Your Favourite Purchases & Musical Discoveries of 2021

Started by Que, December 07, 2021, 11:57:32 PM

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Que

Please post your favourite purchases and musical discoveries of the past year here!  :)

It is time for a round-up of your amazing musical discoveries in terms of recordings and repertoire of this year.

Pleast post all your favourites of the year, whether long standing or brand new recordings....

Mention as many as you like, and feel free to update in the coming weeks.



Previous issues in this long standing GMG tradition:  :)

Your Favourite Purchases & Musical Discoveries of 2020
Your Favourite Purchases of 2018
Your Favourite Purchases of 2017
Top Five Purchases Of 2016
Your Favourite Purchases of 2015
Best of 2014 - Classical Music Edition (recordings/performances)
Your Favourite Purchases of 2013
Favourite Purchases of 2012

vandermolen

Here's one (especially for the work by Loeffler and Hanson, although I enjoyed the whole disc):
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Jo498

I cannot think of a huge discovery, but several smaller ones. E.g. I listened to most of Villa Lobos string quartets probably for the first time with attention, despite having that box on the shelves for years. I also revisited some of Bartok's quartets (although this is music I already knew fairly well).

Of purchases I most vividly recall these three as particularly interesting.

[asin]B00284SDM8[/asin] [asin]B000025L5Q[/asin] [asin]B00000E4VZ[/asin]
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Papy Oli

A year of 2 halves for me :

January to June: my breakthrough in the French exploration with some favourites.

Debussy (Bavouzet)
Ravel (Quéffelec , Boulez DG & Haitink Orchestral)
Fauré (Domus Qt, Stott)
Saint-Saëns (Nash Ensemble, Florestan Trio)
Franck (Dalberto, Capucon/Wang)

July onwards: : Bach, Bach, Bach...and Baroque.


Cantatas (Gardiner, Herreweghe, Kuijken)
Partitas (Hewitt)
Musical Offering (Linde Consort)
Cello Suites (Fournier)
Brandenburg Concertos (Linde Consort, Musik Antiqua Koln)
French Suites & English Suites (Rannou)
Motets (Herreweghe)
Sonatas for Violin and harpsichord (Grumiaux & Jacottet)
Trio Sonatas (Koopman)
Goldberg (Pinnock)
Organ music (still early days with that but Isoir has worked for me so far)

Top 3:

         


Special mentions:

      


A very good year, as it were  8)
Olivier

Brahmsian

1. Reacquainting myself with Dvořák's symphonies through multiple recordings.

2. Reacquainting myself with Penderecki's music and doubling my collection.

3. Franck and Bizet symphonies.

4. Concert performance with young up and coming Canadian violinist performing the Barber Violin Concerto. His name is Blake Pouliot. I believe his name is one to remember!

5. Sharing and receiving music gifts with and from a few members.


Maestro267

Orchestral purchases were down considerably, in favour of chamber music.

Schubert: The Last Four Quartets
Quartetto Italiano

Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 12, 13, 16, Grosse Fuge
Quartetto Italiano

Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 14 & 15
Alban Berg Quartett

Shostakovich: Complete String Quartets
Brodsky Quartets

71 dB

Looks like the only music discovery in 2021 for me was non-classical music: The Australian yacht rock group Air Supply.

Recently I became aware of Richard Strauss' Oboe Concerto*. I happened to hear a bit of it and it got my interest. So that's one work to explore...

* Somehow I wasn't aware of this concerto. Apparently it is considered one of the best oboe concertos ever, but surely not much talked about!  ???
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Quote from: 71 dB on December 08, 2021, 09:51:15 AMRecently I became aware of Richard Strauss' Oboe Concerto*. I happened to hear a bit of it and it got my interest. So that's one work to explore...

* Somehow I wasn't aware of this concerto. Apparently it is considered one of the best oboe concertos ever, but surely not much talked about!  ???

Strauss' Oboekonzert is OUTSTANDING, Poju. I love this piece. I love how there's these little rhythmic motifs that get repeated throughout the work in different alterations. And, hey, it's good to see you on here posting again. 8)

vandermolen

#9
I really enjoyed this CD of historic Vaughan Williams releases from the USA. I was especially glad to come across another recording of the 'Fantasia on the Old 104th Psalm Tune' and the Concerto for Two Pianos, both of which I've always liked:
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Symphonic Addict

Quote from: vandermolen on December 08, 2021, 01:59:22 AM
Here's one (especially for the work by Loeffler and Hanson, although I enjoyed the whole disc):


A big +1
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Symphonic Addict

Quote from: Maestro267 on December 08, 2021, 06:22:17 AM
Orchestral purchases were down considerably, in favour of chamber music.

Schubert: The Last Four Quartets
Quartetto Italiano

Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 12, 13, 16, Grosse Fuge
Quartetto Italiano

Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 14 & 15
Alban Berg Quartett

Shostakovich: Complete String Quartets
Brodsky Quartets

Some robust stuff there! The feeling of hearing these works with fresh ears is just rewarding.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Symphonic Addict

#12
Apart from the CD Jeffrey posted, I have these:








Very remarkable discoveries to me in this year (not new recordings):

Toch: String Quartets
Shchedrin: The Little Humpbacked Horse
Canteloube: Chants d'Auvergne
Kastalsky: Requiem for the Fallen Brothers
Saygun: String Quartets
Doráti: Symphonies
Various composers: Les Mariés de la Tour-Eiffel & L'Éventail de Jean
MacMillan: Symphonies 4 and 5
Boulanger: Psaume 24, Psaume 129 and Vieille Prière bouddhique
Prokofiev: The Stone Flower
Wirén: Piano Concerto
Schnittke: Film music
Brouwer: Guitar Concerto No. 2
Bliss: String Quartets
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

amw

I added 1,708 albums this year, but more than half of them were upgrades of old MP3/AAC files to lossless ones, so maybe that's why I can't feel any particular sense of attachment to any new releases or purchases. I'll try to sort the two groups out from one another and see if anything stands out in particular.

Que


Selig

For new releases, I'd have to think about it more. There are some exciting things I haven't gotten to yet.

Favourite discoveries:


Hearing Natan Brand's fiery Kreisleriana and consequently falling in love with Schumann's music.


Josquin's motet Illibata Dei virgo nutrix. I've always loved Dufay, but listening to the later Franco-Flemish School has felt like homework to me, until now. I'm starting to get it....


The Op.132 from Suske, just wonderful! Now I just need to find a 131 that I like front to back, that one is problematic. Hopefully in 2022...


But above all, this thing, especially the Passacaglia and Fugue, (yes, I'm late to the party...) I cannot imagine any music more life-affirming than this!

Daverz

#16
Still tons of stuff on my to-listen pile, but so far from 2021:











3 volumes in 2021







In reissues, the Ormandy mono box was monumental, but also essential are the two Markevitch boxes.











ritter

#17
This year, my favourite purchase (and musical discovery) was this CD:


It's been years since any work made as strong an impression on me as Florent Schmitt's String Trio, op. 105. A wonderfully dense and rich chamber piece, and a highlight of its composer's Spätstil (which I feel very attuned to).

Other notable purchases:


Pianism of uncommon sensitivity and elegance.


Olivier Chauzu's Iberia is top-notch.


Excellent performances of works dear to me (particularly the SQ No. 2).


I'm not that familiar with Kodaly's music, but these two works won me over immediately (and the performances are gorgeous).


A great program of Florent Schmitt's piano music, with Chaine brisée, op. 87 ranking IMHO among his best creations for solo piano (this is one of only two commercial recordings that seem to have been made of the piece).

Mandryka

These privately published recordings of mostly short and simple piano pieces by Howard Skempton played and recorded by John Tilbury. I have no idea why these little pieces should end up sounding to me like the most fabulous music, but they do. Apparently there's a lot of leeway in the scores, deliberately done to make the performer get in touch with his creative side.

https://www.jtilbury.com/howard-skempton/
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

foxandpeng

This year has brought me so many deeply worthwhile discoveries that it seems hardly fair to single out individuals, but it would be remiss of my not to highlight some utter greats. Composers that are clearly not new, but were new to me and have embedded in my regular listening. The first two have become firm favourites that I can't get enough of.

Emil Tabakov
Peteris Vasks
Philip Sawyers
Hans Gal
Peter Maxwell Davies
Johann Nepomuk David
Imants Kalnins
Sunleif Rasmussen

I also need to record how grateful I've been for spending inordinate amounts of time with the Shostakovich SQs, which I had avoided for years, for fear that they would be too challenging.

Thank you, 2021 and to this forum for which I'm glad I stopped lurking at last!
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy