What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[CD]

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Love David Diamond!

[listener]

RESPIGHI Lucrezia    his final work, a 1-act opera based on the Rape of Lucrezia, not the Borgia
Intense, Zandonai-like but kept under control by Adriano.  Michela Remor as Lucrezia has the biggest part, there is also a big part for a narrator/commentator like in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex.  58 minutes.
respite with Ein Hausmusik bei Bach, short pieces, mainly from the Notebook
Capella Fidicinia, Leipzig     Hans Grüss, leader      Peter Schreier, tenor, Walter Heinz Bernstein, harpsichord/clavichord,  inter alia

[Harry]

Franz Wilhelm Tausch.

Concerto No 1, for two Clarinets, in B flat major. and No. 2 in B flat major.

Franz Xaver Sussmayer.

Concerto movement in D major for Basset Clarinet, completed by Michael Freyhan.

Thea King, Clarinet, Basset Clarinet.
Nicholas Bucknall, Clarinet.
English Chamber Orchestra, Leopold Hager.
Recorded in 1991, by Tony Faulkner, and Anthony Howell.

Nothing prepared me for the excellence of the present concertos. The sheer musicality that oozes out is amazing in every respect. Tausch is a major composer that new full well how to write a very engaging piece, and he did with these two Clarinet concertos. Not a note uninteresting, not a moment of boredom, but instead a wonderfully shaped master works. Just listen to them and you will be convinced. The Sussmayer piece is not on the same height but nevertheless a very nice piece. Abandoned so they think because the widow of Mozart asked him to complete the Requiem for her husband. He work sporadically on it, but never completed it. The basset Clarinet is a wonderful sounding instrument, and only for this this the concerto is welcomed by me. And then we come to the topnotch recording. I think I can safely say that the reputation of Hyperion have been in the hands of the engineers, and without such masters in the sound studio, the success would have been minimal. Also the excellence of the artist is a major factor and in this respect this performance is another success. The seductive sound of the Clarinets is something to be savored, and the Orchestra can put laurels on their heads too. This has definitively a WOW factor.



"I can't imagine a more beguiling account of the music and every lover of the Clarinet will want to have this CD"  ( Gramophone)

[Sid]

Franz Wilhelm Tausch.

Concerto No 1, for two Clarinets, in B flat major. and No. 2 in B flat major.

Franz Xaver Sussmayer.

Concerto movement in D major for Basset Clarinet, completed by Michael Freyhan.

Yes, that Hyperion Helios series really has some hidden gems, I am finding it difficult not to buy one when I'm in the store (they're selling for $10 at one place). But so much else is on my list to get, and not everything that cheap, alas...

[Harry]

Edward Elgar.
String Quartet in E minor.

Frank Bridge,
Three Idylls.

William Walton.
String Quartet in A minor.

The Coull Quartet.
Recorded in 1991, by Gary Cole.

And let me fall again into the same phrase as with the Tausch, this has a WOW factor!
I can honestly say that I never heard a better recording and performance as the present now lying before me.
I had to play it at least three times in a row to take in the enormity of music making before I fully realized what a outstanding performance this is. You don't have to take my word for it, the reviews are tumbling over each other in praise and rightly so. The recording is really very good as we come to expect of Hyperion, and when the first notes of Elgar stream into the room, you not only know that this is supreme Elgar and one of his master pieces, but also that you have entered a unbeatable recording. I so enjoyed it and waited with trepidation on the Walton, a difficult piece to bring off, but after this performance my mouth stood open for quite a while, and my brain was buzzing with celestial bells.The sheer energy, and precise playing is stunning, and for the first time I came to grips with this A minor work. Its Walton in his best guise. It goes without saying that the charming Idylls came out as perfect as the rest.



"Eloquent and sensitive performances of some of the finest British Chamber Works. Outstandingly beautiful playing of beguiling sensitivity and exhilaration"  ( BBC Music Magazine and CD review.)

[Sid]

Harry - under your avatar you say you only listen to "strictly tonal" C20th music, but did you know that the Walton SQ you listened to above has quite a bit of atonality in it? (Perhaps his most "atonal" work, apart from the 2nd symphony)...

[Harry]

Harry - under your avatar you say you only listen to "strictly tonal" C20th music, but did you know that the Walton SQ you listened to above has quite a bit of atonality in it? (Perhaps his most "atonal" work, apart from the 2nd symphony)...

I did not notice it Sid, but than again maybe I am not as strict as my mind thinks he is.

[mc ukrneal]

I enjoyed yesterday's Rossini so much, that I figured I'd continue with his Stabat Mater.

EDIT: Finale is fantastic!

[Florestan]

Palestrina

Lamentations du Samedi Saint
Missa in duplicibus

Ensemble Gilles Binchois
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
Dominique Vellard

(courtesy of Harry)

Soul-soothing, otherworldly, ecstatic music --- a balm for ears and mind. Excellent.

[Sergeant Rock]

Wagner, Das Rheingold, Dohnányi, Cleveland




Sarge

[Conor71]

You sure have been listening to a great deal of Bach in recent weeks.  Before you know it, you'll be a Bach expert.

By the way, have you heard Pinnock's 2nd take on the Partitas on the Hanssler label?  I'm very impressed.

Bach has really clicked for me this year and he has pretty much dominated my listening and purchases during these last few months - I find his music so compelling and of great depth that it's easy to spend days or even weeks listening to nothing but Bach .
I havent heard Pinnock's 2nd recording of the Partitas unfortunately and just have the Schiff recording as a second version.

Now playing:

[karlhenning]

Unusual early morning music . . . but, what the heck. Recording recommended by Mike:

R. Strauss
Vier letzte Lieder, Opus posth.
Heather Harper, soprano
LSO
Hickox

[Sergeant Rock]

Vaughan Williams, Symphony #8, Thomson




Sarge

[jowcol]

Now:



Love David Diamond!

The first movement of the Second Symphony is one that I've been known to put on repeat.  A wonderful work.

[Sergeant Rock]

Vaughan Williams, Symphony #2 "London", Thomson

[AndyD.]

Unusual early morning music . . . but, what the heck. Recording recommended by Mike:

R. Strauss
Vier letzte Lieder, Opus posth.
Heather Harper, soprano
LSO
Hickox

I haven't heard this recording, but really a gorgeous collection of songs by Strauss, some of the finest ever in my humble opinion.

Beethoven Symphony #4 (Karajan '60's)

[Sergeant Rock]

Listening to a Jerry Goldsmith score, The 13th Warrior.




Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Tchaikovsky Fifth, Szell, Cleveland




Sarge

[karlhenning]

Henning
Viola Sonata, Opus 102
MIDI