What are you listening 2 now?

Started by Gurn Blanston, September 23, 2019, 05:45:22 AM

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vandermolen

#49980
Quote from: Dry Brett Kavanaugh on September 22, 2021, 06:30:18 AM
Alfredo Casella SY2.
A fine recording of a great work.

TD
Frankel: 'Curse of the Werewolf' - that doomed processional at the end is marvellous!
I'm sorry that Frankel remained so resolutely atonal in his symphonic scores. He could write great tunes. I'm sure that others will disagree with my point but that's how I feel about Frankel's music. This is my favourite disc of his music and I have several of his symphonies and the Violin Concerto in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Tsaraslondon



Continuing my Elgar phase with Barbirolli's Symphony no 1 and Cockaigne Overture. Glorious performances both.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

Papy Oli

JS Bach - Musical Offering (Kuijken)



Schutz - Weihnachtshistorie (Hillier, Ars Nova Copenhagen)

Olivier

Spotted Horses

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on September 22, 2021, 08:05:19 AMContinuing my Elgar phase with Barbirolli's Symphony no 1 and Cockaigne Overture. Glorious performances both.

Barbirolli was a god.
There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind. - Duke Ellington

Brian

I listened to the Cluytens Big Box album containing piano concertos by Gian Carlo Menotti and Serge Nigg a few months ago, but have completely forgotten everything about them, so I'm listening again now and taking notes.  ;D

Cluytens big box CD 10

Menotti. The opening theme/gesture of the piece has the same rhythmic "shape" as the notorious tune from Shostakovich 7 (which also pops up in Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra), but it's cheerier and feels very much like a product of 30s-40s France. Menotti wasn't French, but boy does he do a good impression. Impassioned slow movement (5 of its 9 minutes are orchestra alone and then piano alone, before the two finally join up near the end) and bubbly, bouncy outer movements which seem like they'd fit in with a particularly goofy screwball comedy. That's especially true of the circusy finale with its carnival one-two oompah main theme. Lots of odd little orchestral touches, like bass drum rolls in the slow movement. It surely helps the French feel of the music to have Cluytens' orchestra on hand, with its distinctive woodwind sound, sleazy brass, and slick violins. This is my only ever encounter with perfectly good piano soloist Yury Boukoff. Overall, 33 minutes is pretty long for a silly trifle in the manner of Ibert, but it's an incredible throwback to the golden age of Hollywood-style composition.

Nigg. Poor guy, with that name he's never getting performed in an English-speaking country again. He was just 31 years old when this was recorded, and lived all the way to 2008. Within the first 90 seconds, this piece already comes across wilder, weirder, and way more interesting. From a soft, eerie tremolo, it basically erupts, with the piano creating a fountain-like effect as the first big climax arrives. The musical language is distinctive and eccentric, a mix of Roussel, Respighi, Stravinsky, maybe almost Berg? Or tiny little bits of Frank Martin? He studied harmony with Messiaen and 12-tone with Leibowitz, but isn't super derivative of either in this piece. You get glimpses, though.

The slow movement is exceptionally beautiful. It's clearly modeled after the Ravel Concerto in G, with the piano starting off all alone and using the same one-two-three left hand accompaniment, but harmonically it wavers, and the mood is more uncertain and poignant. Pierre Barbizet might be a little bit heavy-handed here, but he's great later in the movement, with its haunting ending, and the super-energetic finale.

Bachtoven

This LP is hard to find these days. The playing and sound are superb.


Karl Henning

Quote from: "Harry" on September 21, 2021, 10:34:05 PM
Having my 65 birthday today I expect all kind of freebees in the form of music played today which I like. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: At my home there stands a big box from JPC which my wife and friends ordered, really huge, so I will report later whats in it. ::) ::) ::) ::)

Gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag, mijn vriend!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

CD 31:

"Wolferl"

Serenade № 11 in Eb, K. 375
Serenade № 12 in c minor, K. 388 (384a)



Some of my favorite music by the 20-something Mozart
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

vandermolen

Einar Englund: Symphony No.2 'Blackbird'
My favourite of his symphonies, with a wonderful sense of nature - this is perhaps my favourite Englund CD:
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

JBS

Quote from: "Harry" on September 21, 2021, 10:34:05 PM
Having my 65 birthday today I expect all kind of freebees in the form of music played today which I like. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: At my home there stands a big box from JPC which my wife and friends ordered, really huge, so I will report later whats in it. ::) ::) ::) ::)

A Happy Birthday to you. Not everyone has the honor of sharing their birthday with Bilbo and Frodo.


Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

classicalgeek

Quote from: "Harry" on September 21, 2021, 10:34:05 PM
Having my 65 birthday today I expect all kind of freebees in the form of music played today which I like. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: At my home there stands a big box from JPC which my wife and friends ordered, really huge, so I will report later whats in it. ::) ::) ::) ::)

Happy birthday, Harry, and many more!  :D

Thread duty:

This disc, on Spotify - more Poulenc orchestral works:


Love it all, especially the Concert champêtre!
So much great music, so little time...

Original compositions and orchestrations: https://www.youtube.com/@jmbrannigan

foxandpeng

#49993
Alfred Schnittke
Cello Concerto #2
Polyansky
Russian SSO
Chandos


First hearing of this; first hearing of anything by Schnittke, in fact.

Edit: I don't know what I was expecting here, but not this. Spinning for the second time, as I very much like it.
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

vers la flamme

Happy birthday, Harry! I hope it's been a good one and that life finds you well. That's awesome that your wife and friends got you CDs.

P.S. How's your eye doing? I seem to recall you underwent retinal surgery some months ago to fix a macular pucker. (I work for an ophthalmologist so these things stick in my mind :P). Hope all has healed up and you've gotten some visual improvement.

Harry

Quote from: JBS on September 22, 2021, 11:13:17 AM
A Happy Birthday to you. Not everyone has the honor of sharing their birthday with Bilbo and Frodo.

Now that's a real honour :laugh:
Quote from Manuel, born in Spain, currently working at Fawlty Towers.

" I am from Barcelona, I know nothing.............."

Harry

Quote from: vers la flamme on September 22, 2021, 01:29:02 PM
Happy birthday, Harry! I hope it's been a good one and that life finds you well. That's awesome that your wife and friends got you CDs.

P.S. How's your eye doing? I seem to recall you underwent retinal surgery some months ago to fix a macular pucker. (I work for an ophthalmologist so these things stick in my mind :P). Hope all has healed up and you've gotten some visual improvement.

Thank you my friend, and yes all is well. As to regards to my eye surgery in repairing the macular pucker together with inserting a new lens, the surgeon said is was a success. Measuring confirmed this. My vision has improved rather spectacular.
Quote from Manuel, born in Spain, currently working at Fawlty Towers.

" I am from Barcelona, I know nothing.............."

Karl Henning

Quote from: "Harry" on September 22, 2021, 01:40:28 PM
Thank you my friend, and yes all is well. As to regards to my eye surgery in repairing the macular pucker together with inserting a new lens, the surgeon said is was a success. Measuring confirmed this. My vision has improved rather spectacular.

Excellent!

TD:

CD 26:

Le Rossignol
... I do love this.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

vers la flamme

Quote from: "Harry" on September 22, 2021, 01:40:28 PM
Thank you my friend, and yes all is well. As to regards to my eye surgery in repairing the macular pucker together with inserting a new lens, the surgeon said is was a success. Measuring confirmed this. My vision has improved rather spectacular.

That is amazing to hear, glad you're enjoying your new vision. It's a rather tricky surgery.

Enjoy the rest of your birthday night!

Now playing:



Maurice Ravel: Prélude; Miroirs. Louis Lortie

This was a blind purchase last month but I've been amazingly pleased with it. Lortie's a fine pianist, perfectly attuned to this repertoire; he's now definitely on my radar as far as other recordings of his.

Harry

And now to the unpacking of the large and heavy parcel from JPC and countless other suppliers. They took a list from my computer which I had carefully hidden, but not good enough. It was my list with all the ballets on Bluray discs that I wanted to buy, plus the ones that where only available on DVD and were essential to me. On this list were 108 items, and they were in that box. Can you imagine my surprise.
I am very happy with them though. And now find the time to watch them all, O, boy!
Thank you all for the Birthday wishes, they were well appreciated, be sure of that!
Quote from Manuel, born in Spain, currently working at Fawlty Towers.

" I am from Barcelona, I know nothing.............."