What are you listening to now?

[North Star]

Good evening, Karlo! Those couplings made by the Diotimas must dork wonderfully...That reminds me, I must revisit their 2nd Viennese School box, which IIRC I got dirt cheap thanks to a tip from you, and which is magnificent.

I don't think they dork the music at all... Seriously, I did indeed find the programs very fine indeed. And, yes, that was a great bargain.

[ritter]

I don't think they dork the music at all... Seriously, I did indeed find the programs very fine indeed. And, yes, that was a great bargain.

Fixed...auto-correct often goes awry, churning out the bizarrest of phrases...

[Turner]

Various, mostly historical Janacek recordings in this CD box, including Haefliger in Diary of One Who Disappeared, 1954 recording, Talich in Taras Bulba; Bakala in Glagolithic Mass etc.

https://www.discogs.com/Leo%C5%A1-Jan%C3%A1%C4%8Dek-Meister-Der-Sprachmelodie-Master-Of-Intonation/release/6967529


The piano works with Kayahara were okayish, but not more than that, IMO.

[Traverso]

 
A recent purchase.  Sounds wonderful. 
[/quote]


Just ordered myself 

[North Star]

Fixed...auto-correct often goes awry, churning out the bizarrest of phrases...

I like the idea that the auto-correct assumes you mean to say 'dork' when you type work.  0:)

Thread-duty
Schubert
Zwei Scherzi, D593
Piano Sonata in C major 'Reliquie', D840
Jan Vermeulen (fortepiano Nannette Streicher, Vienna 1825)
[asin]B00JDZK0CQ[/asin]

[Spineur]

Giving another spin to Liszt: Die heilige Legende von St Elizabeth

[asin]B000W9EM4O[/asin]

A nice work from the mature Liszt (he was 54 at the creation).  Not as many excess as in his symphonic poems and some lovely vocal parts.

[Christo]

Czeslaw MAREK (1891-1985)
Suite for Orchestra op. 25   Méditations op. 14   Sinfonia op. 28
The Philharmonia Orchestra London     Gary Brain, cond.

Am discovering the Opuses 25 and 28 now, in the Guild lable release of the same recording, both pieces very convincing IMHO:

[Maestro267]

Corigliano: A Dylan Thomas Trilogy
Allen (baritone), Jackson (boy soprano), Tessier (tenor)
Nashville Symphony Chorus and Orchestra/Slatkin

[André]

This is the first, original cd issue of this well-known recording. Subsequent reissues (3 if I count well) corrected what is an unforgivable editing idiocy: cutting the second act less than 5 minutes before the end, spilling over the 3rd disc. All 3 discs clock in around 72 minutes, so there was ample time to fit the rest of the act on the second cd. On the newer issues timings are 72, 77 and 68 minutes, with Act ends in their proper places.

Anyhow, as to the performance, I find it admirable for the conducting, playing and excellent engineering. None of the sung roles make it to the top rung, though. Thomas and Grümmer are both admirable and tasteful, but I looked in vain for a trace of the dramatic. Vocally they do not displace favourites such as Konya, Domingo, Steber or Janowitz. In a few places I thought someone should have given a Ricola to Thomas before opening up his mic.

King Henry is very well sung and portrayed by the veteran, Gottlob Frick. On the Warner sets, the back cover blurb commends Fischer-Dieskau and Ludwig for « subtly bringing new dimensions to the roles of the two villains of the piece». Well, I'm not sure what to make of that newfound subtlety. While DFD rages over his lost honour perfunctorily, the voice is so beautiful that it's hard to envision him as the true scumbag he is supposed to portray. Similarly, Ludwig has no trouble singing beautiflly and forcefully, but where is the venom, the spite, the demonic rage of this hellish witch ? She is more believable when pretending to Elsa that she is a victim than when erupting in vengeful anger. No match for the real giants in this role, Varnay and Gorr.

All in all, a superb phonographic production that could have been markedly better if the singing had been one size larger and the characterization more effective.

[Karl Henning]

Afaik, Brahms himself transcribed them for the viola, so it's as legit as it gets. 

Aye, it was Brahms, indeed.  I reserve the right to quarrel with him on one or two small points in his magnificent oeuvre 

Thread Duty:

Chas. Knox (who recently turned 89)
Rivers Run Through It, Sonatina for Flute & Piano

[André]

It's natural for your clarinetist self to be tickled by this cast makeover, Karl ! 

[mc ukrneal]

Haven't listened to this one in some time: Dvorak Symphony No. 6 Dohnanyi/Cleveland. Phenomenal playing in outstanding sound.  A perfect way to end the day...
[asin]B00000E4KO[/asin]

[San Antone]

Afaik, Brahms himself transcribed them for the viola, so it's as legit as it gets. 

I love these works on viola, and am listening to this right now.



Lars Vogt has made Brahms his focus for a while - and I have enjoyed all of the various recordings.

[Florestan]

Aye, it was Brahms, indeed.  I reserve the right to quarrel with him on one or two small points in his magnificent oeuvre 

Oooops, for a moment I did forget you are a clarinetist by trade! 

But then again:

What's in a name tone? that which we call a rose clarinet
By any other name pitch would smell sound as sweet

[aligreto]

Mahler: Symphony No. 6 [RTE National Symphony Orchestra/Markson]


This is a very good, live, version. The opening first two movements are wonderfully taut and driven without being frenetic: a keen sense of menace also permeates them. The third movement is elegant and lyrical. The final movement is filled with drama and tension and with not a little menace in there too. The recording is full sounding. OK, I am biased, but it is very good, really! 

Gerhard Markson was the Principal Conductor of the Irish RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra from 2001 to 2009. He was a terrific conductor and did two major things during his time here. Firstly the raised the bar to a new level in terms of the performance standards and ability of our National Orchestra. Secondly, he introduced much more "modern music" into the repertoire of said orchestra. It is also interesting that the orchestra became rather proficient in performing this music.

[aligreto]

What's in a name tone? that which we call a rose clarinet
By any other name pitch would smell sound as sweet

Dare I suggest a baroque oboe    0:)

[André]

Reger: Choral Music
Rundfunkchor Stockholm, dir. Ericson; Junge Kantorei Darmstadt, dir. Martini; The Hilliard Ensemble
[asin]B01GQWSWFK[/asin]

Fine disc.  My main complaint is that the Hilliard tracks are significantly louder and more closely recorded than the older recordings filling the rest of the disc.

André, have you heard Op. 110 No. 1?  What's it like compared to 2 and 3?

OP 110 nos 1-3 and op 138 nos 1-4 from this disc:



The music from those 2 opuses is very different. The op 138 is made up of simple, short (2-3 mins) and homophonic works. There are 8 of them, only the first 4 are recorded here.

The op 110 is a set of 3 large-scale motets (10-16 mins each), for 5 to 8 voices. The sound here saturates, which is a pity as it makes listening uncomfortable - at least with headphones.

To answer your question, I find that the 3 works grow in interest in the order they are given. IOW no 3 is the most interesting - arresting, even. I'll look for another version, possibly the Carus disc.

[SymphonicAddict]

How much I enjoy this music. It's a complete rejoice. All the pieces are superb, albeit the piece I like the most is Tintagel, which has to be one of the most atmospheric, awesome, brilliant and, of course, epic tone poems ever written. I really feel transported to that magical place called Cornwall. One of many outstanding moments Bax had.

[Baron Scarpia]

I also listened to a bit of Bax yesterday, the Clarinet Sonata. I started with a recording by the Nash Ensemble on Hyperion, which didn't seem to take flight. I ended up listening to a recording by Robert Plane, which I found much more inspiring. A memorable work.

[asin]B000F6YWSU[/asin]

[André]

Composer/conductor Bruno Maderna conducts an overparted Vienna Symphony Orchestra in this characterful interpretation of Mahler's most Klimt-like symphony.