What are you listening 2 now?

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I love that work from Martinů, Karl. Don't forget to check out Magic Nights as well.

The recording in question:

Thank you, gents! The album looks interesting. I will check it out.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Rorem: Piano Concerto no. 2



A thoroughly delightful work, with a jazzy rhythmic verve in the outer movements and a moving, contemplative melancholy in the slow movement. The finale has this ultra-catchy rhythmic riff that you'll have stuck in your head for days.


The entire disc:



This was somewhat of a find! Sure, some passages are a little too obviously Brahmsian for comfort, but there is much music of great vitality and passion here. Highlights include the finale of the 1st sonata, the outer movements of the 2nd, and the Tarantella from the Drei Stucke. I found the performances to be excellent, which is, I find, not always the case with Toccata Classics' recordings. (Ironically, an Amazon reviewer called the performances "amateurish" - go figure!) I'm intrigued to hear more of Sherwood's (1866-1939, German-born English composer) music.


Cras: Quintette for flute, harp, violin, viola, and cello



Sheer loveliness and joie de vivre in every respect. The essence of early 20th-century French chamber music.


Sinding: Symphony no. 3



The first movement contains some fine, rather Straussian music. The rest I found pretty forgettable...


The entire disc:



Overall, a really enjoyable and colorful disc of Respighi's early orchestral music. One can really sense his musical personality forming. The only "dud" here is the earliest work, the dutifully academic Variazioni sinfoniche. (Not mentioned on the cover are the Burlesca and Ouverture carnevalesca.)

+1. I like the Rorem and Respighi discs!

[Mirror Image]

Thank you, gents! The album looks interesting. I will check it out.

[Irons]

Very good, too!

Good to know.

[Papy Oli]

Poulenc - Sonata for Violin and Piano FP.119

[The new erato]

The cello concerto and really loving it:

[kyjo]

Albéric Magnard
Symphony 1 in c minor, op. 4
Symphony 2 in E Major, op. 6

BBC Scottish SO - Jean-Yves Ossonce

I find Magnard more complex than Chausson's Symphony yesterday.

Pounds the table! I was just listening to his 2nd Symphony (T. Sanderling's recording on BIS) the other day. I don't find the first movement to be terribly engaging, but the rest of the work more than makes up for it. I love the "rustic" stamp that Magnard prints on the 2nd and 4th movements especially. His style is so unique and multifaceted.

[kyjo]

Albéric Magnard
Symphony 3 in b-flat minor, op. 11
Symphony 4 in c-sharp minor, op. 21

BBC Scottish SO - Jean-Yves Ossonce

The first two symphonies of Magnard are a curious style, and so I look forward to hearing these later two.

I had his first two symphonies on record since the 90's; I'm not sure why they didn't strike me at that time as to not investigate the rest. Just recently bought these last two to fill out the set.

Magnard's is a symphonic cycle where each symphony is even better than the preceding one IMO. It's such a shame he didn't live to write a couple more as I'm sure they would've been magnificent...

[Mirror Image]

Poulenc - Sonata for Violin and Piano FP.119

Lovely, Olivier! A great set all-around.

[kyjo]

I love that work from Martinů, Karl. Don't forget to check out Magic Nights as well.

The recording in question:

One of my favorite Martinu discs, showing what a talented composer he was before he developed his signature style in the 1920s. Magic Nights is indeed extraordinarily magical - one of the most glorious orchestral song cycles I know. Nipponari is beautiful too, and the substantial Czech Rhapsody is a dramatic, stirring work.

[Mirror Image]

Now playing two more volumes from the Panufnik series on CPO:

[kyjo]

Poulenc - Sonata for Violin and Piano FP.119

The first movement of this sonata is one of finest things Poulenc wrote IMO. Dramatic, soulful, passionate, playful, and mysterious by turns, it's an unforgettable thrill ride.

[Karl Henning]

I love that work from Martinů, Karl. Don't forget to check out Magic Nights as well.

Have done, John!

[Mirror Image]

One of my favorite Martinu discs, showing what a talented composer he was before he developed his signature style in the 1920s. Magic Nights is indeed extraordinarily magical - one of the most glorious orchestral song cycles I know. Nipponari is beautiful too, and the substantial Czech Rhapsody is a dramatic, stirring work.

Absolutely. There's some good music in Martinů's early career. As you said, all of these works on this disc are glorious. Talking about this recording also makes me want to revisit this one:



Špalíček is like a distant relative of Stravinsky's Les noces in many ways. The other works on this recording are also lovely --- a special mention to The Spectre's Bride and The Primrose.

[Mirror Image]

Have done, John!

Very nice, indeed.

[Karl Henning]

While you wouldn't have heard what I was referring to, listening to anything by Haydn is never a waste of time 

Sarge

The very thought which crossed my mind

[Karl Henning]

Peter Mennin, SY5. Cond., Howard Hanson.

Nice!

[SonicMan46]

Elgar, Edward (1857-1934) - Cello & Violin Concertos w/ the performers shown below; there are SO many recordings, many that I've culled over the years, but these duplicates are what remains in my collection - all well done; I've attached just one review of each but I'm sure other ones are available!  Dave

[kyjo]

Trying Glazunov again after your unsuccessful first attempt, I see? Well, I gotta say my enthusiasm for his music has recently waned somewhat, and I can now understand the criticisms that some harbor towards it. It's very pretty on the surface and is nothing if not skillfully written, but often just lacks that extra amount of depth and dramatic tension to make it truly engaging to me. That said, one work of his I still love unreservedly is The Seasons. It's his best-known work for a reason.

[Mirror Image]

Elgar, Edward (1857-1934) - Cello & Violin Concertos w/ the performers shown below; there are SO many recordings, many that I've culled over the years, but these duplicates are what remains in my collection - all well done; I've attached just one review of each but I'm sure other ones are available!  Dave

The Hilary Hahn recording is ruined by Sir Grunts-a-lot. It's a lovely recording, but so difficult to tune Davis out. I never listen to it because of him. The same goes for his later Sibelius on LSO Live, although I've never been a big fan of his Sibelius anyway (yes, even the famed BSO cycle on Decca). I do, however, like his earlier Berlioz recordings a lot.