What are you listening 2 now?

[steve ridgway]

Yeah that is pretty massive. I didn't realize.

This one should be more reasonable:



Alfred Schnittke: Cello Concerto No.1. Maria Kliegel, Gerhard Markson, Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra.

I have just received one of those, need my work colleagues to stop talking to me on Skype ASAP  .

[Florestan]

After the Kun-woo Paik disaster, this is like a breeze of fresh air.

[Traverso]

Bach

Cantatas CD49

[Mandryka]

https://youtube.com/v/9S2st_Oo43w

Continuing to explore British music with this piano concerto by Howard Skempton,  occasionally luminous mostly calm music, occasionally reverting to pastiche, there's sometimes a faint echo of Arvo Pärt maybe.

[Harry]

Music in Europe at the time of the Renaissance. CD III.

France: Sacred Music. Italy: Instrumental music.

Composers:
Obrecht, Dalza, Cavazzoni, Ruffo, Bendusi, Ganassi, Willaert, Palestrina, Terzi, Macque, Bassani, A. Gabrieli, Merulo, G. Gabrieli, Gastoldi Mouton, de Marle, Le Jeune, Sermisy..

It is a pleasure to travel in one day through so many styles and interpretations, and a gamut of expression. It is like wandering through a country with a rich cultural background with nature around it to impress even more.

[Tsaraslondon]

Gorgeous sounds in this mass from Spanish composer, Francisco Valls, who became joint chapelmeister at Barcelona cathedral in 1696.

[Traverso]

Purcell

[Karl Henning]

I've been enjoying this work lately:



What an insane piece! It's like a musical rigmarole, several genres are heard here in a quite original conception. And somehow all those 'patches' put together make sense. I heard some references from other works (Beethoven's 5th, Tchaikovsky's PC 1, Strauss II Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald), but just that in a psychedelic way! The work of a genius IMO.

Great, wild piece!

[Karl Henning]

Sibelius
Symphony # 3 in C, Op. 52
Pittsburgh
Maazel

[Mirror Image]

Never been equalled.

Indeed, Jeffrey.

Thread duty -

Sibelius
String Quartet in D minor, "Voces intimae", Op. 56
Tempera Quartet

[j winter]

After listening to this again last night, I think I might even prefer it to Rubinstein... thank goodness those desert island discussions are just hypothetical....



Listening now, Beethoven cello sonatas, Rostropovich & Richter.  Hard to beat...

[André]

After listening to this again last night, I think I might even prefer it to Rubinstein... thank goodness those desert island discussions are just hypothetical....



Listening now, Beethoven cello sonatas, Rostropovich & Richter.  Hard to beat...

Moravec was one of the great colorists of the keyboard. When a piece's kernel is about nuance, colour and poetry, Moravec finds it like few do.

[Karl Henning]

RVW
Serenade to Music
Partita for Double String Orchestra
Sinfonia antartica
Cond. Handley

[Mirror Image]

RVW
Serenade to Music
Partita for Double String Orchestra
Sinfonia antartica
Cond. Handley

Bravo! Great stuff.

[San Antone]

Haydn : String Quartets, Op. 76 No. 2 in D major
Quatuor Mosaiques

[André]

Elgar's late oratorios were intended as the first two installments of a trilogy, but he abandoned the project after composing The Kingdom. He wanted The Apostles and The Kingdom to be played/heard on two consecutive days, or even on the same day, one in the afternoon, the other in the evening. They share many leitmotives, with a few new ones appearing in The Kingdom. And some characters appear in both (Mary, Mary Magdalene, Peter, John). Jesus and Judas appear only in The Apostles.

It took me many years to warm up to the beauty and subtlety of these works. The Dream of Gerontius in comparison has a more gripping story, with a very dramatic score. The music of the late oratorios is more contemplative, ecstatic, the pain and sorrow, the rapture and the elation not experienced 'in the flesh' as in Gerontius, but in the tranquillity of the soul.

Compared to the seminal recording of the work (Boult on EMI, 1974), the 1990 Chandos recording boasts a very wide dynamic range, beautiful playing and singing  and a slightly more direct manner. Not that this is plain in the wrong sense, but there's no denying the perfection of Boult's conception, his absolute mastery of tempi, of the ebb and flow of the piece. The 85 year old conductor takes 121 minutes to Hickox' 126, a small difference to be sure, but still an indication of a sligtly more flowing pace. It's swings and roundabouts when it comes to the soloists. I prefer Boult's John and Mary, Hickox' Judas and Peter. The Jesuses and Mary Magdalenes are equal - both superb. The last tableau (the Ascension) under Hickox is overwhelming in its power, a true cathartic ending to the work. The recording quality does make a difference here.

[Mirror Image]

Elgar
The Spirit of England, Op. 80
Teresa Cahill, soprano
Sir Alexander Gibson, conductor
Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus
Scottish National Orchestra

[vandermolen]

Pingoud: 'Prophet' - a fine, darkly atmospheric, craggy, symphonic poem.
One section sounded disconcertingly like the soundtrack to 'Star Wars':

[Karl Henning]

RVW
Flos campi
Handley, cond.

[vers la flamme]

Gabriel Fauré: Requiem, op.48. John Rutter, Cambridge Singers, City of London Sinfonietta. This is a beautiful performance of the chamber ensemble version of this great work. I don't know what it is about the English people and amazing choral singing, but there we have it.