What are you listening 2 now?

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing Britten Sinfonietta, Op. 1

[Florestan]

Honestly, modern life is amazing. I'm thinking about how I could possibly explain to a 19th century Italian that the way I'm going to try a Verdi opera is by sitting in my house in Australia, watching a recording of a performance about 6 months ago in Barcelona, while a machine washes my clothes for me and I munch on leftover chicken that is perfectly fine after a week because it's been in the fridge.

To which he would reply: Yeah, very nice, but can you hiss, boo and throw tomatoes at the stage if you don't like how they sing? Oh, and when was the last time you heard La Pasta, La Malibran, Rubini and Lablache?

[steve ridgway]

Schnittke - Seid Nüchtern Und Wachet (Faust Cantata)

[Madiel]

To which he would reply: Yeah, very nice, but can you hiss, boo and throw tomatoes at the stage if you don't like how they sing? Oh, and when was the last time you heard La Pasta, La Malibran, Rubini and Lablache?

I'm sure I could throw tomatoes here, but the singers would never know.

No fruit was required in the first 2 Acts.

[Que]

Looks like an unfamiliar recording, but with the early recordings by this ensemble I always get confused what has later been reissued on another label (and under what title).

[AnotherSpin]

Honestly, modern life is amazing. I'm thinking about how I could possibly explain to a 19th century Italian that the way I'm going to try a Verdi opera is by sitting in my house in Australia, watching a recording of a performance about 6 months ago in Barcelona, while a machine washes my clothes for me and I munch on leftover chicken that is perfectly fine after a week because it's been in the fridge.

This is exactly how ordinary people tend to think about life. They believe they exist purely on the physical plane, made up of their body and whatever bits and pieces they can detect inside it. For them, life is nothing more than a series of events that happen to their body and to the material stuff around them. If those objects change, or if they start moving faster or slower through space, then — voilà — life has changed, for better or worse. It never crosses their minds that reality itself might be calmly staying exactly the same

[Que]

This  recording with Franco-Flemish and English pieces is conducted by Erik van Nevel, Paul van Nevel's 1st cousin.
Excellent singing, but large choir and frequent instrumental accompaniment. With Currende, it really depends on the repertoire what works or not. Here, the English repertoire (Byrd, Bull, Dering, Amner, Tomkins) comes off best.

[vandermolen]

Vaughan Williams's doomed plea for peace from the mid 1930s
Dona Nobis Pacem
No.1 choice according to BBC Music Magazine's current survey of recordings.
Corydon Singers/Orchestra Howard/Ainsley/Allen/Howarth
Matthew Best
(Hyperion)

[Madiel]

This is exactly how ordinary people tend to think about life. They believe they exist purely on the physical plane, made up of their body and whatever bits and pieces they can detect inside it. For them, life is nothing more than a series of events that happen to their body and to the material stuff around them. If those objects change, or if they start moving faster or slower through space, then — voilà — life has changed, for better or worse. It never crosses their minds that reality itself might be calmly staying exactly the same

Says the guy insulting complete strangers on the other side of the world on the internet.

There's a profound logical fallacy in thinking that because I talked about the physical plane, I must therefore think the physical plane is the sum total. Profound. For someone who thinks he's some sort of philosophical guru you're actually pretty terrible at it. You're the guy who thinks he's being terribly clever while saying something utterly dumb and pointless.

And as far as I can tell it's all because I committed the great sin of listening to Shostakovich when you first arrived on the forum.

Now please, leave me alone. Because among the things that have indeed stayed the same over the centuries is how completely unnecessary it is for you to care about what someone is doing on the other side of the planet.

[Traverso]

Bach

Vol.4 CD 6

[Selig]

Looks like an unfamiliar recording, but with the early recordings by this ensemble I always get confused what has later been reissued on another label (and under what title).

Reissue cover:

[Toni Bernet]

Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel: Aria 'Bist du bei mir, geh ich mit Freuden', from 'Diomedes oder die triumphierende Unschuld' (1718), long attributed to J. S. Bach



Between 1734 and 1740, Anna Magdalena Wilcke Bach entered the aria 'Bist du bei mir, geh ich mit Freuden' for one voice and continuo (now BWV 508) in her second notebook. The Bachs used to collect their family hits in such notebooks for practising and making music together.
The aria had space on two pages. For whatever reason, Mrs Wilcke Bach added a copy of the well-known aria from her husband's Goldberg Variations between these two pages.
In 1866, 'Bist du bei mir...' was first published by Bach biographer Carl Hermann Bitter.
This was followed by two publications by the Bach Society in 1892 and 1894, with the comment that this composition "could well be a composition by Johann Sebastian"
In 1915, another manuscript was discovered in the library of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin, which contained five arias by the composer Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690 - 1749), including an orchestrated version of the aria "Bleib bei mir..." for male voice, known to be by Bach.
Regardless of this, the public success of this touchingly beautiful melody began at the beginning of the 20th century, and many recordings of this aria were made by well-known female singers (from Blanche Marchesi for the first time in 1906, to Lotte Lehmann in 1929, to Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in 1954). J.S. Bach was always listed as the composer's name. Bleibe bei mir, geh ich mit Freuden" was particularly popular at weddings and as sacred music, usually sung by women.

More:
c.f.
https://www.discoveringsacredmusic.ch/18th-century/stoelzel-bach

[Madiel]

Verdi: La Forza del Destino, on OperaVision.

Hmm. Plenty of good music, especially in Act Two where Verdi makes the most of a setting in and near a monastery to give a religious quality.

Against that, the plot is sometimes quite contrived. Maybe that's the point: characters sing about destiny/fate on a number of occasions, and it seems that destiny has decided these people aren't going to escape (aided by one character's sheer bloody-mindedness over the course of 6-7 years).

The opera's structurally interesting, four Acts with the first Act being very short - in this production they actually have a short cello solo as the "overture", then play the "real" overture (more on this later) after the first Act. Then the 2 main characters spend almost the entire opera separated. He never appears in Act Two, and she never appears in Act Three.

Verdi made some significant revisions to the opera about 5 years after it premiered. He changed the ending (which works fine), added the overture where there had originally only been a short prelude (and it's an excellent overture)... and added a scene at the end of Act Three that honestly struck me as superfluous to the plot and only there because it provided the best opportunity for some bright and cheerful music. And I thought that before I knew it was a later addition.

So that's another Verdi heard. Not bad, but La Traviata was better in my view.

[AnotherSpin]

Says the guy insulting complete strangers on the other side of the world on the internet.

There's a profound logical fallacy in thinking that because I talked about the physical plane, I must therefore think the physical plane is the sum total. Profound. For someone who thinks he's some sort of philosophical guru you're actually pretty terrible at it. You're the guy who thinks he's being terribly clever while saying something utterly dumb and pointless.

And as far as I can tell it's all because I committed the great sin of listening to Shostakovich when you first arrived on the forum.

Now please, leave me alone. Because among the things that have indeed stayed the same over the centuries is how completely unnecessary it is for you to care about what someone is doing on the other side of the planet.

I never knew that you listen to Shostakovich... I don't care, enjoy it.

From your message, I gathered you think modern life is totally different from how it used to be. I see it differently and said as much. Don't like it? Feel free to reply, just skip the personal digs — they don't land anyway.

[Madiel]

I never knew that you listen to Shostakovich... I don't care, enjoy it.

Don't lie. You started your time on this forum ranting at several people, including myself, about how awful Shostakovich was. And I have witnessed you inserting yourself into conversations about him and his evil Communist ways a number of times since.

[AnotherSpin]

Don't lie.

So you mean to say that a random exchange with some forum character left such a lasting mark that I've carried it with me all these years? What a ridiculous notion. All I actually recall is that you live in Australia, and your taste in music was entirely unremarkable, that's all.

[AnotherSpin]

Don't lie. You started your time on this forum ranting at several people, including myself, about how awful Shostakovich was. And I have witnessed you inserting yourself into conversations about him and his evil Communist ways a number of times since.

Yeah, Shostakovich was a faithful lapdog of the regime — you didn't know? Anyway, whatever, listen to whatever you want, even Putin banging on a piano, makes no difference to me.

[ritter]

As a moderator, I must point out that the derogatory remark by @AnotherSpin to a perfectly legitimate post by @Madiel was completely uncalled for.

I ask members to resolve any personal issues via PMs and not in the open forum. Thanks.

If this discussion continues, posts will be deleted.

[AnotherSpin]

As a moderator, I must point out that the derogatory remark by @AnotherSpin to a perfectly legitimate post by @Madiel was completely uncalled for.

I ask members to resolve any personal issues via PMs and not in the open forum. Thanks.

If this discussion continues, posts will be deleted.

funny

[Traverso]

Albinoni

CD 1