What are you listening 2 now?

[Harry]

Roland de Lassus.
Biographie musicale Vol.1 - Années de jeunesse.
Ludis Modalis.

A recommendation by @Que
The first in a series that seems to be very promising. A small choir of 6, with  2 sopranos in the mix, which makes me already happy. A balanced tone, sometimes a little rough around the edges, but not in a disturbing fashion. It sounds clear like a bell, details clearly audible, and because of it, the music is like a musical painting of fine lines, without smudges or smears. The acoustic image is perfect, in which the singing is with each other instead of next to each other. A good start.

[hopefullytrusting]

Sweet Moses - this might be the best sounding, production-wise, I've across - the tone is so rich and thick.

[Harry]

The variety of the music and it's composers is an attractive reason to listen to this disc, save for one obstacle which is easily avoided, namely that the excellent violinist Enrico Onofri thinks he can sing too, and actually, it's terrible, a horreur.. My advice is skip those pieces were he does. Lorenzo Ghielmi delivers a pristine performance, on a organ and Harpsichord which sounds very good, but since there is no PDF file, I do not know which one that may be. Margret Köll is a very sensitive Harp player, which makes a ideal companion to the Organ and Violin. It is a good recording in a fine acoustic.

[AnotherSpin]

Yesterday rather unexpectedly turned into a Ton Koopman day. First it was four discs from The Keyboard Music set of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, followed by three discs from Cantatas, Vol. 16 by Johann Sebastian Bach. It wasn't deliberate, I had no particular plan to take in so much Koopman. Still, I'm glad I did; the aftertaste is most pleasing.

I hadn't listened properly to Bach's cantatas for quite some time, and I'm fairly sure I'd never heard those from Koopman's recordings. I enjoyed them enormously. Gentle, transparent, unhurried. A sort of otherworldly clarity, just as I like it.

[Harry]

Rebecca Clarke.
Chamber Music.

This is truly a beautiful disc filled with music by Rebecca Clarke, a female composer that needs to be elevated as high as we possibly can, and place her forthwith in the pantheon of greats. Just listen to the wonderful compositions on this recording, positively awesome! Great performers and very good sound to boot.

[AnotherSpin]

John Taverner

Stile Antico

[Traverso]

Mozart

  When I leave this world it will hopefully with the beautiful music of Mozart.

CD 1

[Harry]

British Music for Strings III-British Women Composers.

Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) Suite for Strings Op. 1A (1883/1890)
Susan Spain-Dunk (1880-1962) Suite for String Orchestra (1920) & Lament for String Orchestra (1934).
Constance Warren (1905-1984) Heather Hill for string orchestra (1929-32)
Ruth Gipps (1921-1999) Cringlemire Garden An Impression for String Orchestra, Op. 39 (1952).

This is my favourite volume in this series by far.

[Madiel]

Beethoven: At various times today, streaming 2 performances each of op.59/1 and op.127.



And the Guarneri (their 2nd cycle originally on Philips) are winning. The Takacs (which I own on disc) are just trying too hard sometimes to milk the drama out of everything. The Guarneri performances are hardly what I'd call 'mellow', but they're just that more enjoyable to listen to because there's some flow to the music. The changes in dynamics and tempo feel less abrupt.

A case in point is the last movement of op.127, which has a couple of distinctly rustic passages. And the Guarneri absolutely bring some roughness at that point. What they don't do is bring the aggression that the Takacs convey.

[Traverso]

Prokofiev

The love for three Oranges Suite Op.33bis

[Karl Henning]

Sounds fine. I'm just reluctant to start exploring another composer now, have plenty to listen to already.

When you have capacity.

[Madiel]

Vivaldi: recorder concertos (or at least, concertos on recorder)



One of the concerto boxes includes this non-'Vivaldi Edition' offering from the Naive/Opus 111 stable. It includes the recorder versions (published in Vivaldi's lifetime) of 3 of the op.10 flute concertos... just not the one in the set that is acknowledged as having started life as a recorder concerto!

It also has the other official recorder concerto and one of the ones for flautino (soprano recorder), albeit transposed down a fourth for reasons which they go into in the liner notes. Finally there's a concerto reconstructed from the violin concerto RV 312, because Vivaldi started composing it for recorder. Only he quite clearly changed his mind and made it a violin concerto. So, you know...

It's not without some interest, but halfway through it's not especially grabbing me. The instrument itself is probably a factor (similar to how the flute concertos disc in the Vivaldi Edition was not a great favourite). But also Ensemble Matheus is going for a dramatic/percussive style of playing, as in their first Vivaldi Edition album, that is not really to my liking.

[Todd]

[Madiel]

Now streaming Alicia de Larrocha performing Khachaturian Piano Concerto and Franck Symphonic Variations.



I own the Franck on a different compilation disc but I haven't listened to it for a few years. I don't think I've ever heard the Khachaturian before, I'm not currently especially thrilled by it but there's plenty to go.

I thought I'd give this another try, as a restarting point for the de Larrocha catalogue.

[Jo498]

Beethoven: At various times today, streaming 2 performances each of op.59/1 and op.127.
...
A case in point is the last movement of op.127, which has a couple of distinctly rustic passages. And the Guarneri absolutely bring some roughness at that point. What they don't do is bring the aggression that the Takacs convey.

Try to listen to/stream the stereo Vegh recording of op. 127. This was probably my favorite finale when I listened to about a dozen recordings some time ago. They are very "rustic" in the main part but "aetherial" in the coda.

[Madiel]

Try to listen to/stream the stereo Vegh recording of op. 127. This was probably my favorite finale when I listened to about a dozen recordings some time ago. They are very "rustic" in the main part but "aetherial" in the coda.

Are you going to persuade me to fall in love with a set that's basically impossible to acquire?

My wallet is suffering from Vivalditis as it is. 

EDIT: Though interestingly, it looks as if one edition of it is relatively easy to get as single discs. Just not as the box set.

[Harry]

Louise Farrenc.
Complete Piano Works- Rondeaux, volume 3.

A continuation of her genial works for Piano Solo. Everything I said from the previous volumes still stand as a rock. The Rondeaux are delightful works, and could not find a better advocate as Maria Stratigou. Well recorded.

[Harry]

D'un matin de printemps.
SAINT-SAËNS - RAVEL - BOULANGER.

This is second disc I play from Trio Helios, and by what I hear I can only say Bravo & Brava. For this disc is something of a revelation how one can play the works on a different level, one that gets on a much higher level in regards of ensemble playing and interpretation, and how to project familiar compositions in a new jacket. They do remarkably well. Excellent recording.

[AnotherSpin]

More Koopman for the day: all three discs from the set.

[Linz]

Jean Sibelius Symphony No. 6 in D minor, Op.104
Symphony No. 7 in c major, Op. 105
Japan Philharmonic, Pietari Inkinen