What are you listening 2 now?

[Symphonic Addict]

Ropartz: String Trio

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Count me as a fan of Nott's Mahler on Tudor. The only performance I didn't think much of was Das Lied and this only because I don't like the tenor/baritone configuration.

[Linz]

Dmitry Shostakovich Violin Concertos Nos.1 & 2
Lydia Mordkovitch
Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Järvi

[André]

I like a lot of Martinu's music, string quartets, operas, oratorios, symphonies, concertos etc but I'm afraid the two concertante works here (both for piano trio and string orchestra) are definitely not among them. This is Martinu in super neo-classical mode. The string orchestra's aggressive, unvaried see-sawing motions got on my nerves rather quickly. My reservations are mostly about the first work ('Concert'). The other one ('Concertino') is less grating to the ear.

La Bagarre (1926) is a fun orchestral romp lasting just 10 minutes. It is contemporary with Honegger's Rugby and Pacific 231 and I found a certain kinship between these works. They are very much in the mood of celebrating the Age of the Machine. The aeroplane depicted on the disc cover is the subject of Martinu's work.

[Karl Henning]

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing this entire RVW disc:

[Karl Henning]

Birthday Boy!

[T. D.]

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

NP: Glass Symphony No. 13



I purposely skipped over the 12th symphony, because the only recording of it right now features a vocalist that I cannot stand and practically ruins the whole piece for me.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

NP: Górecki Already It Is Dusk, Op. 62, "String Quartet No. 1"

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

NP: Gubaidulina Pro et contra

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

NP: Pettersson Symphony No. 12 "De döda på torget"



When revisiting Pettersson's symphonies (sans Symphonies Nos. 6-8 which I know well already), I was going through the BIS box set and I figured why should I restrict myself to only the BIS recordings? I own many other Pettersson recordings --- all of the CPO recordings and most if not all the Caprice, Swedish Society and Phono Suecia releases. This particular recording of the 12th has a wonderful dingy quality to it and I mean this is best sense of the word. It has a burnished sound that is rather appropriate to the music. I own two other recordings of the 12th --- Lindberg on BIS and Honeck on CPO. They're all excellent, but this one with Carl Rune Larsson is rather special to me.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

RIP, Herr Brendel

NP: Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37

[steve ridgway]

Ligeti - String Quartet No. 2

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Last work for the night --- Reich Octet

[Wanderer]

[AnotherSpin]

@AnotherSpin See what you make of this one.

Thanks, @Mandryka — really interesting music by a composer I hadn't heard of before. It seems simple at first, but there's something quietly captivating about it. I am checking out more of his work on Qobuz — definitely worth exploring further.

And yes, the album cover seems odd at first — neon, a bare lightbulb, a strange figure. What does any of this have to do with early music album? But in fact, it fits perfectly. This isn't just a set of Baroque pieces — it's a kind of imaginary journey through southern Italy, full of street sounds, smells, voices, and life. The cover feels like a freeze-frame from that world. The photo is by Jean Marc Tingaud, taken years ago in a small fish shop in Naples. That place — Pescheria Azzurra — still exists. I found some recent photos of the exact same spot: morning market, quiet before opening, then the bustle — fish, chatter, smell — and by evening, it turns into a trattoria that stays open late.

One great detail is the old fisherman figurine in the presepio style — a traditional Neapolitan craft of expressive terracotta miniatures that combine sculpture, painting, costuming, and theater. In true Baroque spirit, the sacred and the everyday collide — ironic, theatrical, but never mocking. That's Naples, baby.

And here's something that really struck me: the street outside is paved with slabs of volcanic stone from Mount Vesuvius. Oddly enough, the old part of Odesa was once paved with the very same material. You can still spot traces of it today. Two centuries ago, ships loaded with grain would leave Odesa and return from European ports carrying ballast — lava stone, Marseille tiles, and more.

[steve ridgway]

Penderecki - Horn Concerto

[AnotherSpin]

[Que]

The abundance of new quality recordings in Franco-Flemish repertoire is a luxury for any aficionado, like myself.
Two masses for 5 voices on the 1st disc: Missa Cuidez vous que Dieu and Missa De Domina.