What are you listening 2 now?

[Karl Henning]

And I just finished a listen to Persephone in this recording


We seem to be having an Igortastic evening here.

Oчень хорошо!

[Karl Henning]

Paging Greg! Great brass smears in the Rondes printanières!

Stravinsky
Le sacre du printemps (rec. 28 Jan 1958, at the St Geo. Hotel, Brooklyn
Petrushka
NY Phil
Lenny

Now:

Stravinsky
Le sacre du printemps (rec. 5 Apr 1972, at the EMI Studios
LSO
L'Oiseau de feu (1919 Suite)
NY Phil
Lenny

[Mirror Image]

And now for another puppet related work:

Falla
El Retablo de Maese Pedro
Jennifer Smith (soprano), Alexander Oliver (tenor), Peter Knapp (baritone)
London Sinfonietta
Simon Rattle

[Symphonic Addict]

String Quartet No. 3

Terrific work. Even though my favorite is the No. 2, this one has done merits to reconsider my opinion.

I hope the image can be seen now.

[Mirror Image]

^ I can't see the image, Cesar.

NP:

Debussy
Images, Books I & II
Kocsis

[JBS]

This landed today. Been a while since I've listened to these works, and I forgot how much I like them, especially the Third.


And then on to CD 1 of this, which was part of the same order.

[Symphonic Addict]

This landed today. Been a while since I've listened to these works, and I forgot how much I like them, especially the Third.

These works by Schumann are something else indeed. Quite lovely quartets.

[Mirror Image]

String Quartet No. 3

Terrific work. Even though my favorite is the No. 2, this one has done merits to reconsider my opinion.

I hope the image can be seen now.

Excellent! I love those three SQs.

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Shchedrin
Chamber Suite
Violinists Ensemble of the Bolshoi Theatre
Yuli Reyentovich

[Mirror Image]

NP:

B. Tchaikovsky
Chamber Symphony
St. Petersburg Chamber Orchestra
Edward Serov

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Weinberg
Chamber Symphony No. 4, Op. 153
Kremerata Baltica
Kremer

[Que]

The (last) Purcell double bill this morning:



An excellent performance. Yates takes a steady pace but keeps the flow going. The harpsichord sound is beefy but transparent. Playing is bright, detailed and well articulated. She reminds me of Mitzi Meyerson.

This performance seems a medium in between most of the others. It avoids the "heavy" or generic Germanic approach of Rzetecka-Niewiadomska and Belder respectively, and does reflect French (and Italian) influences. It's steady but avoids the stately manner of Gilbert.




Last but not least. Purcell à la française!  And indeed this in played in French style, swift, virtuosic, and all about rhythm and articulation. I not sure what instrument Baumont uses, but it is relatively modest in presence and probably not one of the modified "beasts". This was the 1st recording I ever heard of these pieces, and I immediately liked it. I admire the expressive
nature of this interpretation and the technical excellence and virtuosity. But is it too French? Perhaps so, but it has lots of character, and the French approach works here better than the Germanic approach.

Conclusions
I'm surprised how different this music turns out under different hands. Overall the quality of the performances has been very good indeed. Making a choice is actually not that easy... Sophie Yates offers a spirited SOTA HIP performance that is the most multifaceted. Malcolm Proud is a bit more traditional, but a very strong, emotive performance. Terence Charleston deserves an honorary mention for his elegant and flowing performances, but ultimately perhaps too subdued. Baumont  offers a rather strong one sided angle, but the result is terrific in what it is.

Q

[Harry]

Morning listening!
New acquisition, First listen.

Marin Marais.
Second Book-Pieces a une et Deux Violes, Premier Livre (1686)
CD I.

Suite in B minor. (Continuo: Harpsichord, Bass Viol)
Suite in G major. (Continuo: Harp, Theorbo)
Suite in D major. (Continuo: Theorbo, Guitar)

L'Acheron

Francois Joubert-Caillet and Sarah Van Oudenhoven, Bass Viol.
Angelique Mauillon, Harp.
Miguel Henry, Theorbo.
Vincent Flückiger, Guitar.
Philippe Grisvard, Harpsichord. (Philippe Humeau, 1977, copy of a anonymous French instrument)


As Book I it holds the same quality in musical expression, and is as dedicated to the music of Marais as humanly possible. Caillet together with Van Oudenhoven make a strong case for their interpretation.
Perfectly synchronized and balanced. The recorded sound is state of the Art.

[vandermolen]

Yes, indeed. The Poema autumnale also has a British quality to the writing that recalled Vaughan Williams or Moeran.

Yes, that's quite true John. That really is a wonderful Respighi CD.

[ritter]

Revisiting this disc of chamber music by Jean Cartan (who died tragically young aged 25 in 1931):



This disc made a favourable impression on me when I first listened to it at the beginning of this year. This time around, I'm enjoying it even more. This is quite something! Unmistakably French and of its time (the twenties), but with a seriousness of purpose that sets it apart from Les Six (think "early Poulenc without the silliness"  ). A truly marvellous disc.

[aligreto]

Beethoven: String Quartets [Gewandhaus Quartet]





String Quartet Op. 59/3

The opening to this work is solemn and grave but it soon takes off on an exuberant, exciting and much lighter run. One is carried along on a wave and flurry of wonderfully exciting and very engaging music. The music of the slow movement is of a different vein but equally engaging. I particularly like that pizzicato cello throughout; deceptively simple and very effective. The third movement is a delight. The final movement is wonderfully executed here. It is very robust and assertive and the music benefits from such an interpretation.

[aligreto]

Recent Listening:



From:



Vivaldi: La Cetra, Op. 9


A recent addition to my Library - I like Vivaldi's Music but I haven't collected a lot of it so far.
I am pretty interested in checking out his Operas and other Vocal Music too...

Do definitely check out his Sacred Music. There is much to be enjoyed there. We have a dedicated thread to it somewhere here. 

[Harry]

New acquisition, First listen.

Eduard Franck.

String Quartets.
C minor, opus 55 for Two Violins, viola and Cello.
E flat major, opus 54, as opus 55.
Premiere Recording.

Edinger Quartet.

Blissful music, well played and recorded.

[vandermolen]

Erkki Salmenhaara (1941-2002)
Symphony 4 'Midway through the Journey of My Life' (Danté)
Finnish RSO
Cond. Ulf Soderblom
One of my best recent discoveries (and Harry's too I think  )
Definitely in the Tubin/Lilburn mould - a marvellously inspiriting work.

My favourite photo of Erkki Salmenhaara (stony faced/packet of cigarettes/cat):

[Papy Oli]

Bach - Cantatas BWV 27, 84, 95, 161 (Herreweghe)

Simply gorgeous. 27 & 95 stood out for me.