What are you listening 2 now?

[AnotherSpin]

[steve ridgway]

Maderna - Hyperion

[ritter]

Maderna - Hyperion

A superb recording!!! It's been a favourite of mine since it was first released.

[Traverso]

Villa Lobos

Bachianas Brasileiras No.8

Momoprecoce fantasy

1954

[vandermolen]

Takashi Yoshimatsu: Symphony No.3 Tokyo SO, Keitaro Harada
This is a different recording to the one issued on Chandos and features a second CD featuring
And birds are still...Op. 72 and
Sinfonia in Birds 'To the birds of youth' Op.107
+'Tarkus' (Yoshimatsu's arrangement of music by Emerson, Lake and Palmer)
Unlike many Japanese releases it includes booklet notes in English as well as Japanese.
I enjoyed the symphony with its resonances of Mike Oldfield and David Bedford.

[Madiel]

I thought it best to get started on the Vivaldi violin concertos. I only have 6 volumes out of 11 so far, but that still means I've got lots of violin concertos...

Concerto in D 'Grosso Mogul' (RV 208)
Concerto in G minor (RV 332 / Op.8 No.8 - wait, what is a published concerto doing in this series?)



The 'Grosso Mogul' is relatively lengthy, and big on virtuosity. Reportedly it has the first known violin cadenzas, but... the cadenza in the final movement in particular really outstays its welcome. The G minor concerto seems the somewhat more coherent work.

There are a couple of things about this album that are just a touch annoying:

1. There are 3 concertos on here that the liner notes explain were most likely composed as a triptych, based not only on their titles ('Suspicion', 'Restlessness' and 'Rest') but on evidence they were composed about the same time. But they're not presented together on the disc. It's like throwing some other concerto into the middle of the Four Seasons.

2. There are birds on the recording (swallows, specifically). That's actually not particularly annoying - they're not that audible, though they might be more noticeable on headphones. No, the annoying part is that the violinist/director has the gall to write (in translation at least) "Listeners to this recording will frequently be gladdened by the joyful twitterings of swallows", as if it's a feature not a bug. He then goes on to explain how you won't hear them in the concerto they decided to record at night... which simply demonstrates that they had an obvious solution to get rid of the extraneous noise, didn't use it, and want you to applaud them for failing to use it.

[AnotherSpin]

Leonor de Lera 

[Todd]

[Harry]

Tarquinio Merula. (1590-1665)
Concerti spirituali.
InAlto.
See for all details back cover.
Vocal and instrumental music: Recorded in Leuven, (Belgium) Sint-Jan de Doperkerk, 2024.
Organ music, Recorded at Manova, Chiesa di Santa Barbara, 2024, Italy)
Organ by Graziadio Antegnati, -1565- restored in 2006, Pitch (A3=465 Hz, a semitone above modern pitch), quarter comma mesotonic temperament.
Cover art: Michelangelo Merisi, detto Il Caravagio (1571-1610), Madonna dei Pellegrini (1604–1605).
Streaming: FLAC 192/24 bit recording.
Label:Ricercar, PDF file attached.

This recording was made with the legendary Antegnati instrument from Mantua for the solo organ pieces; a modern instrument — a copy of an organ from the same period — was used for the ensemble pieces. The modern instrument was named Emiliano and was built by Nicola Ferroni in 2021-2022, based on a historical instrument preserved in Monte San Giovanni (Cipri 1580 — Traeri end 17th century) near Bologna. Most of the organ's voicing was carried out in the church itself, unusually and exceptionally close to its historical model and with the collaboration of Marco Fratti. It was designed to be transportable. Its stops: Principale (8'), Ottava (4'), Decima Quinta (2'), Decima Nona (1'1/3), Vigesima Seconda (1'). Secondo Principale (in wood), Flauto in VIII (4'), Flauto in Duodecima (2'2/3). These last three stops are divided between bass and treble.

This release offers a fascinating juxtaposition: the legendary Antegnati organ of Mantua for the solo works, and a newly built portable Ferroni organ — lovingly modelled on Cipri and Traeri instruments — for the ensemble. The historical authenticity is not a gimmick here; it is the very soil in which Merula's music grows, nourished by timbres that strike with both pungency and sweetness.

The organ works of Merula are always a pleasure to listen to — deceptively simple on the surface, yet slyly innovative, sacred in form but deeply human in affect. Too often they are dulled by flat or uninspired interpretations. I must admit I've heard more bad recordings than good ones. The present disc, however, stands in the respectable middle ground. The Antegnati, one of the noblest instruments I know, is captured here at a slight distance; some of its fine detail and intimacy recedes, and the sense of being physically present is a little strained. Still, even with this veil, the beauty and ingenuity of Merula's lines cut through.

The Intonazione cromatica pieces, steeped in the pungency of meantone, twist the ear into delicious contortions, each cadence resolving with a mixture of relief and wonder. The Toccata del secondo tono brims with invention, refusing to be a mere virtuoso showpiece, instead threading tension and release like a master of rhetoric. In the ensemble works, Merula's knack for theatrical contrasts shines — dance rhythms rub shoulders with devotional fervor, reminding us how fluid the sacred and secular could be in 17th-century Italy.

InAlto are superb throughout. Their brass sound has bite without harshness, and Lambert Colson's cornett carries the line with noble ease. Alice Foccroulle's soprano is bright yet never brittle, her voice floating over textures with luminous clarity. The synergy among all players is palpable, a collective instinct that allows this music to breathe as naturally as if improvised.

So, while the recording perspective slightly mutes the intimacy of the Antegnati, the interpretations themselves are strong enough to hold one's interest. Merula's music emerges here as what it has always been: grounded in faith, tinged with theatre, and rooted in the emotional pulse of the human heart. A release that deserves both curiosity and admiration.

[DavidW]

Schubert piano trio D 898 and the Notturno performed by the Vienna Piano Trio

[Todd]

[Wanderer]

[hopefullytrusting]

Today, if I can manage (not feeling the greatest), if not - tomorrow:

Chesnokov's Sacred Compositions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7Azim72St8
Glinka's Songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGgNR1PMQ-o
Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tHCtQUpRX8
Sviridov's Songs of Kursk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZryvmiX6FdM

All of these were excellent, but I particularly enjoyed the Sviridov and Chesnokov works (guess I'm feeling sacred these days, but I loved the dissonant harmonies and spectral qualities - felt like I was entering the atmosphere - lofty).

Today (if I can):

Gubaidulina's Now There is Always Snow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBJIhq3RV4M
Silvestrov's Requiem for Larissa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmk8cmghM7k
Tormis's Curse Upon Iron: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFFNzWaXWmM

[Linz]

Johannes Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15
Géza Anda
Philharnonia O|rchestra, Karl Böhm

[DavidW]

Shostakovich and Schnittke piano trios Vienna Piano Trio

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner Overture in G Minor
Symphony No. 0 in D Minor, 1869 Ed. Leopold Nowak
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berlin, Riccardo Chailly

[Karl Henning]

A first listen:

[Karl Henning]

[Lisztianwagner]

Sergei Prokofiev
Piano Concerto No.3

Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano)
André Previn & London Symphony Orchestra

[Spotted Horses]

Hindemith, Sonata for solo viola (1937)



A compelling work, seems to blend Neo-classical influences with 20th century expressionism. Will listen to Kashkashian's recording of the piece next.