What are you listening 2 now?

[Karl Henning]

Weinberg
Sonata for Viola Solo (Viola Sonata № 1) Op. 107
Julia Rebekka Adler

Or are all four of the Weinberg Sonatas unaccompanied? Reckon I'll find out....

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Villa-Lobos
Ruda
Slovak RSO
Duarte



Another winning Villa-Lobos disc from Robert Duarte and his Slovak forces. Ruda is another one of those ballet/symphonic poem 'hybrids'. I can hear the idea of the dance being invoked in the music, but also in that the music is quite descriptive and contains a narrative of some kind.

[Mirror Image]

I do enjoy the clarinet version as well, but that recording that guy posted the other day is really good.

I'll certainly take your word for it.

[Symphonic Addict]

+1 I love Järvi's Prokofiev. It's too bad he never recorded any of the complete ballets.

Fortunately he's alive and active nowadays, so we could expect something in the near future.

[Mirror Image]

Fortunately he's alive and active nowadays, so we could expect something in the near future.

Perhaps. I'm not expecting full performances of Romeo & Juliet or Cinderella from him.

[Karl Henning]

I do enjoy the clarinet version as well, but that recording that guy posted the other day is really good.

Aye. It's an excellent disc overall.

[JBS]

[kyjo]

Ahem. His piano works for children are arguably the BEST works for children I ever played.

I don't doubt they're very good! Everything I've heard from Kabalevsky's pen exudes a high level of craftsmanship.

[kyjo]

Quartets 1 and 2 (disc1) of this 2 disc set of the 4 SQ.

If my collection was filed alphabetically, Juon would be between Joubert and Kabalelevsky. But since I file composers by country/region, this becomes a problem. Pavel Fédorovich Juon was born in 1872 in Russia from parents born from Swiss immigrants. He went to school at the German Academy in Moscow, studied composition at the Moscow Conservatory under Taneyev and Arensky, married a Russian, after which he and his wife moved to Berlin (1898). He taught at the Musikhochschule where his students numbered Skalkottas, Vladigerov, Jarnach, Stepan Wolpe. Most of his industrious career took place in Germany, where he was highly regarded. After his retirement he moved to Switzerland (his second wife was Swiss), where he was able to devote himself to composing. He died in Vevey, Switzerland, in 1940. During his life he held all three nationalities. 

Juon has been called 'the russian Brahms' by the Russians, the Germans also claiming him (I have a disc of 'german music composed in Berlin in the 1930s' where he features) and here he is with his 4 quartets edited by the label Musiques suisses. Apparently he never used swiss folklore in his music (entirely tonal), but russian folk tunes and musical idiom is all over the place in these quartets (the booklet notes readily acknowledge as much). A rather special case, although not unique of course. On top of the russian-germanic influences, that of Dvorak may also be felt in the way the themes are freely exchanged between the instruments, going from soloistic to fully orchestral textures. The themes are closer to Tchaikovsky than Brahms, their development extremely sophisticated and thorough, with strong folk influences in the rythms of the fast movements. These works are a real find.

I still haven't decided where to place Juon in my filing system  .

Juon's SQs are quite good, but IMO his chamber works with piano are even better! Have you heard his piano quartets, particularly the stunning first one (Rhapsodie)?

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Dvořák
Symphony No. 6 In D Major, Op. 60
LSO
Kertész

From this set -



I haven't heard this symphony in ages. Truly remarkable.

[Carlo Gesualdo]

I received today some HELIOS work today via mail, Gombert's :
[asin]B004NWHVOY[/asin]

This date but is very good, but it's  Henry's Eight, what else should I expect, so I will be listening to this, yep, and today I received a CD of Manuel Cardoso, I sold in the past to re-buy  nowaday, what was I thinking this  Requiem is Magnificent.

Expecting more in the mail this week, and received two t-shirt exclusive copy of my principal ''NOISE-BAND''  Wreckage(NOISE-SLUDGE) & Total Annihilation(ambient/industrial/noise) there super of me label Noisy Hell Production. One navy blues colorful, one black and white, minor paranthesis. I am expecting CD  too exclusive of my works. Goodnight fellows

[Daverz]

Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Suite No. 4 "Mozartiana"



I've been really impressed with these Sony transfers and the original recordings in their Rodzinski/New York box.  The beauty of the playing so often lost in historical recordings comes across very well in these 70+ year old recordings.

[SimonNZ]

[Mirror Image]

First-Listen Tuesday

Glazunov
String Quintet in A major, Op. 39
Gringolts Quartet with Christian Poltéra (cello)

[Symphonic Addict]

Suite from 'The Ostrobothnians'

Apart from the symphonies, this is my favorite work by Madetoja.

[Mirror Image]

First-Listen Tuesday

Glazunov
String Quintet in A major, Op. 39
Gringolts Quartet with Christian Poltéra (cello)

This was HUGELY enjoyable! I'll be revisiting it again soon.

Last work of the night:

Glazunov
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B major, Op. 100
Karl-Andreas Kolly, piano
Slovak RSO
Griffiths



Mesmerizing beyond belief. This particular performance is the best one I've heard of the three I own (Coombs/Brabbins on Hyperion and Romanovsky/Serebrier on Warner).

[Que]

Morning listening:

[Harry]

New acquisition, first listen to this performance.

Marin Marais.
Deuxieme Livre de Pieces de Viole.
Pieces a une et deux Violes, Premier Livre (1686)
CD II.

Suite in A major. Continuo: Guitar, Theorbo, Bass Viol.
D minor. Continuo: Harpsichord.
G major. Continuo: Guitar, Bass Viol.



Francois Joubert Caillet, Bass Viol.
L'Acheron.


Nothing but praise.

[ritter]

CD 2 of this awkward anthology of the "Complete Works" of Edgar Varèse, allegedly "volume 1", but AFAIK a second volume was never published, and these "complete works" do not include Amériques 


Intégrales, Density 21.5, Ionisation, Octandre, the interpolations from Déserts, and the riotous world première performance of Déserts under Hermann Scherchen.

[Biffo]

I'd file him under Russian composers for the simple fact that his country of origin was Russia and not Switzerland. It's kind of like Honegger --- he's regarded as a Swiss composer, but he spent his life in France. It probably has something to do with how the composer themselves felt. Ravel's parents were Swiss and Basque, but he identified himself as a French composer. Mahler was born in Bohemia, but considered himself Austrian. Anyway, there are so many examples one could go through.

Mahler was born in Bohemia and considered himself Bohemian. On his first visit to New York he antagonized the German language press as soon as he got off the boat by insisting he was Bohemian not German. Austrian didn't exist as a nationality before 1919 though no doubt there was some local patriotism in the Austrian provinces, just like Bavaria, Saxony etc, otherwise they were all German.