What are you listening 2 now?

[Mister Sharpe]

Yes, fantastic piece! IIRC I was guided to the piece by @vandermolen

That vandermolen is a noted and highly-regarded Baxian! 

[Lisztianwagner]

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No.6

Hans Rosbaud & Südwestfunk-orchester Baden-Baden

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

España · London Symphony Orchestra · Ataúlfo Argenta.

[Linz]

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Symphony in C Major, H. 649, Wq. 174
Symphony in D Major, H. 651, Wq. 176
Symphony in E Minor, H. 652, Wq. 177
Symphony in G Major, H. 657, Wq. 182/1
Symphony in C Major, H. 659, Wq. 182/3
Symphony in A Major, H. 660, Wq. 182/4
Symphony in B Minor, H. 661, Wq. 182/5
From Berlin to Hamburg
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Mayumi Hirasaki

[Symphonic Addict]

Sallinen: Cello Concerto and Chamber Music I for string orchestra

The Cello Concerto was especially remarkable.

[VonStupp]

As a clarinetist, I respect your opinion, my friend!

I thought of the clarinet players on this forum after I posted this.   Alas, it does not dull my love of clarinet, a personal favorite of the woodwinds; simply a preference at that moment in Bruckner. Had the composer not revised it, my preference would not even be a discussion, nor a choice for that matter.

VS

[Karl Henning]

I thought of the clarinet players on this forum after I posted this.   Alas, it does not dull my love of clarinet, a personal favorite of the woodwinds; simply a preference at that moment in Bruckner. Had the composer not revised it, my preference would not even be a discussion, nor a choice for that matter.

VS

Completely understood!

[AnotherSpin]

The morning is clear and cool, and Emerson's metaphor of the transparent eyeball feels perfectly apt.

From his essay Nature: "Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space, — all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or parcel of God. The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign and accidental: to be brothers, to be acquaintances, master or servant, is then a trifle and a disturbance. I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty."

[AnotherSpin]

Debussy & Ravel: String Quartets

Pro Arte Quartet
Recorded Live 1947-1948

[Que]

A rerun of this great recording by TSATF (digital only):



Missa Salve Diva Parens
Salve Regina

[Que]

When I saw this on Spotify, I thought I discovered a new vihuela recording:



But it is not...



Also available on Spotify...    Still a lovely recording! 

[Iota]

Bach: Sonata No. 1 in B minor, BWV1014, Sonata No. 2 in A major, BWV1015
Lucy van Dael (violin), Bob van Asperen (harpsichord)

A lovely sense of communication between these two. It certainly allows one to drift into Bach's wonder world in unassuming fashion. Rather pleasantly fitting cover art too.

[Iota]

España · London Symphony Orchestra · Ataúlfo Argenta.

She looks like she could strike a death blow with a single flick of those castanets!

[Harry]

Concert au gout italien.
Chamber Music, Paris 1740.
Music for different combinations and BC.
See for details the back cover.
Music by: Michel Corrette, Jacques Christophe Naudot, Jean Marie Leclair, Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, Jean Joseph Cassanea de Mondonville.
Ensemble Alta Ripa.
Recorded: 1993. Fürstliche Reitbahn, Arolsen. No PDF file.
Streaming: FLAC 44.1kHz/16 bit.

A recording with a touch of history — made in 1993, and still entirely valid in terms of musicality and charm. Concert au goût italien gathers together an elegant selection of chamber works by mid-18th-century French composers, all of them responding, in their own way, to the prevailing fashion of the time: the Italianate style. It's a programme intended less for academic scrutiny than for refined enjoyment — and in that, it succeeds with unforced grace.

The music is drawn from various opus numbers and scored for changing combinations of violin, recorder, and continuo. What emerges is not a grand statement, but a series of miniature portraits, each shaped with balance and taste. Michel Corrette, Boismortier, Mondonville, Naudot, and Leclair offer music that is elegant, decorative, and often delightfully witty. The Italian influence is present in rhythmic verve, expressive suspensions, and the occasional burst of virtuosity, but the French sensibility remains intact — lightness of touch, clarity of line, and a sense of urbanity over drama.

Ensemble Alta Ripa performs with polished dignity and unfussy elegance. The playing is refined rather than flamboyant — a good match for this repertoire, which rewards balance and charm over brilliance. The continuo is well judged, the melodic phrasing supple, and the ensemble interplay finely tuned. No grand gestures here, just the pleasure of musicians who understand the style and serve it with poise.

The recording quality, while not state-of-the-art by today's standards, is perfectly serviceable. The acoustic — Fürstliche Reitbahn in Arolsen — lends a sense of intimacy and warmth. There is sufficient air around the instruments to preserve spatial clarity, though the sonics vary slightly from track to track. Still, for a 1993 recording, it holds up well and invites attentive listening without fatigue.

This is music meant to delight, not to dazzle — and in that restraint lies its enduring appeal. A disc of quiet pleasures, still worth hearing three decades on.

By the 1740s, French composers were increasingly drawn to the expressive freedoms of the Italian style — goût italien — which brought greater rhythmic vitality, melodic contrast, and virtuosic display into traditionally more restrained French forms. This fusion gave rise to a uniquely French-Italian hybrid: music that embraced the Italian love of drama and motion, yet retained French elegance, clarity, and decorative charm. Composers like Leclair and Mondonville were central to this synthesis. Leclair, trained in both traditions, infused Corellian structure with French lyricism, while Boismortier and Corrette offered accessible, melodious works aimed at the growing salon audience. The result was chamber music that danced delicately between nations — refined, lively, and still pleasing centuries later.

[Que]

This piqued my interest:

 

[Harry]

This piqued my interest:

 

I was none to happy about this recording, so much I remembered, I am curious after your findings.

[AnotherSpin]

I started listening to Tom Hicks's new recording, but stopped almost immediately, having found no spark of interest in it. Still, as I was already in the mood for some Chopin Nocturnes, I turned instead to the one performance that, without exception so far, has never failed to genuinely amaze.

[Harry]

Max Bruch (1838–1920)
Solo Piano Music.
Swedish Dances Opus 63, Vol. I, free arrangement for piano.
Swedish Dances Opus 63, Vol. II, free arrangement for piano.
Two Piano Pieces Op. 14.
Adagio from the Violin Concerto, Op. 26, piano version by the composer.
Introduction to the opera Die Loreley, piano version by the composer.
Six Piano Pieces, Op. 12.
Competitions in Honour of Patroclus from the oratorio Achilleus, piano version by the composer.
Christof Keymer, piano.
Recorded: 2019, at the WDR Funkhaus, Köln, Germany.
Streaming: 44.1kHz/16-bit.
Label: CPO, PDF file attached.

Max Bruch's reputation has long rested on a handful of orchestral works — the Violin Concerto No. 1, the Scottish Fantasy, and perhaps Kol Nidrei. Yet behind that public success was a composer of far greater breadth, whose output included chamber music, choral works, operas, and, as this fine recording reminds us, an often-overlooked body of music for solo piano.

Bruch was ambivalent about the piano throughout much of his life. Though an accomplished pianist himself, he frequently dismissed the instrument in favour of vocal and orchestral textures. Only later in life did he return to it with more affection, as seen in his late chamber music and the Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra. What we have here, played with insight and subtlety by Christof Keymer, is a beautifully curated selection that spans original piano works and Bruch's own transcriptions — a window into a private, often lyrical side of his artistry.

From the Swedish Dances to the finely wrought Op. 12 and 14 pieces, and through to the composer's own piano reductions of larger orchestral and operatic works, what emerges is Bruch's unwavering devotion to melody. His handling of the piano is not pianistic in the virtuosic sense; rather, it is vocal, flowing, and at times wistfully restrained. These pieces offer no fireworks — but much warmth. Even in the more intricate textures, Bruch prioritises line over brilliance, emotional contour over bravado.

Keymer approaches the music with poise and clear affection. His touch is sensitive and well-shaped, and he captures the lyrical essence of each piece with a painter's care. There is a strong visual sense to his playing — a kind of inner narrative unfolds in each phrase. The only caveat lies in the instrument itself: it lacks a touch of body, particularly in the lower registers. It doesn't sound quite like a modern Steinway, nor entirely like a Bösendorfer — possibly an older, well-worn concert grand with history in its frame. One hears occasional hints of fatigue in the tone, but nothing that distracts from the musical line.

This is a disc that gently surprises. Far from mere curiosity, these works reveal Bruch as a more rounded figure — a composer whose melodic gifts were as evident at the piano as in the concert hall. This is piano music of sincerity, quiet beauty, and unmistakable character. It deserves to be heard.

[Que]

I was none to happy about this recording, so much I remembered, I am curious after your findings.

Same. There are some interesting bits in it, but that's it..

[Lisztianwagner]

Anton Bruckner
Symphony No.7

Hans Rosbaud & Südwestfunk-Orchester Baden-Baden