What are you listening 2 now?

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

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AnotherSpin, ritter, Que, Harry and 23 Guests are viewing this topic.

Mirror Image

NP:

Shostakovich
Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54
Leningrad PO
Mravinsky




A sizzling performance.

Mirror Image

NP:

Schulhoff
Violin Sonata No. 2, WV 91
Tanja Becker-Bender - violin, Markus Becker - piano



SonicMan46

Byrd & Bull w/ Kit Armstrong on piano - this morning on Spotify, did a re-listen of the new release below and again enjoyed - reposting because a new review in Classics Today was released - I've added this one to the others I had put together previously and the new compilation is attached.  Streaming an easy option for me so probably will not be a purchase but if you like to hear some early music played on an instrument not invented at the time, then a recommendation.   :laugh:  Dave


Karl Henning

Quote from: John Copeland on September 27, 2021, 08:06:25 AM


I love everything by Kurt Atterberg, even if some of it is a wee bit samey... ???

Kind of my feeling about Hovhaness.
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

Mirror Image

#50264
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on September 27, 2021, 09:17:29 AM
Kind of my feeling about Hovhaness.

Very much my feeling about Hovhaness, but if you're in the mood for that particular sound-world, then there's plenty to choose from in his 1,000+ opuses or however many it was that he wrote.

Karl Henning

Quote from: Mirror Image on September 27, 2021, 09:20:03 AM
Very much my feeling about Hovhaness, but if you're in the mood for that particular sound-world, then there's plenty to choose from in his 1,000+ opuses or however many it was that he wrote.

It means there is variety, for those who choose to seek it. He was no Telemann, for mercy's sake!
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

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on September 25, 2021, 02:27:04 PM
https://www.youtube.com/v/K5P7qvGTlyQ

This is, in my opinion, a good example of a piece where, in the several movements he uses various elements which will ring familiar, yet the overall piece strikes me as worthwhile and by no means "mere recycling."
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

Mirror Image

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on September 27, 2021, 10:13:45 AM
It means there is variety, for those who choose to seek it. He was no Telemann, for mercy's sake!

Yes, there is more variety in Hovhaness than meets the ears. Just like there is Penderecki for example. It's not all starkness with blistering sonic explosions.

Mirror Image

NP:

Vasks
Lonely Angel ("Vientuļais eņģelis")
Trio Palladio




This is a first-listen to this work in it's piano trio arrangement. Previously, I was only familiar with it in its orchestral arrangement (actually written for solo violin and string orchestra). Of course, it's ravishingly beautiful and I do rather like this chamber arrangement.

John Copeland

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on September 27, 2021, 09:17:29 AM
Kind of my feeling about Hovhaness.

Yes, Hovhaness, some amazing stuff!  Nice reminder, I'm away to listen to Prayer of St Gregory, such beautiful music...  :)

André

#50270


Disc 1:

Symphony no 3 (Symphony of the Air Orchestra, Manhattan Center 1957)

Overture Leonore no 3  (Orch. des Concerts Lamoureux, Paris 1960)

Gluck: Sinfonia in G, arr. Hans Gál

All these are ex-DGG recordings. The Eroica is with Toscanini's NBC Orchestra (renamed after the maestro's death). It's very much in the mould of the italian firebrand, but much better recorded than his early 1950s performance from RCA's dry as dustt Studio 8-H. Although mono, the sound is clear and spacious - except where the timpani thunder forth mercilessly  (first movement recapitulation and the climax of the marcia funebre, where some overload is noticeable. Otherwise this is as fine a performance as any I've heard, certainly a top 10, even a top 5 one.

In Leonore III the OSCC wind and brass timbres cut through nicely, adding to the intensity of the performance. The Gluck sinfonia is a pleasant but forgettable filler. These latter performances are in excellent stereo.

Karl Henning

Quote from: John Copeland on September 27, 2021, 10:50:21 AM
Yes, Hovhaness, some amazing stuff!  Nice reminder, I'm away to listen to Prayer of St Gregory, such beautiful music...  :)

I used to play that on clarinet, collaborating with the late organist, Wm Goodwin.
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

Mirror Image

NP:

Ruggles
Evocations for piano
John Kirkpatrick




What a crusty old sod Ruggles was, but God bless him for it! Certainly amongst the more original American composers and a part of that awesome group of early American modernists along with Ives, Crawford Seeger and Cowell.

vandermolen

#50273
Quote from: John Copeland on September 27, 2021, 10:50:21 AM
Yes, Hovhaness, some amazing stuff!  Nice reminder, I'm away to listen to Prayer of St Gregory, such beautiful music...  :)
I agree John. Also the 'Odysseus Symphony' (No.6), 'All Men are Brothers' (No. 11), 'City of Light' (No.22), 'Mount St Helens' (No.50), 'Meditation on Orpheus', 'Exile Symphony' (No.1), 'Celestial Gate' (No.6) etc etc.
"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).

Mirror Image

NP:

Sibelius
Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63
Moscow RSO
Rozhdestvensky




Man...this is fantastic and Rozhdestvensky's Sibelius is ice cold a la Vänskä in Lahti. Lovely music-making and I totally disagree with Hurwitz's whole "CD From Hell" criticism of this set.

Karl Henning

"Wolferl"

Symphony № 38 in D, « Prague » K. 504
Mozart Akademie Amsterdam
Jaap ter Linden
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

Symphonic Addict

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on September 26, 2021, 03:31:54 AM
Very nice, the sound world is Eastern Orthodox chant.

Sounds like right up my street. Thanks, Karl.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Mirror Image

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on September 27, 2021, 12:17:56 PM
Sounds like right up my street. Thanks, Karl.

I'll have to give this work from Hovhaness a listen as well.

John Copeland

Quote from: vandermolen on September 27, 2021, 11:54:01 AM
I agree John. Also the 'Odysseus Symphony' (No.6), 'All Men are Brothers' (No. 11), 'City of Light' (No.22), 'Mount St Helens' (No.50), 'Meditation on Orpheus', 'Exile Symphony' (No.1), 'Celestial Gate' (No.6) etc etc.



Nice to 'connect' with you again Jeffrey!  Yes indeed, I have this on at the moment.   ;D

André



Betsy Jolas: quartet no 2 for soprano and string trio.
Charles Chaynes: 4 Poèmes de Sapho for soprano and string trio.

Both works are remarkable, but I was stunned by the Jolas quartet. Part of my reaction is due to the incredible instrumental quality of Mesplé's voice. She knows exactly where and how to place vibrato, how to attack high notes with pinging accuracy and how to declaim naturally (in the Chaynes work). Never has stratospheric singing been so sweet, so meaningful and downright stunning. Both works were dedicated to, and created by Mesplé.