What are you listening 2 now?

[pi2000]

Bedrich Smetana String Qt 1 Kocian Quartet

[hopefullytrusting]

Just passed 2 AM, and I am currently listening to Perilhou's Fantaisie pour Piano et Orchestre - a composer I've never heard of before:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR8EY1u8DHQ

I came across this looking to see if Ravel had ever won the Prix de Rome - he has not, and his last loss, in 1905 was considered so controversial they redid the system, but he lost to Victor Gallois - another person I had never heard of, and who has - as near as I can tell - no recordings of his own compositions on YouTube, but he did play the piano on this recording, and that is how I ended up here.

This is an historical document, and the piece, in my opinion, is relatively non-descript - it is a lovely work, with some truly delicate - raindrop-like playing with the right hand, but nothing that will stick with you. The sound is surprisingly good, given the age of the recording, at least with the piano - the orchestra is, of course, stretched thin, and the piano is the main point of the work, so it makes sense that more resources were dedicated to it.

In sum, this is the kind of treasure that's true value lies in the journey not in the end itself, sort of how a true archeologist would focus on the still functioning bobby traps in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, because its value far outpaces, significantly, the value of the golden idol that everyone was battling over - hs, hss.

It has intrigued me enough to probably spend some time reading up on the Prix de Rome of 1905, but as a musical work - I can merely recommend it.

[hopefullytrusting]

Yes, it was well worth it to look up the 1905 Prix de Rome.

Henri Dutilleux trained under Victor Gallois, and relayed this in an interview:

"He won the Prix de Rome in 1905, the year Ravel was not even allowed to proceed to the final round, which explains why this modest, reserved man composed so little subsequently. He was very conscious of the fact that the jury of the Institute has brought disgrace on themselves, as they had in previous years, by refusing to recognize genius. It's not a comfortable position to be in, to win the Prix de Rome the year they refuse it to Ravel; and, as you know, it caused a scandal and the Conservatoire director at the time, Theodore Dubois, had to resign. My own reservations about the Institute and officialdom in general stem partly from that."

To further clarify this, I also scanned de Savage's, 2015, dissertation, where she adds, for framing:

"Faure's appointment as director of the Conservatoire in 1905 was cloaked in the scandal of the so-called "Affaire Ravel" that surrounded the results of the prestigious Prix de Rome competition that year. Ravel, who had studied with Faure and was competing for the fifth and final time (he had reached the age limit of thirty years), was eliminated during the preliminary round due to apparent "errors" in counterpoint and harmony in his cantata L'aurore."

And

"Accusations of favoritism were made when it was brought to light that the six finalists that year were all students of Charles Lenepveu [...] A great deal of uproar and publicity followed the competition [...] however, the decision of the judges was upheld and Lenepveu's student Victor Gallois was awarded the first prize."


Such intrigue.

[Que]

Revisiting:



A significant release, since I haven't encountered more by Johannes Cleeff aka Johannes de Cleve than the motet that is included in volume I of the Leiden Choirbooks, and another motet and a tenor Lied on the recording Renaissance am Rhein by Singer Pur. Cinquecento elevates the music of this "smaller" German born master who wrote in the Franco-Flemish style.

Johannes de Cleve was a composer active at the court of Ferdinand I and Charles II. He was presumably born in the Duchy of Cleves, and recruited into the court as a choirboy in the same way as Lassus and many others. He was originally a singer in Ferdinand's chapel in Vienna, but when Charles II organized a new chapel in Graz in 1564, he appointed de Cleve as the first Kapellmeister in Graz.

https://earlymusicreview.com/johannes-de-cleve-missa-rex-babylonis/

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/Jul/Cleve_missa_CDA68241.htm

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/Aug/Cleve-missa-CDA68241.htm

[Harry]

Baltic Soundscapes.
ČIURLIONIS 150.
Music for Cello and Piano.
Gleb Pyšniak, Cello.
Rokas Zubovas, Piano.


The CD contains ten works by Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis, arranged for cello and piano. The arrangements open up a new approach to Ciurlionis' piano works as chamber music, while retaining his pictorially enriched musical vision. In addition to the pieces by Ciurlionis, the album contains three contemporary works composed especially for this project by the Lithuanian composer Zibuokle Martinaityte, the Latvian composer Arturs Maskats and the Estonian composer Mihkel Kerem. Each of them was personally inspired by Ciurlionis and not only wrote a new composition for cello and piano, but also dedicated their creative efforts to the anniversary of Ciurlionis and this duo of performers, making this album not only a retrospective, but also a lively, creative dialog between eras, cultures and personalities. Some of the new works struggle against the backdrop of Ciurlionis compositions, in the sense that they do not in my view add up or fit in the context of him. Zibuokle Martinaityte is certainly a misfit, Arturs Maskats, and Mihkel Kerem are not to my taste. Others may think contrary. sound is not the best either, and neither is the performance. Both soloists partnered up in 2020, and this is there second CD.

[AnotherSpin]

[Que]

I had to look that one up! 

https://carpediemrecords.com/products/mundus-et-musica?srsltid=AfmBOor3FxS8WFXtcSHlMGqHzTMLLKt9qGvCdaua1YwvmZ-JDCmjA9sE

[Madiel]

Ravel: The ballet version of Ma mère l'Oye, which is not a mere transcription of the piano duet. It has a considerable amount of additional music, and gets a separate number in the Marnat catalogue as a result.



In fact I think this is one of those rare instances where I prefer the orchestral version to the original. Which is a good driver to get back to choosing an orchestral set (Trevino is one of the candidates).

The music just seems to benefit a heck of a lot from all the orchestral colour, helped of course by Ravel by being one of THE great orchestrators.

[vandermolen]

Bloch:Israel Symphony
Utah SO/Abravanel
A moving collection of Bloch's Jewish-inspired works (Alto CD)

[Madiel]

I've had such a big break in my traversal of the Stravinsky ballets that I'm going to rewind back to Les Noces.

[Todd]

Op 26.

[Traverso]

Messiaen



 

[vandermolen]

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No.5/Sancta Civitas
BBC SO/Rozhdestvensky (BBC Radio Classics)
A unique coupling of, arguably, Vaughan Williams's greatest symphony and choral work in fine performances.
This CD has given me much emotional pleasure:

[Todd]

27/1.

[Que]

[pjme]

Ravel: The ballet version of Ma mère l'Oye, which is not a mere transcription of the piano duet. It has a considerable amount of additional music, and gets a separate number in the Marnat catalogue as a result.

If I remember correctly Cluytens did Ma mère l'oye complete and I have Tilson Thomas/London SO on Sony. There must be more.



Prélude - Danse Du Rouet Et Scène - Pavane De La Belle Au Bois Dormant - Interlude - Les Entretiens De La Belle Et De La Bête - Interlude - Petit Poucet - Interlude - Laideronnette, Impératrice Des Pagodes - Interlude - Apotheose: Le Jardin Féerique
So very lovely !

[Madiel]

Dvorak: Slavonic Rhapsody no.1 in D major

[Madiel]

If I remember correctly Cluytens did Ma mère l'oye complete and I have Tilson Thomas/London SO on Sony. There must be more.



Prélude - Danse Du Rouet Et Scène - Pavane De La Belle Au Bois Dormant - Interlude - Les Entretiens De La Belle Et De La Bête - Interlude - Petit Poucet - Interlude - Laideronnette, Impératrice Des Pagodes - Interlude - Apotheose: Le Jardin Féerique
So very lovely !

I'm sure virtually all orchestral versions would be complete.

[Traverso]

Thomas Ravenscroft 

 
 

[Todd]

27/2.