What are you listening 2 now?

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis with Leonard Slatkin and Saint Louis on a wonderful Telarc LP!  Want to listen to the rest of it later.  Very enjoyable performance and in great sound.



PD

[Mirror Image]

Before heading off to work:

Roussel
Bacchus et Ariane - Suite, Op. 42
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts
Cluytens

[Traverso]

Beethoven

Folksong Arrangements

Come draw we round a cheerful ring......one of the delightful songs.

[kyjo]

Jacques Ibert's Le Chevalier errant 
    Jacques Maercier, Orchestre national de Lorraine

The more I hear of Ibert, the more I come to admire him.

I see we share very similar tastes! You've been listening to a lot of my favorite pieces recently, this among them.

[Karl Henning]

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2
    Vasily Petrenko, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Tchaikovsky is one of my musical blind spots (Schubert probably being the biggest other). But this performance of #2 I find compelling and attractive.

Nice!

TD:

Wrapping this baby up, the one disc in the box on the Decca label

CD 55

Folk songs arranged by Craig Leon,
Andreas Scholl, counter-tenor (scion of the foot-care magnate?)
here and there a lute, harp, or dulcimer

[kyjo]

Well, Peteris Vasks the day before yesterday, Zemlinsky and Schreker yesterday.  Now playing this:



Satisfied, John? 

Personally, I'm very satisfied with your recent listening. What did you think of the Korngold and Schmidt works on that great disc?

[Linz]

Mahler plays Mahler in this surprisingly good recording of his playing his own music

[classicalgeek]

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.

I had *thought* Castelnuovo-Tedesco would be right up my alley! I'll start with these Shakespeare overtures/tone poems.

I've had a couple people recommend the Hyperion recording of the Bloch violin sonatas. Hyperion isn't on the major streaming services, but the CD is available from Berkshire Record Outlet (as is the sensational disc of works for piano and orchestra with Jenny Lin.) My next order with BRO is taking shape...

Eklund: Symphony No. 5 Quadri

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

Now there's a composer who's new to me! I see Eklund was mid-to-late 20th century. What do you think of the music?

Magnard Symphony No. 4 with Michel Plasson

I've heard a couple of Magnard's symphonies, but not in years. He's definitely a composer I want to revisit!

TD: last night, some expressionist decadence:

Schoenberg
Erwartung
Alessandra Marc, soprano
Staatskapelle Dresden
Giuseppe Sinopoli



The virtuosity Schoenberg demands of both the orchestra and soprano are bordering on superhuman. But they're both in top form with Sinopoli leading the way. A great recording. Somehow I was in the mood for atonality last night , and this more than delivered!

[Karl Henning]

Well, before putting the box up, I thought I'd pull a disc at random for re-listening:

CD 26

"Wolferl"

Horn Concerto in E^b, K. 447
Horn Concerto in E^b, K. 417
Oboe Concerto in C, K. 314 (271k)
Bassoon Concerto in B^b, K. 191 (186e)

with Wm Purvis, hn
Randall Wolfgang, ob
Frank Morelli, bn

[Florestan]

Personally, I'm very satisfied with your recent listening. What did you think of the Korngold and Schmidt works on that great disc?

Thank you, Kyle. 

I've listened only to the Korngold for the time being and I liked it: more Gold than Korn, if you know what I mean. 

The Schmidt will follow soon.

20th century music in general is not at all unfamiliar to me, I like the music of lots of composers --- it's just that save a few names I rarely if ever get the same thrill, excitement, enjoyment and satisfaction that I get from music composed (long) before 1900. I'd put it this way: I like lots of 20th century works, I love only a few. Obviously this tells a lot about me and nothing at all about 20th century music.

[Florestan]

Mahler plays Mahler in this surprisingly good recording of his playing his own music

Did he write piano music? 

[ritter]

First listen to this new arrival:


Déserts has never ranked very highly among my favourite Varèse works, but it was kind of fun to listen to the riot among the audience and the clashing of applause and boos at the end of the performance (the world première under Scherchen at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris on December 2nd, 1954). The sound is rather good, but cannot do justice to a work like this. The broadcast is preceded by an introductory text by Boulez which I found rather generic.

The rest of this twofer is eight conversations (in French) between Varèse and Georges Charbonnier. They're not totally devoid of interest, but Varèse does come across as a humourless, almost bitter man. Things are not helped by the poor interviewing capabilities of Charbonnier (who was a producer at the French National Radio): he insistingly tries to force the composer to agree with his own views (without success, as could be expected)  .

[VonStupp]

Arnold Schoenberg
Friede auf Erden, op. 13 (a cappella version)
BBC Singers - Pierre Boulez (rec. 1982)

From CD1 of this set:

A beautiful choral work. Boulez is quite intense, though.

Since this isn't a long piece, I may do some comparative listening. I suspect that modern choral ensembles (ones with less vibrato than BBC's symphonic largesse) may push the innate beauty forth, and might buff some of the edges that I hear in this older Boulez performance.

VS

[SonicMan46]

Bach, JS - Oboe Concertos w/ Christian Hommel on a modern instrument and Marcel Ponseele on a Baroque oboe (just purchased the latter from Qobuz as a WAV DL and now listening - believe my preference at the moment; of course, Holliger is always lingering nearby!) - in the Hommel booklet these are described as 'originals, transcriptions, and reconstructions' but regardless the works are delightful to my ears.  Dave

   

[Florestan]

Varèse does come across as a humourless, almost bitter man.

I'm not familiar with his life circumstances and very little with his music. Is there any reason why he should have been like that?

Buenas tardes, don Rafael.

[Florestan]

Shouldn't it be "Choral Music" rather than "Chorus Music"? What say you, native English speakers?

[ritter]

I'm not familiar with his life circumstances and very little with his music. Is there any reason why he should have been like that?

Buenas tardes, don Rafael.

No specific reason I can think of. From the interviews, it appears that there was no love lost between the composer and his father (who wanted his son to become an engineer, not a composer), and Varèse left the family home aged 18 "never to return". But these interviews are from 50 years after these events (if they were traumatic).

A piece of trivia: Varèse was first cousin of Alfred Cortot.

Good evening to you as well, Andrei!

[Karl Henning]

Shouldn't it be "Choral Music" rather than "Chorus Music"? What say you, native English speakers?

So it should.

[Florestan]

No specific reason I can think of. From the interviews, it appears that there was no love lost between the composer and his father (who wanted his son to become an engineer, not a composer), and Varèse left the family home aged 18 "never to return". But these interviews are from 50 years after these events (if they were traumatic).

Thanks. With artists, you never know. 

A piece of trivia: Varèse was first cousin of Alfred Cortot.

Blimey, I'd have never associated them in any way. 

[Florestan]

So it should.

I thought so, thanks.