What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Drasko]

Looks intriguing, Drasko.  Is it interesting music? Good peformance?

Very nice music, I quite like it. French baroque, late XVII century, consists of seven suites of variable lengths, mostly dance movements. Stylistically most reminiscent of Louis Couperin, to my not so finely atuned ear at least.
There seems to be very little known on Le Roux and even those suites aren't decidedly for harpsicord (though they certainly sound very right on it). Meyerson and Crawford play two harpsicord version and play it very nicely on two fine french instruments (Taskin 1769, Goermans 1764).
I'd definitely recommend hearing Le Roux.
This disc is pretty much oop, Rousset plays solo on L'Oiseau Lyre, there is Naxos disc (mix of one and two harpsicords), and there is one disc on some small french label which I can't quite figure out.
Maybe our resident french baroque expert could add more, if those Corsican fishermen haven't caught up with him.

Here is Gramophone review, first two paragraphs are ok, third is usual superfluous flowery galanterie.

Gaspard Le Roux was active in Paris as a composer during the later years of the seventeenth and first decade of the eighteenth centuries. Apart from his music, of which the little that is known was printed, we know hardly anything about this shadowy figure in French musical life. But in his own time Le Roux was evidently quite a prominent musician, and the fact that Bach’s pupil, Krebs, had copied one of Le Roux’s suites – Bruce Gustafson mentions this in his informative note – is some indication of his standing further afield.

Le Roux’s suites – there are seven of them – were published in Paris in 1705, and were not exclusively designed as harpsichord music. In fact Le Roux wrote out the parts in such a way that the pieces could be played by two melody instruments and figured bass, by a solo harpsichord or by two harpsichords. It is this last realization that has been chosen by Mitzi Meyerson and Lisa Crawford, who play two mid-eighteenth-century French harpsichords. These highly adaptable Pieces de clavessin offer in such performances wonderful opportunities for resonant sonority and imaginative elaboration, over and above the specified ornaments that are such a distinctive feature of harpsichord music of the grand siecle. None of this is lost on Meyerson and Crawford, whose rhythmic playing and vital responses to Le Roux’s inventive talent make for engaging entertainment.

Each suite contains the three basic ingredients of allemande, courante and sarabande; thereafter a profusion of preludes, menuets, gavottes and other galanteries provide the complement. There are many splendid pieces here, ranging from noble allemandes and sprightly courantes, to sarabandes whose expressive puissance and often melancholy inflexions make them among the most rewarding of all the assembled dances. Two of them seem to me worthy of special mention, that belonging to the Sixth Suite, variously recalling both Couperin and Rameau, and another belonging to the Third Suite, eloquent, flowing, and with some deliciously dissonant moments, highlighted by the equally delicious, but astringent tuning that gives a bite to much else in the programme. A stylish performance, with supple body, though in no way lacking in sensibility. Recommended.'   
Nicholas Anderson

[bhodges]

Bruce,

I'm very happy to hear you enjoyed the performance Friday evening! 

Ray

Ray, I can't tell you how great it was.  The last time I heard this piece live, in 2000, was with Gergiev and the Met Orchestra and it was terrific.  But somehow Boreyko got inside the piece even more, and found even more details and drama, with the musicians (figuratively) hanging on for dear life.  If I hadn't been a little fatigued on Saturday, I would have gone a second time.  He's recorded the piece on Hänssler (below) which I suspect I'll be getting very soon.



--Bruce

[rubio]

So the last Messiah for a while. Koopman is calmer/slower than Hogwood, and the singing is not so virtuous like for Hogwood. Sometimes the work seems more severe and Bach-like under Koopman, and it has it's advantages in some solos/parts. Still I feel Hogwwod is a bit more coherent and engaging and it is my favourite, but this can probably depend on my mood as well . But Hogwood has Kirkby and a splendid choir.

[Solitary Wanderer]

Disc.1.

[not edward]

[Peregrine]

[Mark]

Good, isn't it? Got this recently for £3 from a charity shop.

[Bogey]

[FideLeo]

My addiction to Brahms' A German Requiem (which is, of course, second only to my fixation with Rachmaninov's All-night Vigil ), has led me to this:



I'll post my thoughts once I've heard it all the way through.

This is the second recording that I have encountered which uses the same "London" arranged version with (4-hand?) period pianoforte accompaniment.  I have the Opus 111 recording with Christoph Spering.  The Naive recording with choir Accentus and Equibey has Berezovsky playing the keyboard and I don't think he plays a period instrument there.

[Mark]

This is the second recording that I have encountered which uses the same "London" arranged version with (4-hand?) period pianoforte accompaniment.  I have the Opus 111 recording with Christoph Spering.  The Naive recording with choir Accentus and Equibey has Berezovsky playing the keyboard and I don't think he plays a period instrument there.

There's a version on EMI, and one on Naxos, too, I believe.

As to The Sixteen, their singing on this recording is as smooth as silk, and just as fine. I felt the piano sounded a little unusual, but the unfamiliarity of the arrangement in no way hampered my enjoyment of the music. Anyone out for an alternative view of this work should seriously consider this Coro release.

[George]

Currently spinning:



Q

Tell me more!! 

When was it recorded?

[FideLeo]

There's a version on EMI, and one on Naxos, too, I believe.

As to The Sixteen, their singing on this recording is as smooth as silk, and just as fine. I felt the piano sounded a little unusual, but the unfamiliarity of the arrangement in no way hampered my enjoyment of the music. Anyone out for an alternative view of this work should seriously consider this Coro release.

No I don't think the EMI and Naxos versions have a 19th century piano(forte) in the accompaniment.  Spering's German choir probably has better diction but that really doesn't mean much at all considering Brahms made this arrangement specifically for (private) performances in London.

[Lilas Pastia]

Very nice music, I quite like it. French baroque, late XVII century, consists of seven suites of variable lengths, mostly dance movements. Stylistically most reminiscent of Louis Couperin, to my not so finely atuned ear at least.
There seems to be very little known on Le Roux and even those suites aren't decidedly for harpsicord (though they certainly sound very right on it). Meyerson and Crawford play two harpsicord version and play it very nicely on two fine french instruments (Taskin 1769, Goermans 1764).
I'd definitely recommend hearing Le Roux.
This disc is pretty much oop, Rousset plays solo on L'Oiseau Lyre, there is Naxos disc (mix of one and two harpsicords), and there is one disc on some small french label which I can't quite figure out.
Maybe our resident french baroque expert could add more, if those Corsican fishermen haven't caught up with him.

Here is Gramophone review, first two paragraphs are ok, third is usual superfluous flowery galanterie.

I have another recording of Le Roux' Pièces de clavessin (on Arkadia), and the notes have a rather interesting story about his life: apparently not a single record of the so-called Le Roux exists apart from that score. No concert attendance (very publicized and mundane events), no address, no house, no nothing. The author goes on to mention the strong stylistic affinity between D'Anglebert's harpsichord works and Le Roux' style and further conjectures that he was actually D'Anglebert's own son. Widely known as one of France's foremost harpsichord virtuosos, D'Anglebert Jr was loathed by Couperin because of his court positions (he was "Claveciniste du Roy"). In turn, he was very much in awe of his famous father's renown as a composer and might not have dared publish anything under his own name for fear of comparison. 

I'm not sure about that scenario. Both recordings date from 1993.  Given that the above story is player Iakovos Pappas' own conjecturing, it's very possible that Rousset was unaware or just uninterested in participating in it. But the thesis of a pseudonym seems very logical.

[Fëanor]

Absolutely wonderful!

[not edward]

Stravinsky's 1949 mono recording of the wonderful Orpheus. I think I prefer this to his stereo remake.

[Bogey]

[Mark]

No I don't think the EMI and Naxos versions have a 19th century piano(forte) in the accompaniment.  Spering's German choir probably has better diction but that really doesn't mean much at all considering Brahms made this arrangement specifically for (private) performances in London.

Sorry. I meant there are other piano reduction versions available, though not necessarily using period instruments.

[Que]

Very nice music, I quite like it. French baroque, late XVII century, consists of seven suites of variable lengths, mostly dance movements. Stylistically most reminiscent of Louis Couperin, to my not so finely atuned ear at least.
There seems to be very little known on Le Roux and even those suites aren't decidedly for harpsicord (though they certainly sound very right on it). Meyerson and Crawford play two harpsicord version and play it very nicely on two fine french instruments (Taskin 1769, Goermans 1764).
I'd definitely recommend hearing Le Roux.
This disc is pretty much oop, Rousset plays solo on L'Oiseau Lyre, there is Naxos disc (mix of one and two harpsicords), and there is one disc on some small french label which I can't quite figure out.
Maybe our resident french baroque expert could add more, if those Corsican fishermen haven't caught up with him.

I have another recording of Le Roux' Pièces de clavessin (on Arkadia), and the notes have a rather interesting story about his life: apparently not a single record of the so-called Le Roux exists apart from that score. No concert attendance (very publicized and mundane events), no address, no house, no nothing. The author goes on to mention the strong stylistic affinity between D'Anglebert's harpsichord works and Le Roux' style and further conjectures that he was actually D'Anglebert's own son. Widely known as one of France's foremost harpsichord virtuosos, D'Anglebert Jr was loathed by Couperin because of his court positions (he was "Claveciniste du Roy"). In turn, he was very much in awe of his famous father's renown as a composer and might not have dared publish anything under his own name for fear of comparison. 

I'm not sure about that scenario. Both recordings date from 1993.  Given that the above story is player Iakovos Pappas' own conjecturing, it's very possible that Rousset was unaware or just uninterested in participating in it. But the thesis of a pseudonym seems very logical.

Drasko, Lilas, thank you both for your responses! 
(I might "warp" these later to the French baroque thread  ).

Q

[Que]

I'm very pleasantly surprised on rehearing this disc, a while after my acquaintance with it. 
Which means my favourable impression before was not just induced by the novelty effect. It's a keeper.



Q

[Harry]

Sveinbjorn Sveinbjornsson.

Violin Sonata in F major.

Nina Margret Grimsdottir, Piano.
Auour Hafsteinsdottir, Violin.

This is a fine Naxos cd, filled with very pleasant music, well performed and recorded.
Not so many Icelandic composers around. Hearing this the man has staying power, reminiscences of Gade, Grieg, and Nielsen. Well composed.