What are you listening 2 now?

[vers la flamme]

Sounds like a great idea, @Linz...



Sergei Rachmaninov: Vespers, op.37. Valery Polyansky, USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir

Not a work I listen to frequently but I do enjoy it when I do.

[foxandpeng]

I love the Adagio affettuoso, especially!

Been too long since I listened to Holmboe. so:

Symphony № 8, « Sinfonia Boreale » Op. 56 M. 172 (1952)

I'm in too! I also greatly appreciate Symphony #8

Thread:

Vagn Holmboe
Complete String Quartets
SQ #5
Kontra Quartet
Da Capo

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Very fine disc !

Thank you Andre!

Petrushka anyone? I mean, could you get more kitschy than quoting Joseph Lanner in full? 

I haste to add that Petrushka is my very favorite Stravinsky work hands down, not least precisely because of that Lanner quote --- followed by Pulcinella, not least because of those kitschy Pergolesi quotes in full.

The jury is still out on the third place.

EDIT: I'd really and honestly rather listen to Joseph Lanner and Pergolesi than Stravinsky...

That's my favorite (both versions.) I like Dorati/Minneapolis (Mercury), Haitink/London (Philips), Haitink/Berlin, and Dohnanyi/Vienna.

[Karl Henning]

EDIT: I'd really and honestly rather listen to Joseph Lanner and Pergolesi than Stravinsky...

Honestly, this is no surprise.

[foxandpeng]

Elizabeth Maconchy
Complete String Quartets
SQ #1
Hanson String Quartet


How enjoyable. I've been floating around a few SQ cycles in the last week, from Elena Ruehr (which are excellent), through Gavin Bryars (also excellent), PMD's Naxos Quartets (which are a bit hard going, atm) and finally Bartók (who still doesn't inspire me to persevere, despite his stellar reputation).

Maconchy. I think I'll get to know these between now and the end of the year.

[Florestan]

Honestly, this is no surprise.

I'm glad I'm that popular.

[Karl Henning]

Elizabeth Maconchy
Complete String Quartets
SQ #1
Hanson String Quartet


How enjoyable. I've been floating around a few SQ cycles in the last week, from Elena Ruehr (which are excellent), through Gavin Bryars (also excellent), PMD's Naxos Quartets (which are a bit hard going, atm) and finally Bartók (who still doesn't inspire me to persevere, despite his stellar reputation).

Maconchy. I think I'll get to know these between now and the end of the year.

Nice!

TD:

CD 17

Cello Concerto in d minor, RV 406
Cello Sonata № 7 in a minor, RV 44
Cello Concerto in c minor, RV 402
Cello Sonata № 8 in E^b, RV 39
Cello Sonata № 9 in g minor, RV 42
Cello Concerto in G, RV 414

[André]

Music for reading

[Mirror Image]

Now playing Disc 1 from this marvelous set:



Contents of this set here:

https://bis.se/label/bis/the-complete-choros-bachianas-brasileiras-1

[vers la flamme]

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Suite No.4 in G major, op.61, "Mozartiana". Neeme Järvi, Detroit Symphony Orchestra

[kyjo]

Langgaard: Rosengaardspil (Rose Garden Play) for string quartet



Hat tip to MI for encouraging me to revisit this lovely work, which I hadn't really appreciated before. It looks back affectionately to the Classical Era (the 2nd movement is simply titled Mozart) without sounding like mere pastiche. The performance by the Nightingale Quartet is stellar!


Merikanto: Symphony no. 1



Actually, this exceeded my expectations! True, the last two movements may be a bit episodically constructed, but as per usual Merikanto's material is consistently engaging and silences most criticism from this listener. There are times where I was reminded of the lovably quirky, folksy passages that appear in Melartin's and Magnard's symphonies, as well as of the rich harmonic language of Atterberg. Performances and sound are excellent - special mention should go to the enthusiastic timpani player (always a plus in my book)!


Janáček: String Quartet no. 2 Intimate Letters



What needs more to be said? A masterpiece, plain and simple. One thing I love about Janáček is that that no matter how modernist or experimental he got, his music always has a passionately beating, Romantic heart at its core.


Honegger: Symphony no. 1



A bracing, acerbic (in a good way) early work with an elegiac slow movement and a dance-like finale with a movingly tranquil ending (a Honegger specialty). Unfortunately, I didn't pick the best performance to listen to. Davies' tempi are sluggish and the Basel orchestra doesn't sound particularly inspired under him.


Alwyn: Odd Man Out



After seeing this mentioned so many times on GMG, it was high time I listened to this! Unsurprisingly, it didn't disappoint. Alwyn's big-boned, dramatic idiom was perfectly suited to film scores.

[Mirror Image]

Yeah, that Langgaard work is lovely. Great stuff, Kyle.

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Prokofiev
Scythian Suite, Op. 20
Alexander Nevsky, 78
Olga Borodina, mezzo-soprano
Kirov Orchestra & Chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg
Gergiev

[JBS]

The jury is still out on the third place.

Fairy's Kiss perhaps?

TD
First listen.

87 1/2 minutes long. Sort of ruminative/meditative, starting off with a gorgeous 5 minute statement of the Aria. The faster passages are taken briskly but not quickly.  But there are no langorous moments. Initial impression: like it.

ETA
Perhaps a bit too slow. At the least one has to be in the mood for it.

[kyjo]

Schubert: Symphony no. 10 (reconstructed by Brian Newbould)



Well, I guess I'm no purist, but this still exceeded my expectations! In my opinion, Newbould crafted a convincing work out of Schubert's sketches; indeed, much of the material here is prime late Schubert - witness the extraordinarily haunting and beautiful second subject of the slow movement. Great stuff - I'll now have to check out the rival completion by Pierre Bartholomée as well as Berio's Rendering which is based off it.


Schubert: Grand Duo, D. 812 (orch. Joachim)



Another "inauthentic" Schubert arrangement which I enjoyed very much. There are some delicious harmonic surprises in the first movement especially which really made me sit up and take notice!


Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem and Ballad of Heroes



Of course, the powerful, moving Sinfonia da Requiem is a great favorite of mine which packs quite a punch in its mere 22-minute duration. The lesser-known Ballad of Heroes for tenor, chorus, and orchestra has a savagely compelling central movement Scherzo (Dance of Death) which is, if anything, even more exciting than the central Dies Irae of the Sinfonia. The outer movements are a bit less inspired, but still worth hearing. These performances by the LSO under Hickox are as fiery and passionate as one could wish for!


Rachmaninoff orch. Respighi: 5 Etudes-Tableaux



Apparently Rachmaninoff was very pleased with Respighi's orchestrations, and it's not hard to see why! The Etudes-Tableaux are rather unique in Rachmaninoff's output in that they largely lack the ultra-Romantic, long-breathed melodies that characterize so many of his other works. I should revisit the piano originals - I recall finding them surprisingly elusive.


Dopper: Symphony no. 2 Scottish



Dopper is one of those composers whose music is quite far from being "profound" in any way but I find it so enjoyable in its sheer tunefulness and joie de vivre. Like Mendelssohn's 3rd, this is a very convincing "Scottish" symphony by a foreigner. The real gem of the work is the 2nd movement scherzo, which is an absolute riot of stamping, whirling energy and incredibly catchy tunes (I'm not sure if they are authentic folk tunes or Dopper's own - I would guess the former). Unfortunately, the finale heads into "academic" territory, but still manages to be enjoyable enough.

[Linz]

More Rachmaninov now with Maazel and the Berlin Philharmonic

[Mirror Image]

I'll end tonight's listening session with Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32 from this superb Jurowski box set:



A sizzling hot performance!

[Mirror Image]

Alright, well...one more work before bed: Britten: Nocturne, Op. 60 (Pears/Britten/LSO)

From this set -

[vandermolen]

Langgaard: Rosengaardspil (Rose Garden Play) for string quartet



Hat tip to MI for encouraging me to revisit this lovely work, which I hadn't really appreciated before. It looks back affectionately to the Classical Era (the 2nd movement is simply titled Mozart) without sounding like mere pastiche. The performance by the Nightingale Quartet is stellar!


Merikanto: Symphony no. 1



Actually, this exceeded my expectations! True, the last two movements may be a bit episodically constructed, but as per usual Merikanto's material is consistently engaging and silences most criticism from this listener. There are times where I was reminded of the lovably quirky, folksy passages that appear in Melartin's and Magnard's symphonies, as well as of the rich harmonic language of Atterberg. Performances and sound are excellent - special mention should go to the enthusiastic timpani player (always a plus in my book)!


Janáček: String Quartet no. 2 Intimate Letters



What needs more to be said? A masterpiece, plain and simple. One thing I love about Janáček is that that no matter how modernist or experimental he got, his music always has a passionately beating, Romantic heart at its core.


Honegger: Symphony no. 1



A bracing, acerbic (in a good way) early work with an elegiac slow movement and a dance-like finale with a movingly tranquil ending (a Honegger specialty). Unfortunately, I didn't pick the best performance to listen to. Davies' tempi are sluggish and the Basel orchestra doesn't sound particularly inspired under him.


Alwyn: Odd Man Out



After seeing this mentioned so many times on GMG, it was high time I listened to this! Unsurprisingly, it didn't disappoint. Alwyn's big-boned, dramatic idiom was perfectly suited to film scores.

'Odd Man Out' is one of my favourite works by Alwyn. Coincidentally I'd fished the Merikanto symphonies out to play soon.

[vandermolen]

Erik Chisholm 'Pictures from Dante' (after Doré) 1948
A doom-laden start to the day