What are you listening 2 now?

[Harry]

Marin Marais.

Troisieme livre de pieces de Viole. (1711)

Volume IV.

Francois Joubert Caillet, Bass Viol.
L'Acheron.

A first class set.

[Iota]

Mompou: Musica callada, Vol. 3

Herbert Henck (piano)


Where else can you hear tales of inner isolation told quite like this. Nowhere I know. They seem like islands quite alone. And Henck really is the man as the hour cometh.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Well returning to this recording six hours later it sounds perfect, no problems with the sound, wonderful interpretation. No reservation.

So what's the difference? The sun is shining of course!

Amazing how situations/our mood effects how much we appreciate/enjoy music isn't it?

Listened to Kodaly's Missa Brevis from this Hyperion CD.  As much as I enjoy a number of Kodaly's works, this one did not work for me:



PD

[Mandryka]

Mompou: Musica callada, Vol. 3

Herbert Henck (piano)

Where else can you hear tales of inner isolation told quite like this. Nowhere I know. They seem like islands quite alone. And Henck really is the man as the hour cometh.

Henck is a really interesting pianist. I recently spent a lot of time listening to him not only in Mompou but also in Walter Zimmermann and Koechlin - very good.

[SonicMan46]

Georg Philipp Telemann.  The Grand concertos for Mixed instruments, Volume I.   La stagione Frankfurt, Michael Schneider.

Could not help myself, so playing this set again, out of spiritual necessity.

Harry - you keep posting on this set -    Making me want to pull out mine for another listen!    BTW, do you have the 8-CD box of the Complete Wind Concertos w/ Schneider, plus Camerata Köln and La Stagione Frankfurt?  Dave

   

[ritter]

More avant-garde SQs. The Arditti SQ plays Donatoni, Scodanibbio, Bussotti, Melchiorre, and Castiglioni. CD 1 of this set:

[Irons]

Handley merely is polite, that's all

I actually listened to Handley to make sure but yes, he is.

[Mirror Image]

Vaughan Williams: Job.

A dynamic and dramatic performance with recording quality to match - Timpani rolls from Handley are barely audible. The (concrete) floor of my listening room shook with Wordsworth.

A perfect Perfect Fool too.

A great performance from Wordsworth/Philharmonia! I never understood the praise for Handley's RVW. It might be great for some listeners, but the audio quality is certainly a hinderance, but in general, he honestly sounds like he's not up to the task. Anyway, I really like this Wordsworth performance of Job and it seems like he was a conductor that never quite got his due.

[aligreto]

Fauré: La Bonne Chanson [Nash Ensemble]


I like this work for voice and chamber ensemble. I like its atmosphere and the way that the music is presented. It is both exciting and engaging. The vocal is heartfelt and the music making is excellent.

[Traverso]

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 [Schmidt-Isserstedt]

I was introduced to this Beethoven cycle by my friend Jan [Traverso] some time ago. Initially, for some inexplicable reason at the time, I was not overly impressed with the cycle. However, for some reason the memory of the cycle stayed with me and I eventually listened to a YouTube version of the Schmidt-Isserstedt presentation of "The Choral Symphony". I was so impressed with that performance that I re-visited the entire cycle and thereafter fundamentally radically changed my opinion on the entire cycle. I do not know what or how I missed it on the first listen but I certainly was wrong there! The second listening session was transformative and illuminative and I would certainly encourage members to give this cycle a fair listen.

The opening movement of Symphony No. 9 is a continual search and probe. Schmidt-Isserstedt does a wonderful job in articulating this in the opening movement. The music is well driven and directed and the questions are very well asked by him. This movement is quite a wonderfully powerful, gripping and expressive presentation whilst still retaining its inherent lyricism. The second movement is also well driven and the orchestration is very well presented. The direction is taut but the music flows very well. The recorded sound is wonderfully, and suitably, big and expansive and it delivers the musical message very well. The slow movement of this symphony has always been, for me, a measure of how effective any given presentation of this work would be. A successful delivery requires sensitivity, lyricism and delicacy and lightness of touch for this movement to be a success. We have everything here with Schmidt-Isserstedt putting his own personal interpretation on the music. The final movement is suitably powerful in terms of its delivery. The incremental introductory build up is very well done; it is both powerful and smooth. The introduction of the main theme is subtle but effective and it is well developed. Another key aspect to the success of this movement is the quality of the soloists employed. For me, they were all a success. The Choral singing was also quite powerful, magnificent, very full and wonderfully sounding. The orchestral playing is excellent throughout. This is quite a magnificent presentation overall and something of a unique sounding interpretation and flavour which is also great!

Good to read Fergus, the overall impression of this cycle is very good.
If you listen in detail you can make some reservations but the final result,
the overview, details that are not lost at too high a tempo, the sound of the recording location, the playing of the Vienna Philharmonic, the refined articulations, harmony and total impression make this my favorite rendition.
I recently bought the last recordings Karajan made of these symphonies, they are so chewed out that the miracle is no longer present, I can't listen to them without a feeling of great loss.

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Vaughan Williams
Job, A Masque for Dancing
Philharmonia
Wordsworth

[Iota]

Henck is a really interesting pianist. I recently spent a lot of time listening to him not only in Mompou but also in Walter Zimmermann and Koechlin - very good.

That's good to hear, he certainly stands out clearly amongst the recordings I've heard of Musica Callada. I'll investigate Messrs. Z and K.

[Irons]

You can also find that performance here Lol (with interesting notes  )
I actually suggested the release to Alto as Collins Classics no longer exists and, as you say, its a fabulous performance, which shouldn't be allowed to disappear from the catalogue:

It is not often the writer of notes gets a mention on a Musicweb International review but in this case he does! The name rings a bell.

In all seriousness Jeffrey you should be applauded for not allowing this recording to bite the dust.

[Mirror Image]

It is not often the writer of notes gets a mention on a Musicweb International review but in this case he does! The name rings a bell.

In all seriousness Jeffrey you should be applauded for not allowing this recording to bite the dust.

+1

[SonicMan46]

Mozart, WA (1756-1791) - Violin Sonatas w/ Rachel Podger & Gary Cooper (on fortepiano, copy by Derek Adlam, 1987 after Anton Walter, Vienna, 1795) - listening to the first 4 of 8 discs (some of the early sonatas are mixed w/ the mature works from No. 17-36, as listed below); my other 'period instrument' recordings of these later works on 4 CDs are also shown (Breitman & Rivest do all but the 'incomplete' ones in the quoted list).  Dave

   

Mature Violin Sonatas (1778–88)[edit]
Violin Sonata No. 17 in C major, K. 296 (1778)
Violin Sonata No. 18 in G major, K. 301/293a (1778)
Violin Sonata No. 19 in E-flat major, K. 302/293b (1778)
Violin Sonata No. 20 in C major, K. 303/293c (1778)
Violin Sonata No. 21 in E minor, K. 304/300c (1778)
Violin Sonata No. 22 in A major, K. 305/293d (1778)
Violin Sonata No. 23 in D major, K. 306/300l (1778)
Violin Sonata No. 24 in F major, K. 376/374d (1781)
Violin Sonata No. 25 in F major, K. 377/374e (1781)
Violin Sonata No. 26 in B-flat major, K. 378/317d (1779)
Violin Sonata No. 27 in G major, K. 379/373a (1781)
Violin Sonata No. 28 in E-flat major, K. 380/374f (1781)
Violin Sonata No. 29 in A major, K. 402/385e -2 movements (incomplete)- (1782, completed by Maximilian Stadler)
Violin Sonata No. 30 in C major, K. 403/385c -3 movements (incomplete)- (1782, completed by Maximilian Stadler)
Violin Sonata No. 31 in C major, K. 404/385d -2 movements (1782, incomplete)-
Violin Sonata No. 32 in B-flat major, K. 454 (1784)
Violin Sonata No. 33 in E-flat major, K. 481 (1785)
Violin Sonata No. 35 in A major, K. 526 (1787)
Violin Sonata No. 36 in F major, K. 547 (1788)
Violin Sonata in B-flat major, K. 372 -1 movement: Allegro (incomplete)- (1781, completed by Maximilian Stadler) (Source)

[aligreto]

Good to read Fergus, the overall impression of this cycle is very good.
If you listen in detail you can make some reservations but the final result,
the overview, details that are not lost at too high a tempo, the sound of the recording location, the playing of the Vienna Philharmonic, the refined articulations, harmony and total impression make this my favorite rendition.
I recently bought the last recordings Karajan made of these symphonies, they are so chewed out that the miracle is no longer present, I can't listen to them without a feeling of great loss.

Hello, Jan. As you have read I am now a big fan of this cycle and, as I have said, Symphony No. 9 was a big turning point for me. Thank you for not trying to "convert" me to the cycle at the time and for allowing me to re-discover it for myself 

[Traverso]

Bach

[Mandryka]

That's good to hear, he certainly stands out clearly amongst the recordings I've heard of Musica Callada. I'll investigate Messrs. Z and K.

Go to Walter Zimmermann's soundcloud page and you'll see some interesting Henck recordings, otherwise unavailable.

[Traverso]

Hello, Jan. As you have read I am now a big fan of this cycle and, as I have said, Symphony No. 9 was a big turning point for me. Thank you for not trying to "convert" me to the cycle at the time and for allowing me to re-discover it for myself 

We all need room to discover for ourselves,true....

[Todd]

Tip-top ivory tickling, as per usual.