What are you listening 2 now?

[Karl Henning]

NP:

Shostakovich
Seven Romances on Poems of Alexander Blok, Op. 127
Elisabeth Söderström, soprano
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
Fitzwilliam String Quartet

One of my very favorite scores of his!

[Mirror Image]

One of my very favorite scores of his!

And a fantastic performance to boot.

[Karl Henning]

Earlier:

Weinberg Piano Quintet, Op. 18
Matthias Kirschnereit
The Szymanowski Quartet

Myaskovsky String Quartet № 13 in a minor, Op. 86
The Pacifica Quartet

Taneyev
String Quartet № 1 in b^b minor, Op. 4
String Quartet № 4 in a minor, Op. 11
String Quartet № 5 in a , Op. 13
String Quartet [№ 7] in E^b (1880
The Taneyev Quartet

Dvořák
Symphony № 2 in B^b, Op. 4 / B. 12
Cz Phil
Neumann

[Karl Henning]

RVW
Toccata marziale
Eastman Wind Ensemble

[André]

Both discs are quite stupendous in terms of artistic quality. The Beethoven was recorded in 1949 and its age shows. Not so the 1954 Wagner program, which benefits from an excellent mono recording: very firm sonic image, good dynamic range, no peaking. Both are from the Complete Decca Recordings box.

[Traverso]

I guess we're all 'worthless nobodies' as everyone is a critic in their own way.

Very funny,I have the same thoughts about this,we all have our idle occupations.

[Daverz]

EJ Moeran
Symphony in g minor
Sinfonietta
Overture for a Masque
LPO & NPO - Sir Adrian Boult

Moeran is new to me, and what a joy! I will get much pleasure re-listening to this recording in order to get familiar and comfortable with Moeran's voice. The Sinfonietta was quite fine too, I like its efficiency, but the Overture didn't do much for me on first listen. There were some breathtaking front-desk solos in both the Symphony and Sinfonietta that I look forward to hearing again.

That's a great disc.  The 24/96 download is a worthwhile improvement over the original CD.

[Mirror Image]

Very funny,I have the same thoughts about this,we all have our idle occupations.

Indeed, Jan. I mean if you offer an opinion of a recording, did you not just critique it? We've all been in a critic's shoes in one way or another.

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Shostakovich
String Quartet No. 15 in E-flat minor, Op. 144
Fitzwilliam Quartet

From this set -

[Traverso]

Indeed, Jan. I mean if you offer an opinion of a recording, did you not just critique it? We've all been in a critic's shoes in one way or another.

Right John,but my shoes are bigger...

[Mirror Image]

Right John,but my shoes are bigger...

I'm sure they are!

[Traverso]

I'm sure they are!

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Shostakovich
Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77
Alina Ibragimova, violin
State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia 'Evgeny Svetlanov'
Jurowski



Revisiting this performance after not listening to it for quite some time. I have to say I'm enjoying much more this time around than I did before. Now if Ibragimova/Jurowski would tackle the Prokofiev VCs.

[T. D.]

New arrival, first listen.


I think they're very good quartets, will need another 2 or so listens to say more. I got a 3-CD "Music of Viktor Kalabis" box last year and was duly impressed.

[Mirror Image]

New arrival, first listen.


I think they're very good quartets, will need another 2 or so listens to say more. I got a 3-CD "Music of Viktor Kalabis" box last year and was duly impressed.

Nice! I'm still on the lookout for this set.

[Justice Roberts]

Several new acquisitions:

Dušek, František Xaver (1731-1799) - Music for Fortepiano with Marius Bartoccini; 5-CD set recorded in 2018/19 - 3 instruments used; fortepiano, Johann Schantz, c. 1805-1810; fortepiano, Nannette Streicher, c. 1797; harpsichord, anonymous German, c. 1720.  Short bio synopsis quoted below w/ link to his 200+ compositions of which little is available.  Despite knowing his name, this is my first purchase of his music - could not find a review of this package, but in the attachment a longer bio from Brilliant is included.

Bach, JS - Transcriptions of Vivaldi/Marcello Brothers w/ Sophie Yates on the harpsichord (double manual by Andrew Garlick, 1996 - a copy of a Jean-Claude Goujon, Paris, 1748); 7 transcriptions are on the disc, all but one after Vivaldi, written in 1713-14 when Bach was at Weimar.  Reviews attached for those interested.  Dave

 

I like the Yates album! Thank you for the review. I will check out Dusek.

[Justice Roberts]

New acquisition, first listen.

Jaromir Weinberger.

Orchestral Works.
Schwanda, the Bagpiper, ( Overture, Odzemek, Furiant, Prelude to the Second act, Polka & Fuga.
Bohemian Songs and Dances.
Overture "The Beloved Voice".

Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Karl-Heinz Steffens.

This music came as a welcome surprise. I never heard of the composer, so it was all new territory for me. Right away I can say that Schwanda is a stunning work, well calibrated and balanced and very creative. Tonal accesible music with a folk like flavour to it all, intricately orchestrated, it took my breath away several times. The Bohemian Songs and Dances passes like a dreamlike journey, as soft as a spring breeze,
with fine solo contributions of Violin, and Alt violin.
Sound is very good as is the performance.

Thank you for the post. I listened to the music via streaming, and I liked it a lot.

[Justice Roberts]

Both discs are quite stupendous in terms of artistic quality. The Beethoven was recorded in 1949 and its age shows. Not so the 1954 Wagner program, which benefits from an excellent mono recording: very firm sonic image, good dynamic range, no peaking. Both are from the Complete Decca Recordings box.

The cover art of the Wagner album looks so hip and cool!

[Symphonic Addict]

I'm not crazy about this composer, but I do admit that these sonatas have quite special music, the same goes for the symphonies.

[Symphonic Addict]

New arrival, first listen.


I think they're very good quartets, will need another 2 or so listens to say more.

Great to read. Enjoy!