What are you listening 2 now?

[aligreto]

A little bit John, I needed a change of scenery, just glancing down the Bach cantata rabbit hole at the moment !

Don't go too far in as you may not come out again and we would hate to loose you, albeit in a great cause 

[not edward]

New Nørgård recording out on Dacapo:

[asin]B091W2SLS8[/asin]

A mixed bag as far as I'm concerned.

The longest work on it is a quintet (for flute, string trio and piano) written when the composer was 20. It's quirky and there's definitely personality behind it but honestly, it's not very good.

More interesting to me is the first recording of Cantica for cello and piano, a work juxtaposing some of the melodies from the 3rd symphony in multiple different (Fibonacci-based) tempi. Though the source material is simple and mostly diatonic, there are moments of complexity and tension that I think prefigure the chaotic music of Nørgård's Wolffli period that was soon to follow.

There's also what's at least the sixth recording of the solo viola sonata The Secret Melody. It's well played, but I'll stick with the bigger tone and personality of the dedicate Nobuko Imai on BIS.

Also on the disc, a couple of miniatures and a first outing on disc of the solo vocal version of Vintersalme (Signe Asmussen is excellent here).

For Nørgård completists only.

[aligreto]

Hoffmeister, Franz Anton (1754-1812) - Flute & Clarinet Works - over the last few days I've been listening to Franz Hoffmeister, best known as a Viennese music publisher, but also a friend to the 'greats' of the time in the city (see quote + link); now considered a second tier composer, he was respected and popular in his time - the number of compositions which are MANY is hard to pin down, e.g. he wrote at least 50 Symphonies and 25+ Flute Concertos.  I now own about 16 discs of his music but have been concentrating on the winds, esp. the flute and clarinet (reviews of most attached).  Dave

     

     

Great stuff as usual, Dave. I will download the reviews and read later. Thank you.

[Papy Oli]

Don't go too far in as you may not come out again and we would hate to loose you, albeit in a great cause 

If I am starting to really enjoy Choral Baroque, then yes, I will have a big problem 

[Brahmsian]

If I am starting to really enjoy Choral Baroque, then yes, I will have a big problem 

Perhaps JS Bach, Handel and Telemann will end up being your new desert island 3?

[MusicTurner]

A really lovely disc with piano trios, by some lesser known composers. Light and lyrical, also in the playing style, but varied, leaving a fresh impression. The 'Hartmann' here is Emil.

[MusicTurner]

Takemitsu - Solo Piano Works from https://archive.org/details/toru-takemitsu-kumi-ogano-solo-piano-works. Just letting the whole thing tinkle slowly along.

Nice!

[MusicTurner]

Einojuhani Rautavaara.

Before the Icons.
A Tapestry of Life.

Helsinki PO, Leif Segerstam.

Before the Icons is for me the most important work Rautavaara wrote. As if my Icons at home are depicted in music that perfectly fits around it. It gets a fine performance and sound. In two months I get a new Icon from Russia, painted in a monastery in St. Petersburg of the Holy Apostel John, to which I look forward. It will be a blessing to my home. Every year one Icon is added to my chapel.

That's an interesting and life-assuring  story, thank you.

As for the Rautavaara work, I don't know it, but it seems worth investigating.

[Sergeant Rock]

Mozart Sinfonia concertante K.364, Stern, Zukerman with Barenboim conducting the ECO




Sarge

[steve ridgway]

Schnittke - Film Music from https://archive.org/details/alfred-schnittke-film-music/Alfred+Schnittke_+Film+Music/01+The+Story+of+an+Unknown+Actor_+I.mp3

[Karl Henning]

Yesterday and today, these new arrivals:




This purchase had a haphazard history. I ordered from Amazon MP seller Musicexport in Greece, the postman here in Madrid notified the arrival at the wrong address, the parcel was sent back to Greece, and then Musicexport arranged it to be delivered again at no extra cost to me (this is in my experience one of the very best Amazon MP sellers I've dealt with--in terms of product selection, price, and customer service).

Well, be that as it may, it wasn't really worth the hassle: Vierne was a recent discovery for me, and I really, really like some of his chamber and piano works, but these mélodies are an absolute bore IMHO: utterly undistinguished and--to my ears--uninspired.  The Widor (I'm listening to Chansons de mer as I write) is only marginally better. No wonder none of these works has made it into the mainstream repertoire.

I appreciate your indirect assurance, Rafael, that by and large, I do not go far wrong in keeping to their organ works.
TD:
First-Listen Fridays:
Respighi
String Quartet in d minor, P.91
Venezia String Quartet

[Karl Henning]

Also on the same disc, and listening to it now, Ginastera's Pampeana No. 3 (Pastoral Symphony)



Sarge

Looks, like a magnificent box, Sarge!

[Karl Henning]

Recently received, and listened to, my last remaining issue in this series:



Performances and recording are quite satisfactory, I particularly like the baritone. Dmitri was quite an accomplished song composer!

Yes!

[Mandryka]

Takemitsu - Solo Piano Works from https://archive.org/details/toru-takemitsu-kumi-ogano-solo-piano-works. Just letting the whole thing tinkle slowly along.

Somehow Kumi Ogano = Noriko  Ogawa, the mysteries of Japanese.

Be careful, it's a slippery slope which starts with letting Takemitsu tinkle and finishes up with letting Debussy tinkle.

[Karl Henning]

If I am starting to really enjoy Choral Baroque, then yes, I will have a big problem 

I completely understand immersion in the Bach Cantatas, Oli!

[Karl Henning]

I appreciate your indirect assurance, Rafael, that by and large, I do not go far wrong in keeping to their organ works.
TD:
First-Listen Fridays:
Respighi
String Quartet in d minor, P.91
Venezia String Quartet

I was not expecting the string quartet to become perhaps my favorite Respighi score, but it has done.


TD:

LvB

Op.68 (arr. Liszt
Cyprian Katsaris, pf

[Artem]

Nono's opus No.1 is on that disk. Curious listen. No hay caminos, hay que caminar... may be the highlight of that disk for me.

[Sergeant Rock]

Rachmaninoff The Bells, Polyansky conducting the Russian State SO




Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Looks, like a magnificent box, Sarge!

It is a great collection, full of works Szell didn't record commercially, like Mahler 9, Sibelius 4 and 7, the Missa Solemnis, the Schubert Octet arranged for chamber orchestra, excerpts from Berlioz's Damnation of Faust. I have Bill (Bogey) to thank for it. He gave it to me nine years ago. A truly generous gift.

Sarge

[Symphonic Addict]

You are definitely turning the screw!

Thus far, Nos. 2 and 3 have been the best ones. Formidable pieces.