What are you listening 2 now?

[Madiel]

Second attempt at The Excursions of Mr Broucek. And I've made it all the way through the first act. But now it's time for an afternoon stroll - it's looking quite lovely on the last day of autumn, and I can't think of a work that better allows for having a long break between acts.

[Baxcalibur]

A lovely early work with great tunes.  The Chandos recording is overly resonant, blurry and cold sounding.  Neumann with the Czech Phil sounds much better.

I listened to this around Easter, but I put off posting until I decided to lurk again today and saw this post.

Ostrčil - Calvary: Variations for Large Orchestra

Why don't we hear horn and clarinet vibrato more often? It really projects the feeling of dread that seems to be central to this work. The coupling on this album is curious, given how different the two pieces are.

Suk - Symphony in E major

This is one of my favorite recordings of anything. Bělohlávek's quicker recording is let down by Chandos' distant, cavernous sound. Too bad, because the BBC Symphony is fantastic there. Not that the Czechs are inferior in any way, of course. The engineering is a pleasant surprise, too. I've heard quite a few shrill Supraphon recordings (remasterings?), but this one is nice and warm.

[steve ridgway]

Messiaen - L'Ascension

Hmm, rather a harsh sound on this recording 😒.

[Que]

I'm not the biggest fan of Vox Cantoris, and this performance is no exception.
But this requiem is an interesting musical find/

PS I switched this of prematurely, I just couldn't...
The replacement of the organ by winds,  the unmeasured rhythm, the French counter tenors.. No, just no...
Perhaps an Italian ensemble will save this music some day, but I'll pass for now.

[Que]

And now, something more cheerful:



Italian sonatas for plucked instruments, with Stephen Stubbs and Maxine Eilander plucking away on a chitarrone, chitarra spagnola (five-course Spanish guitar) and an arpa doppia (double harp). Hat tip Harry!

[Irons]

Did he record a complete set?

Seems not? I can only come up with 1,3 & 5.

A LP currently for sale -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256643190680?_skw=Hoelscher&itmmeta=01JWJQ0GQKTGW3T7DAZYERNBMR&hash=item3bc1204f98:g:MZoAAOSwJOFm6LA2&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA4FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXC

[Mandryka]

I liked it when listening to it, but as it is with me and Norgard, I never feel keen enough to listen any more than that. I only listen to him about once a decade.

Yes, though you maybe like the second movement of the symphony more than I do! But there was a period in his career when he wrote music which I find rewarding and constantly fascinating, because it's unpredictable, full of surprising twists and turns. The piece for cello and piano called Cantica here is an example - I've been enjoying it this morning in fact.

[Que]

I'm a big fan of L'Achéron and François Joubert-Caillet.
This was on my listening list for a while (issued in 2024) and I'm in the mood, so:

[Traverso]

First-Listen Fridays!

I hear a lot of Bartok...

[Madiel]

Finished Janáček: The Excursions of Mr Brouček.

I agree, the second half is somewhat better. I think just the music itself is better (the two halves being composed quite some years apart), as well as the plot having a bit more to it.

The production on OperaVision is something of a mixed bag. While I think it's generally done well, it's all set in 1968-69. ALL of it. In Act One for the moon it doesn't matter much, you can pretty much do anything with a civilisation supposedly on the moon. But in Act Two there are real problems with ignoring that Mr Brouček is supposed to be out of place in 1420. People say it's 1420. You could just about get away with people referring to swords and crossbows while handling guns, but when someone says that Mr Brouček is wearing strange clothing, and their clothing looks just like his, it simply doesn't work. Nor did I love the victorious Hussites becoming the 1969 Czechoslovakian ice hockey team that beat the Soviet Union.

-----------------
Now trying to decide whether I'm up for 2 operas in a single day, to get a bit ahead of the OperaVision expiry dates. Even if I don't love everything on it, the service itself is an incredible opportunity to try things out at zero cost with good quality video and pretty decent subtitling. I hadn't used it much until the last few months, just because opera is not a favourite genre. But there's no better way to explore and now I'm inclined to make the most of it.

[ritter]

Xenakis - Metastasis

Great cover (I see the drawing is by André Masson).

[Traverso]

Bach

Vol.8  CD 3

[Mandryka]

I'm a big fan of L'Achéron and François Jobert-Caillet.
This was on my listening list for a while (issued in 2024) and I'm in the mood, so:

I've always felt that the son's music was disappointing.

[Harry]

Tientos y Batallas.
17th Century Violin Music in Spain.
See back cover for details.
La Real Camara, Emilio Moreno.
Recorded: 1999, Iglesia de San Salvador, Palacios de Benaver, Spain.

Currently my power conditioner is in the running in stage, so about sound I can say not that much.
What I can say about the performance is that it is superb. Understandable with some aces in the trade,  including Enrico Gatti on Violin, Leon Berben on Harpsichord and Organ, and Pedro Estevan on Percussion, that alone will make almost any disc a success. It is simply very enjoyable, and available on CD, for that is still important to some of us.  It could have been heard around the world in the 17th century by Velazquez and Calderon de la Barca., could I say......

[Que]

I've always felt that the son's music was disappointing.

It's not on the level of Jean Sainte-Colombe le père.

[Harry]

It's not on the level of Jean Sainte-Colombe le père.

But good enough I think!

[Que]

Tientos y Batallas.
17th Century Violin Music in Spain.
See back cover for details.
La Real Camara, Emilio Moreno.
Recorded: 1999, Iglesia de San Salvador, Palacios de Benaver, Spain.

Currently my power conditioner is in the running in stage, so about sound I can say not that much.
What I can say about the performance is that it is superb. Understandable with some aces in the trade,  including Enrico Gatti on Violin, Leon Berben on Harpsichord and Organ, and Pedro Estevan on Percussion, that alone will make almost any disc a success. It is simply very enjoyable, and available on CD, for that is still important to some of us.  It could have been heard around the world in the 17th century by Velazquez and Calderon de la Barca., could I say......

Sounds good! Because Glossa has the habit of reissuing recordings under a different name, sometimes originally by a different label, I checked.
Wasn't aware of the original issue:



Nice(r) cover though... I guess it's hard to beat a Velázquez painting.
Even though it depicts a Dutch defeat in its war of independence against Spain:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Surrender_of_Breda

[Harry]

"Bagpipes from Hell"
Music for the Viola da Gamba, Lyra Viol, Lute,& Ceterone, 17th & 18th Century.
See back cover for details.
Vittorio Ghielmi Viola da gamba & Luca Pianca, Harpsichord and a few other instruments.
Recorded: 1999, at the Villa Medici-Giulini, Briosco, Italy.

Ghielmi handles the Viola da gamba with an admirable vitality, without much ado, and Pianca knows how to unfold both a sparkling spectrum of timbres on Lute and Ceterone and to conjure up a fragile world with soft, delicate tones but also with some insistence. They succeed perfectly in effectively bringing out the different sound characteristics of their instruments in every combination. Well recorded and very enjoyable. worth checking out I think.

[prémont]

Seems not? I can only come up with 1,3 & 5.

Other than these three complete suites he also recorded the sarabandes of all six suites, apparently released together on one single Telefunken LP. But I think I shall continue to pass them by. Completism has some practical limits.

[Iota]

Bach: Sacred Cantatas, BWV 83, 144
Marie Henriette Reinhold (alto)
Daniel Johannsen (tenors)
Alex Potter (counter-tenor)
Tobias Berndt (bass)
Miriam Feuersinger (soprano)
Gaechinger Cantorey Ensemble, Hans-Christoph Rademann (Conductor)

More of this ever rewarding disc, beautiful soprano aria (Genügsamkeit ist ein Schatz in diesem Leben) in BWV 144 lingers in the mind. In parts I did wonder if BWV 83, was an example of Bach having a very slightly off day, I will listen again to see if it was my illusion. But seeing as Bach even at his very worst is good, it was hardly a hardship.