What are you listening 2 now?

[Symphonic Addict]

Prokofiev: Symphonies 4, op. 112 and 5

This interpretation of the 4th is a case in point where a "right" performance makes an important difference in order to appreciate a work you hadn't come to grips with. Revelatory to say the least.

[Symphonic Addict]

Pijper: Piano Sonata and three Piano Sonatinas

Aphoristic yet substantial works. The first two piano sonatinas interested me the most.

[AnotherSpin]

[steve ridgway]

Nono - No Hay Caminos, Hay Que Caminar...

[AnotherSpin]

[AnotherSpin]

Yet another encounter with a new Goldberg Variations recording, a charmingly personal shadow cast in the endless pursuit of that ever-elusive Platonic ideal.

[Mandryka]

Narratio bring op 130/133 close in spirit to op 131  - with the andante at its heart  - this needs to be heard and considered.

[AnotherSpin]

Marinella Pennicchi, Gloria Banditelli, Mirko Guadagnini, Sergio Foresti

Coro Canticum Nuvum di Solomeo
Accademia Hermans

Fabio Ciofini
direttore

This recording of Mozart's Requiem stands out for its cosy, chamber-music feel. It doesn't go for the big, theatrical treatment you so often get, with over-the-top soloists elbowing their way into the spotlight. Instead, everyone actually plays (and sings) together. It's genuinely refreshing to hear a version that's about the music itself. If you prefer a more intimate, natural sound where the soloists blend in rather than try to out-sing each other, this one is well worth your time. Perfect for anyone who's had enough of the usual bombast dressed up as profundity.

[AnotherSpin]

An album of music by the Ukrainian composer Valentyn Silvestrov, released just yesterday, was recorded in Moscow in 2024. I find it difficult to grasp the meaning of this fact. On the one hand, Lyubimov has long been an interpreter of Silvestrov's work, and this recording could be seen as a continuation of the creative dialogue between the two. On the other hand, we have seen time and again how Russians attempt to lay claim to anything that catches their fancy, and they are particularly fond of declaring anything Ukrainian as their own.

Moreover, we are all too aware that in Russia, nothing happens without approval from above, and certainly not the recording of music by a Ukrainian composer who was forced to leave his home city, Kyiv, because of relentless airstrikes on civilian infrastructure.

As for the music itself, given the number of Silvestrov albums released in recent years, including on Bandcamp, I have yet to hear anything especially distinctive in this one. It leaves a strange, and in some ways unpleasant, impression.

[Que]

[AnotherSpin]

Evgeny Gromov
piano

I didn't finish the previous Silvestrov album. Listening to this one now, recorded in Kyiv in 2023.

[Mandryka]

An album of music by the Ukrainian composer Valentyn Silvestrov, released just yesterday, was recorded in Moscow in 2024. I find it difficult to grasp the meaning of this fact. On the one hand, Lyubimov has long been an interpreter of Silvestrov's work, and this recording could be seen as a continuation of the creative dialogue between the two. On the other hand, we have seen time and again how Russians attempt to lay claim to anything that catches their fancy, and they are particularly fond of declaring anything Ukrainian as their own.

Moreover, we are all too aware that in Russia, nothing happens without approval from above, and certainly not the recording of music by a Ukrainian composer who was forced to leave his home city, Kyiv, because of relentless airstrikes on civilian infrastructure.

As for the music itself, given the number of Silvestrov albums released in recent years, including on Bandcamp, I have yet to hear anything especially distinctive in this one. It leaves a strange, and in some ways unpleasant, impression.

Here's the booklet, which is just in French and English, which may well indicate something about the target market.

https://media.nativedsd.com/storage/nativedsd.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/17115400/FUG846.pdf

[AnotherSpin]

Here's the booklet, which is just in French and English, which may well indicate something about the target market.

https://media.nativedsd.com/storage/nativedsd.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/17115400/FUG846.pdf

Thank you, I saw that booklet on Qobuz as well. Funny that this recording wasn't released by ECM Records, where Lyubimov's performances of Silvestrov's music have been released for many years. Though the design is clearly styled after ECM, no surprise there. I suppose the Germans prefer to keep their hands clean.

[AnotherSpin]

Back to my new old world.

[steve ridgway]

Scelsi - Uaxuctum, premiere with Zender, 1987-10-23.

[steve ridgway]

Stravinsky - Mass

Christianity has certainly inspired a lot of interesting music, kept nicely at arm's length through the use of Latin .

[AnotherSpin]

[steve ridgway]

Scelsi - 5 Incantesimi, Huber, 2012

I'm glad I got into classical music, it produced some far out stuff near the end  .

[Mandryka]

Scelsi - 5 Incantesimi, Huber, 2012

I'm glad I got into classical music, it produced some far out stuff near the end  .

And at the beginning.

Those Scelsi concerts are really enjoyable - I like Zender's Hymnos.

[Florestan]

An album of music by the Ukrainian composer Valentyn Silvestrov, released just yesterday, was recorded in Moscow in 2024. I find it difficult to grasp the meaning of this fact. On the one hand, Lyubimov has long been an interpreter of Silvestrov's work, and this recording could be seen as a continuation of the creative dialogue between the two. On the other hand, we have seen time and again how Russians attempt to lay claim to anything that catches their fancy, and they are particularly fond of declaring anything Ukrainian as their own.

Moreover, we are all too aware that in Russia, nothing happens without approval from above, and certainly not the recording of music by a Ukrainian composer who was forced to leave his home city, Kyiv, because of relentless airstrikes on civilian infrastructure.

As for the music itself, given the number of Silvestrov albums released in recent years, including on Bandcamp, I have yet to hear anything especially distinctive in this one. It leaves a strange, and in some ways unpleasant, impression.

If Russians never again performed or recorded Ukrainian music, you'd accused them of trying to obliterate Ukrainian culture. If they perform or record Ukrainian music, you accuse them of trying to  appropriate Ukrainian culture. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

Oh, and last I checked Fuga Libera was a Belgian label, not a Russian one.

And before you accuse me of being a Putinist: during the early months of the Russian invasion my signature line read "Putin and his minions to the noose!" I stand by it unreservedly.