What are you listening 2 now?

[Roasted Swan]

Rerun.


A marvelous rendition of both works, love them both, the Metamorphic Variations being my favourite work.
Sound in general is SOTA, but in the Miracle in the Gorbals the sound engineer is fiddling too much with his buttons, trying to get the somewhat shrill Violins under control, which does not really work, and the sound tends to shift, which is a pity. The rest of the spectrum is really very good.

I enjoyed this disc too.  Not that sure that the 2 'extra' variations add much to the Metamorphic Variations and I don't enjoy this work as much as his John Blow Meditations but its very well played here.  Miracle in the Gorbals is a fine work and gets a very good performance here.  I think the foghorn at the end is misjudged - too present and assertive....(can a fog horn be such?) - the baleful distant one on the EMI/Berglund Suite from the ballet is much more effective and atmospheric.  Oddly the only other complete version of the ballet (on Naxos) has no foghorn at all which had the Society for the Preservation of Foghorns in Classical Music in uproar let me tell you.

[Spotted Horses]

Continuing to make my way through Honegger Chamber Music through this set.



Sonatina for 2 violins, Kang and Audoli, Sonatina for Violin and Cello, Kang and Walfisch. Both of these pieces are lovely, imaginative pieces finding remarkable sounds in the combination of two instruments. But the overall impression of this set is that they are not the best recordings available. Doing a quick sample, the Krysa and Thedeen recording of the violin and cello sonatina that I have previously listened to is more vivid, and I found more satisfying recordings of the two violin sonatina on streaming. I tend to find Timpani sound is too thin for my taste in chamber music.

[Harry]

No problems with Qobuz today here.

Well I had. I could not enter the Qobuz composer info and neither could I connect with Qobuz through Roon, but the issue seem to be resolved. I could by the way play music from Qobuz without hiccups.

[Harry]

I enjoyed this disc too.  Not that sure that the 2 'extra' variations add much to the Metamorphic Variations and I don't enjoy this work as much as his John Blow Meditations but its very well played here.  Miracle in the Gorbals is a fine work and gets a very good performance here.  I think the foghorn at the end is misjudged - to present and assertive....(can a fog horn be such?) - the baleful distant one on the EMI/Berglund Suite from the ballet is much more effective and atmospheric.  Oddly the only other complete version of the ballet (on Naxos) has no foghorn at all which had the Society for the Preservation of Foghorns in Classical Music in uproar let me tell you.

Yes it can, absolutely.
Oho that's hilarious, I can imagine their displeasure.....    

[Harry]

A 14th-Century Salmagundi.
Blue Heron, Scott Metcalfe.

Now I am not really fond of countertenors, for most of them are to say the least, affected by too much energy and low in talent. Sometimes their voices are painful for one ears, and in general even harmful for ones equilibrium. Blue Heron and their singers are to my ears winners by their quality of singing and excellent balance in applying just enough timbre and volume to make it pleasant to my ears. Very impressive and worthwhile to get involved in. The recording made in the Church of the Redeemer, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, in 2010 & 2014, is of SOTA quality. To most Petrus de Cruce, Philippe de Vitry, Jacob Senleches, and Jacopo da Bologna are not household names, and I only learned about them somewhat later in my classical career, but when I found them, I was mightily impressed and still am. Music for the soul. Only 40 minutes of music I am afraid, but of high quality, it sure is!

[Spotted Horses]

Going deeper into the Honegger Sonatina for two violins, Vassilieva and Kogan deliver a recording that I find more engaging than the one in the Timpani set.

[Todd]

[Brian]

After suffering through some truly awful music on CPO by one Ernst Pepping, I decided to cleanse out my ears with good stuff.



The disc is programmed like a live concert: overture, concerto, symphony.

[ritter]

Stravinsky: Threni. Vocal soloists, The Simon Joly Chorale, The Philharmonia, Robert Craft (cond.).

CD 20 of this cube:

[Linz]

Karajan in Moscow vol.2
Johann Sebastian Bach Brandenburg Concerto No.1
Dmitri Shostakovich  Symphony No.10
Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

[ritter]

And now for something completely different (and completely new for me)...

Guillaume Lekeu: Fantaisie (on Angevin folk tunes) and Adagio, op. 3 (for string trio and string orchestra).

Armin Jordan conducts the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra.

CD 3 of this set:


I don't remember ever having listened to any music by the short-lived Lekeu. I've had this Armin Jordan set in my collection for years, but never made it to this particular disc.

Nice, not bad at all...

[Brian]

Osborne's Rachmaninov. Looking at tiny versions of the cover art in online shops, I never understood what it was until now...

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, 1894 Original Version. Ed. Alfred Orel
Te Deum for Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra
Emmy Loose, soprano, Hildgard Rössel-Majdan, Alto, Anton Dermota, tenor, Gottlob Frick, bass Alois Forer Organ Singverein der Gesellschaft der Misikfreunde Wiem
Wiener Philharmoniker, Volkmar Andreae

[Symphonic Addict]

Marteau's clarinet quintet is a beaut ! That opening theme is so catchy. Trys his beautiful violin concerto too. Karine Deshayes has recorded french and german language songs on CPO. The french ones are gorgeous.

The fact that someone else re-orchestrated his violin concerto has detracted me from giving a proper shot.

OTOH, the other volumes of his music on CPO are indeed fantastic.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

William Walton Five Bagatelles, etc.. Julian Bream.

[Linz]

Antonin Dvorak Piano Works - Kvapil CD 3
Mazurkas op. 56
Impromptu D miner ll o. op.
Dumka op. 12 No. 1
Furiant op. 12 No. 2
Humoreske Fis-dur o. op.
Suite A-dur op. 98
Zwei Klavierstücke op. posth.
Radoslav Kvapil

[Todd]

[Linz]

Robert Fuchs Dritte Symphonie E-Dur, op. 73
Des Meeres und der liebe Wellen, op. 59: Ouvertüre
Andante grazioso und capriccio für Streichorchester, op. 63
Mährische Philharmonie, Manfred Müssauer

[Nostromo]

This is quite a fine recording. They play on modern instruments, as far as I can tell, and they use little vibrato. I suppose that makes a hybrid HIP and modern approach.

[JBS]

Osborne's Rachmaninov. Looking at tiny versions of the cover art in online shops, I never understood what it was until now...

Full painting here
https://www.artchive.com/artwork/costume-devotion-of-fiery-furnace-before-christmas-liturgy-in-russian-orthodox-church-nicholas-roerich-1907/

TD


Potpourri Number 2 in B Flat major "On Themes of Mozart" Op 22
String Quintet Number 7 in g minor Op 144
String Sextet in C major Op 140

This set would probably be a good fit for @Florestan