What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Lisztianwagner]

Maurice Ravel
Le Tombeau de Couperin

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[Que]

Before:

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After a long interval, I proceeded with disc 5 and liked what I heard much better than before. 

So there is still hope this will not end like my short-lived love affair with the Frescobaldi box set on Tactus, that turned rather stale quickly because Vartolo as a main contributor bored my mind stiff - plus his (short) contributions as a counter-tenor were downright SCARY!  

Listening now:

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Now, that is a wonderful disc.

Q

[SonicMan46]

I have a Carus disc (below), but will still be interested to hear what you think of the choral disc. The Organ Concerto looks very cool, and I am inclined to get that one unless you say it's a dud.

Hi Neal - the choral disc is spectacular (based on probably 5 listens at least) - I cannot top Scott Morrison's laudatory review on Amazon HERE, and completely agree w/ the comments; in fact, I probably will look at some of the other Charles Bruffy recordings this weekend and put in an order - highly recommended to A cappella music lovers!   

The organ CD has received some mixed reviews, i.e. a rather dismissive one from MusicWeb HERE & an excellent one by Jerry Dubins in 2011 (attached); I agree w/ the latter; I believe that the first reviewer mentioned wanted a more bombastic organ performance and a much larger orchestra, but these are more like chamber works w/ a much smaller ensemble and the organ blended in like just another solo instrument - the music is lyrical w/ the organ seamlessly in the mixture of instruments - I like the recording and if you find the comments of Dubins to your taste, then also a recommendation.  Dave

 

[mc ukrneal]

Hi Neal - the choral disc is spectacular (based on probably 5 listens at least) - I cannot top Scott Morrison's laudatory review on Amazon HERE, and completely agree w/ the comments; in fact, I probably will look at some of the other Charles Bruffy recordings this weekend and put in an order - highly recommended to A cappella music lovers!   

The organ CD has received some mixed reviews, i.e. a rather dismissive one from MusicWeb HERE & an excellent one by Jerry Dubins in 2011 (attached); I agree w/ the latter; I believe that the first reviewer mentioned wanted a more bombastic organ performance and a much larger orchestra, but these are more like chamber works w/ a much smaller ensemble and the organ blended in like just another solo instrument - the music is lyrical w/ the organ seamlessly in the mixture of instruments - I like the recording and if you find the comments of Dubins to your taste, then also a recommendation.  Dave

Why thanks for all that info.  I will have to check into them. The choral disc overlaps on about 17 min of material, which leaves the Mass and Op 133 motets (the pieces I have not heard). Need to rehear the one I got first before deciding I think.

[Mirror Image]

Big +1 to the Milhaud symphonies; the only reason I didn't include those among my "favorite purchases of 2012" list is that I didn't put aside more time to revisit them.  Is Milhaud wildly underrated?  Sometimes I wonder if more people in the USA know him as an inspiration/teacher to Dave Brubeck (and namesake of Brubeck's son, apparently) than for his orchestral music.  My first encounter with this music was like two months ago.

Yes, Brubeck was a pupil of Milhaud's as were many others like Xenakis, Kurtag, Reich, and the list goes on and on. I do think Milhaud is highly underrated, but it shouldn't come as a surprise really. The man just composed way too much. He has composed a lot of first-rate junk, but there are several gems scattered across his vast oeuvre. The concerti and symphonies are definitely worth hearing. I never was too fond of his more popular works like La creation du monde or Le boeuf sur le toit, but, truth be told, La creation du monde is an all-around better composition than Le boeuf sur le toit.

[Florestan]

I never was too fond of his more popular works like La creation du monde or Le boeuf sur le toit, but, truth be told, La creation du monde is an all-around better composition than Le boeuf sur le toit.

What's wrong with Le boeuf? It's fun and colorful, what else do you need? 

[Keemun]

Part:  Part Tabula Rasa (Tero Latvala, violin; Jean-Jacques Kantorow; Tapiola Sinfonietta)

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It has been years since I listened to this. . . and I'm really enjoying it. 

[TheGSMoeller]

No. 9 in E minor, from Slatkin/Philharmonia

[Rinaldo]

Checking my pulse.

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[madaboutmahler]

Good evening everyone:

http://www.youtube.com/v/BAuqxEMRapg

Love this piece! Masterpiece!! Wonderful, detailed performance from BPO/Abbado.

[Lisztianwagner]

Richard Strauss
Also Sprach Zarathustra

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[Gurn Blanston]

Checking my pulse.

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  It's that killer!

Well, unusually enough for me, it's a bit of Haydn;



Haselböck & Co. do a fine job with these 3 'characteristic' symphonies. His soloists are wonderful, and his conducting is spot on. I have many PI recordings of these 3 works, and these are noticeably better than many.

[Conor71]

Milhaud: Symphony No. 11, Op. 384, "Romantique"


This morning I will finish the Milhaud box I started on yesterday and listen to a little bit of Shostakovich for the listening month - I plan to hear Disc 3 of the SQ box and give Symphony No. 14 a shot too.

[Coopmv]

Now playing the following CD, which just arrived yesterday.  This 1976 recording clearly is not HIP, but Huguette Dreyfus was an outstanding harpsichord of her generation ...

[TheGSMoeller]

[Coopmv]

Now playing the following CD, which just arrived yesterday.  This 1976 recording clearly is not HIP, but Huguette Dreyfus was an outstanding harpsichord of her generation ...

The stars of these performances were clearly the harpsichordists, as the string section of this orchestra sounds a bit muddy ...

[prémont]

The stars of these performances were clearly the harpsichordists, as the string section of this orchestra sounds a bit muddy ...

In these ears, this recording isn´t but old-fashioned sewing-machine Bach.

[Coopmv]

In these ears, this recording isn´t but old-fashioned sewing-machine Bach.

The CD is actually a live recording - you hear the coughs and applauds and other typical noise from a concert ...

[Wakefield]

  It's that killer!

Well, unusually enough for me, it's a bit of Haydn;



Haselböck & Co. do a fine job with these 3 'characteristic' symphonies. His soloists are wonderful, and his conducting is spot on. I have many PI recordings of these 3 works, and these are noticeably better than many.

First recommendation in my book, along with the Freiburger Baroque Orchestra and, probably, Harnoncourt. 

[Mirror Image]

Part:  Part Tabula Rasa (Tero Latvala, violin; Jean-Jacques Kantorow; Tapiola Sinfonietta)

[asin]B0000264NG[/asin]

It has been years since I listened to this. . . and I'm really enjoying it. 

That's a good recording. It's been awhile since I've listened to these performances. I'm sure the BIS audio quality is up to par. Great stuff.