What are you listening 2 now?

[Operafreak]

Mozart: Prussian Quartets

Doric String Quartet (string quartet)

   

[Que]

Morning listening on Spotify:



No, unfortunately no... For me this approach is not suitable for early 16th century music. Large, smooth, transposed upwards, a mixing of all male and mixed choirs. This doesn't work for me.  I like their more recent recordings better.

Where is Blue Heron when you need them? 

[Mandryka]

Morning listening on Spotify:



No, unfortunately no... For me this approach is not suitable for early 16th century music. Large, smooth, transposed upwards, a mixing of all male and mixed choirs. This doesn't work for me.  I like their more recent recordings better.

Where is Blue Heron when you need them? 

I think it's hard to find satisfactory recordings of JT. I listened quite recently to a few. There is a recording from Blue Heron of his Dum Transisset, a live recording.

I'm listening to this - it's a very good way to start the day!

[Harry]

Morning listening on Spotify:



No, unfortunately no... For me this approach is not suitable for early 16th century music. Large, smooth, transposed upwards, a mixing of all male and mixed choirs. This doesn't work for me. I like their more recent recordings better.

Where is Blue Heron when you need them? 

My thoughts exactly!

[Harry]

A secret Labyrinth.
Antoine Brumel.
Missa "Et ecce terrae motus" a 12 voci.
Sequentia "Dies Irae".
Sequentia ""Dies Irae Dies lla".
Huelgas Ensemble, Paul van Nevel.

I always had some difficulty to stomach the Missa, partly because is a piece for 12 voices, and partly because it is always sung too loudly. That is also the case here. This choir wants to be heard and rightly so, but sometimes their enthusiasm overrules the choir balance and the Tenors, and the sopranos, fight for attention.
I have to put the volume down at such moments. Nevertheless many instances of extremely beautiful singing, and I love out of all the performances, this one best.
Must admit that the recording puts the voices forward, to close to the microphones, that does not help either.
Still, very good!

[Roasted Swan]

This was a toss-up for posting on the "pices that blew me away" thread.  There has been chat on the forum before about how good some of the Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria's recordings can be.  Following that thought I picked up 3 more of their discs recently for literally pennies each.  All conducted by Adrian Leaper who I like - unfussy and gets good results - see his Walton 1 with this same orchestra.  Of the 3 discs this was one;



The Rodrigo gets a perfectly decent and enjoyable performance.  The whole programme is actually very well engineered and produced - I see the producer is Mike Purton who has set up his own label in this country and now produces specialised/unuisual repertoire discs which are very good.

BUT the "blown away" moment is Turina's Canto a Sevilla.  Never heard or indeed heard of this piece.  It is unusual in that it is a 7 movement work -but 3 are purely orchestral and 4 are orchestral songs.  As the title suggests something of a love letter to Seville.  Apparantly the songs can be sung as a separate 4 movement work which I'm sure is good but lessens the impact.  There is a Chandos/BBC PO/Mena disc that is "complete" and an old de Los Angeles LP that is the full work too.

This Arte Nova recording is the full McCoy too and wow its wonderful (its a big piece running just shy of 40 minutes).  Soprano Ana Rodrigo is a Spanish singer with a wonderfully vibrant and intense voice - ideal for this music - and the orchestra play with dynamism and attitude too.  A genuine discovery of both a piece and a performance!!

[Mandryka]

This may be worth a try @Que

https://open.spotify.com/track/1wwNL7WNerlsTT4Y4FWQRt

Kiddies singing. Cathedral acoustics.

Part of the issue is the music is so unbelievably complicated and strange, especially when lower voices are not damped down  - nothing like Franco Flem stuff IMO, this is renaissance British exceptionalism!  We really are listening to an alien sound. I suspect it's quite hard to get into the groove when you're at home, you need to actually be in the cathedral for a coronation.

[Harry]

Johann Sebastian Bach.
Complete Organ Works.
Volume II.
CD 1.
Trio Sonata No. 2 in C minor BWV 526
Toccata & Fugue in D minor ("Dorian"), BWV 538
Fantasia in B minor, BWV 563
Toccata & Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
Fugue on a theme by Corelli in B minor, BWV 579
Concerto No. 3 in C major (after A. Vivaldi), BWV 594
Orgelbüchlein:
Chorale Prelude Nun komm der Heiden Heiland (I), BWV 599
Chorale Prelude Gott, durch deine Güte, BWV 600
Chorale Prelude Herr Christ, der einig Gottes Sohn (I), BWV 601
Chorale Prelude Lob sei dem allmächtigen Gott (I), BWV 602
Chorale Prelude Puer natus in Bethlehem, BWV 603
Chorale Prelude Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (I), BWV 604
Chorale Prelude Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich (I), BWV 605
Chorale Prelude Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her (I), BWV 606
Chorale Prelude Vom Himmel kam der Engel schar, BWV 607
Chorale Prelude In dulci jubilo (I), BWV 608
Chorale Prelude Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, allzugleich (I), BWV 609
Chorale Prelude Jesu, meine Freude (I), BWV 610
Chorale Prelude Christum wir sollen loben schon, BWV 611
Chorale Prelude Wir Christenleut' (I), BWV 612
Chorale Prelude Helft mir Gottes Güte preisen (I), BWV 613
Chorale Prelude Das alte Jahr vergangen ist (I), BWV 614
Chorale Prelude In dir ist Freude, BWV 615
Chorale Prelude Mit Fried' und Freud' ich fahr dahin, BWV 616
Chorale Prelude Herr Gott, nun schleuss den Himmel auf (I), BWV 617
Chorale Prelude O Lamm Gottes unschuldig (I), BWV 618
Chorale Prelude Christe, du Lamm Gottes, BWV 619
Chorale Prelude Christus, der uns selig macht (I), BWV 620
Chorale Prelude Da Jesus an dem Kreuze stund', BWV 621
Chorale Prelude O Mensch, bewein' dein' Sünde gross, BWV 622
Chorale Prelude Wir danken dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 623
Chorale Prelude Hilf Gott, dass mir's gelinge, BWV 624
Chorale Prelude Christ lag in Todesbanden (I), BWV 625
Chorale Prelude Jesus Christus, unser Heiland (I), BWV 626
Chorale Prelude Christ ist erstanden (I), BWV 627
Chorale Prelude Erstanden ist der heil'ge Christ (I), BWV 628
Chorale Prelude Erschienen ist der herrliche Tag, BWV 629
Chorale Prelude Heut triumphieret Gottes Sohn (I), BWV 630
Chorale Prelude Komm, Gott Schöpfer, heiliger Geist (II), BWV 631

Bram Beekman, Organ.
Organ:
St. Michael's Church, Zwolle, Netherlands.
Built by: Arp and Franz Caspar Schnitger, 1719. After many attempts to destroy the disposition of the organ, especially by van Oeckelen, a man devoid of a sense for the worth of a Schnitger instrument or any other historic instrument, it was brought back to its original 1721 disposition by Flentrop at Zaandam in 1953, restored the original pitch, raising it by one tone.
Temperament: Meantone/
Second organ.
St Martin's Church at Vollenhove, Netherlands.
Originally built by Apollonius Bosch 1686-87.
In 1720 the organ was drastically altered by Franz Caspar Schnitger. After many changes at the organ it was finally restored to its original disposition in 1969 by the van Vulpen Brothers, Utrecht.
Pitch: Ais=440 Hz.
Temperament: Werckmeister I.


Two beautiful instruments! Beekman relishes in taking his time to unfold the music by Bach. Beautiful sonorities, excellent shaping of the melodies, a good and solid rendering, much to my liking.
Fine sound too. I am glad that I am able to listen to Beekman's performance of Bach's complete organ music. Thanks to the diligence by Traverso (Jan)

[aligreto]

JS Bach: Three Motets BWV 225/226/227 [Herwig]





Recorded in 1968 the choir sounds fine even if the presentation sounds somewhat old school. The age of the recording shows and I find the performances to be somewhat listless for JS Bach.

[vandermolen]

Aram Ilich Khachaturian's
Cello Concerto

Bryden Thomson, London Philharmonic Orchestra,
Raphael Wallfisch (cello)

That's a great CD. The Kabalevsky is arguably his greatest work.

[vandermolen]

Ibert: Symphonie Marine

[Papy Oli]

Good morning all,

Streaming some concertos by Fasch - Azzolini (Bassoon) & La Stravaganza Köln

[aligreto]

Ibert: Symphonie Marine

I do not know much about the music of Ibert. I must investigate sometime.

[vandermolen]

I do not know much about the music of Ibert. I must investigate sometime.

I know that Lol (Irons) is another admirer of Symphonie Marine Fergus - an atmospheric work. I'm currently enjoying the exotic and atmospheric 'Escales' (the middle movement of which reminds me of Holst's 'Beni Mora'). I'd like to discover more of his work but this CD seems like a good place to start.

[Papy Oli]

I do not know much about the music of Ibert. I must investigate sometime.

The French Music Exploration Thread - Page 1 

[Harry]

I know that Lol (Irons) is another admirer of Symphonie Marine Fergus - an atmospheric work. I'm currently enjoying the exotic and atmospheric 'Escales' (the middle movement of which reminds me of Holst's 'Beni Mora'). I'd like to discover more of his work but this CD seems like a good place to start.

As am I! I have that MDG CD too, and must listen to it soon.

[Harry]

Isang Yun.

My Land and People!
Exemplum in Memoriam Kwangju.
Chorus and State SO of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Byung-Hwa Kim.

My word, this is not the easiest piece by Yun and it takes some strength to adapt to it, but I did, well about 5 minutes, then I turned to Exemplum, that composition was the reason I bought this disc at all.

[Harry]

Eugene Zador.
Orchestral Works.
Volume I.
Aria and Allegro for Strings and Brass.
Five Contrasts for Orchestra,
A Children's Symphony.
Hungarian Capriccio.
Csardas Rhapsody.
Budapest SO MAV, Mariusz Smolij.

Well known for his film music for Hollywood, he managed to write classical compositions that charm and delight at the same time. He was a remarkable orchestrator, and what the booklet said a colourist, and therefore his music made a huge impression on me when I played it for the first time in 2017, and I am still impressed. In total three volumes with orchestral music was released by Naxos, and will play them soon too. Fine performances and recording.


"One doesn't really know him, he hasn't won an Oscar and yet, as a master of orchestration, he has contributed significantly to many great Hollywood productions with his colourful music. Eugene Zador himself called himself a "mainstream extremist". Zador's affinity for cinema and his preference for a big sound can also be heard in his "Five Contrasts for Orchestra", in which "film noir" and hearty folk dance musically come to blows. The "Children's Symphony" on the other hand is easily accessible, full of wit and very charming."

[vandermolen]

Benjamin Britten's
Our Hunting Fathers

Benjamin Britten, London Symphony Orchestra, Peter Pears

I love the Frank Bridge recordings (conducted by Britten) in that series ('The Sea' and 'Enter Spring')

[Maestro267]

Atterberg: Symphony No. 5
RSO Frankfurt/Rasilainen