What are you listening 2 now?

[Symphonic Addict]

d'Indy: String Sextet in B-flat major

A delectable piece of music. The 3rd movement in theme-and-variation form contains the most sublime and exquisite ideas.

[Mapman]

Arensky: Piano Trio #1, Op. 32
Joseph Kalichstein, Jaime Laredo, and Sharon Robinson

The first movement is gorgeous! The beginning of the development section reminds me of Dvořák.

[brewski]

Enescu: Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 (WDR Symphony Orchestra / Cristian Măcelaru, recorded April 13, 2025 in Cologne). A terrific version of a favorite, with some superb woodwinds, among many great sequences.

[DavidW]

[Symphonic Addict]

This is the best disc of Martinu's early orchestral works on Toccata, mostly because of the kind of tone poem Vanishing Midnight which is an absolute masterpiece.

[Symphonic Addict]

Lyatoshynsky: Piano Quintet

There is abundance of passion in this terrific quintet.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

NP: Mahler's 5th

From this set -

[Baxcalibur]

Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1-4 and Overtures
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Eugen Jochum



I've just finished streaming Jochum's Brahms cycle from 1976, courtesy of the Warner Cyborgs* who have made this available to us Internet denizens. These are powerful old-school performances with flexible tempos and pretty clear sonics. Maybe too clear. The first cymbal crash in the latter half of the Academic Festival Overture was bizarre, sounding like a sneeze. Besides that, a fantastic set.





*A term of endearment apparently coined by the reviewer Bernard Michael O'Hanlon to criticize their remasters of EMI recordings.

[Symphonic Addict]

Bloch: Piano Sonata

Marvelous. I like how Bloch handles mysticism and oriental harmonies to great effect.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Last work for the night --- Reich Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ

From this set -

[Roasted Swan]

Enescu: Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 (WDR Symphony Orchestra / Cristian Măcelaru, recorded April 13, 2025 in Cologne). A terrific version of a favorite, with some superb woodwinds, among many great sequences.

These German regional/radio orchestras are playing so well at the moment.  Proof of the insane quality of players coming out of the various conservatoires around the world.  Fingers crossed economics allow Germany to maintain this number and quality of orchestras (and opera houses).

[AnotherSpin]

Olivier Messiaen: La nativité du Seigneur

Charles de Wolff
Église Notre Dame D'Laeken, Bruxelles

[AnotherSpin]

[pjme]

D'Laeken? Surely just a typo...

See: https://notredamedelaeken.be/eglise/orgues-et-organiste/

Schijven–Van Bever Large Organ, 1874–1912
This is a gallery organ (Schyven-Poelaert-Goyers / Van Bever, 1874–1912). The large organ of the Church of Our Lady of Laeken was built between 1872 and 1874 by Pierre Schyven and inaugurated in the presence of King Leopold II by Alexandre Guilmant and Auguste Mailly.

Dismantled in 1908 by the Laeken organ builder Salomon Van Bever, it was rebuilt in 1911 with the addition of a Positif. This transformation resulted in the loss of the magnificent neo-Gothic case that adorned the Schyven organ.
On May 10, 1912, a formal concert given by Louis Debond concluded the work. In 1975, the Ministry of Public Works decided to restore the instrument.

This work was entrusted to Patrick Collon, an organ builder in Laeken. Thus restored, the Schyven-Van Bever organ in the Church of Our Lady of Laeken is one of the most prestigious examples of Romantic organ building in Belgium.

[AnotherSpin]

D'Laeken? Surely just a typo...

See: https://notredamedelaeken.be/eglise/orgues-et-organiste/

Schijven–Van Bever Large Organ, 1874–1912
This is a gallery organ (Schyven-Poelaert-Goyers / Van Bever, 1874–1912). The large organ of the Church of Our Lady of Laeken was built between 1872 and 1874 by Pierre Schyven and inaugurated in the presence of King Leopold II by Alexandre Guilmant and Auguste Mailly.

Dismantled in 1908 by the Laeken organ builder Salomon Van Bever, it was rebuilt in 1911 with the addition of a Positif. This transformation resulted in the loss of the magnificent neo-Gothic case that adorned the Schyven organ.
On May 10, 1912, a formal concert given by Louis Debond concluded the work. In 1975, the Ministry of Public Works decided to restore the instrument.

This work was entrusted to Patrick Collon, an organ builder in Laeken. Thus restored, the Schyven-Van Bever organ in the Church of Our Lady of Laeken is one of the most prestigious examples of Romantic organ building in Belgium.

The album cover says D'Laeken. Of course, I'm not insisting on anything...

[Que]

Wasn't familiar with this ensemble, giving it a try. Sofar so good...
Swiss soprano Capucine Keller does the singing, quite to my satisfaction.

[pjme]

The album cover says D'Laeken. Of course, I'm not insisting on anything...

It makes no sense, nor in French, nor in Nederlands or English.

Eglise de Notre Dame....

The preposition "d'" is a contraction of "de" and is used before a word that begins with a vowel or a silent "h." It is often used to indicate the possession, origin, material, quantity, or nature of something.
"D" "is also used to refer to the origin of a person or object. It helps place something in a geographical or historical context.
It is important to note that "d'" cannot be used with determinate nouns (le, la, les) when speaking of possession.
Example
Le livre de la professeure (et non le livre d'la professeure).
La voiture des parents (et non la voiture d'les parents).

Now back to some cooling music as the Netherlands and Flanders are slowly burning under a horrible sun....

[Que]

Now back to some cooling music as the Netherlands and Flanders are slowly burning under a horrible sun....

Unfortunately, temperatures in Southern Europe are even worse...


Thread duty:

[Cato]

An early, Impressionistic work by Carl Orff:

In contrast, the last work of Max Bruch, but composed around the same time (c. 1920) as the above:

[Irons]

I turned up the volume of my (tube) amp, and the music sounds good. I'm always like this.

Thurston Dart, pioneer of HIP before the term was thought of, broached this subject for the notes he wrote on this LP -



The clavichord is an extremely soft instrument, softer even then the guitar or lute, and its sound is not at all easy to recreate faithfully on record - not least because the microphones have to be very close to the player's hands, and can therefore pick up the slightest percussion of finger on key. The music will sound most like a clavichord if the volume control is set fairly low, but with no cutting of top frequencies.