What are you listening to now?

[Que]

Morning listening:

[asin]B000NY1F4I[/asin]
Q

[SurprisedByBeauty]

#morninglistening to #Bach #cantatas in the mountains w/@SampsonCarolyn, #PetraMüllejans & @FreiburgBaroque on @harmoniamundi

: http://a-fwd.to/4DJVn88

Specifically #cantata #BWV199 Mein Herze schwimmt in Blut w/the last aria "Wie freudig ist mein Herz

...which was one of the snippets that played during our wedding ceremony, last year exactly.

[cilgwyn]

I'm on cd 2 of this set. As a teenager,I had the original Lp's,which looked so much more impressive in their big,red box,with the big paper booklet,containing the libretto. I almost wore the records out. In these pc days of authenticity and paired down instrumentation,the earlier version of the score is the favoured one. Plasson's Offenbach doesn't get quite the credit it deserves,imho. I think he did allot of sterling work for this composer in making recordings of scores that,despite their popularity,seemed to have been largely ignored by the record labels. I think this is his finest Offenbach recording,and I think it's magnificent. Given a choice,I do like the Leibowitz recording best of the two. But it's nice to hear both versions of the score. Some of Plasson's conducting is quite exciting to listen to,and I find the moment,towards the end,where the massed choruses join in with the famous Can-can absolutely thrilling. The soloists are all all excellent and on absolutely top form. Superb!

[Traverso]

Bach Cantatas

CD 58

[vandermolen]

Christopher Columbus
[asin]B002QEXBYU[/asin]

[Madiel]

Barber, Mélodies passagères

[asin]B00005V8YT[/asin]
You mightn't have guessed that some of Barber's very best songs would be in French. But here we are.

[Madiel]

Poul Ruders, Three Motets

[asin]B004AB2FD0[/asin]
I own very little choral music.

This CD has made me want to own more choral music. Being modern Danish choral music is perhaps not essential, but I'd certainly be interested in more of it judging by this.

On this first listen, spread out greatly over 9-10 months, I've listened to each work separately. And I think everything on here has been genuinely interesting. At some point I'll have to listen to the album as a whole.

[Christo]

Symphonic Variations on a popular song from Alentejo
[asin]B00006B1KD[/asin]
And, of course, the wonderful Symphony 4.

[king ubu]

First spin ... gorgeous!

[Florestan]

One thing about Chopin which is usually overlooked is that he was a child prodigy, having written his first Polonaises at the tender age of 7. Until he reached 17, his catalogue comprised also mazurkas, rondos, variations, nocturnes, ecossaises and a waltz. They might not be just as good as his mature works, but they already display unmistakable Chopinesque traits and by the very first bars one can tell the composer. El Bacha plays with panache and commitment and brings forth convincingly the youthful freshness and the blossoming poetry of these charming works. My only quibble is with the sound which, although by no means bad, doesn't seem to do full justice to El Bacha's tone.

This is the first in a 10-cd series of Chopin's complete solo piano works recorded by El Bacha in chronological order of their writing. It promises to be a fascinating, hugely rewarding journey.



This, on the other hand, has spectacular sound and might be a strong contender for the best recording of anything by anyone. Fialkowska is completely at home in Chopin's soundworld and idiom and her music-making is superlative. I look forward to hearing the other two volumes.

[Christo]

No. 4 is lovely, especially in Jarvi's recording. I've heard the work compared to 'A Pastoral Symphony' by Vaughan Williams. The start of Symphony 4 is my favourite Tubin symphony opening.

It's the very first thing by Tubin I heard, on the radio - and I remember that I sat up in my chair. The rest is history.

[North Star]

Some very enjoyable first listens so far this Saturday

Charpentier
Motets pour le Grand Dauphin (Splendeurs de Versailles CD 5)
Anne Magouët (dessus), Sarah Breton (bas-dessus), Edwin Crossley-Mercer (basse)
Ensemble Pierre Robert
Frédéric Desenclos
[asin]B001MUJSTQ[/asin]
[asin]B01M0QREWR[/asin]

Holmboe
Symphony No. 1 for chamber orchestra, Op. 4 (1935)
Aarhus Symphony Orchestra
Owain Arwel Hughes
[asin]B000027DT8[/asin]

Tubin
Symphony No. 5 in B minor (1946)
Bamberg Symphony
Neeme Järvi
[asin]B000079AZT[/asin]

[vandermolen]

It's the very first thing by Tubin I heard, on the radio - and I remember that I sat up in my chair. The rest is history.

[Karl Henning]

Christmas Carols written by Nielsen in 1923.

Birthday boy!

[Madiel]

Birthday boy!

Is he? I had no idea. Sheer coincidence.

[Madiel]

One thing about Chopin which is usually overlooked is that he was a child prodigy, having written his first Polonaises at the tender age of 7. Until he reached 17, his catalogue comprised also mazurkas, rondos, variations, nocturnes, ecossaises and a waltz. They might not be just as good as his mature works, but they already display unmistakable Chopinesque traits and by the very first bars one can tell the composer. El Bacha plays with panache and commitment and brings forth convincingly the youthful freshness and the blossoming poetry of these charming works. My only quibble is with the sound which, although by no means bad, doesn't seem to do full justice to El Bacha's tone.

This is the first in a 10-cd series of Chopin's complete solo piano works recorded by El Bacha in chronological order of their writing. It promises to be a fascinating, hugely rewarding journey.



This, on the other hand, has spectacular sound and might be a strong contender for the best recording of anything by anyone. Fialkowska is completely at home in Chopin's soundworld and idiom and her music-making is superlative. I look forward to hearing the other two volumes.

Interesting that someone is going chronological. It won't surprise you to know I've done my own chronological excursion.

The early works have all the glitter and brilliance very quickly. What they don't quite have, it feels to me, is the power.

[Florestan]

Interesting that someone is going chronological. It won't surprise you to know I've done my own chronological excursion.

It's precisely you whom I thought about when embarking on this project. 

The early works have all the glitter and brilliance very quickly. What they don't quite have, it feels to me, is the power.

Agreed.

[king ubu]

First listen ... Jaroussky is amazing, but possibly still not an ideal choice for Orfeo, not quite as much of a seducer and enticer as should be, a bit too acidic in tone and not sumptuous enough (Janet Baker anyone?) ... but his singing per se is first rate as usual. Amanda Forstythe (Euridice) and Emöke Baráth (L'amore) are both great in their short-ish appearances ... and so is the performance by I Barocchisti under the baton of Diego Fasolis.

[Madiel]

It's precisely you whom I thought about when embarking on this project. 

We might be the only two people here who think this is an interesting way to go. We're certainly two of the people who talk about it the most. 

[Todd]