What are you listening 2 now?

[DavidW]

[SonicMan46]

Boccherini, Luigi (1743-1805) - Guitar Quintets - 9 below in the Yves Gérard catalog (No. 8 lost) - own the two collections below, i.e. the Brilliant 3-CD set boxed w/ Zoltan Tokos & the Danubius Quartet playing the extant 8 guitar works and adding a String Quintet (G. 275) to fill-out the third disc.  And Jakob Lindberg plus the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble on period instruments performing the first 6 works on 2 CDs - Lindberg plays a six-course guitar by Juan Pages, Cadiz 1810.  Dave

Guitar Quintets

G 445: Guitar Quintet No. 1 in D minor
G 446: Guitar Quintet No. 2 in E major
G 447: Guitar Quintet No. 3 in B-flat major
G 448: Guitar Quintet No. 4 in D major ("Fandango")
G 449: Guitar Quintet No. 5 in D major
G 450: Guitar Quintet No. 6 in G major
G 451: Guitar Quintet No. 7 in E minor
G 452: Guitar Quintet No. 8 in F major (lost)
G 453: Guitar Quintet No. 9 in C major ("La Ritirata di Madrid")

Note: The movements of the guitar quintets are wholly transcribed by the composer from earlier quintets (usually string or piano quintets). (Source)

   

[Traverso]

Albinoni

CD 2

[Florestan]

I'll let you know when I get to it.  To be honest I'm tending to do the Mozart chronology faster than most, especially now that I'm in the Vienna period.

I must confess that there's an extramusical reason behind my liking KV 612 that much, and it's related precisely to Thomas Quasthoff.

A few years ago I had absolutely no idea whatsoever about his handicap, although I knew he was a famous bass-baritone and I had heard him singing. One day, I turned the TV to Mezzo and, lo and behold!, they announced next on Mezzo, Mozart's KV 612 with Quasthoff. And that was the first time I both saw Thomas Quasthoff in flesh and blood and heard KV 612. I was taken aback and saddened to the point of shedding some tears, but at the same time it was exhilarating to see the indomitable power of the human spirit to transcend and soar above severe physical limitations. Add the sublime music and that was it.

Here it is, that Mezzo clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-NCHwVq7C8

[Lisztianwagner]

Louis Couperin
Suites for Harpsichord

Gustav Leonhardt (harpsichord)

[Que]

I daresay I may have rather overdone it with organ versions of late, or perhaps there's another reason, but I do find Mr. Power Biggs's take on the pedal harpsichord a bit hard to warm to. Still, I've no intention of giving up just yet.

I'd just give up - nothing there...

[Karl Henning]

A first listen
Malcolm Arnold
Concerto for Clarinet and Strings, Op. 20

[AnotherSpin]

I'd just give up - nothing there...

If only! Nothing is too much

[André]

It's a bit laboured IMO. Try this instead:

https://www.baroquemusic.org/759Web.html

Not convinced, although there are felicities to be heard. Tempi are moderate, which may aid clarity. Granted, on the organ the bass voice can be obscured, which is not the case with the harpsichord, but I prefer to be carried along by the melody and its transformations. My benchmark for the sonatas is Michel Chapuis' joyous, luminous interpretation. Most organists choose moderate tempi in the sonatas. Not Chapuis.

Sonata 2, 1st mov.

[Karl Henning]

Another first listen
Malcolm Arnold
Fantasy for Brass Band, Op. 114

Not a first listen (played a band transcr. in High School)
Four Scottish Dances, Op. 59

[Linz]

Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky  Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64
Evgeny Svetlanov, USSR State Symphony Orchestra

[VonStupp]

Hugo Alfvén
Symphony 4 in C minor, op. 39
Symphony 5 in A minor, op. 54
Legend of the Skerries, op. 20
King Gustav II Adolf: Elegy, op. 49

Christina Högman, soprano
Claes-Håkan Ahnsjö, tenor
Royal Stockholm PO - Neeme Järvi

Non-lexical singing pervades Alfvén's Fourth, plus an abundance of color in his final symphony. The late-Romantic, Strauss-ian style is not my favorite, but there are many moments of enjoyment regardless.

I forgot how much I enjoy the heartfelt orchestral miniature from Gustavus Adolphus.

VS

[prémont]

Not convinced, although there are felicities to be heard. Tempi are moderate, which may aid clarity. Granted, on the organ the bass voice can be obscured, which is not the case with the harpsichord, but I prefer to be carried along by the melody and its transformations. My benchmark for the sonatas is Michel Chapuis' joyous, luminous interpretation. Most organists choose moderate tempi in the sonatas. Not Chapuis.

Sonata 2, 1st mov.

I unambiguously prefer these trio sonatas played on the organ. It is just that I thought the recording by the unknown Lorenz Mikulas is far better than the recording by Power Biggs.

[Karl Henning]

Hugo Alfvén
Symphony 4 in C minor, op. 39
Symphony 5 in A minor, op. 54
Legend of the Skerries, op. 20
King Gustav II Adolf: Elegy, op. 49

Christina Högman, soprano
Claes-Håkan Ahnsjö, tenor
Royal Stockholm PO - Neeme Järvi

Non-lexical singing pervades Alfvén's Fourth, plus an abundance of color in his final symphony. The late-Romantic, Strauss-ian style is not my favorite, but there are many moments of enjoyment regardless.

I forgot how much I enjoy the heartfelt orchestral miniature from Gustavus Adolphus.

VS

Tangentially: Nice post!

[Linz]

Zdenek Fibich Symphony No. 3 in E minor Op. 53, Šarka - Overture, The Tempest -  Overture to Act III, The Bride of Messina -  Funeral March
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Marek Stilec

[brewski]

I just checked - Harold Farberman's cycle of the symphonies on Vox was late 60's too....

Thanks for the Gould rec, as well as these, which I haven't heard, either. Always up for more Ives.

[VonStupp]

Tangentially: Nice post!

Thanks Karl! Britten's church parables have really opened my eyes to what he was doing with voice and chamber ensembles.
VS

[Lisztianwagner]

Maurice Ravel
Jeux d'eau
Sonatine
Gaspard de la nuit

Pianist: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, 1872/77 Mixed Versions. Ed. Leopold Nowak
Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

[André]

Zinman's must be the fastest Missa I've come across. At around 65 minutes it's a romp through the score, but it doesn't sound rushed. Joyous, exciting, full of alacrity except in the more serious or tender moments, where he relaxes to wonderful effect (a magical Et Incarnatus Est). The orchestra and chorus are an audibly modest contingent, but the warm acoustics of Zurich's Tonhalle lend their warmth and impeccable balance of reverberation and clarity to the proceedings. The brass have bite yet never sound aggressive. The soloists are very good to excellent (soprano Luba Orgonasova). What's missing from this recording is a sense of awe and majesty. Too much shouldn't be made of this however, as I prefer that to an excess of these same qualities (Klemperer, Karajan, Böhm, Giulini). Not a benchmark recording then, but a highly valuable addition to any Beethoven collection if one likes the attributes I've mentioned.



Since I mentioned timings for the Zinman Zurich performance, let's start with this : at 74 minutes Gielen's speeds are definitely more moderate while still on the left end of the scale in this regard (the average is around 77-81 minutes, the really slow ones exceeding 85 minutes). This is readily apparent in the Kyrie, where a collected, reverential, penitent atmosphere pervades throughout.

The mighty Gloria and Credo are quite superb in their balance of dynamism, bite and gravitas. The fugal portions raised a concern though, as Zinman's Zurich performance showed that taking a brisk tempo made them sound festive and joyous. In just about every other version I've heard (some two dozen) they tend to lumber somewhat, the intensity ebbing and the attention wandering as a result. Gielen falls into a pedantic, bar-by-bar trudge - think of someone exercising energetically on the treadmill for 15 minutes and suddenly slowing down for the last 2 or 3.

Gielen's soloists are excellent. Phyllis Bryn-Julson is lighter in tone than Orgonasova, her top range secure but slightly fluttering while Lipovsek's fruity mezzo and Protschka's Tamino-ish tenor are perfectly suited to their task. Bass Kurt Rydl is superb, not voluminous in tone but secure throughout the extended range of his part and fully attuned to the spiritual reach of the Agnus Dei.

It's in that movement however that Gielen falters somewhat. For some reason there is a distinctly lower voltage, the movement proceeding cautiously and without obvious finality. The thrilling 'war sounds' (echoes of Haydn's Nelson Mass) towards the end are curiously uninvolved. They should raise the roof - even the Dead - but it's not the case here. Listen to Bernstein to hear what's missing.

However different from one another, it's a toss up between Zinman and Gielen. I like both but am not deaf to their respective blind spots (pun).



Savall's version clocks in at slightly over 76 minutes. Somebody at Aliavox ought to have noticed the ridiculous typo in timings on the set's back cover, where they claim that the Gloria lasts 6'17'' and the Credo 6'53''. Oups ! We just lost some 20 minutes' worth of music here. In Haydn's days a Mass setting could be 'Brevis' or 'Solemnis'. In the first case different lines of text were sung simultaneously by the chorus voices (SATB), resulting in a musical mumble jumble rather similar to the opera finales where different characters all sing together, each with their own lines. Nobody in the audience can follow their patter but everybody understands that the characters on the stage express their individual emotions/reactions all at once. In a 'Solemnis' otoh the lines of liturgical text not only follow one another, but are repeated and ornamented by more than one soloist, individually or in combination. The time ratio of a brevis vs a solemnis is around 1:3. This is what sprang to mind when reading timings on the back cover of this otherwise ultrafine, lavish release.

Forces are modest. I counted 35 chorus members and 45 instrumental players. They do sound substantially lower in number than the 'traditional' 100-175 musicians heard in many recordings. The acoustics are very fine and the overall sound is at once full, transparent and luminous.

This work being an Everest/K2 of sacred music has led concert promoters, conductors and music producers to cast 'name soloists' to match the work's hallowed status, the most egregious example being the sensational pairing of Cheryl Studer, Jessye Norman, Placido Domingo and Kurt Moll with the combined forces of 3 different choirs and the Wiener Philharmoniker under James Levine - look no further if you think New York's St. John the Divine would be the ideal venue for a performance of the Missa. It's an excellent performance in all other respects btw.

Savall and his fine choristers and PI instrumentalists pace the work ideally. The difference between this and the otherwise quite similar Gielen performance lies in the tones produced by the string and brass instruments. More gentle and less cutting strings, less assertive brass, but better balance and clarity (Savall) vs.  a more massive yet energetic orchestra and more vocally assured voices (Gielen).

One last detail to nitpick at: the work's coda and especially its last three chords. Superbly grand under Zinman, forceful but brusque under Gielen, bizarrely ineffective under Savall.