What are you listening 2 now?

[Roasted Swan]

Wonderful!!

I know that "Pierre de la Roche" is a pseudonym but I can't remember who actually was waving their arms on this great set

[aligreto]

I know that "Pierre de la Roche" is a pseudonym but I can't remember who actually was waving their arms on this great set

The orchestra was also anonymous.
I do recall having some knowledge of these things in the past but, alas, that is all gone now.

[Lisztianwagner]

On youtube:

Karol Szymanowski
Stabat Mater

[pjme]

Canteloube: Songs of the Auvergne- Natania Davrath (soprano)-  With orchestra  conducted by: Pierre de la Roche

Indeed, still, after all these years, a very good set of these lovely songs.
Ps: during one of the lockdowns I tried -again - to figure out who Pierre de la Roche may be. For ages melomaniacs are puzzled by this unfamiliar name. Who is the mystery conductor behind this pseudonym?
I wrote to the Vienna radio Orchestra as they recorded (1963-1966) in the Baumgarten Saal (mentioned on the cds) of the Baumgartner Casino (untill ca 1974 an Aufnahmestudio / Fernsehstudio for the Vienna radio orchestra). Alas- the mystery remains, nobody knows...

[aligreto]

Janacek: Nursery Rhymes for 9 Voices and 10 instruments [Atherton]





This is wonderful, animated and stimulating music to the ears. I really like the scoring for both instruments and voices. It is very imaginative and inventive.

[aligreto]

That is the version that I "grew up" on. Over the next few days I have scheduled to listen to a version by Chailly which I have not heard before.

[Cato]

In recent days:


Taneyev: Symphony #3  Highly recommended! 


https://www.youtube.com/v/9oR0oNobyWE



And the Ernst Toch Symphony #1: I hope to write my (very positive) impressions of it for Toch Talk!


https://www.youtube.com/v/EVxQryuNAxw

[Harry]

Antonin Dvorak.

Symphony No. 1 in C minor, " The Bells of Zlonice", opus 3.

Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg, Marcus Bosch.
SACD recording (2016)

Lets see what this cycle will bring in terms of musicality, tempi and recording quality.

[prémont]

J.S. Bach.

The Brandenburg Concertos.

I am going through my collection in order to bring some ultimate quality back, and discard all that is not to my taste anymore. Culling it is called. And today I am sampling four complete sets. The first one was Musica Amphion, under Pieter Jan Belder. and the first to go. First of all I did not like the sound. To anonymous, and little character. In general I found the tempi conservative, and the detailing at times obscure.
The second set is with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, that caused my ears to protest, it was a rather schrill recording, with the string thin on the ground, and again rather anonymous. I thought there was little warmth in the process, but the detailing and tempi were rather adequate.
The third set is the Brandenburg Consort directed by Roy Goodman, and it was a strong antidote against the other two recordings. The playing is sophisticated, and very detailed, the tempi balanced, and the Hyperion recording very good. Of all sets I have been listening to the first three concertos to get a good impression. And I think this one is probably going to stay, even though it is a bit too polite in expression, but rather this, as a overly joyless interpretation.
The Fourth set is done by the Academy of Ancient Music, directed by Christopher Hogwood, a L' Oiseau-Lyre recording. And this one hit in all the right places, there is nothing 'I could find that did not appeal, so that sealed the deal for me. The first two sets will go, and the last two will stay.

Yes, Goodman is a good man for the Brandenburgs, much too seldom mentioned. I think Hoogwood's version is well played, but I am not intersted in "original" versions other than for musicological reasons. Belder's and the OAE's versions are admittedly weaker than Goodman's, even if I have a weakness for OAE's third concerto led by Alison Bury - a successful musically "conversational" version to my ears.

[prémont]

Vincent Lübeck's Six Preludes and Fugues 
    Michel Chapuis, organ

I never really warmed to this interpretation, which I - despite an interesting well-known historical organ, well recorded - find hyper-active and underarticulated. And Chapuis uses in between some strange registrations.

[Maestro267]

Henze: Symphony No. 7
CBSO/Rattle

Holy cow what incredible dissonant music this is!!! Absolutely INSANE climaxes with gut-wrenchingly powerful dissonances blasted out FORTISSISSISSISSISSIMO, an almighty Cry to the Heavens Above!!!

[Todd]

[Harry]

Yes, Goodman is a good man for the Brandenburgs, much too seldom mentioned. I think Hoogwood's version is well played, but I am not intersted in "original" versions other than for musicological reasons. Belder's and the OAE's versions are admittedly weaker than Goodman's, even if I have a weakness for OAE's third concerto led by Alison Bury - a successful musically "conversational" version to my ears.

Right Poul, thank you for your thoughts on the recordings mentioned, they are very welcome indeed!

[Traverso]

Mahler


Symphony No.1

[Harry]

I never really warmed to this interpretation, which I - despite an interesting well-known historical organ, well recorded - find hyper-active and underarticulated. And Chapuis uses in between some strange registrations.

+1.

[Cato]

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.

Complete Sonatas & Trios with Bc.
Sonata in E minor/B flat major/D major/F major/A minor/D major
The B flat major is the only one for two Violins, the rest is all Transverse flutes
The A minor is only a fragment ( allegro 4:08)

Camerata Köln.

Karl Kaiser & Michael Schneider, Transverse Flutes.
Sabine Lier & Ingeborg Scheerer, Violins.


An excellent performance in good sound. It goes to show that Friedemann had also something to say, and quite profoundly so. An absolute must to have.

I was once in a German course c. 50 years ago for my Master's degree, and one of the other students was a wild Hungarian immigrant, who was the ultimate fanboy and cheerleader for Wilhelm Friedemann Bach! 

It was his Life's Purpose to convert everyone into a W.F. Bach lover!  (C.P.E. Bach got far too much attention, in his opinion.)

Anyway, thanks for reminding me that I should revisit these and other works of Wilhelm Friedemann!

[Harry]

Johann Sebastian Bach.

Sonatas and Partitas, BWV 1001-1006.
Six Solos for Violin without bass, 1720.
Disc I No. 1 in C minor, No. 1 in B minor, No. 2 in A minor.
Disc II, No. 2 in D minor, No. 3 in C major, No. 3 in E major.

Elizabeth Wallfisch plays on a Paulus de Vitor, fecit Brescia, 1750.
Bow copy of a early Dodd by Matthew Coltman.
Pitch A=400 Hz.

When I bought this set in 1997, I enormously liked it right away on spot so to say, despite some oddities. The lower pitch is the first plus in my book, very little vibrato, the sober approach abjuring any additional ornamentation, not per se a warm tone, and she sometimes has to work real hard to maintain a steady rhythm, which one can hear in the G minor Fugue, and the B minor Bourree, and also the C major Adagio. I compared it with the Kuijken set, and like her tempi better, and her overall expression. She digs deep, and has a pronounced spiritual expression, that bowls me over. I admire the Kuijken set greatly, but the beauty of Wallfisch's approach is very seductive and appealing to me. They can however live happily together
The sound is very good, and I love her Violin, Wallfisch gets a beautiful and mellifluous tone out of it.

[TheGSMoeller]

That is the version that I "grew up" on. Over the next few days I have scheduled to listen to a version by Chailly which I have not heard before.

The Chailly/Vienna performance is really good! The MTT/LSO version is transcendent! 


Thread duty: for the morning drive...

[DavidW]

Good but some of the emotional moments (Urlicht) fall very flat.  It is not up to the standard of Ozawa's other recording.

[Karl Henning]

Going through a couple of my "all-timers"...

Smokin'!