What are you listening 2 now?

[Irons]

Ralph Vaughan Williams - Ten Blake Songs

Ian Partridge (tenor)
Janet Craxton (oboe)

[asin]B00156ZWV0[/asin]

The one RVW recording I would not be without.

[André]

I see there are 4 versions available of Intimations- this one, Hill on Naxos, Best on Hyperion, and Handley on Lyrita. While this Hickox interpretation is really superb, the sound peaks at climaxes and the chorus words are sometimes indistinct. I would prefer better defined sonics. Any advice about the sound issue ?

[Christo]

Any advice about the sound issue ?

Cleanse your ears. #verysorry

[vers la flamme]

Pierre Boulez: Le Marteau sans maître. Pierre Boulez, Ensemble Intercontemporain, with contralto Hilary Summers.

[JBS]

Spending the afternoon with this
[asin]B07ZWBPLZR[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

Pierre Boulez: Le Marteau sans maître. Pierre Boulez, Ensemble Intercontemporain, with contralto Hilary Summers.

Have you heard the earlier recording of this work from Boulez? The performance can be found in this set, but also the complete DG set.

[Todd]

A twofer that exceeds expectations.  Kavakos - who both fiddles and conducts - opts for overall tempi in the concerto that would make Carlo Maria Giulini raise an eyebrow.  (It takes nearly 50 minutes.)  But he pulls it off.  The slow take allows the music to unfold at a leisurely pace but with more than ample energy and tension.  It's quite something.  It flows and grooves just right.  Too, Kavakos opts for the piano concerto transcription cadenza which he transcribed back to violin, and it allows him to display virtuosic chops of the highest attainable order.  Some of the playing veers perilously close to being over-the-top technical display, but it never quite gets there.  The second disc filler is no mere filler.  The Septet is, as always, a sheer delight, if perhaps a tad too long for the material.  And Enrico Pace once again shows that he may just be the greatest living accompanist, as he re-teams with Kavakos in some late LvB folk music pieces that nonetheless display much more than lightweight musical trinket quality. 

Top flight sound.

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First-Listen Saturdays -

Schoenberg
Bretti-Lieder (1901)
Mitsuko Shirai (mezzo-soprano), Hartmut Holl (piano)



Lovely music and the performance is superb.

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Szymanowski
Métopes Op. 29
Mythes, Op. 30
Masques, Op. 34
Ronaldo Rolim, piano
Emanuel Salvador, violin

[André]

Cleanse your ears. #verysorry

I would have expected something more intelligent. Sorry I asked 

[Daverz]

I see there are 4 versions available of Intimations- this one, Hill on Naxos, Best on Hyperion, and Handley on Lyrita. While this Hickox interpretation is really superb, the sound peaks at climaxes and the chorus words are sometimes indistinct. I would prefer better defined sonics. Any advice about the sound issue ?

Is it CD-sourced or streaming?  I've seen evidence the streaming services are getting clipped files from the labels.

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Ginastera
Cello Concerti Nos. 1 & 2
Mark Kosower (cello)
Bamberger Symphoniker
Lothar Zagrosek



Both of these concerti are first-listens. I remember GMG's resident alien, Edward speaking highly of these works. I miss his contributions.

[André]

Is it CD-sourced or streaming?  I've seen evidence the streaming services are getting clipped files from the labels.

It's an original cd.

I just  finished reading the Finzi thread and one comment is to the effect that the sound is muddy and the choir too large. So I guess the fault lies in the recording.

[Todd]

from:




Working my way through one of Riccardo Muti's pet projects for a second time, and what a delightful acquisition this set has been.  The works are uniformly superb, of at least Haydn mass quality, which means, of course, that the works rate with the best choral works of the classical era.  Soloists all do superb work, as does the choir and band.  On this specific disc, the two fillers, a brief antiphonal work modelled after Palestrina and the Nemo Gaudet with two organs (!), are as good as the main event.  Though I ordered the box in late December, it did not arrive until the second week of January, making it a shoo-in for a 2020 purchase of the year.

[Symphonic Addict]

Wallenstein

Somehow this work had gone unnoticed for me, but I'm glad I rediscovered it. Colourful, heroic and memorable. I feel the influence of Wagner and a little of Berlioz here. One of his strongest orchestral compositions.

[Karl Henning]

Exceptionally tender:

Janáček
Elegie na smrt dcery Olgy
New London Chamber Choir
Jamie MacDougall, tenor
Clive Williamson, pf

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Ligeti
Musica ricercata
Aimard



Trying to not turn tonight's listening session into a Ligeti binge will prove difficult, but I'll try...

[Symphonic Addict]

Other worthy revisits today:

Mendelssohn - Violin concerto
Grieg - Piano concerto
Bartók - The Miraculous Mandarin



The Mendelssohn is not my top choice. I felt more elegance was needed in some passages.

This Grieg is wonderful. You couldn't expect less of Arrau, Davis and the BSO.

The Bartók, once again, amazed me. A powerful performance, one of the best in my view.

[André]

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Bartók - The Miraculous Mandarin

The Bartók, once again, amazed me. A powerful performance, one of the best in my view.

A great performance, indeed. I also absolutely love Boulez's earlier account on Columbia with the New York PO. Another favorite is Dohnányi with the Wiener Philharmoniker (an unlikely orchestra for this composer) on Decca. I'm not sure if you've heard this one, but it might be OOP.