What are you listening 2 now?

[SonicMan46]

Vanhal, Johann (1739-1813) - new arrivals today to add to my Vanhal collection - own the first four volumes of the 'slow-moving' Naxos series; just one overlap in the string quartets w/ my other two recordings (he composed 70+ SQs so much left to record!); final disc states an 'historical clarinet' but no details given, as to a restored original or a reproduction (assume instrument used on the cover art below)?  Dave

   

[Que]

[...] final disc states an 'historical clarinet' but no details given, as to a restored original or a reproduction (assume instrument used on the cover art below)?  Dave

If it sounds as good as it looks...   

[JBS]

I do not, though I think it a matter of time ere I say instead, I did not.

Until then, it's on Youtube
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mG8R_P4Ye_Z6gM7nUWvKij9MCA4e7T0K0

[JBS]

TD
Another go at this CD.

Liking it better each time I play it.

[Karl Henning]

Until then, it's on Youtube
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mG8R_P4Ye_Z6gM7nUWvKij9MCA4e7T0K0

Merci beaucoup!

[ritter]

Chamber music by Luis de Freitas Branco:


I ordered this disc (released just a couple of months ago) because of pianist Bruno Canino (an artist I greatly admire, but whose discography is not that extensive). I have mixed feelings about the composer: I find his Vathek and Artificial Paradises to be very interesting orchestral works,  but his symphonies left me completely cold. Here we get two Violin Sonatas (composed in 1908 and 1928), a Trio from 1908, and a Prelude  for violin and piano from 1910. I must say I found the rhapsodic nature of the Trio and the first Violin Sonata almost annoying, and after a while I had the feeling I was listening to a guy just fiddling away aimlessly. The Prelude and the later Sonata are more interesting, but only slighty so. Not my cup of tea. 

The performances by violinist Alessio Bidoli, cellist Alain Meunier and Bruno Canino cannot be faulted (not that I have anything to compare them to, of course).

EDIT:

Staying on the Iberian Peninsula, but closer to home. Now listening to Ernesto Halffter's 1955 ballet El Cojo enamorado (The Enamoured Cripple).


This is one of E. Halffter's least known works (not that any of his music is performed often), and it's —as could be expected— very well crafted, imaginatively scored, and quite enjoyable. But, this ballet (in a bullfighting related Andalusian setting) sounds too similar to The Three-Cornered Hat by Halffter's mentor Falla, and also to its composer's earlier and much more original Sonatina. In that respect, Halffter's roughly contemporaneous ballet Fantasía Galaica (which is still occasionally performed here in Spain), drawing its inspiration from Galician folk music, is a much more interesting piece.

[SonicMan46]

If it sounds as good as it looks...   

  - looks enticing! - appears to be an 'original' - will recheck the notes - about to come up on my CD player - just checked the Brilliant website - quote below suggests that theses are original clarinets (presume restored) - wish there were more specific information (i.e. year(s) made, maker, and restoration done?).  Dave

Rodolfo la Banca plays these sonatas on a pair of clarinets from the time: he is a specialist in the early clarinet both as a performer and teacher. The sonatas could equally be accompanied by fortepiano or harpsichordist; on this recording (unlike others in the catalogue) we hear the harpsichord, in the established partnership of Duo Chirò. Chiara Tiboni also contributes several brief and attractive sonatinas from Vanhal's first published collections, Opp. 1 and 2. (Brilliant Website)

[Que]

  - looks enticing! - appears to be an 'original' - will recheck the notes - about to come up on my CD player - just checked the Brilliant website - quote below suggests that theses are original clarinets (presume restored) - wish there were more specific information (i.e. year(s) made, maker, and restoration done?).  Dave

Thanks, I will definitely give it a listen! 

[VonStupp]

From this set:

I have been looking forward to this entry; there is something about the French language married to their music that is singular. But if something was missing here, it would be Ravel's Trois Chansons, which I think is a masterpiece aside Debussy's.

Claude Debussy
Trois Chansons de Charles d'Orléans
I think the Debussy and Poulenc on this album are glorious; Debussy for its curt, madrigal-ian brevity.

Francis Poulenc
Un Soir de Neige
Four Short Prayers of St. Francis of Assisi
I love Poulenc's extended harmonies and unexpected directions. The male-chorus Assisi Prayers may be my favorite work from him of all time, but I like so much of his music across many genres. Perhaps my favorite French composer.

Darius Milhaud
Naissance de Vénus, op. 292
Can't say I have investigated the choral music of Milhaud before, but it shares a similarly chic Parisian style for a consistent program.

André Jolivet
Épithalame
Not familiar with Jolivet. He writes for voice interestingly, and it is hard to describe. He clusters voices interestingly, and the complex rhythms are almost percussive.

Olivier Messiaen
O Sacrum Convivium!
Short measure is given to Messiaen, but this is a beautiful, spiritually meditative motet nonetheless.

Georges Aperghis
Wölfli-Kantata, Mvt II. Die Stellung der Zahlen
Apparently Aperghis' Wölfli-Kantata is 50-minutes long, and I don't think I could do it. 32 voice parts with avant-garde techniques galore, I am amazed at how these musicians can make sense of this highly rhythmic, traffic control worthy musical riot.

SWR Vokalensemble - Marcus Creed

VS

[Mapman]

Maiden-Listen Monday
Britten: Cantata Misericordium
Ainsley, Varcoe; Hickox: City of London Sinfonia, Britten Singers

[JBS]

My Presto order from last week landed today, including this, just in time for PD's return

[Operafreak]

Brahms: Clarinet Sonatas, Op. 120 & Piano Pieces, Op. 119- Nicolai Pfeffer, Felix Wahl

[JBS]

Another item from the Presto package


The liner notes are not very clear about when these sonatas were composed or first published: but Opus 8 no 1 was apparently performed in 1793, so I guess the early 1790s is the approximate date.

[Que]

Morning listening on Spotify:

[Que]

Another find on Spotify:

[Harry]

Morning listening.

J.S. Bach.

Das Wohltemperierte Clavier.
CD I. BWV 846-857.

Davitt Moroney, plays on a John Phillips, 1980.

Fast and furious is my first conclusion. The last time I have listened to this set was in 1996, and I did not remember anything about performance and sound, let alone interpretation.
The sound is good, rather close though, but artistically Moroney performs well and precise in a steady pace, and ready enough to highlight the many details. Right at the start BWV 846/847 & 848, gives you a fair idea what his pace will be overall. Rather fierce at times.  BWV 849 in C sharp minor gets into a more relaxed modus, but yet there is a kind of urgency, which keeps it away from dreaminess.
We will see where this journey ends! Another set performed by Bob van Asperen who plays on a beautiful instrument, (Christian Zell, Hamburg, 1728) is next in line. I heard that set last in 1999. So I am rather curious after it.

[prémont]

J.S. Bach.

Das Wohltemperierte Clavier.
CD I. BWV 846-857.

Davitt Moroney, plays on a John Phillips, 1980.[/b]

Fast and furious is my first conclusion. The last time I have listened to this set was in 1996, and I did not remember anything about performance and sound, let alone interpretation.
The sound is good, rather close though, but artistically Moroney performs well and precise in a steady pace, and ready enough to highlight the many details. Right at the start BWV 846/847 & 848, gives you a fair idea what his pace will be overall. Rather fierce at times.  BWV 849 in C sharp minor gets into a more relaxed modus, but yet there is a kind of urgency, which keeps it away from dreaminess.

I appreciate his didactic approach - kind of HIP parallel to Walcha.

[Traverso]

I appreciate his didactic approach - kind of HIP parallel to Walcha.

Well, I find it rather dull and no match for the Leonhardt and van Asperen recordings

[Harry]

I appreciate his didactic approach - kind of HIP parallel to Walcha.

That is my stance also Poul, I am almost at the end of the first CD, and my appreciation grows with the minute.

[Traverso]

Bach

Book 1

I find the Moroney version sleep-inducing and schoolmaster-like. The van Asperen  recordings are superior in every way.