What are you listening 2 now?

[Irons]

A bit of Bax, Bliss, and Vaughan Williams:


Quite enjoyed the Bax and the Bliss; hadn't heard the Vaughan Williams work in some time, but (if I'm recalling correctly) I seem to remember it being performed...err, shall we say 'a bit livelier' in the past?

This one is with the Lindsay Quartet with Janet Hilton, clarinet, and Keith Swallow, piano on Chandos (a recent used-find for me).

PD

I assume the Six Studies are with clarinet, P. I have not heard them in that form.

[vandermolen]

I assume the Six Studies are with clarinet, P. I have not heard them in that form.

Not addressed to me but yes and I like the arrangement very much.
Now listening again to this fine Rawsthorne CD including the excellent Lambert-inspired work. I often listen to the PC 2 and the Symphonic Studies (not featured here) yet I'd forgotten how enjoyable the PC No.1 is as well.

[Irons]

Leoš Janáček: Sinfonietta. Michael Tilson Thomas, London Symphony Orchestra. So I'm enjoying this a little more than I normally do, especially the expansive second movement. But outside of that, I've gotta admit it's not doing much for me. I'm not much of a concert-band kinda guy. I find the brass kind of grating, I suspect this might not be a good recording. I might check out the Kubelik on DG. Until then I may need to stick to the two string quartets, plus I just ordered a disc of his piano music, so I will check that out when it arrives.

I think you will like Janacek's piano pieces. Less spiky and more lyrical "On the Overgrown Path" is about my favourite work for solo piano. At the other end of the spike scale Concertino for Piano, String Quartet and Wind is when in the mood a great listen. I have no interest in choral works but love the cantata "Amarus" which never fails to move me. I like both string quartets very much but listen to the above works more.

[Irons]

Not addressed to me but yes and I like the arrangement very much.
Now listening again to this fine Rawsthorne CD including the excellent Lambert-inspired work. I often listen to the PC 2 and the Symphonic Studies (not featured here) yet I'd forgotten how enjoyable the PC No.1 is as well.

Thanks, Jeffrey. I'm not surprised as Brahms, for one, was able to switch seamlessly from strings to clarinet in chamber works.

There is a mildly amusing back-story to my purchase of that Rawsthorne/Lambert CD. I called in on the Guildford Oxfam store. No LPs of any interest and same story for CDs until I came across two Rawsrtorne Naxos issues, one for piano concertos the other for violin. Great result! The shop wasn't busy and the chap serving wanted a chat. He said "Who is this Rawsthorne then" I replied "an English composer" "Oh" he said "never heard of him, when these CD's came in yesterday I thought we will never sell them!"
Unfortunately the violin concerto disc is a dud and won't play but not bothered as the PC a cracking CD. 

[Harry]

Antonio Vivaldi.
Avanti l'Opera. Rare Opera Overtures.
L'arte dell'Arco, on authentic instruments, Christopher Hogwood.

This disc has always be a favourite of mine. It is not only well played and recorded, but these works belong to the very best Vivaldi composed. Federico Guglielmo, has carefully planned these pieces, and it shows that it is well rehearsed, for it is a real joy to listen to their efforts.

[vandermolen]

Thanks, Jeffrey. I'm not surprised as Brahms, for one, was able to switch seamlessly from strings to clarinet in chamber works.

There is a mildly amusing back-story to my purchase of that Rawsthorne/Lambert CD. I called in on the Guildford Oxfam store. No LPs of any interest and same story for CDs until I came across two Rawsrtorne Naxos issues, one for piano concertos the other for violin. Great result! The shop wasn't busy and the chap serving wanted a chat. He said "Who is this Rawsthorne then" I replied "an English composer" "Oh" he said "never heard of him, when these CD's came in yesterday I thought we will never sell them!"
Unfortunately the violin concerto disc is a dud and won't play but not bothered as the PC a cracking CD.

Pity about the VC disc but the PC one is very special. Also your experience maybe not as bad as when (as I've mentioned before) I purchased VW's Dona Nobis Pacem at a second-hand record shop in Manchester in my youth and discovered, on the train as it was about to depart from London, that the LP in the sleeve was Schubert's 'Trout Quintet'.

[Tsaraslondon]

Barbirolli's wonderful performance of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius is here coupled with Dame Janet Baker's peerless recording of his Sea Pictures.

In the main work Richard Lewis, so wonderful in Malcolm Sargent's old recording, was reportedly suffering from a cold and it does occasionally show, partuclarly in his middle voice. Kim Borg has all the requisite authority for his roles, but his peculiar English might not be to everyone's taste, though I can't say it bothers me particularly.

No, the main reasons this recording so often emerges as a prime recommendation is for Barbirolli's wonderfully paced, heartfelt conducting and for Dame Janet's superb consolatory Angel, which has never been bettered.

[Que]

I discovered there is a lot isn't on Spotify, but browsing can turn up quite unexpected stuff:



Q

[aukhawk]

On this last point, I am reminded of an idea that Mandryka once brought up in response to an accusation by someone of intonation problems in the Juilliard Quartet (I forget which repertoire this was in ref. to)...: is it fair to criticize someone's intonation as in error when in reality it could quite possibly be a conscious decision to play in a somewhat different tuning? I once heard that in some traditions of string playing, there is a difference of a few cents between, say, a violinist playing a G-sharp versus an A-flat. Does anyone know have any idea what I'm talking about, or am I making this up? I would be especially curious if anyone could relate that concept to the specific world of sounds and traditions into which the Budapest Quartet was born and grown.

It's only relatively recently that I've come to appreciate what some musicians (though soloists mainly, rather than ensemble) are doing with this, in the 'classical' field.  In popular music of course singers and guitarists bend their pitch all the time to express 'emotion' - flattening to bluesify (eg Nina Simone) or sharpening to express 'soul' eg Stevie Wonder and almost everyone since through to Adele - singing sharp is so commonplace that it's now the new normal.

For most of my music-listening life I have avoided music that pairs the piano with violin or similar - Violin Sonatas and the like - or even Piano Trios - because of what I often heard as a conflict of interests between the piano (fixed equal temperament) and the violinist with a more refined sense of tuning.  (Though of course all too often the violinist will just fudge the issue through use of vibrato.)  But more recently I've come to hear this dialogue in a different light - the violinist or cellist making expressive use of flattened or sharpened notes.  Off the top of my head and without listening back to check, I think a recent example would be Isabelle Faust's recording of the Debussy Violin Sonata.

Or of course in the examples you cite (which I don't know) it could just be dodgy intonation 

[Roasted Swan]

Pity about the VC disc but the PC one is very special. Also your experience maybe not as bad as when (as I've mentioned before) I purchased VW's Dona Nobis Pacem at a second-hand record shop in Manchester in my youth and discovered, on the train as it was about to depart from London, that the LP in the sleeve was Schubert's 'Trout Quintet'.

re experiences in charity shops; the one that saddens me a lot is how frequently CD cases are empty.  I simply do not understand how anyone goes into a CHARITY shop to steal.  Especially in this day and age where nearly all the music in question can be found via free spotify or YouTube (OK I know you have to have internet access but I don't accept "digital poverty" as an excuse - if you steal a CD you must have a player/system).

On a more positive note - I've found so many musical gems - recorded and sheet music in charity shops including a vocal score signed by John Ireland and a full (conducting) score of Death in Venice.  Not so long ago the Guildford Oxfam had sheet music sets of all the Mozart String Quartets - I was tempted but really couldn't justify adding them to my already over-large collection!

[vers la flamme]

Béla Bartók: Piano Concerto No.1. Géza Anda, Ferenc Fricsay, RSO Berlin.

--

That's a great recording, vers la flamme. Janáček wrote some incredible pieces of music, but, strangely enough, I'm not too fond of his operas. I prefer his chamber and piano music, but also love the Sinfonietta, Glagolitic Mass, Otče náš, and Taras Bulba.

Thanks for clarifying, I won't be seeking out any different recording for now, I'll just give it time and come back. I was impressed with the string quartets. I'll stick with them for now.

[Que]

Found the percussion on the Cantus recording tiring on the ear after a while.

This is more to my liking:



Q

[vers la flamme]

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No.13 in B-flat major, op.130. Kodály Quartet.

[Madiel]

I decided to become acquainted with the Nightingale Quartet... although in music I know practically nothing about.



EDIT: Okay, this is gooooood. I haven't quite succeeded in attempts to try Langgaard's symphonies, but the first work on here is definitely working for me.

Also, I can completely hear these performers doing Holmboe justice in just a month or so...

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Leoš Janáček: String Quartet No.2, "Intimate Letters". Stamitz Quartet. OK, I think I am beginning to understand the appeal to Janáček's music. This is actually an awesome quartet. Shimmering, radiant music. It strikes me more as music of images and colors more so than the literary associations invoked by the epistolary title. But this is one to explore. I confess that Janáček's music never made much sense to me until this point. I had pegged him as one of those great composers who is mostly known for his opera, which means it will be some time before I ever get into his music because I generally can't stand opera. But as it turns out, some of this instrumental music is well worth exploring too. I'll try the Sinfonietta again soon too. I've heard it half a dozen times and somehow always found myself bored with it.

Well done you for sticking with it and being willing to explore his music further and re-visiting works which didn't click with you initially--seriously!   

His string quartets are favorites of mine--particularly these ones.

Have you tried any of his piano music?  This album is considered a classic by Janacek fans (Rudolf Firkusny was a student of Janacek's at one point in his life--for starters...)     You can read more about him here:  https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-rudolf-firkusny-1415563.html). 

As for the quartets, these are a couple of treasured ones in my collection:    and this one:  and also the ones by the Quatour Talich: 

Happy exploring!

Best wishes,

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Thanks, Jeffrey. I'm not surprised as Brahms, for one, was able to switch seamlessly from strings to clarinet in chamber works.

There is a mildly amusing back-story to my purchase of that Rawsthorne/Lambert CD. I called in on the Guildford Oxfam store. No LPs of any interest and same story for CDs until I came across two Rawsrtorne Naxos issues, one for piano concertos the other for violin. Great result! The shop wasn't busy and the chap serving wanted a chat. He said "Who is this Rawsthorne then" I replied "an English composer" "Oh" he said "never heard of him, when these CD's came in yesterday I thought we will never sell them!"
Unfortunately the violin concerto disc is a dud and won't play but not bothered as the PC a cracking CD.

Irons,

I had a strange experience the other day.  I went to play a DVD (movie) in my Panasonic DVD/CD/Hybrid-SACD player which I consider to be of pretty decent quality.  The DVD was borrowed from the library....cleaned it off first before inserting.  It kept skipping forward after I hit play and wouldn't stop even when I pushed (repeatedly) on the stop button!  I had to hit the open/close button to stop it!  Looking at it closely, I could see that it had a number of scratches on it.  I thought "What the heck", I'll try playing it on my old MacBook Pro.  It played and fine!  Ended up hooking my computer speakers to it and watched it there.  Was quite surprised that my computer would be better at auto-correcting/reading it than my DVD player.  Moral of this story:  give it a try elsewhere before you chuck it out.   

Must try Rawsthorne and Lambert!  Will see what I can get my hands on to sample.

Best,

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Pity about the VC disc but the PC one is very special. Also your experience maybe not as bad as when (as I've mentioned before) I purchased VW's Dona Nobis Pacem at a second-hand record shop in Manchester in my youth and discovered, on the train as it was about to depart from London, that the LP in the sleeve was Schubert's 'Trout Quintet'.

:laugh:Oh, no!

How was the Schubert?  And had you heard it before?   

Best,

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Not addressed to me but yes and I like the arrangement very much.
Now listening again to this fine Rawsthorne CD including the excellent Lambert-inspired work. I often listen to the PC 2 and the Symphonic Studies (not featured here) yet I'd forgotten how enjoyable the PC No.1 is as well.

You beat me to the punchline!   

I'll give the VW work another listen to today; will also dig up a different copy of it too.

PD

[Traverso]

Bach

Cantatas

[Biffo]

Schubert: String Quartet in D minor, D 810, Death and the Maiden - Alan Berg Quartet