What are you listening 2 now?

[Harry]

This for me fantastic disc came just by the post, and since I was quite curious I dropped it in the player right away, and the only thing that escaped me was a profound WOW. This is an amazing project, in which Tasto solo prove themselves to masters of their art. The sound is State of the Art, and as a whole it leaves no wish unsatisfied. Would dearly love more of this.

Meyster ob allen Meysteren.
Conrad Paumann and the 15th century German Keyboard school.
Tasto Solo, Guillermo Perez.
Instruments used: Clavisimbalum, Gothic organ, Gothic harp, Organetto.

[Todd]

From the big box.  The first of two discs.  I definitely prefer these works with piano and violin, but the blending of sonorities here sounds rather different and striking, as if the violin is emerging from a chord played on the harpsichord.  All is very well played, of course.

[Mirror Image]

Last work for the night:

Hahn
Piano Concerto in E major
Shani Diluka, piano
Orchestre de Chambre de Paris
Hervé Niquet



Absolutely exquisite.

Listening to this work yet again. The performance is so crystalline --- there's simply not a wrong note anywhere. Beautiful.

[Harry]

Last played in 2015, three times no less, which says something about my admiration for these works. They belong to me to the very top of the SQ literature. It is extremely well played, and the sound suits the music in it being very intimate. It is performed with passion and restraint at the same time.

Eugen d' Albert.
SQ No 1 & 2.
Sarastro Quartet.


Before the age of thirty, Eugen d'Albert composed two string quartets in 1886 and 1893 as his only chamber works. Judging by reports of their popular appeal at the time they were written, it is quite astonishing that they are rarely played today. The Sarastro Quartet has presented these two precocious masterpieces on recording.
The young musicians  from Winterthur are to be thanked for making these rarities worth hearing accessible to a wider audience The fact that the works recorded here have been played many times in the concert hall can be heard in the thoughtful and committed interpretations

[aligreto]

Bruckner: Symphony No. 4, Nowak edition [Chailly]





This symphony, for me, is where Bruckner's symphonic voice blossomed. The work, overall, is self assured and assertive in presenting its own voice. This is very apparent in the opening movement. The music is very mature, well scored and, importantly, it sounds wonderfully assured. Chailly does it great justice by allowing everything to breathe and to be heard. The strings are wonderfully rich and full, the woodwinds are well balanced and the brass section delivers the appropriately requisite power when called for. The slow movement is rich and full sounding in its orchestration. The music is lyrical, expressive and assured and both the harmonies and the counterpoint accompaniments weave a rich tapestry. I particularly like this Scherzo. It is both powerful and assertive in its musical message and, once again, it affirms Bruckner's musical maturity for me. I really like the music of the final movement. It is, by and large, understated but its quality is not in question and it has an inexorable forward momentum to it building up to a satisfactory resolution. This is all very well delivered by Chailly.

[Traverso]

Ludwig Minkus

La Bayadère

Gounod

Que ton ivresse,o volopté  ( from faust)

[Que]

Symphony no. 4

[Karl Henning]

My impulsive reaction was "I need to get that." Then, "Oh, I have that, but with a different cover."

(* chortle *)

[Karl Henning]

https://www.youtube.com/v/DfvQJZ55C6U

[VonStupp]

PI Tchaikovsky
The Voyevoda, op. 78
Royal Liverpool PO - Vasily Petrenko

New to me:

A craggy little composition akin to The Tempest. I like the unvarnished sound Naxos captured Liverpool, even if it is a bit edgy.

VS

[Mirror Image]

Symphony no. 4

Pounds the table! I've certainly been digging all of the Sibelius you've been listening to recently, Que. And this Essential Sibelius set, for me, is the best introduction to the composer as it has such an assortment of pieces throughout his oeuvre. Also, this BIS set actually gives you the full works, too, not just excerpts.

[Karl Henning]

A first listen:

https://www.youtube.com/v/KNeSTSmthro

[Spotted Horses]

The clotted audio on Barbirolli's 1952 recording of Brahms 3rd left me wanting to hear something more modern. Listened to the first movement of this recording, Fischer/Budapest, which is lovely.



A relaxed performance that breaths and lets every line sing. I noticed some details that had escaped me before. Then I had to work on some code, and the babies woke up. Hoping to listen to more of it tomorrow.

[ritter]

Listening to this work yet again. The performance is so crystalline --- there's simply not a wrong note anywhere. Beautiful.

Glad you liked this, John! Diluka plays this lovely work very, very well. The Piano Concerto is one of Hahn's best pieces IMHO, and a favourite of mine...

TD:

First listen to Philippe Bianconi's recording of Debussy's Études (the CD arrived today).



Superb! And the second étude, Pour les tierces, is a piece I never tire of listening to. Debussy at the top of his game...

[Karl Henning]

https://www.youtube.com/v/zLdENvC6VH0

[SonicMan46]

That a decent recording, but I much prefer this one:

 

The interpretation, overall performance and audio fidelity cannot be faulted. If you haven't acquired it, please do so, Rafael.

Hi John - first, I own the Arte Nova recording w/ Zank & Sulzen (inexpensive, on one disc, and quite good reviews - attached) - listening now and enjoying; BUT always in the market for a more recent version pending reviews/pricing - also in the attachment is a review of the Radudiu recording, with excellent comments, but I see that it's a 2-disc package w/ each disc having just 40+ mins of music, likely not a convenience for those w/ a single-disc CD player (of course, can always be ripped) - so please let me know if this is in a single-sized 'double' jewel box, the larger regualr double jewel box, or in some 'wallet-type' folder?  Thanks for any info.  Dave

[Mirror Image]

Hi John - first, I own the Arte Nova recording w/ Zank & Sulzen (inexpensive, on one disc, and quite good reviews - attached) - listening now and enjoying; BUT always in the market for a more recent version pending reviews/pricing - also in the attachment is a review of the Radutiu recording, with excellent comments, but I see that it's a 2-disc package w/ each disc having just 40+ mins of music, likely not a convenience for those w/ a single-disc CD player (of course, can always be ripped) - so please let me know if this is in a single-sized 'double' jewel box, the larger regular double jewel box, or in some 'wallet-type' folder?  Thanks for any info.  Dave

Hey Dave, the Radutiu/Rundberg set is one of those slimline 2-CD jewel cases. I don't own the Zank/Sulzen recording, so I can't comment on whether those performances are any good, but with the Radutiu/Rundberg, I haven't really felt any urge to seek out alternatives aside from owning that recording on Olympia that Rafael was listening to a day or so ago.

[Mandryka]

This for me fantastic disc came just by the post, and since I was quite curious I dropped it in the player right away, and the only thing that escaped me was a profound WOW. This is an amazing project, in which Tasto solo prove themselves to masters of their art. The sound is State of the Art, and as a whole it leaves no wish unsatisfied. Would dearly love more of this.

Meyster ob allen Meysteren.
Conrad Paumann and the 15th century German Keyboard school.
Tasto Solo, Guillermo Perez.
Instruments used: Clavisimbalum, Gothic organ, Gothic harp, Organetto.

Well there's the Dufay and Binchois CD. The one of English music is quite nice too but to me sounds rather different.

I saw them in concert and enjoyed it very much, despite being on an uncomfortable pew at the back of a cold and damp church on a rainy day.

[Karl Henning]

"Wolferl"
Pf Cto in D, K.175
Pf Cto in B^b, K.238
Pf Cto in C, K.246
Rondo in D, K.382

[SonicMan46]

Hey Dave, the Radutiu/Rundberg set is one of those slimline 2-CD jewel cases. I don't own the Zank/Sulzen recording, so I can't comment on whether those performances are any good, but with the Radutiu/Rundberg, I haven't really felt any urge to seek out alternatives aside from owning that recording on Olympia that Rafael was listening to a day or so ago.

Thanks John for the comments - I did enjoy a re-listen to the Zank/Sulzen recording and don't find a need to invest 20 bucks in another - BUT, also pulled some of my Enescu collection (same 16 or so discs as quoted a few years ago in the George Enescu Thread) - take a look for those new to this composer, much information and recommendations - first up:

Enescu, George (1881-1955) - Orchestral Works w/ Lawrence Foster and many others - Dave