What are you listening 2 now?

[SonicMan46]

Enescu, George (1881-1955) - Octuor, Op. 7; Dixtuor, Op. 14, Quintet, Op. 29, et al w/ the performers on the 3 recordings below; now there are several duplications, but all excellent recordings (several reviews attached for those interested) - just continuing my Enescu listening into the late afternoon, but only half way through my collection, so likely more of George tomorrow?  Dave

     

[Que]

Incidental music: King Christian II, Pelléas et Melisande, The Tempest.
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi.

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.

I'm not an everyday Sibelian nor someone who usually gathers multiple recordings of the same pieces. I pick out what I really like and am happy with that most of the times. The main initial draw here were the symphonies with Vänskä, which I really like. But the set really delivered on the title and has an abundance of truly essential Sibelius in sterling performances.

And like you say:  not just some snippets here and there but complete performances with notes and texts. I believe I paid €60 for it, which is a steal.

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner Michael Haydn Motets

[Todd]

From the bog box, with Carnaval tacked on.  This is the Cziffra I dislike.  Yes, he plays with exemplary control, but he oftens sounds garish and virtuosic just because.  Making matters much worse is the sloppy production.  Rarely have I encountered recordings where individual pieces are very clearly from different sessions, possibly studios, and almost certainly pianos.  Blech.

[foxandpeng]

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.

Tintner is still my touchstone for #4, but this is not far behind. Thanks for such a helpful summary.

[André]

2 suites for solo organ and a solo cello sonata.

[Symphonic Addict]

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

An excellent disc.

[Daverz]

An old favorite.



No. 38.  Very fine Wonderful new Mozart recording from Manze.

[vandermolen]

Might they be available on the Chandos website?— https://www.chandos.net/

Thanks Karl. I might give them a call as I recall them being helpful when a second-hand CD set of Rozhdestvensky's Nielsen symphonies arrived without notes.

[vandermolen]

More specifically: https://www.chandos.net/chanimages/Booklets/CH5034.pdf

Wow! Thank you very much!

[vandermolen]

Bohuslav Martinů: Symphonies No. 3 and No. 4. Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Vladimír Válek.

From this set:

I have that set and recall thinking very highly of it.

[André]

Karlsen's 3rd string quartet is a gem. This disc also contains his sonatas for violin, viola and cello (all with piano) as well as his 1st string quartet. All contain striking passages. Karlsen's music is sometimes cerebral, but he keeps the interest fully engaged.

[Daverz]

Bohuslav Martinů: Symphonies No. 3 and No. 4. Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Vladimír Válek.

From this set:

That set kind of got lost in the shuffle with all the other Martinu Symphony sets and singles I have.  I'll have to sample it again.

[Symphonic Addict]

Carefree, frolicsome and sparkling music at its best!!

[Todd]

Second disc.  As good as the first.

[Spotted Horses]

That set kind of got lost in the shuffle with all the other Martinu Symphony sets and singles I have.  I'll have to sample it again.

It's near the top of my list, with Neumann. I like the way he finds the lyricism in the music.

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Koechlin
La Loi de la jungle, poème symphonique op. 175
Les Bandar-Log, poème symphonique op. 176
Berceuse phoque, pour mezzo-soprano et chœur
Chanson de la nuit dans la jungle, pour mezzo-soprano, baryton et chœur
Chant de Kala Nag, pour ténor et chœur
Vincent Le Texier, Iris Vermillion, Jacque Trussel
Chœur de L'Opéra de Montpellier L.-R.
Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier L.-R.
Bedford



La Livre de la jungle is one of my favorite pieces of music of all-time. This Bedford performance, despite it being recorded live with some applause at the end of some tracks, is much better than Zinman's, IMHO. Zinman's is notable for having much more polish than Bedford's, but the spirit of Koechlin I believe is more prevalent in this Bedford performance.

[Mandryka]

From the bog box, with Carnaval tacked on.  This is the Cziffra I dislike.  Yes, he plays with exemplary control, but he oftens sounds garish and virtuosic just because.  Making matters much worse is the sloppy production.  Rarely have I encountered recordings where individual pieces are very clearly from different sessions, possibly studios, and almost certainly pianos.  Blech.

It may be that, but it's also magnificent. He has an idea worked out for the etudes. Often fiercely energetic, occasionally propelled by the trademark FFFFFFs. Lisztian maybe - no surprises there.

[JBS]

From the Erato Complete Recordings box

A bit garish (to borrow Todd's adjective) and more percussive (well, bangy might be more precise) than usual approach to the music of le Maitre Claude.

Contents
L'isle joyeuse
Preludes Book 1 Numbers 8,10,11,12 (La fille aux cheveux de lin, La catherdrale engloutie, La danse de Puck, Minstrels
La plus que lente
Pour le piano
Etude no. 11
Suite Bergamasque III/IV (Claire de lune, Passepied)

Recorded Paris July 1961.

[Madiel]

Bruckner Symphony 8 Sir Simon Rattle and the Australian World Orchestra

What the heck is the Australian World Orchestra? Never heard of it.