What are you listening 2 now?

[Piano1]

Schoenberg No.1. Wonderful playing and quite good sound on these old LPs.

[SonicMan46]

One of the very few recordings by Epoca Barocca I don't have on the shelves.... it is calling my name!   

Hi Que - well, I can't get enough of Epoca Barocca - sure that I'm missing some of their recordings., myself  Dave

[Piano1]

An interesting program and fine playing.

[Mirror Image]

No great surprise, with the warming weather, I've now listened to this disc three times in two days:

Stravinsky
Le sacre du printemps (1947 version)
L'oiseau de feu (1919 version)
Jeu de cartes
LSO
Abbado

When I was in the music program at the College of Wooster, hearing the Rite for the first time (I hadn't yet seen Fantasia, for instance) changed my musical life forever and made permanent imprint on my compositional sensibility. For no particular reason, I return to it relatively seldom, but it is evergreen for me. A great, Protean piece for which my ardor never cools.
Before I was graduated from "Woo," I heard the Clevelanders play it live in Severance Hall I still remember climbing up to the "nosebleed seats." What a great night that was!

Great stuff, Karl! I don't listen to early Stravinsky that much, although I still have a strong affinity for Le sacre and Pétrouchka for example. I like those works that come at the tail end of his 'Russian' period like Le chant de rossignol, Les noces, Three Pieces for String Quartet, Quatre chants russes, Pribaoutki among other works, but it's the Neoclassical and Serial periods where I truly get excited.

[steve ridgway]

Berio - Voci.

[Que]

Hi Que - well, I can't get enough of Epoca Barocca - sure that I'm missing some of their recordings., myself  Dave

They are phenomenal! 

Morning listening:



This time on disc. Compared to its predecessor, The Sound & The Fury, Beauty Farm's track record is better with me but still hit or miss. And thanks to Spotify I can pick the good ones. This is certainly one of them.

Review by Johan van Veen

Stephen Midgley's Amazon review

Q

[vandermolen]

Darius Milhaud: Le Boeuf sur le toit' (Bernstein ONDF)
Very enjoyable.
With thanks to John (MI)
I can understand why LB liked this music as it reminds me of some of his own ballet suites.

[prémont]

Compared to its predecessor, The Sound & The Fury, Beauty Farm's track record is better with me but still hit or miss.

Despite the prominent line up I think The Sound and The Fury (at least as to what i have heard from them - some of their first releases) sounds like a missed opportunity with rough voices and too little attention to the interplay of the parts, but I don't know if they have improved recently, even if I doubt that.

The Beauty Farm scores higher in my book with more beautiful voices right from their first releases, and more attention to the interplay of the parts. And I also find them much more expressive.

[Que]

Via Spotify:



Familiar repertoire which sounds in the hands of Paolo Cherici amazing.

If I want this on disc, I'd better get the cash out soon since this looks like a tiny issue.

[Que]

Despite the prominent line up I think The Sound and The Fury (at least as to what i have heard from them - some of their first releases) sounds like a missed opportunity with rough voices and too little attention to the interplay of the parts, but I don't know if they have improved recently, even if I doubt that.

The Beauty Farm scores higher in my book with more beautiful voices right from their first releases, and more attention to the interplay of the parts. And I also find them much more expressive.

Agreed overall.   
I don't think TSATF is still active, I have the impression it was disbanded when the Beauty Farm was formed.
Still like some of their recordings: quite good performances of unique repertoire by Firminus Caron and Guillaume Faugues. But their best was the Pipelaere recording, which was labelled as "volume I" but unfortunately did not get a sequel.

By Beauty Farm I rather liked the Gombert motets I, but part II sounds even more promising. The Bauldeweyn issue is absolutely gorgeous and this De la Rue is very successful as well. I'm however not so sure about their Obrecht and Ockeghem?

Q

[Irons]

I love the album. Great arrangement and performance.  Ravel told Albeniz that he wanted to make an arrangement of "Iberia". But Albeniz declined since he had already given a permission for orchestration to his friend, Arbos. If Ravel had asked for Suite Espanola instead, it would have sounded very different.

Funnily enough I listened to the Ansermet recording of "Iberia" after playing "Espanola". I did not know of the Ravel connection, does make you wonder what might have been. Ansermet has Turina's "Danzas Fantasticas" as coupling.

[Que]

Palestrina: Missæ Ex Jacquet de Mantua
Delitiæ Musicæ, Marco Longhini


Second day on the trot for this. The way the simple Gregorian cantus firmus rebounds around the architecture (Chiesa di San Briccio, Lavagno, Verona) seems particularly captivating in this recording, acting perfectly as a mental/emotional stepping stone (as presumably intended) into the ensuing polyphony. The latter often changing abruptly midstream, as it responds to the text. Endlessly engaging music.

I've found that series of three recordings of Palestrina Masses based on themes by Jacquet de Mantua and Cipriano de Rore absolutely spelbinding and addictive... 

[prémont]

Agreed overall.   
I don't think TSATF is still active, I have the impression it was disbanded when the Beauty Farm was formed.
Still like some of their recordings: quite good performances of unique repertoire by Firminus Caron and Guillaume Faugues. But their best was the Pipelaere recording, which was labelled as "volume I" but unfortunately did not get a sequel.

By Beauty Farm I rather liked the Gombert motets I, but part II sounds even more promising. The Bauldeweyn issue is absolutely gorgeous and this De la Rue is very successful as well. I'm however not so sure about their Obrecht and Ockeghem?

Q

I'm not much into Obrecht, and I still miss to find a recording of an Obrecht mass, which can keep my attention all through, but that's of course me.

Concerning Ockeghem it's easy to compare The Sound and The Fury with Beauty Farm, and I find the interpretation by BF light years ahead of TSATF.

[The new erato]

A recording I had totally missed.... Thanks for posting. 

Currently at a VERY good price at europadisc.

Now listening to a very good album:



Like his Bach album absolutely fabulous. Was scheduled to hear his Beethoven at an August 2020 festival. D..n you, Covid!

[The new erato]

But their best was the Pipelaere recording, which was labelled as "volume I" but unfortunately did not get a sequel.

The Bauldeweyn issue is absolutely gorgeous a

Absolutely agree. In fact I was about to post this when I saw your answer. Definitely two of my favorite discs of sacred renaissance repertoire of all times.

[Madiel]

Iberia, Book 1.



EDIT: And a second time. I have the urge to go and try to learn El Puerto, but I doubt I'd ever come close to playing it like she does.

[aligreto]

The Four Seasons in Kyoto [Tosha Suiho]





If you want to get into a Zen Zone this could well be the thing for you. It is very serene. The music is played on Japanese flute and is occasionally set against the background of singing birds, chanting monks as well as a gong and flowing water; but it is primarily solo flute playing. I will immediately say that this will not be for everybody. However, I found it to be very atmospheric, relaxing and peace inducing. The presentation is nicely laid out on four LPs with each season represented on each respective disc. It was a lovely purchase; the vinyl was in pristine condition.

[aligreto]

Hi Aligreto - listened to the Bach Flute works w/ Jed Wentz on Spotify this morning - really enjoyed and like the 'sound stage' a little more than the older recording w/ Benznoiuk - I'll see what the pricing might be on Amazon?  Dave

Cheers, Dave. I am pleased that you liked it. I thought that it was a fine set.

[Maestro267]

Hoddinott: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 5
London SO/Del Mar (2), Royal PO/A. Davis (5)

Really enjoying these. In the second movement of No. 5, one of the sections has a very prominent glockenspiel solo. I've never heard the instrument sound so pronounced before. So much so I'm even wondering if the melody is being doubled on something like crotales.

[Todd]