What are you listening 2 now?

[Traverso]

Muffat

CD 1

 

 



 

[Madiel]

You know who

Cantata, Cessate, omai cessate (RV 684)
Arias from Tito Manlio, Tieteberga and La Candace



Delphine Galou really does have a quite unusual voice, and I've now put my finger on what I don't like about it. When she employs vibrato she can really overdo it. You hear the flutter more than you hear the actual note.

And in Cessate, omai cessate she's mostly overdoing it. When there's a sequence of long sustained notes you suddenly get to hear what her voice actually sounds like, and it's quite attractive. But most of the time she's getting through Vivaldi's word setting and the flutter predominates.

I've heard her in a couple of the operas. both when she's working with her husband Ottavio Dantone as conductor and when she's not, and I don't think it was such an issue there. Nor is it as predominant in the arias on this album. It seems that it's in cantatas and motets that she maximises the vibrato.

[Todd]

D960.  Disc 9 recording.

[Brian]

That sounds like a supreme pizza to me.

[Que]

Sfessagna: Neapolitan lute music of the Renaissance.
Fabricio Dentice: Fantasias 4-6; Volta de Spagna; Gagliarda bella; Recercata; Fantasia del primo tono per solreut
Giulio Severino: Fantasia del sesto tono; Fantasy 17
Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa: Bella Angioletta
Barbarino manuscript (16th century): Villanella; Folias en Bassus; Ruggieri; Canzon francese la Gatta; Fantasia "Aria d'Inghilterra ma piena d'ogni soavita"; Pavana de Espana; Sfessagna; Tiento overo Tochata; Tenors of Napoli
Michele Carreca, Lute.
New release.

@Que posted this today and to me it seemed a good idea to start my listening day with it, since my loudspeaker cables will be replaced today, so I need a reference recording to compare with what I have now, and how it will change with the new gear. It is the first recording I have by Michele Carreca. It is recorded in a somewhat reverberant venue, and therefore is missing the intimacy which a Lute needs. His playing is good, but a little distant and cold, and I do not know what Lute he is using, but for me it is lacking in warmth and expression. This release is short on many things, but still a pleasant listen. Sound engineers recording the Lute should be more aware of the limitations of the instrument in recording it, but unfortunately many don't care at all. Apart from all this you clearly hear the moving of his hands over the instrument, plus some other noises, creating a surge of irritating haze and distraction.
The Art work is stunningly beautiful, full marks for that, a good choice.
I bookmarked a few other recordings by him and see if he will stay in my collection or not. This particular recording will go though!

Agreed. I found the music quite nice, but the performances do not stand out and are lacking in warmth and expression..

[AnotherSpin]

A wonderful album. And, as usual, I got curious about what the full cover image looks like.

[Spotted Horses]

Returning to Milhaud Sonata for flute, oboe, clarinet and piano after a few months. Recording by Les Vents Francais



A gorgeous work, with two slow outer movements, the first a sensuous tranquille, the second douloureux, a distorted funeral march of sorts. In between, two fleeting intermezzi. It is one of those works of Milhaud which features kaleidoscope harmonies (probably polytonal).

[Iota]

Brahms: Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34
Pavel Haas Quartet, Boris Giltburg (piano)

A brilliant recording, as full of vitality as it is subtlety. And all its autumnal colours, tender introspection and bounding energy are delivered with a transparency of execution that seems to open the door right into the heart of the music. Very taken.
It seems the same players garnered positive reactions for their Dvorak Piano Quintet No.2 as well, so that seems another fairly unmissable encounter down the line. 

[hopefullytrusting]

Another day, another new composer to me: Wilhelm Kuhe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDiOo6bXG5Q

Represented by John Kersey playing his Fantasia on Sir Arthur Sullivan's "The Chieftain" for solo piano @Todd

Okay, this is bad - not amateur, as a lot of YouTube is amateur, and most amateurs, as least those that upload, tend to be adequate at their instrumental task - not so, here. Not only does the performer seem unprepared, so does the piano, and I don't mean unprepared in the sense of employing extended technique - I mean out of tune, wildly. I may have the worst ear in the world when it comes to recognize notes, and even I know that there is something fundamentally wrong with the piano being played, and part of that, if not most of it, as with most things that involve keyboards, boils down to user error.

I can only recommend this to the purveyors of the bad, of the dreck, lol.

[Papy Oli]

Hindemith: Kleine Kammermusik for wind quintet, Op. 24 No. 2
Netherlands Woodwind Quintet

Hindemith: Sonata for 4 Horns
Pavillon Quartet

(CPO)

[Linz]

Alexander Zemlinsky Symphony No. 1 in D minor
Waldgsprach: Es ist spat, es ist schon kalt
Fruhlingsbegrabnis: Horch!, welch'sanfter Klang (Baritone, Chrous)
Sconer Jungling , wie liebelich er ruht (Soprano, Chorus)
Stumm in Welhmut schaut der Mond herab (Frauenchor)
Und ein Sprecht klopft an den Fohrenstamm (Baritone, Chorus)
Als so weihevoll der Alte sprach (Baritone, Chorus)
Horch1 von Hugel, wilder Klang  (Chorus)
Maiblumen bluhten uberall
Edith Mathis, Roland Herman
Chor Symponieorchster des Norddeutschen Rundfunks, Antony Beumont

[brewski]

What a marvelous livestream this afternoon. In the Beethoven, Gluzman used the cadenzas by Alfred Schnittke, which I'm not sure I've ever heard, and they're wild. Here's a great interview with Gluzman, in which he discusses them.

The orchestra sounded terrific, with some gorgeous wind playing, especially in the Shostakovich. I hope they leave the stream up for awhile.

Vadim Gluzman, violin
NDR Radiophilharmonie
Stanislav Kochanovsky, conductor

Beethoven: Violin Concerto
Encore: Silvestrov: Serenade for solo violin
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8

[hopefullytrusting]

Another new composer to me - Cipriani Potter, and this one I selected because he looks like a cartoon villain from the golden age:



Listening to his Symphony No. 6 conducted by Wetton leading the Milton Keynes City Orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8sN6p9bPiE

The symphony is in a minor key, so it is dramatic and emotional, which is why I selected it. If I am going to listen to a work of considerable length, I want to use probability to my advantage, which means, in general, an avoidance of major keys, which almost always end in the dreaded tonic - not necessarily assured when the key is minor.

Additionally, I find minor keys tend to have more bass in them, meaning the violins don't sound so whiny - they are still light, but they are full.

I also selected this because, at least according to Wikipedia, he called his "Symphony [No. 6] in G minor (1832) [styled both No. 10 and No. 2 in G minor by the composer]", lol. Actually, reminds me of the Super Nintendo naming scheme of the Final Fantasay games, lol. Which symphony is it Potter? 2, 6, or 10? Yes, genius-level move.

It is a symphony, and it is as good as any of the other ones I have heard. It is cohesive and coherent, as any other symphony I've heard. I could not express why this is not played or recorded, as it sounds just as good as anything that is currently played and recorded.

Given that I've not heard it before, I like it more than I do symphonies I've heard many times over save Mahler - I suspect I will always like Maher's symphonies best. But if someone was this or Mozart? Not even a question which one I would choose, and it shouldn't be a question for any of you either, although, we probably have very different reasons why it isn't a question.

It is a wonderful mix of late classicalism with ranging almost into a proto-late-romanticism.

I would give his a high recommend, especially to all of you who seem to relisteneres.

[Todd]

I can only recommend this to the purveyors of the bad, of the dreck, lol.

I think I may pass, but dreck can make one appreciate quality all the more.

TD, and not dreck:

[Brian]

What a marvelous livestream this afternoon. In the Beethoven, Gluzman used the cadenzas by Alfred Schnittke, which I'm not sure I've ever heard, and they're wild. Here's a great interview with Gluzman, in which he discusses them.

The orchestra sounded terrific, with some gorgeous wind playing, especially in the Shostakovich. I hope they leave the stream up for awhile.

Vadim Gluzman, violin
NDR Radiophilharmonie
Stanislav Kochanovsky, conductor

Beethoven: Violin Concerto
Encore: Silvestrov: Serenade for solo violin
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8

Btw that is one long concert program. Attention spans are healthy in Germany!

[SimonNZ]

[brewski]

Btw that is one long concert program. Attention spans are healthy in Germany!

Ha! Yes, "around 2 hours" turned into a bit longer. Never mind, it was worth it.

[brewski]

Some off-the-radar repertoire from some friends in Madison, Wisconsin, who did a recital yesterday.

Poulenc: Les Fiançailles pour rire (Betrothal for Laughs)
Ravel: Five Greek Folk Songs
Rachmaninoff: Songs
1. Ne poy krasavitsa Op. 4 No. 4
2. Otryvok iz a Musset Op. 21 No. 6
3. Zdes' khorosho Op. 21 No. 7
4. Ya ne prorok Op. 21 No. 11

[JBS]

CD 5. The CD wallet is illustrated with "Le Tombeau pour Mr de Lully".

[steve ridgway]

Kagel - Anagrama