What are you listening to now?

[Sergeant Rock]

I prefer the second recording on Glossa but this one sounds better.

I don't know the Glossa recordings but you're right about the sound of the Philips. Just excellent.

Sarge

[Traverso]

I don't know the Glossa recordings but you're about the sound of the Philips. Just excellent.

Sarge

The glossa recording has too much reverb

[Traverso]

The Finale

https://www.youtube.com/v/n-5mx5o8YYs

[aligreto]

Elgar: Cello Concerto [Squire/Harty]


    [apologies for the quality of the image but it is the only stock image that I could find]


This is a work that I like. I find it to be, basically, a lyrical, poignant work that has its fair share of pathos but without being depressive. Squire is a good soloist and Harty offers a suitably sensitive accompaniment. This is a performance transferred from original 78 RPM discs. Given that fact, the sound is reasonably good and the overall presentation is very satisfying.

[aligreto]

That is a great cycle.

[Traverso]

That is a great cycle.

+1

[Wakefield]

Brahms: Sonatas for Piano & Violin on Period Instruments
Tuija Hakkila, piano
Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen-Pilch, violin

[asin]B07B14J2G4[/asin]

Pianos: 1864 Streicher & 1892 Bösendorfer
Violin: Anonymous
Bow: Luis Emilio Rodrigues

What I was looking for on period instruments. 

[André]

[André]

It's hard to imagine a better introduction to Vaughan William's oeuvre than this, containing two of his most beloved works (Lark Ascending and Greensleeves) and what VW himself considered one of his finest works (Falstaff). Indeed, The composer himself wanted the last 3 movements played at his funeral. I was not aware of this, but the very fine liner notes (by our own Vandermolen  ) shed very useful light on the work's genesis. I did not know either that Holst closely followed the work's composition and attended all the orchestral rehearsals. Fine performances all around. Very good, refined sound with a wide and deep soundstage, which allows precise location of the percussion and brass instruments.

[Kontrapunctus]

[Andy D.]

Great music and music making, Dave. I have not listened in a while but I must dig this set out soon for a listen after you posting it.

I especially enjoy the QM's recordings of Haydn's op. 20, easily my favorite piece(s) by him.

Me: Got caught up in Petrenko's performance of Mitya's Symphony no. 4, and now I really love this symphony. I'm being delinquent in my appreciation, as I still haven't heard Shostakovich's 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, or 14 yet but I'm getting there! Love all the ones I've heard, including the charming 9.

[Andy D.]

Almost forgot! I found my favorite symphony so far by Prokofiev, the second! Listened to the Ozawa and went ape, love that one. I tried out the seventh and loved the first movement, but am looking forward to letting all this grow on me

[Christo]

It's hard to imagine a better introduction to Vaughan William's oeuvre than this, containing two of his most beloved works (Lark Ascending and Greensleeves) and what VW himself considered one of his finest works (Falstaff). Indeed, The composer himself wanted the last 3 movements played at his funeral. I was not aware of this, but the very fine liner notes (by our own Vandermolen  ) shed very useful light on the work's genesis. I did not know either that Holst closely followed the work's composition and attended all the orchestral rehearsals. Fine performances all around. Very good, refined sound with a wide and deep soundstage, which allows precise location of the percussion and brass instruments.

[aligreto]

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 [Maazel]





I like the mixed sentiments throughout this work and the gradual, and ultimately final, descent into resignation and despair. Maazel delivers a very good account of the work which incorporates the requisite tension, drama and emotional input.

[aligreto]

Brahms: Sonatas for Piano & Violin on Period Instruments
Tuija Hakkila, piano
Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen-Pilch, violin

[asin]B07B14J2G4[/asin]

Pianos: 1864 Streicher & 1892 Bösendorfer
Violin: Anonymous
Bow: Luis Emilio Rodrigues

What I was looking for on period instruments. 

That certainly looks interesting.

[SymphonicAddict]

I heard Turangalîla-Symphonie for the first time last night (Hewitt) and was delightfully impressed. First piece also I've heard from Messiaen.

I also had the pleasure of first experiencing Xenakis' music, Synaphai (Howarth) which I find really interesting!

Turangalîla is awesome. Psychedelia at its best 

The Naxos recording is my favorite.

[Wakefield]

It's hard to imagine a better introduction to Vaughan William's oeuvre than this, containing two of his most beloved works (Lark Ascending and Greensleeves) and what VW himself considered one of his finest works (Falstaff). Indeed, The composer himself wanted the last 3 movements played at his funeral. I was not aware of this, but the very fine liner notes (by our own Vandermolen  ) shed very useful light on the work's genesis. I did not know either that Holst closely followed the work's composition and attended all the orchestral rehearsals. Fine performances all around. Very good, refined sound with a wide and deep soundstage, which allows precise location of the percussion and brass instruments.

Robert Haydon Clark and the Consort of London played some excellent and stylish Brandenburgs and Orchestral Suites (on modern instruments) in the original Brilliant's Bach Edition. 

[André]

The disc's title is somewhat misleading. The only concerto on offer is the bittersweet harpsichord concerto. We also get the somber Passacaille for string orchestra and the delicate Polyptique, a suite in 6 movements for solo violin and two string orchestras. The latter is a series of meditations on themes related to the Passion Week: Palm Sunday, the Upper Room, Judas, Gethsemane, Judgement and Glorification. Menuhin had commissioned the composer to write him a concerto and got this instead.

Not a 'concerto album' in the familiar sense, then. Martin is a composer very much in the Debussy-Dutilleux continuum. His output is not large, he did not write works designed to please, his opuses tending to the serious, meditative, affecting. Contrary to them though, he was an intensely spiritual man. He describes his hearing of the St Matthew Passion as a boy of 10 as « the greatest event in my life ». Born in Geneva (home base of Reformer Jean Calvin) and the son of a pastor, it is not surprising to feel an underlying seriousness to practically everything he wrote.

[prémont]

Robert Haydon Clark and the Consort of London played some excellent and stylish Brandenburgs and Orchestral Suites (on modern instruments) in the original Brilliant's Bach Edition. 

Yes, licensed from Collins classics.
I agree they are truly remarkable.

[aligreto]

Ravel: La Valse [Munch]