What are you listening 2 now?

[Mirror Image]

Trio for horn, violin and piano

A first listen to this piece. The 1st movement didn't impress that much, but the next ones... wow! They demonstrate why Ligeti was an important composer. The final movement Lamento is quite striking. A formidable find I must say.

Very nice, indeed.

Bedřich Smetana
Má Vlast, JB 1:112
Rafael Kubelík and the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1971)



Family Listening Night:
The girls chose Má Vlast to listen to tonight. I couldn't find my mono recording of Kubelik leading Chicago, but I remember liking his Boston just fine. Václav Smetáček on Supraphon is my go to for comparisons, so I look forward to hearing this one again. Good Night All!

That is a fantastic recording of Má vlast. There have been many notable performances of this work through the years, but I still come back to Kubelik's in Boston.

[vandermolen]

Alwyn: Symphony No.3 (first performance BBC SO 1956)
Beecham stepped in at the last minute after Barbirolli and Sargent withdrew. Alwyn thought that he was very lucky, in the end, that Beecham conducted the premiere. Beecham familiarised himself with the score in a few days and conducted a blistering performance.
Here is a review of the CD performance of the Alwyn:
The sound in the Alwyn is very much better than for the Mozart despite coming from the same concert. There is some close-up distortion in the very loudest sections but it is really very clean and with something close to a pristine treble. Grand stuff given the vintage. As for the performance, Beecham gives Alwyn's heels Mercury's wings. There is a flaming aggression to the angry romance of the first movement and a contest between the voluptuous and tense Shostakovich-like violence in the second. Alwyn's writing for the brass is magnificent. The finale raves, rages and rails with the stomping impact of Holst's Mars and Vaughan Williams' Fourth Symphony. One has the impression that it could not have been written without the RVW symphony as an exemplar – yet it has its own intrinsic and individual power. If you appreciate the Vaughan Williams and also perhaps Arnell 3 then you need to hear this. This performance of Alwyn 3 is the most broodingly intense and splenetic I have heard - and this notwithstanding the speckle of coughs and throat-clearing. Not to be missed.

[Que]

Morning listening:



Hat tip aukhawk.

It is sumptuous sound to be sure, but I find the music-making to be a bit serious-minded, so personally I would say that a little goes a long way.

La Reveuse bring more life to the music, more ornament, more variety of texture.  But then, they are not attempting a catalogue of all the Pieces de Viole ...

A nice and prety recording! But I don't think I can agree with the assessment of the L'Achéron.
Did some A-B comparisons. And if anything La Reveuse offers the "simpler", more straight forward performances. L'Achéron the more elaborate, ornamented and textured ones. Seriousminded, perhaps due to the detailed approach in the slower parts, but plenty of liveliness and variety overall.

But I could understand if L'Achéron would be too fussy and laboured for some. I've always been a big fan of the recordings by Jean-Louis Charbonnier and his ensemble (Pierre Vérany/ Ligia). Those mihht be more to your liking: more straightforward and energetic. For me personally, L'Achéron is a game changer with an added layer of detail and nuance.

[SimonNZ]

[Que]

My collection is lacking a recording of Purcell's harpsichord suites.

So I'm browsing Spotify for a favourite.   First up:



This is going to be a strong contender, I can already tell.

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2018/Aug/Purcell_suites_1437.htm

Next:



On an older, London made French style harpsichord, this sounds charming but lightyears away from the performance by Rzetecka-Niewiadomska - who plays a lush sounding copy after Pascal Taskin 1769. Ewa Rzetecka-Niewiadomska plays these suites in a rather robust, Germanic style. The way you would play Händel's harpsichord music, I think.

With Souter these pieces sounds much more French and delicate. The harpsichord is on the drier side and slightly brittle side, the playing subtle but measured.

Q

[aligreto]

Boccherini: String Quintet Op. 25/6





This is elegant and beguiling music from the first note to the last. The regrettably short interlude where the cello is made to sound like a Spanish guitar is wonderful.

[Que]

Current incarnation (with downsized booklet):
https://www.amazon.com/Scarlatti-Complete-Sonatas-Scott-Ross/dp/B00IUPNBW6

[foxandpeng]

Back to back Rautavaara symphonies while I work. Halfway through the cycle today, and I confess that although I feel relaxed and rejuvenated by the music, the resultant quality of my work output and attention to productivity hasn't been high. They get enough from me, so no guilt in a gentler Monday.

[Undersea]

I have this set on order and hope to receive it in the next few weeks - good?

[Undersea]

Palestrina: Missa L'Homme Armé 5VV [Pro Cantione Antiqua]

I wasn't aware of this recording until now; may have to pick it up if it's still available... - thanks!

[aligreto]

Op. 109 is dedicated to Maximiliane von Brentano, the daughter of the person now widely considered to be Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved", Antonia von Brentano (dedicatee of several other Beethoven works). Musicologists of the 19th century gossip magazine variety believe Beethoven and Brentano had a brief affair around the time Maximiliane was born, and that therefore she may be Beethoven's unacknowledged daughter. There is, as far as I know, no proof that this is true, nor would obtaining such proof be possible. Another theory suggests that Beethoven intended the sonata to be an easy work for students, such as its nine-year-old dedicatee, but unless she was a child prodigy of enormous talent he did a very bad job at this. The sonata certainly is special regardless.

Thank you very much for that.

[aligreto]

I wasn't aware of this recording until now; may have to pick it up if it's still available... - thanks!

I cannot, in truth, give a full recommendation on this as I myself have only acquired it as a download and I have only listened to one mass.
However, I am a Palestrina fan and I did like what I had heard thus far if that is any help.

[vandermolen]

Lady Godiva and De Profundis are pretty good pieces, but I'm less keen on Toman and the Wood Nymph.

+1 for De Profundis - a heroic work written during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia (as it then was).

Currently enjoying this CD of hauntingly atmospheric music by Charles Koechlin:

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Mahler
Symphony No. 3 in D minor
Martha Lipton, mezzo-soprano
Women's Chorus of The Schola Cantorum
Boys' Choir of The Church of The Transfiguration
New York Philharmonic
Bernstein

[vandermolen]

NP:

Mahler
Symphony No. 3 in D minor
Martha Lipton, mezzo-soprano
Women's Chorus of The Schola Cantorum
Boys' Choir of The Church of The Transfiguration
New York Philharmonic
Bernstein

I was lucky to see Mahler's 3rd Symphony live in London a few years ago - a great concert.
PS I like the new Avatar image John! 

[Mirror Image]

I was lucky to see Mahler's 3rd Symphony live in London a few years ago - a great concert.
PS I like the new Avatar image John! 

Wow, I bet that was fantastic. Do you remember who the vocalist/conductor/orchestra were per chance? Thanks, I do rather like this funny caricaturization of Strauss' Elektra, too.

[vandermolen]

Wow, I bet that was fantastic. Do you remember who the vocalist/conductor/orchestra were per chance? Thanks, I do rather like this funny caricaturization of Strauss' Elektra, too.

It may well have been this one John.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/eqx9rz

[Mirror Image]

It may well have been this one John.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/eqx9rz

Lovely, Jeffrey. Thanks.

[vandermolen]

Lovely, Jeffrey. Thanks.

I just tracked back through my emails John and it definitely was that concert - longer ago than I thought.

[Papy Oli]

Good afternoon all,

JS Bach
Cantata BWV56 'Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen'
Cantata BWV158 'Der Friede sei mit dir'
(Herreweghe)