What are you listening 2 now?

[steve ridgway]

Carter - Symphony Of Three Orchestras

[Que]

As the title already hints at, this is a little bit of everything featuring the lute: solo, duets, chamber music, also featuring the mandolin, harpsichord and recorder.

[Harry]

As the title already hints at, this is a little bit of everything featuring the lute: solo, chamber music, concerto.

I was mildly amused about this recording, not really something that stood out.

[AnotherSpin]

Yes, I admit, it's the piano version, but I've no real objections. Maybe it's just old habits, or perhaps Rübsam has truly managed to get past the outward differences while staying true to the perennial essence.

I'd be interested to hear what friends on the forum think.

[Mandryka]

A flawless presentation of familiar pieces, whose initial acquaintance lies well behind. Each sound does not introduce the music anew but reveals it as a long-trusted companion, intimate, seasoned, and quietly resonant. The music no longer presents itself for discovery; it recalls known details and cherished qualities. Every phrase is steeped in recognition, every motif a return. The ocean of novelty has long been crossed, another moment to dwell in the depths, where the known grows richer and the familiar unfolds in endless variation.

Life does not require endless novelty; for its perfection, it is content with itself.

He said that he had the Groningen organ for one night only, all six sonatas recorded overnight. He certainly can play that Groningen beast of an organ, which itself is no mean feat.

I won't mince words, I really love his trio sonatas.

[Mandryka]

Yes, I admit, it's the piano version, but I've no real objections. Maybe it's just old habits, or perhaps Rübsam has truly managed to get past the outward differences while staying true to the perennial essence.

I'd be interested to hear what friends on the forum think.

Well the piano is just a big clavichord, and the French suites, at least some of them, were probably written with the clavichord in mind.

[Florestan]

the piano is just a big clavichord

That's like saying the clavichord is just a small piano. Not even close, actually. They are distinct instruments with distinct mechanisms, voices and capabilities.

[Wanderer]

[Madiel]

Beethoven: Serenade in D, op.8 for string trio



My day went awry with a migraine-ish headache that pushed me to leave work early and avoid having many lights on at home. Now that I've had a few hours to vegetate, this music is just about the most perfect relaxing antidote imaginable.

Beethoven apparently didn't call op.3 a serenade, but did use that term for op.8. And it has opening and closing marches just like a traditional serenade by a larger band.

[Madiel]

Mozart: Piano sonata in B flat, K.570

[Florestan]

Mozart: Piano sonata in B flat, K.570

Ingrid Haebler?

[Madiel]

Ingrid Haebler?

No, it's Uchida.

[Florestan]

No, it's Uchida.

Ah, yes, I had forgotten that the Philips Mozart Edition features Uchida in the sonatas. The Haebler set was also released by Philips, hence the confusion.

[Traverso]

Mozart

CD 6

Serenade in D "Haffner " KV 250/248b
Divertimento in D KV 251

[Todd]

[Que]

I was mildly amused about this recording, not really something that stood out.

Same. Entertaining for a single run...

[Harry]

Filippo da Moncalieri. (1587-1632}
Musicali Concenti op.2 & 4.
Gli Affetti Musicali.

Albini found employment at the art-loving court of Savoy, where he was also trained as a theologian and musician. He occasionally stood in for Sigismondo d'India as bandmaster. His collection "Musicali contenti" contains madrigals in the new monodic style.  Filippo Albini's artistic career was closely linked to Piedmont, which belonged to the Duchy of Savoy and experienced an immense cultural boom under the rule of Duke Carlo Emmanuele I (1562-1630). Songs, arias and madrigals from two collections published in 1623 and 1626 paint a varied portrait of this versatile composer.
Just by accident I stumbled over a recording that was not in my consideration, based on some vague notions about labels, recording histories, or totally unknown singers and instrumental ensembles. Well  that is a bigoted attitude I realize, after hearing this CD with works by a for me unknown composer. The Music is on the same level as say Monteverdi, and all others in the same stratosphere. The duetti and solo songs performed by for me, again, and there we go in the repeat, unknown female nightingales by the names of Anna Simboli, and Monica Piccinini. No unnatural vibrato, no free glides into legato, simple the voices as pure as the birds I mentioned. My ears are caressed, my soul is in bliss. The BC is also of a awesome height, as is the wonderful recording made in 2002 at the Coro Della Chiesa di Santa Chiara di Bra. I know that a whole bunch of GMGers will be interested in this release, so bite the bullet and go for it, that is if you can get it. Do not let this pass you by lest you should regret it.

[Que]

[prémont]

That's like saying the clavichord is just a small piano. Not even close, actually. They are distinct instruments with distinct mechanisms, voices and capabilities.

One can say that Rübsam plays his piano with clavichord aesthetics, which means that Rübsam's interpretation is very quiet and intimate and with clavichord dynamics - in accordance with the nature of the French suites, in contrast to the terrace dynamics and the relatively stronger sound and fuller harmony that a harpsichord would produce.

The essential common features of the clavichord and the fortepiano (in this case a pianoforte, which Rübsam makes almost sound like a fortepiano) are that, unlike the harpsichord, both are percussion instruments and both have the ability to modulate the individual note dynamically. In other respects they are of course different.

But I think that Rübsam surpassed his piano recordings of the French suites as to intimacy when he made his recordings on the lute harpsichord.

[prémont]

Yes, I admit, it's the piano version, but I've no real objections. Maybe it's just old habits, or perhaps Rübsam has truly managed to get past the outward differences while staying true to the perennial essence.

I'd be interested to hear what friends on the forum think.

This is the only piano version of the French suites I really worship. It is well informed and sounds unpretentious and intimate - and even with an air of spontaneity. It's as if he is playing just for himself, and he also manages to transcend the limitations of the instrument, making me listen just to the music.

Someone said that with great musicians the instrument is of secondary importance - one forgets the instrument and listen only to the music.