What are you listening 2 now?

[Traverso]

Richard Strauss

Tod und verklärung op.24

[Linz]

Atterberg Symphonies 2 & 5

[Karl Henning]

CD 43

Missa Sanctæ Cæciliæ in C, H. XXII:5

Must be a first listen, I think.

[SonicMan46]

A couple more CPO sale items from PrestoMusic:

Reinecke, Carl (1824-1910) - Piano Trios w/ the Hyperion Trio - wonderful late 19th century chamber music - thumbs up by Jerry Dubins (see attachment).

Raff, Joachim (1822-1882) - Symphonies 8 to 11 w/ Werner Albert and the Philharmonia Hungarica; available on other labels (see reviews if interested).  Dave

 

[aligreto]

Prokofiev: Symphony No. 7 [Weller]





The opening movement is subdued and low key in terms of tone and atmosphere. It is also wonderfully lyrical. The movement is very well scored and I particularly like the scoring for the harmonies in the lower register instruments. This really helps in setting the tone. The first movement ends with a sense of poignancy. The tone of the second movement is more up beat but it still has, for me, a sense of yearning, of questioning, at least. The higher register woodwinds lend a relevant voice in this regard. The sense of poignancy returns in the lyrical, pastoral slow movement. It is an expressive piece of writing. The final movement has an edgy undertone to it. It is a jaunt but not necessarily a comfortable one despite its lively and cheerful facade. It is an interesting and engaging piece of writing.

[Iota]

Handl-Gallus

I love to listen to Handl-Gallus' "Moralia". However, you are startled when you look at the lyrics, they are of a narrow nature and a textbook example of how the Church has oppressed the people with the promise of pleasing the Supreme Being. I Give here an example which I hope needs no further explanation.
There are also wooden statues of saints with a distorted expression that gives me the shivers.

Thanks for this, very interesting! And somewhat startling as you say .. how little I guessed what was lurking within. 


Here:




Brahms Piano Sonata No.2, Op.2
Jonathan Plowright (piano)

Such an enjoyable sonata with its youthful, exuberant way, so different from the later serious/stricken Brahms. Plowright attends to matters splendidly.

[André]

[Klavier1]

[Symphonic Addict]

NP:

Villa-Lobos
Rudá, "Dio d'amore"
Slovak RSO
Duarte



This Villa-Lobos Duarte series on Marco Polo was remarkable in that the performances maintained a high standard and the audio quality is excellent. I'm seriously surprised that Naxos hasn't reissued this series. There were four volumes in all.

Aside from the album pictured above:

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I endorse this. I've got lots of enjoyment from these highly consistent recordings.

[Symphonic Addict]

Regarding Bacewicz, I'm deeply surprised that no one has gotten around to recording her four symphonies, given the recent surge of interest in female composers. I'm holding my breath....

Good point, Kyle. There is a recording of No. 3, and on YouTube you can find the No. 4. The sound quality is somewhat regrettable, but it's a powerful piece.

[Linz]

Bruckner 8 Asher Fisch

[bhodges]

Bruckner 8 Asher Fisch

How is this? Love the piece, don't know the Australian ensemble, and have heard a few other Asher Fisch recordings (with pleasure).

--Bruce

[classicalgeek]

The Ifukube box set I bought (on King Records) is mostly his symphonic works and ballet music, but there are a few film suites, too. The other Ifukube orders I placed are mainly of film suites (the whole anniversary series --- six volumes in all) and I bought three recordings of his vocal, chamber and solo instrumental works. Yeah, you'll have to go to one of the Japanese MP sites like CD Japan, Tower Records Japan or Amazon Japan to acquire these Ifukube recordings I'm afraid and, as expected, they weren't cheap.

And we are of the same mind about Takemitsu --- a totally singular composer whose music has meant a lot to me over the years. The atmospheres he conjures up in his works are mesmerizing.

Ordering CDs from Japan has always been on the pricier side - I remember before I sold off my initial collection placing a few orders with CD Japan. You're right, they weren't cheap, but they shipped and arrived promptly (I guess it helps being on the west coast of the U.S.?), and they were well-packed! Maybe I'll poke around on the Japanese sites and see what I can find.

Regarding Bacewicz, I'm deeply surprised that no one has gotten around to recording her four symphonies, given the recent surge of interest in female composers. I'm holding my breath....

I was surprised too, Kyle! There are a couple of recordings of her 3rd Symphony (one with Roland Bader and the Krakow Philharmonic on Koch, the other with Jan Krenz on a Polish label with the Polish Radio Symphony, both long out of print and hard to find.) Her Fourth is on YouTube, probably a concert performance; I can't find any recordings of her First or Second Symphonies at all. Surely there's interest in more recordings of her music?

TD:

Necil Kazim Akses
Violin Concerto
Cihat Askin, violin
NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Rengim Gokmen




*Symphony no. 4 for cello and orchestra
Concerto for orchestra
*Ali Dogan, cello
Hungarian State Orchestra
Rengim Gokmen
(both on Spotify)



All of these pieces had their moments - Akses can really write for percussion, and he can build cataclysmic climaxes with the best of them - but otherwise they didn't do much for me. Not a lot of particularly memorable material, and both the Violin Concerto and the Fourth Symphony seemed a little long (they're both in one continuous movement). The soloist in the Concerto is fantastic, by the way, but the orchestra sounds a bit underrehearsed.

[classicalgeek]

Takemitsu
Autumn
A Way A Lone II
I Hear The Water Dreaming
Twill By Twilight
Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra
Ryusuke Numajiri
(on Spotify)



Takemitsu's sound world is like no one else's - the influence of Debussy is omnipresent, but Takemitsu's music is wholly original. I especially loved the last two pieces on this disc (I Hear The Water Dreaming and Twill By Twilight). Just excellent music.

[Mapman]

Debussy: 3 Nocturnes
Bernard Haitink: Concertgebouw Orchestra



From

[Symphonic Addict]

Ornstein: Piano Quintet and String Quartet No. 3

Simply ravishing both works. This composer should be better known apart from the fact that he lived more than 100 years!

[classicalgeek]

Takemitsu
Spirit Garden
Solitude Sonore
Dreamtime
A Flock Descends Into The Pentagonal Garden
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop
(on Spotify)



What I said about Takemitsu above applies here. More orchestral music, unique and colorful and exquisite, beautifully played by the Bournemouth forces under Alsop's superb baton.

[Symphonic Addict]

Vladigerov: Dramatic Poem, op. 52



Sounds like something that hooks my attention completely. The use of the orchestral forces, melodic material, rhythmic writing and pathos are nothing short of tremendous!


Zygmunt Stojowski: Symphony in D minor, op. 21



Wow, another stupendous find! Think of Raff, Glazunov, Noskowski, Röntgen, in a music-blend kind of style. It could also be a little meandering in some parts of the movements, but the music is engaging most of the time. One of my discs of the year so far along with the Vladigerov's third volume of his orchestral pieces.

Here a photo of him:



Capriccio is for sure one of my favorite record labels. There is much interesting stuff to be played apart from... yes, you know. 

[vandermolen]

One of my favourite Martinu CDs!

[vandermolen]

Granville Bantock's A Celtic Symphony 
    Vernon Handley, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Wow! A stunner of a symphony, and a lovely surprise from the randomiser!

I agree! I had the great good fortune to hear it live at the Proms in London some years ago.

Yesterday I played this wonderful CD from beginning to end, enjoying every work on it: