to have another recording of the Kurka (I already had the Cedille one as well as his Good Soldier Schweik.)

Two great discs. I love that Kurka symphony and also have both recordings. He died very young - a great loss.

TD
Mosolov: Symphony 5
Poorly reviewed on Musicweb today but I think that it's a fine work, as is the Harp Concerto:

[Madiel]

Debussy, Le promenoir des deux amants



At least in this performance, some of Debussy's moodiest and most seductive songs.

[Mandryka]

What I've realised is that the episodic nature of this music is very much like the sort of randomness in Cage's music. And to make it listenable, poetic, you need a performer who can manage the silences, the transitions, manage the colours etc in a way which draws in the listener -- like you might be drawn in to watching the random stars in the night sky. With solo piano it's really hard -- you don't have much colour and you don't have other performers to spark off on. Ugorski does it much better than Hill, IMO (I tried some Hill first) -- Hill was just unlistenable, literally. He made nothing worth listening to out of the music.

It feels like a big step forward for me in understanding what to make of Messiaen's late music. It's a shame Ugorski didn't play Cage's piano music.

[Harry]

TD
Mosolov: Symphony 5
Poorly reviewed on Musicweb today but I think that it's a fine work, as is the Harp Concerto:

You know what such a review is a personal opinion, it is not wisdom, neither is it adequate when it comes to determine whether it is any good or not. Reviewers that are able to write such a work, may have an opinion about it, the rest is just an opinion in general.
It is a fine Symphony, and Harp concerto.

[Madiel]

Debussy, La plus que lente

[Traverso]

Still the best set of Buxtehude's organ music, well at least to me. It was the first set I bought, and it has not been bettered. The choice of organs is a incentive at itself, to get it, the playing is just as it should be, and well recorded it is too. Enjoy!

I enjoy the Bryndorf,Foccroulle and Saorgin recordings as well ,however you are right in your praise it is a very beautiful set.Later this afternoon I will start with the Bach Beekman recordings wich do not need my recommendation.
I doubt if there ever will be a new edition from these Beekman edition but that's just a conjecture.

[Traverso]

What I've realised is that the episodic nature of this music is very much like the sort of randomness in Cage's music. And to make it listenable, poetic, you need a performer who can manage the silences, the transitions, manage the colours etc in a way which draws in the listener -- like you might be drawn in to watching the random stars in the night sky. With solo piano it's really hard -- you don't have much colour and you don't have other performers to spark off on. Ugorski does it much better than Hill, IMO (I tried some Hill first) -- Hill was just unlistenable, literally. He made nothing worth listening to out of the music.

It feels like a big step forward for me in understanding what to make of Messiaen's late music. It's a shame Ugorski didn't play Cage's piano music.

I have also this set and was surprised to see that in de DG  Messiaen box they choose to include  the set from Muraro wich is also a very fine  one too.

[Traverso]

Haydn

Symhonies 52-38-65 & 45

[Biffo]

Haydn: Symphony No 34 in D minor - Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra conducted by Adam Fischer

[Harry]

I enjoy the Bryndorf,Foccroulle and Saorgin recordings as well ,however you are right in your praise it is a very beautiful set.Later this afternoon I will start with the Bach Beekman recordings wich do not need my recommendation.
I doubt if there ever will be a new edition from these Beekman edition but that's just a conjecture.

I think you may be right in this. 

[Que]

Another recent arrival:



Q

[Harry]

Voices in the Wilderness.
Cello Concertos by Exiled Jewish composers.

Hans Gal.
Cello Concerto opus 67 in B minor.

Maria Castelnuovo-Tedesca.
Cello Concerto in F major. World premiere recording.

Raphael Wallfisch, Cello.
Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Nicholas Milton.

Both are beautiful concertos, well played and recorded.

[Todd]

Onay's second recording.  This benefits from superior sound and orchestral playing, rendering it better than the Koch recording.  At the very least, Fazil Say or Gülru Ensari should record it, and perhaps Hannes Minnaar and Jamina Gerl should, too.

[Harry]

New acquisition, first listen.

Laszlo Lajtha.

Symphony No. 6 opus 61.
No. 5, opus 55.
Lysistrata-Ballet, opus 19.

Pecs SO, Nicolas Pasquet.

Love the joyous intro of the 6th symphony, "Tres Vif", what wonderfully orchestrated, ach what, another success story in Lajtha's musical story, many feathers on his cap, what a wonderful composer he is. No matter what he composed, its all perfect, like the sight of honeysuckle.
Sound and performance as always, top notch.

"Lázsló Lajtha was one of the most significant Hungarian composers of the 20th century, yet his international recognition suffered under Communist suppression and his remarkable oeuvre remains neglected. Described by the composer as "very tragic, epic, like a ballad", the Fifth Symphony is a heartfelt and forceful statement reflecting persecution and the elusive nature of hope. With its moments of nocturnal enchantment and sparkling humour, the Sixth Symphony is enriched by uniquely colourful orchestration. These moods are also present in the wittily brilliant overture to Lajtha's ballet Lysistrata.

[Papy Oli]

Good afternoon all,

Continuing the Farrenc exploration with her Nonet.

[Mirror Image]

NP: Schnittke Cello Sonata No. 1 (w/ Gerhard/Osborne)



Probably not the best idea for some morning music, but it sure is a fine piece. Schnittke is one of my favorite post-Shostakovich Russian composers and make no mistake he is a Russian composer despite being born to a Jewish father and Volga German mother.