What are you listening 2 now?

[Symphonic Addict]

That is a lesser-known composer who has written some charming music.

Indeed, many of his works are tinged with folk music, but others show a more serious demeanor.

[Symphonic Addict]

Cooke: String Quartets 3-5 and Variations for string quartet on an original theme

Despite some intonation issues, I really enjoyed these succulent quartets.

[JBS]

Rossini on an 1849 Erard

An Album for Quick Witted Children
CD 2 of Paolo Giacometti's set of Rossini's piano works


The Naxos set of Sins of My Old Age is the best option because it contains the pieces that are not for solo piano, but this is a good alternative for the PI angle.

[AnotherSpin]

Philips, Dering, Dowland, White, Byrd

[Symphonic Addict]

Schubert: Piano Sonatas D. 157, 279 (Endres) and 459 (Dalberto)

These early sonatas are full of memorable ideas. The first movement from the D. 279 seems foreshadowing elements of the Wanderer Fantasy.

[Roasted Swan]

Gosh, this concerto is growing on me tremendously. It even outshines the splashy, loud, but not quite mature Walton.

Its a great piece with an interesting history regarding its dedicatee/1st performer Helen Perkin.  Also, it has the quirk of a tuba part that (from memory!) literally has about 3 notes to play in the entire work.....

[AnotherSpin]

John Dowland's life was shaped by religious exile, thwarted ambition, and the inescapable weight of his melancholic temperament. His music distils the deep sorrow and despair of the Elizabethan age. And yet, one recalls Osho's words: "Either you live out of despair, or you live out of love. The energy that becomes despair is the same that becomes love. It depends on you, in what direction you help the energy to move."

[Harry]

IGOR STRAVINSKY.
Chamber Music.
Anthony Marwood, Violin & Thomas Ades, Piano.

A delightful recording of orchestral works transcribed to Violin and Piano, and although Stravinsky did not really like doing this he made the transition a very successful enterprise. It's pleasure ridden and gives joy as an interpretation and sound. Captured in a fine acoustic this is antidote to the hectic world around us. Sun is popping out and the rays fall on my face, so extra light and enlightenment.

[Que]

Following @Que

Following AnotherSpin...

Volume III: The musical glory of Bavaria - The time of conflict.

https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/aug14/lassus_biographie_v3_mew1369.htm

[Traverso]

Pepe Romero Guitar.....

[Roasted Swan]

A new disc of Bax songs should be a cause for celebration, but oh dear this is pretty awful.....



In effect this is Vol.2 by these artists and I wasn't very enamoured by Vol.1.  The work that gives this disc its title is a 25 minute(!!!!) melodrama/dramatic recitation setting of the famous Rosetti poem.  Trouble here is that it is the antithesis of drammatic.  Baritone Jeremy Huw Williams sort of sing-songs his way through the text like a village priest giving a boring sermon for the 100th time.  Somewhere in the background pianist Paul Fan noodles away (technically very well but again with zero drama).  I never thought I'd say this, but on the evidence of this performance, an extended piece by Bax I never want to hear again.....  For the rest of the programme where alternative versions exist they are without exception better than the wan, vocally unappealing performances offered here.

But that's not the worst of it!  The actual technical recording is simply dreadful.  The voice in particular seems bathed in a kind of digital, metallic wallowing echo.  The recording venue looks like a classic smallish 'dead' recording studio.  Great for allowing post production manipulation of the recorded sound but really hard for Classical material that kind of needs some warmth at source.  The sound is so bad I did wonder if there is some fault in the mastering phase.  I cannot imagine the master tape was signed off sounding like this!!!  Buyer BEWARE......

[Harry]

Francis Poulenc
Pierre_Octave Ferroud
Maurice Ravel.

Chamber Music.
Judith Ingolfsson, violin.
Vladimir Stoupel, piano.

Two words suffice for the interpretations,  "absolutely perfect".
The Sonata by Poulenc is a magnificent work, much more as I expected, it carries all the creative weight of its time and has just the right amount of gravitas, and is perfectly balanced. Ferroud & Ravel are perfect companions. They come well recorded.

[vandermolen]

There's a lot to love (besides the operas - 12 of 'em!) in the otherwise neglected Gounod, the Petite Symphonie in particular is addictively charming and fun (there are two symphonies); the String Quartets (five, I've only heard three from Quatuor Danel); and innumberable songs of which Chanson de printemps is an all-time personal favorite https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozI9dGc4F-k&list=RDozI9dGc4F-k&start_radio=1 Lyrics and translation: https://oxfordsong.org/song/chanson-de-printemps. His piano music I know nothing of and really only a smidgeon of the sacred music. 

Thanks very much John (I'm assuming that it's John  )

[AnotherSpin]

Following AnotherSpin...

Volume III: The musical glory of Bavaria - The time of conflict.

https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/aug14/lassus_biographie_v3_mew1369.htm

And I continue with volume 5, since I have already listened to volume 4 earlier .

[Harry]

Rebecca Clarke-Viola Sonata, 1919.
Frank Bridge-Serenade H23 (1903)-Spring Song No 2 (c1912)-Scherzo (c1902)- Cello Sonata (1913 –17).
Ralph Vaughan Williams-Six Studies in English Folk Song (1926).

For me this is a gem of a disc, 3 contrasting composers served by excellent musicians delivering pristine interpretations, in superb sound. Love the Clarke piece, admire the Bridge contribution, and am delighted by Vaughan's Studies. All very good indeed.

[steve ridgway]

Radulescu - Astray

[Madiel]

Vivaldi arias for contralto.



I don't know why the album isn't just called "arias for contralto", it would have fit perfectly well with other volumes that are called "arias for bass" and "arias for tenor". Anyway...

Sonia Prina doesn't always have my favourite vocal tone, but she can clearly perform this music and the disc seems to be very intelligently programmed. It's arranged in groups of 4 arias with the groups separated by concertos. And the first group of arias all have distinct moods. Track 3 was particularly invigorating.

Also interesting is that this disc has the only surviving fragments of the opera Scanderbeg.

[steve ridgway]

Kagel - Les Idées Fixes

[Todd]

[Madiel]

Re-testing my tolerance for a Schubert Lieder recital with this:



(It might become relevant to a Vivaldi purchase...)

I'm paying minimal attention to the words (having a look but not following along the whole time as I sometimes do), and completely ignoring Graham Johnson's overwrought and irritating liner notes. And on that basis it's not bad, though it definitely illustrates the tendency of the Deutsch catalogue number to predict the level of enjoyment. The earliest song on here (D.166) contains a lot of excitable shouting, whereas the latest ones I listened to were rather more subtle (D.677 and D.890, though it's 677 I liked best).

There's a natural breakpoint after track 6 so that's where I'll leave it for now.