What are you listening to now?

[aligreto]

Mozart: Symphony No. 25 [Maazel]


   


Quintessential Mozart music given a good performance here under Maazel. The performance is good but, to my taste, the slow movement is somewhat laboured.

[André]

Pictures at an Exhibition, belgian-style:

The Entry of Christ in Brussels:



Skeletons quarreling over a Hanged Man:


The Love Garden:



Infernal Procession (Sabbath):


These four works by belgian painter James Ensor (1860|1949) are depicted in Flor Alpaert's colourful James Ensor Suite from 1931. Being a huge fan of the painter, I figured this should be on my listening menu. It's an excellent orchestral suite. Alpaert's dates are 1876-1954.

Generally better known, Arthur Meulemans (1884-1954) is represented on this belgian music anthology by his beautiful work Plinius' Fountain (1913), with its debussyan colours. I have another version of this, but if memory serves, it's neither as well played or recorded as this. The recording is indeed spectacular.

Totally new to me is the last composer on the disc, Henry Georges d'Hoedt (1885-1936). His symphonic rhapsody Chroniques brèves de la vie bourgeoise is a satire of the society. The 5 movements bear satiesque titles (see pic below) and the music is quite charming.

A wonderful disc.

[Karl Henning]

I downloaded just the Piano Sonata No.4--very virtuosic and intense. He wrote it for Anne-Marie McDermott.

Aye, the Fourth Sonata is cracking.

[NikF]

Gribbin is indeed from Norn Iron and you are also correct in that I have listened to another of her works [on the same CD] recently. There are three works on the above CD. I find the two works that I have listened to so far to be really interesting and exciting; something a bit different in the modern idiom. Definitely worth a listen.

I like the old school paper notebook idea    I operated that system until a few years ago myself.

Cheers for that. I'll definitely give it a listen.

[Undersea]

Recent Listening:

[asin]B0085MK2A8[/asin]

Bach: Keyboard Concerto #3 in D, BWV 1054

Glenn Gould; Vladimir Golschmann: Columbia Symphony Orchestra


[asin]B0042GNDMU[/asin]

Bach: Musical Offering, BWV 1079

La Petite Bande

[Que]

Morning listening - rerun:

[asin]B01N9ZYMDK[/asin]
Q

[Madiel]

Beethoven, The Consecration of the House

[asin]B000001GZ6[/asin]
All of it, including the bits he actually wrote for The Ruin of Athens and reused.

And with that, I've finished everything in this set that someone here had interested me in, a couple of months before I stumbled across it in a second-hand shop in Aarhus. Not all the music is amazing, but it's pretty darn good for 120 kroner and a nice memory of my excitement/amazement at finding anything at all in Denmark, a country that seems to have embraced downloads and streaming with gusto.

[Wanderer]

Beethoven, The Consecration of the House

[asin]B000001GZ6[/asin]
All of it, including the bits he actually wrote for The Ruin of Athens and reused.

And with that, I've finished everything in this set that someone here had interested me in, a couple of months before I stumbled across it in a second-hand shop in Aarhus. Not all the music is amazing, but it's pretty darn good for 120 kroner and a nice memory of my excitement/amazement at finding anything at all in Denmark, a country that seems to have embraced downloads and streaming with gusto.

Music and books make the best souvenirs of one's travels. I'm glad you enjoyed it, I also enjoy this set a lot. The whole DG Beethoven edition, in fact, from which this set is excised, is filled with jewels.


Listening to:

[asin]B0176N4BXU[/asin]

[Draško]

[Madiel]

Fragmentary Dvorak.

Duet, "There On Our Roof", B.118 (it lasts about 30 seconds)

I can't listen to B.119 (Gallop in E major for orchestra) because apparently there isn't even a published recording.

String Quartet movement in F, B.120

[asin]B00002DEH4[/asin]
I can't help wondering what dissatisfied Dvorak about the 1st movement of his new string quartet, it sounds pretty decent to me.

[Karl Henning]

I can't listen to B.119 (Gallop in E major for orchestra) because apparently there isn't even a published recording.

Peculiar!

[Que]

Listening to:

[asin]B0176N4BXU[/asin]

The Tchaikovsky trio is a fascinating piece, but very hard to pull off...

How is this performance? 

Q

[Malx]

Some Mahler seemed essential today (his birthday).
Symphony No 6 - LSO, Jansons.

[Madiel]

Schumann, Symphony No.2 in C

[asin]B00H5DNC32[/asin]
I still don't know the Schumann symphonies very well, but I'm finding this one, the largest in scale, rather interesting. The Adagio has a stunner of a melody, reportedly inspired by Bach.

[Undersea]

NP:



Tchaikovsky: 6 Pieces, Op. 19

Viktoria Postnikova

[Karl Henning]

https://www.youtube.com/v/mKWWkhJi6nE

[Traverso]

Xenakis

CD 2

  1. Nuits
  2. Persephassa
  3. Synaphaï
  4. Aroura

[Roasted Swan]

I had a cup of tea with Xenakis once - he was very nice!

[SonicMan46]

Rolla, Alessandro (1757-1841) - Chamber Music w/ Ruggero Marchesi & La Camerata Ducale di Parma; 4-CD set of mainly string chamber works (one disc w/ piano) - apparently expanded to a 7-CD set w/ further additions (the 2nd image below) - review of the latter attached - brief bio quoted below - Dave

Alessandro Rolla was an Italian viola and violin virtuoso, composer, conductor and teacher. His fame now rests mainly as "teacher of the great Paganini", yet his role was also important in the development of violin and viola technique. Some of the technical innovations that Paganini later used largely, such as left-hand pizzicato, chromatic ascending and descending scales, the use of very high positions on violin and viola, octave passages, were first introduced by Rolla. (Source)

 

[Mahlerian]

Earlier, I listened to:
Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Thomas Quasthoff, Vienna Philharmonic cond. Boulez
[asin]B004NO5HLG[/asin]