What are you listening 2 now?

[SonicMan46]

Handel, GF - a couple discs from the organ/harpsichord box and a selection of his instrumental music for an afternoon's listening - now I own 3 dozen discs of Handel (PDF from my database attached for the interested), BUT I listen to these recordings selectively every few months so just a brief refresher course -    Dave

P.S. as to his vocal/choral works, I have only 2 recordings of the Messiah (put on each Christmas) - I use to have several other oratorios and even a few operas but never played them so culled out a while back. 

[André]

The 3rd might be my favorite Schubert symphony. It has great clarinet parts, and is one of the happiest pieces I know. 


I listened to that recording (I think) on Youtube, and I mostly agree with your assessment of it. The tempos are well-chosen, but the clarinet solos sound almost offstage (at least through my laptop speakers).

Same here. The start of the Allegro never fails to put a smile on my face.

[aligreto]

Bach: St. John Passion [Gardiner] Part II





The overriding tone of Gardiner's presentation overall is devotional. However, intertwined with that is a good dose of drama. The drama is never overdone, however. But fear not, there is plenty of wonderful drama in part II. One of Gardiner's greatest assets has always been the Monteverdi Choir and so it is here too. They are in particularly wonderful voice in this performance. The pacing is steady throughout but never rushed yet Gardiner retains that essential accented lilt that is a requisite in the music of Bach, for me anyway. When the pace does pick up in Part II it is intense but not frantic. This is quite a refined version to my ears and I find it to be a particularly easy presentation to listen to.

[VonStupp]

Richard Strauss
Die Frau Ohne Schatten - Symphonic Fantasy

Detroit SO - Antal Doráti

VS

[VonStupp]

Richard Strauss
Symphonia Domestica, op. 53

Cleveland Orchestra - George Szell

I am not sure how I would rank some the 20th Century's greatest fugues, but surely this finale would rank amongst them.

VS

[Mandryka]

It has that "aladdin's lamp" quality, like listening to the old Vanguard recordings by Leonhardt

This one might hit the same spot, listening to the Mouton:

I hope you're aware of this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X42zGO3H1y8


There's a guy called Tetsuro Hanae who has recorded all the Josquin masses in a style very similar to those early Cappella Pratensis recordings, his ensemble is called Vocal Ensemble Cappella. However, he has omitted for some reason my favourite mass, the Missa Gaudeamus.

I have that compilation CD but I don't know it very well. The one I remember as really appreciating was this


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adLKtfMkPmM

[Klavier1]

[Mandryka]

I really enjoy revisiting this set:

And this from a former Savall sceptic!

[Mirror Image]

Richard Strauss
Symphonia Domestica, op. 53

Cleveland Orchestra - George Szell

I am not sure how I would rank some the 20th Century's greatest fugues, but surely this finale would rank amongst them.

VS

A smoking performance, too.

[VonStupp]

A smoking performance, too.

Aye! I was lukewarm on Domestica until I came across Szell.

VS

[Mirror Image]

Aye! I was lukewarm on Domestica until I came across Szell.

VS

Yeah, I used to not be too keen on it until I heard the Maazel/Wiener Philharmoniker performance on DG. As for a more recent recording, I enjoy this one from Janowski on Pentatone:

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Mahler
Symphony No. 9 in D
Concertgebouw
Chailly

[VonStupp]

Richard Strauss
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme Suite, Op. 60

Chicago SO - Fritz Reiner

R. Strauss in a neo-Baroque/neo-Classical mode. Rather interesting!

I am amused by composers who looked to the past like Respighi, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky, but fit those ideas into their signature compositional styles.

VS

[Karl Henning]

Richard Strauss
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme Suite, Op. 60

Chicago SO - Fritz Reiner

R. Strauss in a neo-Baroque/neo-Classical mode. Rather interesting!
VS

I greatly enjoyed this, in my pass through the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra box.

[André]

Both opera performances (Wozzeck and Erwartung), are splendidly sung, especially the latter. I had never heard of Dorothy Dow, but boy, can she sing ! Her voice reminds me a lot of Suzanne Danco's or Eleanor Steber's, powerfully produced with minimal vibrato and a penetrating quality. Mitropoulos conducts both scores with wild abandon and exacting precision. Krenek's Symphonic Elegy for strings, subtitled in memoriam Anton Webern, is a 15 minute movement where dodecaphonism becomes moving and elegant - anything but forbidding. 1951 performances recorded in Carnegie Hall, NY, clear-sounding and wide ranging. De luxe presentation with neat essays, very detailed synopsis and full texts and translations. Strictly speaking I suppose they should fall under the label 'historic performances', but in this case the term acquires very positive connotations.

[Klavier1]

[Mirror Image]

Pounds the table! A great disc.

[Todd]

The Murail pieces receive strong performances here, or at least it sounds as though they do.  There's some Messiaen and Liszt and Ravel in the mix.  The pieces make me think FFG should consider recording more modern music.  The Debussy - one piece from the first book of Images and the entire second book of Preludes - are meticulously well played, as expected, but FFG's personal touches do not always make me deliriously happy.  Some I found almost off-putting.  Overall, though, the interpretations are of a high order.  About what I expected qualitatively. 

[André]

Choir SATB voices are from the Knabenchor itself, meaning the tenors and basses are all teenagers. The resulting sound is full, clear and pure, with the younger voices (sopranos and altos) displaying beautiful bell-like tones. For the solo parts though we have adult voices, and they are excellent - soprano Ruth Ziesak is in spectacular form, and the duet of tenor and bass in the Tuba mirum and Mors stupebit sections truly arresting. 

The performance is fastish but very malleable, expressive but never cloying. This is a powerful, direct, unsentimental Requiem with none of the rouhness or machine-like quality associated with that kind of performance style. Even dotted notes in the fugues (e-e-e-e-e etc) avoid any kind of choppiness. The expert orchestral contribution from the Berlin RSO is a big plus.  For those who want a light but powerful take on the work.

[Mapman]

Sibelius: Symphony No. 6 in D Minor, Op. 104
Klaus Mäkelä: Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra

After watching Dave Hurwitz's review, I was curious, so I streamed this. The 6th (especially the scherzo) was what got me into Sibelius. I did not find this performance as bad as Hurwitz seemed to. Some non-melodic string parts may be more prominent than usual, but I didn't find them distracting. The end of the 2nd movement is a disappointment: the first note in the clarinets is inaudible, and he inserts an extra eight note into the 3rd measure from the end. I also didn't like the sound of the woodwinds in the scherzo. However, I was still able to enjoy the symphony.