What are you listening to now?

[Maestro267]

Gershwin: An American in Paris
English Chamber Orchestra/Bedford

[Mandryka]

Almost too weird with the OB arranged for four celli. I couldn't resist to order it.

Well, this is a collection of pieces. Of course they were never meant to be played like a suite. Why do you think they should?

Because the sets of music for at least Christmas, and Lent and Easter together, seem to me to work well as suites, they share a common feeling.

[Mandryka]

Some of Schoenberg's earliest juvenilia do indeed sound a lot like Brahms (the Three Piano Pieces of 1894, the D major string quartet, maybe the Op. 1 songs), but none of his mature works really sound like "Brahms with wrong notes."  For one thing, although he took Brahms' rhythmic procedures as an inspiration (one of several), his own treatment of rhythm is quite unique.

Yes I've heard the juvenilia just once played by Henck, but it wasn't my sort of thing really so I never went back to it.

[Karl Henning]

Yes I've heard the juvenilia just once played by Henck, but it wasn't my sort of thing really so I never went back to it.

No, that would be a niche interest, of course.

[prémont]

Because the sets of music for at least Christmas, and Lent and Easter together, seem to me to work well as suites, they share a common feeling.

I have never thought about the OB in that way except once, when i listened to Hans Christoph Becker-Foss' recording. He does indeed play some of the chorale preludes attacca. I can not from the top of my head recall others.

[Zeus]

Duparc: Chansons
Paul Groves, Roger Vignoles
Naxos

[Kontrapunctus]

Great work! The CD conducted by Stig Westerberg is my favourite version although I don't know this one.

It's brand new.

[aligreto]

Prokofiev: Symphony No. 4, 1947 version [Kitajenko]





The 1947 version is obviously a bigger work in terms of duration and scoring. It is a weightier work texturally and tonally. I am absolutely no expert on Prokofiev's music but I ask the question does it improve and enhance the original version? Personally I do not think so. I think rather that it definitely changes the original work, and there is nothing inherently wrong with that. However, why did he just "change" an existing work that was fine in itself and not rework it more into another metamorphosed work altogether? Having said that I also like this version. The enlarged orchestration has a different tonal palette to its precursor. The weightier outer movements are more forceful and intense. The inner movements still retain their charm, poise and appeal. The original version is more wistful and delicate but both versions are elegant and lyrical by nature and possess great individual appeal and intensity in their own way, even if the original version has the edge in the charm stakes for me. The one major advantage for me of the revised version is the more positive resolution at the conclusion of the work.

[aligreto]

Wow! That your photo?    Tickets for Christie's original 80s run of Atys. If so color me jealous. And I wouldn't mind having the LP set either.

Unfortunately that is a Google Images stock photo. However I do own the vinyl box set....without the tickets 

[aligreto]

If it sounds good it is good!

Brahms: A German Requiem
Rattle, Berliner, Quasthoff, Roschmann
EMI

[asin] B000MTEDIE[/asin]

I also consider that to be a fine version and interpretation.

[North Star]

Chopin
Preludes, Op. 28
Wojciech Switala (Erard, 1849)

[aligreto]

JC Bach: Harpsichord Concertos Op. 1 Nos. 4 & 5 [Halstead]

[Zeus]

The Love Songs of Jehan de Lescurel
Ensemble Céladon
Ricercar

[asin] B01CPQM48C[/asin]

[ritter]

Unfortunately that is a Google Images stock photo. However I do own the vinyl box set....without the tickets 

I no longer have the tickets, but did get to see the Christie / Villégier / Les Arts Florissants production of Lully's Atys here in Madrid (at the Teatro de la Zarzuela) in 1992. Breathtaking! 

[aligreto]

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons [McGegan]





I like this recording for a number of reasons. The textures are light and it is therefore easy to follow all of the lines. The performances are crisp and sharp and are played with a light touch. The outer movements are snappy and are played in a great spirit and with gusto while the slow movements are given the appropriate amount of time for one to linger and to savour their delights. The soloist plays with feeling and fluidity throughout and the orchestral backing is also very good and therefore things like the chattering of the birds is convincing and the various storm scenes are suitably dramatic.

[aligreto]

I no longer have the tickets, but did get to see the Christie / Villégier / Les Arts Florissants production of Lully's Atys here in Madrid (at the Teatro de la Zarzuela) in 1992. Breathtaking! 

Good for you  It is such a wonderful work.

[aligreto]

Mozart: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord K.6 -K. 8 [Poulet/Verlet]





This is obviously very early Mozart but the one thing that always strikes me about this music is the scoring for the keyboard, which is admirably played by Verlet here.

[aligreto]

Soler: Sonatas for Harpsichord Nos. 85, 90 & 110 [Rowland]

[aligreto]

Rameau: Premier Livre de Clavecin, 1706 [Rousset]

[Zeus]

Suk: Ripening, Symphony #1
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Jiri Belohlavek
Chandos

[asin] B003WL7EAI[/asin]

First listen.  Haven't heard the early symphony yet, but Ripening (Zrani) is quite the ride, in a very edgy post-romantic way.  Reminds me a fair amount of trippier Langgaard or maybe Koechlin.

This ain't your Daddy's Dvorak.