What are you listening 2 now?

[Roasted Swan]

Remembering Duke Ellington. RTE Concert Orchestra, Dublin.

I have quite a few of these Richard Hayman/Naxos discs - mainly film and show stuff and usually with "his orchestra".  They're OK but not amazing - I like orchestral Duke Ellington and the RTE Concert Orchestra play this kind of stuf well.  Does it say who did the arrangements for this disc?

[Harry]

Biber.

Die Rosenkranz Sonaten.
CD 1 & II.

John Holloway Violin.
Tragicomedia.
Davitt Moroney, Chamber Organ & Harpsichord.
Stephen Stubbs, Baroque Lute, Chitarrone.
Erin Headley, Viola da Gamba, Lirone.
Andrew Lawrence King, Double Harp, Regal.

Another interpretation of Biber's Sonatas, also good. Compared with Igor Ruhadze's, its 160 degrees different in expression. Dreamlike, slow, accents are more pronounced and lines are drawn out. It cannot replace the Complete set by Ruhadze, but it has its own justification.

[vandermolen]

Ralph Vaughan Williams' Tuba Concerto 
    André Previn, London Symphony Orchestra, John Fletcher (tuba)

I listened in to this being performed at the Proms recently interestingly by a (very good) German soloist. I like the Tuba Concerto very much.

TD
Britten and Veale Violin Concertos - a great CD:

[Florestan]

Dreamy and understated are not the adjectives I would use for the opera itself.

Nor for any other Rossini opera. Honestly, if it were not for the title I'd have never guessed Thalberg's piece is based on a Rossini opera.

The only recording I have is the one with Sutherland.

I got the Cheryl Studer one because the conductor is my fellow countryman Ion Marin but after reading a glowing review of the Sutherland ("the finest thing Sutherland and Bonynge ever did together") I got that as well.

that Thalberg set is very good.

Agreed. I enjoy it a lot. Frankly, I find Thalberg's fantasies on operas more poetic than Liszt's.

[Operafreak]

Karajan conducts Strauss- Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

[aligreto]

Portuguese Polyphony [Holten]:





Cardoso:

Lamentations for Maundy Thursday: I find that this music sounds divine. The wonderful dissonances in the music have a real edge to them. This is a gentle but heartfelt presentation which is finely sung here.

Magnificat secundi toni: I find this work to be very engaging. It appeals because of its sense of both gentleness and serenity. The singing from Ars Nova enhances these features of the music.

[aligreto]

Clemens Non Papa: Ego Flos Campi [Cinquecento]






This is a very short work but it sounds divine and the vocal presentation is superb.

[vandermolen]

John Gardner: Symphony No.1

[Traverso]

Libre Vermell de Montserrat

A 14th-century pilgrimage

[Biffo]

Mozart: Piano Concerto No 19 in F major, K 459 - Alfred Brendel piano with Marriner/ASMF

[Lisztianwagner]

Alexander Scriabin
Le Poéme de l'extase

[Biffo]

Mozart: Sinfonia concertante in E flat major, K 364 - Iona Brown violin and direction and Josef Suk viola with Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields

[Todd]

Claudio Abbado with the Orchestra Mozart.  Abbado attends to every detail nicely in this quick overall reading, though not one that pushes any boundaries.  Though modern instrument, it sounds HIP-adjacent.  Not awful, not particularly great, it passes time inoffensively.

[Madiel]

Sibelius: Arioso



A gorgeous little orchestral song, contemporaneous with the 4th symphony. Of all of Sibelius' crimes against opus numbers, labelling Arioso as "op.3" might just be the worst.

[aligreto]

Rameau: Les Indes Galantes - Suite [Bruggen]





Prologue
Le Turc généreux

[Harry]

Laurent Belissen. (1693-1762)

Musiques des Cathedrales des Anciennes Provinces de France.

Grand Motets en Provence.

Les Festes d'Orphee, Guy Laurent.

[Biffo]

Mozart: Violin Concerto No 5 in A major Turkish, K 219 - James Ehnes violin & direction with the Mozart Anniversary Orchestra

[Todd]

The Armida are batting 1.000.  The new-to-me Schwarenka Op 118 sounds just splendid, and the well-known to me Dvorak Op 81 sounds even more splendid.  The Pavel Haas may or may not set the contemporary standard now.  This version oozes refinement and precision in perfect measure.

[Traverso]

Rameau: Les Indes Galantes - Suite [Bruggen]







Prologue
Le Turc généreux

Rameau and Brüggen a fine combination, enjoy the music.

[Brian]

Bouncing around Florian Uhlig's Schumann cycle on streaming, testing things out for Harry. I listened to the Etudes symphoniques ("second version"), Geister variations, Fantasiestücke, and Kreisleriana ("first version").

Across the board, very clear/clean engineering that is slightly close, and very clean, precise playing as well. Uhlig is more of a "cool," analytical thinker who mostly keeps his touch on the staccato side, so he does not indulge in big sweeping emotional gestures. I can imagine that this consistency of style would be useful if you want to directly compare alternate and early versions of works where he recorded multiple versions.

I like best Uhlig's soft, sensitive touch in places like the Geister Variations and Fantasiestücke Op. 12. It really feels "domestic," like somebody is playing for you in your house rather than on a grand concert stage.

Of course I continue to have favorite versions of these works (like Perahia in Fantasiestücke and Lonquich in Kreisleriana) but Uhlig does seem like a good guide for the completist.

I have not heard the rival "complete" cycles from Dana Ciocarlie or Jörg Demus, and only little bits of the Eric Le Sage box.