What are you listening 2 now?

[Traverso]

What do you think of this set? It looks like a very good selection. I have a couple volumes of Koopman's Bach cantatas series, but little else from this famous musician.

It is really a bargain,if you like Ton Koopman you will not be disappointed..The Buxtehude is in my opinion the weakest.all the other recordings are Just fine and well recorded.

[VonStupp]

Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor, Op 85 - Jacqueline du Pré cello with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir John Barbirolli. The Warner remastering for the Barbirolli edition is not a success - the sound is now very harsh and loud

Is that the new mastering for the big Barbirolli box, or the Warner reissue of the GROC? Warner makes everything so confusing.

[Sergeant Rock]

Shostakovich String Quartet No. 12 in D-flat major op. 133 played by the Mandelring




Sarge

[Karl Henning]

One more work for the night:

Prokofiev
Piano Sonata No. 6 in A major, Op. 82
Matti Raekallio

Very nice.

[Karl Henning]

Good morning all. At least we have no heat wave here.

Marin Marais.
CD I. Second rerun.
Suite re mineur & sol majeur.

Pieces a une et deux Violes, Premier Livre. (1686)
Francois Joubert Caillet, Bass viol.
L'Acheron.

Starting again with the Premier Livre, and what a pleasure it is. Nothing better in the early morning, it calms the world around you.

Cheers, Harry!

[Karl Henning]

Shostakovich String Quartet No. 12 in D-flat major op. 133 played by the Mandelring




Sarge

Sweet!

[Mirror Image]

A great set John.

Absolutely, Jan.

[Mirror Image]

Very nice.

Indeed!

[vers la flamme]

IMO that's by far the greatest performance of that work.

I wouldn't be surprised if you're right, it's an excellent performance. However I would still love to hear more recordings. This is the only one I have.

[Mirror Image]

Shostakovich String Quartet No. 12 in D-flat major op. 133 played by the Mandelring




Sarge

I'm not familiar with this particular cycle, but I'd imagine it being quite good.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

It is really a bargain,if you like Ton Koopman you will not be disappointed..The Buxtehude is in my opinion the weakest.all the other recordings are Just fine and well recorded.

His playing has a lot of embellishments sometimes.

[VonStupp]

Edward Elgar
The Saga of King Olaf, op.30
The Banner of Saint George, op. 33
Emily Birsan, Barry Banks, Alan Opie
Bergen PO & Choirs - Sir Andrew Davis

I have just visited most of Elgar's early cantatas written before Enigma Variations -- The Light of Life, The Black Knight, From the Bavarian Highlands, though not yet Caractacus. I have found them most enjoyable, and amazed by young Elgar's choral and orchestral abilities.

Now with King Olaf, I find it too long. There are excellent sequences - The summoning of Thor and Mjölnir, the fight between Olaf and Ironbeard, and the great final sea battle, but the constant wooing of women spread across three scenes could have been abbreviated, despite their murderous intents.

That said, everything here is sturdy, and I like that Elgar summons the pipe organ in all of his cantatas. He has some nifty orchestral effects for the God of Thunder and the Viking ship fight too.



Andrew Davis is really on top of his game here, and the three combined choirs are truly symphonic. Handley's 80's recording has better soloists to my ears, but Davis seems to get more out of the music.

Banner of St. George for chorus alone is similar to The Black Knight, both with chivalric moods. I like the grim, frightening tale of Knight, although St. George battling the dragon is fun here too. The final flag-waving chorus in Banner is a bit too much, but the choir is allowed a little more musical shading throughout.

[Tsaraslondon]

Lili Boulanger died at the age of 25, leaving behind her a small but significant collection of compositions. The longest and most important work here, Clairières dans le ciel, settings of the symbolist poet Francis Jammes, owe much to the songs of Debussy and Fauré, but Boulanger has her own voice and style.

It is well sung by Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, a high tenor who normally specialises in haut-contre Baroque tenor roles, and his diction is crystal clear. The mezzo Sonia de Beaufort is less impressive in the Quatre mélodies, over-vibrant with occasional hardness on top.

Inbetween the two song cycles, the pianist Alain Jacquon, plays Trois morceaux pour piano which are quite lovely.

A very interesting and enterprising collection.

[Irons]

Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor, Op 85 - Jacqueline du Pré cello with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir John Barbirolli. The Warner remastering for the Barbirolli edition is not a success - the sound is now very harsh and loud

Sorry to hear that.

[Irons]

New arrival - Novak 'Pan' (piano version)

I have "Pan" on a Supraphon LP Jeffrey which is an important part of my (small) Czech keyboard collection.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Speaking of Czech artists, Jindrich Feld's String Quartet No. 6 played by the Prazak Quartet.  Found it here after searching a bit.  I've been wanting to explore his music further.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO_lPxxg80s

PD

[SonicMan46]

Well, there has been a lot of activity in the Charles Stanford thread, so decided to listen to some of his chamber works:

Stanford, Charles Villiers (1852-1924) - Clarinet & Piano Chamber Works w/ performers shown below. Shortened beginning only Wiki bio quoted below.  Dave

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was an Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic era. Born in Dublin, Stanford was educated at the University of Cambridge before studying music in Leipzig and Berlin. In 1882, he was one of the founding professors of the Royal College of Music, teaching composition for the rest of his life. From 1887 he was also Professor of Music at Cambridge. As a teacher, Stanford based his instruction on classical principles as exemplified by Brahms. Among his pupils were composers whose fame went on to surpass his own, such as Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Stanford composed a substantial number of concert works, including seven symphonies, but his best-remembered pieces are his choral works for church performance. Some critics regarded Stanford, together with others, as responsible for a renaissance in music from the British Isles. However, in the last two decades of the 19th century, his music was eclipsed in the 20th century by that of Edward Elgar as well as former pupils. (Source, edited)

   

[Sergeant Rock]

I'm not familiar with this particular cycle, but I'd imagine it being quite good.

It is very good with great sound. Here's a comparison of 5, 7 and 9 between the Borodin and Mandelring by Jens.

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/May08/Shostakovich_audite95528.htm


Sarge

[Biffo]

Is that the new mastering for the big Barbirolli box, or the Warner reissue of the GROC? Warner makes everything so confusing.

It is the remastering for the big Barbirolli box, I compared it with the first CD reissue by EMI in 1986. I also have the LP but haven't done a comparison.

As I understand it Warner remastered everything for this new box, even discs that have been remastered more recently for other series.

[steve ridgway]

Ivo Malec – Sigma. Trying this album on archive.org to see if it's worth downloading.