What are you listening 2 now?

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Mahler
Kindertotenlieder
Brigitte Fassbaender, mezzo-soprano
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Chailly

[Que]

Morning listening:



My recent encounter with the new Guerber recording of the Missa Ave regina celorum was a good excuse to take this off the shelves. How do you get four masses and some smaller pieces on two discs? By forgoing on any liturgical setting, and singing rather quickly....It's faster than I've ever heard in Dufay and it did bother me initially but les now. Not OVPP but impeccably sung.

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/dufay-les-messes-%C3%A0-teneur

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2016/Jun/Dufay_masses_MEW1577.htm

http://www.classicalacarte.net/Production/Production_07_16/MEW157778_39_6_fanfare.htm

[Que]

On Spotify:



First impression: gorgeous! 


http://www.classicalacarte.net/Production/Production_12_17/RIC384_41_4_fanfare.htm

[Papy Oli]

Good morning all,

John Kinsella's Fifth to start the day.

[vandermolen]

Uuno Klami 'Psalmus' - what a work!
It has the most marvellously inspiriting ending (None can enter Heaven, glory without dying), which I had to play three times. The triumphant conclusion reminded me of the equally impressive ending of Fricker's 'A Vision of Judgement':

Here's the concluding section:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0186NEiYd7w

[Biffo]

Mozart: Piano Concerto No 23 in A major, K 488 - Daniel Barenboim soloist & conductor with the English Chamber Orchestra

[vandermolen]

Symphony No. 21

The blend between poetic melancholy and heroic passages makes this compact symphony very special to me. Is it me or did I hear a few passages that sounded close to VW's style? The cover art is terrific, too.

I agree Cesar. I think that the VW connection makes sense. They used that fine cover for the LP as well - it is a marvellous disc.

[Papy Oli]

Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique (Munch/Boston)

[Que]

More by L'Achéron:

[aligreto]

Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 3 [Gewandhaus Quartet]





Thrilling and exciting music right out of the block and it is wonderfully attacked here. There is tremendous energy, excitement and forward momentum in the opening movement and the Gewandhaus Quartet gives it full reign. The Menuetto and the third movement Andante are both a wonderful contrast where grace and charm are bywords. I particularly like the Andante with its wonderful harmonies. It is a wonderful movement and all too short for me. In the final movement we largely return to the gusto that prevailed in the first, taking a few breaths along the way.

[Traverso]

Messiaen

Les Offrandes oubliée

L'Ascention

Poèmes pour Mi

These are very nice recordings that in my view can withstand the comparison with those in DG box.

[Stürmisch Bewegt]

NP:

Vaughan Williams
Five Mystical Songs
Thomas Allen, baritone
English Chamber Orchestra
Matthew Best



Absolutely exquisite.

To say that I concur, that I love that CD seems insufficient, somehow.  Glad you like it, too! 

[Stürmisch Bewegt]

Some Missing-In-ActionSKOVSKY this morning, his Cello Concerto :

[Traverso]

Messiaen

Livre 4

[aligreto]

Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 18 Op. 41 [Svetlanov]





This is a very fine work. There is definitely a sonic seed change here: tones and textures are lighter and somewhat leaner. A different, more mature voice is emerging whilst still adhering to the same basic principles. The same thoughts and ideas are being treated in a slightly different way. It is very interesting.

[aligreto]

Messiaen

Livre 4

I trust that the music is as colourful as that bird, Jan.

[Traverso]

I trust that the music is as colourful as that bird, Jan.

Don't forget the facial expression that aptly reflects the inner movement of the music. 

[Traverso]

Bruckner


Symphony No.1

I posted this before but there was no response whatsoever. Still I am curious if anyone noticed these described differences in the remastering.

Reverberation

And now Decca has remastered the Bruckner and Mahler symphonies with, in Mahler's case, as a bonus the second fix of the First from 1972, albeit only on the Blu Ray disc. The design can certainly be called original with double albums and numerous images of the original record sleeves. So two boxes to cherish. On the eye, because the ear is very disappointed. To put it plainly, Andrew Walter of Abbey Road Studios and his buddies have done enormous violence to Van Ginnekens - and thus automatically Haitink's - artwork. The comparison with the aforementioned transfers shows, razor sharp, read: relentlessly (I began to doubt myself that I sought refuge for a 'second opinion' with a friend with an even better installation than the undersigned, but with the same result ).

The inescapable conclusion must be that the leveling tendency that keeps our society in a firm grip in any field has also hit the record industry to the very core, as these two Haitink boxes poignantly prove. There is nothing left of the refined sublime sound image that Van Ginneken has recorded. For those who do not know better, the result of this 'remastering' will sound as if a good radio orchestra is at work here, the recordings of which have been immortalized in any and average studio anywhere in the world. Anyone who listens blindly and without prior knowledge will never think that these performances were recorded in one of the most beautiful concert halls in the world. Every trace of the special acoustics of the main hall of the Amsterdam concert hall will be searched in vain, simply because almost nothing can be heard of it. In some places the reverberation (from the room, or has it been added?) - to use a metaphor - is like the fake colorant that makes fast food extra attractive to the target groups that usually frequent the restaurants where it is manufactured.

Headache file

Furthermore, the volume has been scaled up very high, with the inevitable consequence that the pianissimi (which have become louder) lack any refinement, while due to the increased loudness during the climaxes (and there are, as is known, quite a few) the ceiling is extremely low. and because of this alone we have to speak of a musical headache file, simply because there is no reserve and let alone flexibility in the sound. And what it is all about - and here that leveling comes into the picture again - is the dynamics, and it has been almost completely retouched. All this makes listening to these performances an extremely tiring affair. The undeniable merit of Van Ginneken and his fabulous team - again, artists in their trade! - their eye was precisely for the layering of dynamics in all conceivable shades, both horizontally and vertically. With an enviable natural and precise definition of the orchestral arrangement, which - while listening - was envisioned so perfectly that it could, as it were, be drawn in this way. What we hear here is more of a virtual orchestra, of which the sonority - assuming that the term is still applicable here - is often questionably coarse-grained. The signature of both the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the team that guaranteed the, in principle, beautiful recordings, shines through their absence. In other words, the quality of the new mastering (or rather, the lack of it) even influences the interpretations. Take, for example, the melody of the strings in the second theme group from the funeral march of Mahler's Fifth Symphony, which in the original recording continues beautifully and full of 'schmalz', but here gets something toiling, not to say angular. Either the suspense-filled exhibition of the first theme group from the opening movement of Bruckner's Ninth, which has now been robbed of any subcutaneous tension and magic, or the resilience of the prelude to the final of the Achste by the same composer who appeared in this sounds almost tame.

Regardless, it seems that people wanted to tailor these remasterings to a generation that no longer has a clue as to the venerable tradition these recordings are based on. More specifically, to those who have all kinds of small sound boxes scattered throughout the house - from the kitchen to the toilet - through which everything sounds and must also sound 'synchronized', because that is simply part of these types of installations. . Adapting Radio 4 broadcasts to the driver's ear also falls into this category of approach. Last but not least, it is high time that a copyright was created that protects the legacy of leading sound engineers, so that these kinds of malproducts are now a thing of the past. Because Haitink delivered a work of art, Van Ginneken did no less. And what a! Anyone previously mentioned beautiful collector's box - an unparalleled collector's item! - van Haitink therefore has it in-house with the greatest possible care.

Fortunately, I have the right box based on this Dutch review

    ( new remastering)

      (The recommended )

[Que]

Bruckner


Symphony No.1

I posted this before but there was no response whatsoever. Still I am curious if anyone noticed these described differences in the remastering.

    ( new remastering)

Since I just have the original CD issues of the Mahler cycle and some of the Bruckner, I couldn't offer any insights.

But I did scrap these particular reissues from my shopping list.

Q

[Mirror Image]

To say that I concur, that I love that CD seems insufficient, somehow.  Glad you like it, too!

Yes, it was beautiful music. I've heard this recording a few times, but I think tonight I'll revisit Flos campi from it.