The French Music Exploration thread

Started by Papy Oli, September 14, 2020, 03:17:20 AM

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Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Papy Oli on November 20, 2020, 06:19:44 AM
Thank you for the link PD. Not much my cup of tea this time.
No problem.  :)

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Iota

Madiel (#331),
Perhaps the Sarabandes are not for you, or indeed Satie broadly, but if you felt disposed to listen to de Leeuw playing them (or any other Satie) at some point, I'd urge you to do so.
He seems to make the destination, the purpose of every note about illuminating the present, everything else falls away and it's simplicity becomes utterly transfixing. The Sarabandes are like musical cloudlets in an open sky, they drift nowhere, hardly do anything but can be nonetheless fathomlessly beautiful. The Debussy is much richer, more overtly ravishing and something very different imo. De Leeuw really opened my ears to Satie like nobody else.


To Papy O: Very sad to say that my streaming site does not have those (Hannigan) Satie songs, they sound very appealing.


Quote from: pjme on November 20, 2020, 02:47:39 AMSatie is a wondrous and unique phenomenon and a real composer with a real gift for melody.

A sentiment with which I wholeheartedly agree!  :) And thanks for reminding me of the Socrate, which I haven't listened to for ages. I don't think it was quite for me then, but that may now perhaps have changed.

Mirror Image

#342
Count me as an admirer of Satie, but I prefer Ciccolini's approach vs. de Leeuw's turtle-paced performances, however, I do like the Hannigan/de Leeuw recording of mélodies and Socrate (a work I'm starting to warm back up to). To Madiel, I highly recommend this box set:



I don't like everything Satie has written, but there are some fine works in his oeuvre. I think patience is one of the keys in appreciating Satie's music.

Iota

Quote from: Mirror Image on November 20, 2020, 11:05:56 AM
Count me as an admirer of Satie, but I prefer Ciccolini's approach

I'll see if I can take a listen to some.

Papy Oli

Quote from: Iota on November 20, 2020, 11:00:46 AM

To Papy O: Very sad to say that my streaming site does not have those (Hannigan) Satie songs, they sound very appealing.


Iota,
I do not have a subscription to a streaming site any more for now. I found the whole De Leeuw/Hannigan album on YT :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miUD-B_mjo8&list=OLAK5uy_kQPIU_Hb2KrbB6g8rGdWN5rxRAFc_eV80
Olivier

Papy Oli

Quote from: Mirror Image on November 20, 2020, 11:05:56 AM
Count me as an admirer of Satie, but I prefer Ciccolini's approach vs. de Leeuw's turtle-paced performances, however, I do like the Hannigan/de Leeuw recording of mélodies and Socrate (a work I'm starting to warm back up to). To Madiel, I highly recommend this box set:



I don't like everything Satie has written, but there are some fine works in his oeuvre. I think patience is one of the keys in appreciating Satie's music.

The whole Ciccolini set is on YT too, all 6 and a half hours of it !

https://www.youtube.com/v/RU-RZB8c4Ys

Thank you John, I'll sample it too.
Olivier

Mirror Image

Quote from: Iota on November 20, 2020, 11:32:10 AM
I'll see if I can take a listen to some.

Quote from: Papy Oli on November 20, 2020, 12:17:42 PM
The whole Ciccolini set is on YT too, all 6 and a half hours of it !

https://www.youtube.com/v/RU-RZB8c4Ys

Thank you John, I'll sample it too.

Excellent, fellas. Hopefully, you'll enjoy Ciccolini's approach.

pjme

Quote from: Papy Oli on November 20, 2020, 06:06:10 AM
Interesting little selection, thank you again. The Ferroud, Saint Saëns & Bonis caught my ear particularly.

Excellent. So, Ohana's harpsichord is too spiky.
Anyway, continue with Satie and keep us posted.

steve ridgway

I enjoy the electroacoustic music of Henry etc. and was first lured into listening to orchestral instruments by Varèse's Deserts. It took a while to get used to the timbres and performance dynamics compared to popular music but I've grown to appreciate the complexity, lack of repetition and thought composers have generally put into their work and the way they'll continue to develop their ideas over a whole lifetime.

Florestan

Quote from: Mirror Image on November 20, 2020, 11:05:56 AM
Count me as an admirer of Satie, but I prefer Ciccolini's approach vs. de Leeuw's turtle-paced performances, however, I do like the Hannigan/de Leeuw recording of mélodies and Socrate (a work I'm starting to warm back up to). To Madiel, I highly recommend this box set:



I don't like everything Satie has written, but there are some fine works in his oeuvre. I think patience is one of the keys in appreciating Satie's music.

Is that barefooted man on the cover Debussy? :D
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Mirror Image

Quote from: Florestan on November 21, 2020, 01:00:24 AM
Is that barefooted man on the cover Debussy? :D

Hah...it very well could be, but that man in the cover has a beard and to my recollection Debussy never had a beard, only a goatee.

Papy Oli

I did some random sampling of the Ciccolini box and came to the conclusion that what I had on the De Leeuw twofer and the Naxos "best of" on my shelves was for now still sufficient to me when I was in the mood for Satie. Still, this exercise was worthwhile all the same as I am now responsive to some of his works beyond Gnossiennes and Gymnopedies, to which i'd use to stick to.

Ogives, Sonneries de la Rose+Croix, Pièces Froides were particularly good , and some of the Melodies too. Maybe I'll take a further exploratory step next time I revisit this composer. 
Olivier

Papy Oli

Moved on to Saint-Saëns yesterday.

I have some of his works scattered on my shelves. Had a fruitful listen yesterday to Carnaval des Animaux (Argerich), Piano Cto No.4 and introduction/Rondo Capriccioso (Bernstein box), Piano Trio No.1 (Beaux Arts Trio) . "La Nuit" (posted by pjme on the WAYLT thread) was a beautiful recommendation even if Dessay's voice would be testing me over time.

Did have a full listen to Symphonies No.1 (Pretre), No.2 (?) & No.3 (Jarvi prom) on YT this afternoon. Found the former two on the pleasant side but ultimately underwhelming. The Third took some time to take off too. I'll listen to Bernstein version of the Third tomorrow to re-assess.

Planned for tomorrow from the shelves again : Another visit to symphony No.3 (Bernstein), Cello Concerto No.1 (Du Pre), Violin concerto No.3, Piano concerto No.2 and Danse macabre.

which other works would you deem worthy for me to try as well on YT please ?

PS: Unimportant fun fact from my listening to Jarvi's Third earlier: the organ during that Prom concert was played by Thierry Escaich. Now, that name would have gone completely unnoticed by me in other times but thanks to this thread a few weeks back, I became "familiar" with him and picked up on his appearance. It is a minor detail I know but that's the little things that make this exploration worthwhile.  :)
Olivier

Florestan

Quote from: Papy Oli on November 26, 2020, 08:59:51 AM
which other works would you deem worthy for me to try as well on YT please ?

The Septet, the Piano Quartet, the Piano Quintet, the Bassoon Sonata, the Oboe Sonata, the Clarinet Sonata. I'd be surprised if they were not on YT.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Papy Oli

Quote from: Florestan on November 26, 2020, 11:01:45 AM
The Septet, the Piano Quartet, the Piano Quintet, the Bassoon Sonata, the Oboe Sonata, the Clarinet Sonata. I'd be surprised if they were not on YT.

Thank you Andrei.

Incidentally, all the works appear on the Nash Ensemble CD I saw you mention (or approve of) earlier this week (and I also put in my Presto wishlist as well...and forgot about it all earlier). I'll sample those properly as well.

Olivier

Florestan

Quote from: Papy Oli on November 26, 2020, 11:39:51 AM
Thank you Andrei.

You're welcome, Olivier.

QuoteIncidentally, all the works appear on the Nash Ensemble CD I saw you mention (or approve of) earlier this week (and I also put in my Presto wishlist as well...and forgot about it all earlier). I'll sample those properly as well.

Yes. Also a delightful trifle, the Tarentelle for flute, clarinet and piano.  ;)
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

some guy

#356
The opera Samson et Dalila. Preferably the Davis, Cura, Borodina recording.

I would not recommend trying to listen to this on youtube. I sampled half a dozen. The sound was execrable in all of them. So perhaps the Met it is. Here's the first two acts for free: https://www.operaonvideo.com/samson-et-delila-met-2018-alagna-garanca-naouri/

The requiem. I have the Chandos with Fasolis. It seems altogether perfect to me.

Madiel

I actually decided a few weeks ago that I was going to do the whole chronological exploration thing with Saint-Saens. Yes, I know that's going to take me a while. I've no regrets 3 opuses in.

I just think that I've become increasingly aware of what a massively important figure he is in French music, yet I know barely any of his music. I own a few works because they're in my box set of Paul Tortelier, and that's about it. But he was a major driving force in establishing, or re-establishing, the French musical scene that led to such major composers in the next couple of generations.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Mirror Image

Quote from: Madiel on November 27, 2020, 03:58:22 PM
I actually decided a few weeks ago that I was going to do the whole chronological exploration thing with Saint-Saens. Yes, I know that's going to take me a while. I've no regrets 3 opuses in.

I just think that I've become increasingly aware of what a massively important figure he is in French music, yet I know barely any of his music. I own a few works because they're in my box set of Paul Tortelier, and that's about it. But he was a major driving force in establishing, or re-establishing, the French musical scene that led to such major composers in the next couple of generations.

I'd say that more importantly than anything, Saint-Saëns was a fine composer who deserves to be explored by anyone who has an interest in late-19th/early 20th Century French music and the same goes for Fauré who I must count as one of my favorite composers thanks to much of your own writing about this composer. You really helped me understand this composer more than anyone else I've spoken with (for years, he confused me and I'm not even sure why this was the case). It was soon after reading your commentary on him that I bought the Stott box set of his piano music and that's when everything unlocked for me. Oh, I guess I should get back to talking about Saint-Saëns... ;)

Madiel

Look, nothing wrong with pairing those 2 together, they were very close.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!