What are you listening 2 now?

[André]

Yet another go at this fascinating disc. It's been sitting on my shelves for more than 6 years now and I remember having been puzzled and made impatient with it at the time. Something must have happened between my ears in the interim, as I now find all three works here totally captivating, wildly different from one another as they are.

[Symphonic Addict]

More alluring stuff to listen to, André. Looks enticing.

[Symphonic Addict]

Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer's Night Dream Overtures.

I consider that they're more than overtures. They're perfectly symphonic poems of sorts, expertly written, memorable. I also admit that these works are close to Korngold or film music. I can't recommend it enough.




Martinu: Violin Concerto No. 2

Jaw-dropping rendition by accomplished players! I didn't remember how spectacular this concerto is. It is in his "dreamy-oniric" late style.

[JBS]

Chopin! 

Speaking of whom

CDs 38 and 39 of the Erato Francois box
Op 26 nos 1 and 2
Op 40 nos 1 and 2
Op 44
Op 53
Op 61
Op post 71 nos 1-3
Op 22 [Andante spianato et grande polonaise brilliante] (apparently omitting the orchestral part)

Recorded December 1968-January 1969

[Karl Henning]

First-Listen Fridays!

CD 54

Fred Lehrdahl
Waves (1988)

Jacob Druckman
Nor Spell Nor Charm (1988)

Wm Bolcom
Orphée-Sérénade (1984)

Michael Gandolfi
Points of Departure (1988)

Only the second or third Druckman piece I've ever listened to.

Definitely only the second Bolcom or Gandolfi piece I've heard.

OK, my quick back-of-the-envelope hot take:

The Lehrdahl is very good. Makes for a strong start to the disc.
The Druckman is excellent. I believe this is simply The Case, and not Karl nostalgic for having applied to the Eastman School in the hope pf studying with him. In part, OK, I just really like his writing for the bass clarinet.
I was enthusiastic at the start of the Bolcom. And there are several passages/bits which I like a lot. As the piece skittered here and there, I got the impression that Bolcom was having a go at polystylism, and ... okay, but I found myself not convinced by the whole.
The Gandolfi is good, possibly very good. I shall at some point listen again with pleasure. On the whole, I consider the disk and its program a success. I wish, on the one hand, that I thought better of the Bolcom; but I guess, even if I consider it the weak piece on the disk, it is a weak piece with a fair amount of stuff worth listening to, so not an outright turkey, and that is something to be grateful for.


Now:

CD 6

Dvořák
Biblical Songs, Op. 99

Suk
Asrael, Op. 27

The Dvořák qualifies for First-Listen Fridays!

[André]

Listening on Spotify. Halfway through only but I am so smitten already that I placed an order for the physical discs. This is a joyous, dancing, superbly conceived Christmas Oratorio. Musical delights abound - wonderful soloists, including an extraordinary tenor (arias and Evangelist's recitatives), delightful organ and harpsichord interpolations and a superbly agile chorus, all captured in lucid, transparent sound. What a find, and from an obscure corner of musical Europe to boot !

[Klavier1]

A 106 minute GBV? Yep! I was curious, so I bought the 24/96 FLAC from Presto Classical (it's on sale) and it's quite enjoyable. Yes, some of the variations are slow, but he plays so expressively that it doesn't bother me. He does include lengthy pauses between some of the variations, which is a little off-putting. Excellent sound.

[Symphonic Addict]

Langgaard: String Quartet in A-flat major

Yet another tuneful, enchanting piece. Langgaard was quite a tunesmith IMO.




Copland: Clarinet Concerto

I can't get enough of this stupendous concerto. It's a terrific piece and performance.

[Mirror Image]

Two back-to-back Szymanowski works:

Violin Sonata In D Minor, Op. 9
Ibragimova / Tiberghien



Król Roger, Op. 46
Wojtek Drabowicz (baritone), Olga Pasichnyk (soprano), Krzysztof Szmyt (tenor), Piotr Beczala (tenor), Romuald Tesarowicz (bass), Stefania Toczyska (mezzo-soprano), Ryszard Wroblewski (tenor), Justyna Kabala (vocals), Maciej Dunin-Borkowski (vocals)
Alla Polacca Choir, Polish National Opera Chorus, Polish National Opera Orchestra
Jacek Kaspszyk



Absolutely magnificent! I absolutely adore this composer's music. The more I listen to his haunting works, the more I become enraptured by his music.

[classicalgeek]

Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer's Night Dream Overtures.

I consider that they're more than overtures. They're perfectly symphonic poems of sorts, expertly written, memorable. I also admit that these works are close to Korngold or film music. I can't recommend it enough.




Martinu: Violin Concerto No. 2

Jaw-dropping rendition by accomplished players! I didn't remember how spectacular this concerto is. It is in his "dreamy-oniric" late style.

I don't know the Castelnuovo-Tedesco... in fact, I don't know much of his work at all. I need to have a listen, maybe to these very overtures. That Martinu/Bartok disc is excellent - and Zimmermann is phenomenal!

TD: more Bloch - first listens this time!

Helvetia
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Lior Shambadal

Violin sonata no. 1
Violin sonata no. 2
Piano sonata
Nurit Stark, violin
Cedric Pescia, piano
(both on Spotify)



Helvetia is lushly orchestrated, as much early and middle Bloch is, full of heroic horn-calls and sweeping grand gestures. I heard some Richard Strauss in it; perhaps not his best work, but it still could only be by Bloch. I actually found the disc of sonatas more engaging this time around; all three pieces were rewarding in their own right, especially the violin sonatas. Maybe it's the presence of a piano that helped these pieces stick more than the string quartets I heard last week? Of course I'm fond of many string quartets (Haydn, Beethoven, Dvorak, Ravel, Bartok, Shostakovich...), but maybe I don't take to them as well for composers with whom I'm unfamiliar. And maybe as an unfamiliar composer become familiar, the string quartets will make sense!

[Mirror Image]

Last work for the night:

Duruflé
Requiem, Op. 9
Thomas Hampson (bass-baritone), Marie-Claire Alain (organ), Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano)
Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Orféon Donostiarra
Plasson



My favorite performance of this work is the Matthew Best recording on Hyperion of the composer's arrangement for soloists, chorus, organ and chamber orchestra. The composer's own favorite arrangement of his was the one for soloists, chorus, organ and orchestra, which is probably the version that has been recorded the most. Anyway, this is an excellent performance of the version with full orchestra. Plasson is usually notable in vocal/choral recordings.

[TheGSMoeller]

New release of Bruckner 7th from Roth & Gürzenich-Orchestra Koln.

[Symphonic Addict]

I don't know the Castelnuovo-Tedesco... in fact, I don't know much of his work at all. I need to have a listen, maybe to these very overtures. That Martinu/Bartok disc is excellent - and Zimmermann is phenomenal!

TD: more Bloch - first listens this time!

Helvetia
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Lior Shambadal

Violin sonata no. 1
Violin sonata no. 2
Piano sonata
Nurit Stark, violin
Cedric Pescia, piano
(both on Spotify)



Helvetia is lushly orchestrated, as much early and middle Bloch is, full of heroic horn-calls and sweeping grand gestures. I heard some Richard Strauss in it; perhaps not his best work, but it still could only be by Bloch. I actually found the disc of sonatas more engaging this time around; all three pieces were rewarding in their own right, especially the violin sonatas. Maybe it's the presence of a piano that helped these pieces stick more than the string quartets I heard last week? Of course I'm fond of many string quartets (Haydn, Beethoven, Dvorak, Ravel, Bartok, Shostakovich...), but maybe I don't take to them as well for composers with whom I'm unfamiliar. And maybe as an unfamiliar composer become familiar, the string quartets will make sense!

Castelnuovo-Tedesco is a fine composer who could appeal to your tastes, methinks. A consistent composer in my book.

BTW, by Bloch, the recording of the Violin Sonatas I have is from Hyperion. A stellar performance and recording as well.

[Symphonic Addict]

Eklund: Symphony No. 5 Quadri

I'm eager for CPO will continue this series soon.

[Madiel]

NP:

Fauré
Piano Quintet No. 2 In C Minor, Op. 115
Domus, Anthony Marwood

I'd pound the table but I'm busy clearing things off it for my house move. One of my favourite discs.

[Que]

Morning listening- Music from the Peterhouse Partbooks, vol. 3:

   


Mesmerising English polyphony

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2016/Jan/Peterhouse_v1234_BHCD1002.htm

[Que]

On Spotify:

[Irons]

Some French chamber music here as well: the Quatuor Champeil plays Ravel's String Quartet in F major, and Florent Schmitt's late (1947) String Quartet, op. 112



The recordings are from 1956, originally released on LP by Le Club Français du Disque (Ravel) and Pathé (Schmitt). AFAIK, this is the only recording ever made of the Schmitt piece.

I have the Schmitt LP on my shelves.

[Irons]

Vaughan Williams: 6th Symphony.

Recorded live at the BBC Proms on 16th August 1972.

A tour de force of epic proportions. The Scherzo is positively satanic. It would be impossible to replicate the Epilogue of Boult's studio recording but the feeling of standing in a wasteland of devastation is the same. Sir Adrian is the man for this symphony of that I'm convinced.   

[Mandryka]

Just luscious sexy singing - one of the big high points of last year's Josquin for me.