What are you listening to now?

[Mandryka]

Gaaaa. Microtonal Bach?

The entire suite sounds like that to me (from the samples) so I'd assume it is intentional and she is playing in unequal temperament for whatever reason. I didn't hear anything that sounded like a mistake.

I guess that because some of the music in 5 and 6 is polyphonic or close, then you have to make all sorts of decisions about how to create the chords. Herman once said to me that when you're playing in a string quartet, you do this naturally, i,e, you make little microtone sized adjustments to make interesting harmonies, he said that he thinks all quartets do it, just as Rogers Covey Crump once wrote that singers in little ensembles do it naturally too.

I wish she'd have written something about her approach to harmony here.

[vandermolen]

Symphonies 1, 2, 4, 7. Finlandia, Valse triste, The Swan of Tuolena, The Oceanides, Pohjola's Daughter. The late seventies versions.

I bought that set recently and have been enjoying discovering it.

[vandermolen]

Variations on a Folksong from Hardanger

I don't recall having listened to this work before. And what a magical piece it is! Tveitt conjures up a work from other world, the style of this piece is so singular that it's difficult to associate it with something else. I didn't feel any dull moment in its 30 minutes of length. There were some passages that moved me, of sheer spell. A fantastic piece.

+1 my favourite work by that composer.

[vandermolen]

Two grandiloquent quartets. The 1st is broadly lyrical, with some passages inspired by Kabardinian themes (as the 2nd one by Prokofiev). The 2nd is more aggresive. Both are instantly enjoyable.

I think that Kabalevsky is underrated. I especially like symphonies 1 and 4, the Second Cello Concerto and First Piano Concerto.

[springrite]

Two grandiloquent quartets. The 1st is broadly lyrical, with some passages inspired by Kabardinian themes (as the 2nd one by Prokofiev). The 2nd is more aggresive. Both are instantly enjoyable.

Totally agree. Overall, I think much of the Russian String Quartet genre has been greatly underrated in the west.

[pi2000]

Mozart 15 quartet
[asin]B0057JWXAY[/asin]
[asin]B00005AXP1[/asin]

https://www.francemusique.fr/emissions/la-tribune-des-critiques-de-disques/le-quatuor-ndeg15-de-mozart-71379

[Harry]

Totally agree. Overall, I think much of the Russian String Quartet genre has been greatly underrated in the west.

Uhmm, not by me

[Harry]

Morning listening. TD. Third listen.
Johann Gottlieb Janitsch. Sonate da Camera. Volume II.

[Irons]

A second listen to Ansermet's Beethoven 1. Much as i love both the conductor and the work I dont think I'd heard this recording before, but immediately rank it as one of the best old school versions.

Thanks to whoever it was upthread who gave me the itch to play this today.

He recorded all nine. Never sold well due not for artistic reasons but perceptions of the record buying public of the time. I would like to think we are more open-minded today. His Brahms is interesting too.

[springrite]

Uhmm, not by me

That's why we love you, Harry!

[Harry]

That's why we love you, Harry!

[Harry]

TD, third listen.
From the imperial court, music for the house of Hapsburg. (Stile Antico)

Breathtakingly beautiful.

[ritter]

Debussy's Jeux, with the OSR conducted by Ernest Ansermet. From this box which arriuved today:

[asin]B00DT2322E[/asin]

At 17'17", this is more or less a "standard" performance as far as timing goes. It all hangs tigether very neatly, and the constant shift of perpectives of the music is very well handled. Still, as usual--in my experience--with Ansremet, the tone is rather dry; I do not know wheteher this is thanks to the conductor or to the sound engineers, or a combination of both. Still, it works OK in this piece. A usccesful recording IMHO.

[Mandryka]

Mozart 15 quartet
[asin]B0057JWXAY[/asin]
[asin]B00005AXP1[/asin]

https://www.francemusique.fr/emissions/la-tribune-des-critiques-de-disques/le-quatuor-ndeg15-de-mozart-71379

It's nice to see such a positive review of Talich there, which I also like --  but I thought I was the only one.

[pi2000]

It's nice to see such a positive review of Talich there, which I also like --  but I thought I was the only one.

For me the surprise was Leipzig Quartet(not familiar to me!)
I like very much Talich (both Mozart and Beethoven)
I  like  very much that show on France Musique (blind audition with a winner at the end)

[Harry]

TD, third listen.
Ciacconas Cazonas & Sonatas., Violin music from the collection"Partiturbuch Ludwig"1662.
Harmonie Universelle, Florian Deuter.

Very well put together, played and recorded. A real gem to me.

[ritter]

More from the Ansermet "French Music" box. Gabriel Fauré's Pelléas et Mélisande suite (sans the beautiful Mélisande's Song, hélas), the prelude to Pénélope, and Masque est bergamasques.

[asin]B00DT2322E[/asin]
The original LP cover (but this is not an "original jacket" set--we get the Eiffel tower on each CD's cardboard sleeve):


Très beau!

[Madiel]

Sibelius original version of the music for Kuolema (Death).



Which opens with what was subsequently arranged separately as Valse Triste, which became a massive success. Segerstam tends to like slow tempi, and the 'A' section of the Valse is slow alright, though changes later on stop it from getting unbearable.

There's certainly some very moody and atmospheric music in here, almost entirely for strings. I suppose I should expect a play called "Death" to have a fair intensity to it.

EDIT: It's also worth mentioning that the Valse Triste melody reappears later in different guises.

[Maestro267]

Wordsworth: Symphony No. 3
London PO/Braithwaite

[Biffo]

Sibelius: Symphony No 1 in E minor - Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vanska - dramatic performance, similar in approach to Berglund