What are you listening 2 now?

[vandermolen]

William Alwyn
Sinfonietta for Strings

Richard Hickox & London Symphony Orchestra

I think that work was commissioned by my old university (Lancaster).

[classicalgeek]

So, you don't have access to the insightful booklet notes James? 

Unfortunately not, Jeffrey! I take it you wrote them? I tried Alto's website - but it appears they don't have booklet notes available for download (some labels do - Hyperion, Chandos, and Naxos come to mind.)

[kyjo]

Ernest Bloch: Schelomo. Alexander Kniazev, Evgeny Svetlanov, Russian State Symphony Orchestra

I never really could understand what this composer is all about, and the opinion (or lack thereof) persists upon this listening. Hmm. Maybe someday it will click.

If I could recommend a single work for Bloch that might change your mind about him, it would be the Piano Quintet No. 1. A devastatingly powerful work: https://youtu.be/GXVuXOM1fxg

Considering your proclivity for a lot of modernist music, I think you could find a lot to enjoy in this quintet. Bloch's use of quarter tones and complex rhythms in this work was quite ahead-of-its-time for the 1920s when it was written. (That, of course, is not the main point of the piece - its drama and emotional impact are.)

[Traverso]

Prokofiev

Like some firework 

Toccata in D minor, Op. 11

[Mandryka]

Amazing how much attention has been paid to this relatively 'small' body of work.  Dave

Well in the hands of Team Sakai, I think some of it is right at the peak of the genre -- La Clément and D'Aubonne from the fourth suite for example.   Even Rousset, who I'm not normally a big fan of, makes a bit of magic happen.

[Roasted Swan]

Agreed, Cesar. I wouldn't place it amongst Bax's stronger compositions.

I think Spring Fire is a fascinating score.  Not because its one of Bax's finest but because it represents the highwater mark in a style/idiom that Bax was to almost wholly reject within just a few years.  But as an example of British/Impressionism it is quite unique.  Clearly the impact/influence of the exposure to "The Celtic Twilight" (never very comfortable with that phrase) was huge and defining for Bax......

[Lisztianwagner]

I think that work was commissioned by my old university (Lancaster).

I dont't know how much the Lancaster University was involved in the commission, I may be wrong, but I read the Arts Council of Great Britain asked Alwyn a composition to be performed at the the Cheltenham Festival. In any case, Alwyn's Sinfonietta is marvelous, such a dramatic, deeply moving piece, also very inventive for its imaginative textures and brilliant orchestration; it is one of my favourite Alwyn's works along with Symphony No.3 and Lyra Angelica.

[Lisztianwagner]

Anton Bruckner
Symphony No.6

Herbert von Karajan & Berliner Philharmoniker

[Brian]

First-ever listen to this Florestan Special  , which the Sofia Philharmonic plays with considerable spirit. My expectations of orchestra and conductor are exceeded, while my expectation of the composer is completely met. One thing to note is that this work is 89 minutes, presented by Naxos on a single CD (and in just 8 tracks).

[Iota]

Salonen: Foreign Bodies

Second or third time for this three movement, twenty minute orchestral piece. Always enjoy it. Salonen clearly has a striking talent for orchestral rhythm and colour, and drums up a real narrative drive.

[Linz]

Charles Villiers Stanford Songs, Vol. 2 "To Send My Vessel Sailing on Beyond" Elisabetta Paglia Mezzo-soprano,  Christopher Howell piano

[Florestan]

Allan Pettersson: Symphony No.6
'The long struggle towards the sunrise'

If the ultimate goal is sunshine, then Haydn and Mozart take you there without any struggle at all. If the ultimate goal is the struggle itself, then sunrise or judgment day it's all the same. 

[Florestan]

First-ever listen to this Florestan Special  , which the Sofia Philharmonic plays with considerable spirit. My expectations of orchestra and conductor are exceeded, while my expectation of the composer is completely met. One thing to note is that this work is 89 minutes, presented by Naxos on a single CD (and in just 8 tracks).

Thanks a lot, pal! Wishlisted on the spot.

[Cato]

Tchaikovsky: 'Manfred Symphony'

A most interesting release as Svetlanov dispenses with the quiet end of the symphony, as written by Tchaikovsky, and brings back the cataclysmic end of the first movement! I think that it's great but Tchaikovsky is probably turning in his grave. I first came across this when, as a teenager...

That is an interesting "interpretation," or editorial decision!  I can see where it could work as a kind of encore.

My first hearing of the work was an intense barn-burning monaural recording from the late 1940's with Toscanni and the NBC Radio Orchestra.

I did not know it until later, but Toscanini had cut the score to make it fit on two sides.  One could argue that the cuts made his interpretation even more intense!

Here is a recording from 1953: the same cuts are there, but the sound is a little better:

[BWV 1080]

Great new album of Takemitsu's music for guitar & orch, along with Twill by Twilight

[classicalgeek]

Fartein Valen
Pastorale
Sonetto di Michelangelo
Cantico di ringraziamento
Symphony no. 1
Stavanger Symphony Orchestra
Christian Eggen
(on Spotify)

[classicalgeek]

Great new album of Takemitsu's music for guitar & orch, along with Twill by Twilight

I know what I'm listening to next! 

[Todd]

The first Corboz recording of Monteverdi's Vespers.  My personal reference remains Paul McCreesh's take, and I fancy Simon-Pierre Bestion ridiculously OTT take as an alternate, and if this Corboz recording does not better them, it nonetheless works very well.  Broad, coming in at over two hours, there's grandness and intimacy where needed, and the old fashioned approach yields nothing to HIPsters generally in terms of enjoyment. 

[vers la flamme]

I'm joining the Symphonia Serena listening party with this recording:

Hey, I have that CD too. I will join you three:



Paul Hindemith: Symphonia Serena. Yan Pascal Tortelier, BBC Philharmonic

So far so good; I really don't know anything about these works.

[vandermolen]

I dont't know how much the Lancaster University was involved in the commission, I may be wrong, but I read the Arts Council of Great Britain asked Alwyn a composition to be performed at the the Cheltenham Festival. In any case, Alwyn's Sinfonietta is marvelous, such a dramatic, deeply moving piece, also very inventive for its imaginative textures and brilliant orchestration; it is one of my favourite Alwyn's works along with Symphony No.3 and Lyra Angelica.

Maybe I got that wrong although I'm sure that there is some Lancaster connection - I'll check.