What are you listening 2 now?

[Symphonic Addict]

Two piano trios and a piano quartet, all of them with a close similarity to Brahms and Reger's styles. Whether they sound derivative or not, I did enjoy them.

[aukhawk]

{re Catalogue d'Oiseaux] I need to be prepared to give that ambitious and unique work a proper listen, hopefully soon.

I'm going to butt in with a couple of suggestions.  Les Oiseaux can feel like a tough nut to crack and for a first attempt personally I wouldn't recommend Mandryka's current fave, Peter Hill, who to my ears can sound a bit cool and objective in this music.  Though His Messiaen credentials are of course impeccable - he played for the composer and discussed this music with him before making his recording.

Likewise a couple of other big names that will always come up when this music is mooted - Yvonne Loriod who was the dedicatee and was more than somewhat involved in the composition process, and she premiered the music, and has recorded it twice (at least).  And Pierre-Laurent Aimard who studied with Loriod and, I think, shares some of her stylistic characteristics, tending towards hard-edged brilliance.  All these pianists probably are very true to Messiaen's own conceptions, but that doesn't make thenm an easy listen.

In this music I much prefer pianists with a softer-edged approach.  I would name Anatol Ugorski, Alfonso Gomez, and Jocy de Oliveira.  I you want a more well-known French music specialist, then maybe Roger Muraro (who also studied with Loriod).


Another suggestion I would make is that, as so often happens with collections of related musical pieces, number 1 may not be the best way in.  Debussy's Etudes for example, to my ears No.1 Pour les cinq doigts is one of the less attractive of the 12 pieces.  It's the same with Catalogue d'Oiseaux, No.1 Le Chocard des Alpes is no doubt powerful, subtle yet intricate, but it is very difficult music to come to terms with. A steep learning curve. There are a couple of others that I find particularly hard going - No.5 La Chouette Hulotte and No.11 La Buse Variable - while No.7 Le Rousserolle effarvatte is nearly 30 minutes long on its own so probably best not to start there either.

First, I recommend listening to No.2 Le Loriot or No.6 L'Alouette Lulu, both filled with attractive birdsong effects, maybe also no.13 Le Courlis Cendre though even this can get quite challenging.  Also be sure to read the annotations attached to each piece - they are not just birdsongs being depicted, but complete storyboards with both place and time.

[Symphonic Addict]

I'm going to butt in with a couple of suggestions.  Les Oiseaux can feel like a tough nut to crack and for a first attempt personally I wouldn't recommend Mandryka's current fave, Peter Hill, who to my ears can sound a bit cool and objective in this music.  Though His Messiaen credentials are of course impeccable - he played for the composer and discussed this music with him before making his recording.

Likewise a couple of other big names that will always come up when this music is mooted - Yvonne Loriod who was the dedicatee and was more than somewhat involved in the composition process, and she premiered the music, and has recorded it twice (at least).  And Pierre-Laurent Aimard who studied with Loriod and, I think, shares some of her stylistic characteristics, tending towards hard-edged brilliance.  All these pianists probably are very true to Messiaen's own conceptions, but that doesn't make thenm an easy listen.

In this music I much prefer pianists with a softer-edged approach.  I would name Anatol Ugorski, Alfonso Gomez, and Jocy de Oliviera.  I you want a more well-known French music specialist, then maybe Roger Muraro (who also studied with Loriod).


Another suggestion I would make is that, as so often happens with collections of related musical pieces, number 1 may not be the best way in.  Debussy's Etudes for example, to my ears No.1 Pour les cinq doigts is one of the less attractive of the 12 pieces.  It's the same with Catalogue d'Oiseaux, No.1 Le Chocard des Alpes is no doubt powerful, subtle yet intricate, but it is very difficult music to come to terms with. A steep learning curve. There are a couple of others that I find particularly hard going - No.5 La Chouette Hulotte and No.11 La Buse Variable - while No.7 Le Rousserolle effarvatte is nearly 30 minutes long on its own so probably best not to start there either.

First, I recommend listening to No.2 Le Loriot or No.6 L'Alouette Lulu, both filled with attractive birdsong effects, maybe also no.13 Le Courlis Cendre though even this can get quite challenging.  Also be sure to read the annotations attached to each piece - they are not just birdsongs being depicted, but complete storyboards with both place and time.

Insightful post, thank you! More encouragement to let myself being captivated by that unique work.

[brewski]

Antonio Caldara: Ifigenia in Aulide (1718) (Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, live performance from Dec. 5, 2025). According to the notes, this is the first fully staged performance of this opera in over 300 years. A snarky comment might be, "Well, you can see why," but the truth is there is much to like, both in the music and in this production. Haven't finished it yet, but enjoying the singers and the period instruments, among other things.

[Symphonic Addict]

A firm favorite Rawsthorne disc.

[JBS]

The three string quartets, piano quintet, and string sextet.

In order to fit everything onto two CDs, Cedille split the Third String Quartet, the first three movements on CD 1 and the finale on CD 2.

Pianist Orion Weiss appears in the quintet, while violist Milena Pájaro van de Stadt and cellist Eric Kim fill out the sextet.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Alexander Spendiarov (Spendiaryan): Symphonic Works.

[Que]

Advent cantatas BWV 36, 61 & 62.

[pjme]

Recently I heard some excerpts of de Leeuws Resonances on the radio. Slow, at times menacing music that I had to listen to...

de Leeuw studied with Messiaen (and Badings) and ethnomusicology with Jaap Kunst.  His interest in non-Wesern music led to many journeys around the world (notacbly, India, Japan and Indonesia).
What a wonderful work Resonances is. Chamber music for a large orchestra, full of deicate and "clever" variations, an impressive ritual.

https://tondeleeuw.com/

[71 dB]

But if it served as an initial gateway even if that was to completely different composers and musical styles it still served a valuable purpose.....

I think the main gateway for me was Mussorgsky (Pictures at an Exhibition and A Night on the Bare Mountain). My very first classical CD was a very cheap recording of those works. Sibelius was simply one of the first composers I encountered after stepping through the "gate."

[Madiel]

Just watched on OperaVision: Puccini, Gianni Schicchi.

There's also a full performance of Il Trittico currently on OperaVision, but this production is only available until the end of the week and I liked the Ravel it's paired with, so I gave it a spin.

I knew nothing about the plot, so it was full of surprises (including the size of the cast for a short opera) and actually a lot of fun. Even the way "O mio babbino caro" stops the action stone dead for a few minutes is kind of funny. Lots of genuine chuckles from me at various points. And more proof that these shorter operas from the late 19th/early 20th century are a real sweet spot for me.

[Roasted Swan]

I think the main gateway for me was Mussorgsky (Pictures at an Exhibition and A Night on the Bare Mountain). My very first classical CD was a very cheap recording of those works. Sibelius was simply one of the first composers I encountered after stepping through the "gate."

'Bargain' labels have always been a good entry point - great music available at minimal financial "risk".  Back in the day the Classics for Pleasure label did exactly that for me as vinyl LP's.  Bargain price did not means low quality recordings or performance either - many were genuinely fine.

[Que]

[Traverso]

Messiaen

Livre 1-2 & 3

I share Aukhawk's views and his positive opinion of Anatol Ugorski's recording.
Reason enough to listen to it again.
I have nine recordings of this work, and Ugorski seems to me the recommended performer for a first acquaintance.
My first recording was with Håkon Austbø.
Other recordings I have: Hill - Loriod (twice) - Aimard - Muraro - Johnson (Decca) & Kodama,one of my favorites.

[Madiel]

Sibelius: Kuolema incidental music (not the suite)

[Todd]

[Madiel]

I played 42 seconds of the new Pletnev album.

Then quit because that first prelude was so contrary to the score Chopin actually wrote.

[DavidW]

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Nice cover art!

[PaulR]

Glazunov: Symphony #5