What are you listening 2 now?

[Karl Henning]

I have a composer friend who has seizures at the mere mention of John Rutter's name.  But I have to say I like his music.  Of course I do understand my friend's position - he feels that Rutter is too obvious, plays the sentimental/saccharine card too easily and perhaps most annoyingly (for my friend) gets a level of attention and praise his music does not merit.

Although I'm nowhere near Seizureville, I pretty much agree with your friend. When he writes at his best, Rutter is all right, but he seems to "phone it in" a lot.

[Linz]

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 'Pathethique' Herbert von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker

[vandermolen]

Ernest Bloch:
Three Jewish Poems
NZSO/Sedares

[Lisztianwagner]

Sergei Rachmaninov
Symphony No.1

Vladimir Ashkenazy & Concertgebouw Orchestra

[vandermolen]

Sergei Rachmaninov
Symphony No.1

Vladimir Ashkenazy & Concertgebouw Orchestra

Great work! My favourite of his symphonies.

[Lisztianwagner]

Great work! My favourite of his symphonies.

Mine too, absolutely! The Ashkenazy is also one of the most powerfully beautiful recordings of that composition.

[Todd]

from



Wrapping up a first run through of the Corboz box.  Nice enough, in a big, old-fashioned kind of way.

The set is best thought of as a big blob of excellent Monteverdi, a big blob of generally quite good Bach, and a few other really nice works.  Probably 50 of the discs will receive multiple spins. 

[Que]

Like the rest of Vermeulen's Schubert series from the mid '90s, this was recorded on a Tröndlin, Leipzig, 1825.

[SonicMan46]

Bach, CPE - decided to switch from the Papa and explore my CPE collection:

Starting w/ solo KB works - Schornsheim & Spanyi - on the BIS label (now part of Apple HERE!), Spanyi has recorded 20 volumes of the concerto music & 40 volumes of solo works!  WOW - I own just 8 of the solo recordings (most bought cheaply from BRO) - Dave

   

[ritter]

Listening again to Julián Orbón's Tres Versiones sinfónicas. Maximíano Valdés conducts the Asturias Symphony Orchestra.

I find this work fascinating. The first movement is inspired by a pavane (exactly which, I have not been able to identify) by Luis de Milán, and it is superb. The thematic material is consistent during the movement, but cleverly transformed to maintain interest throughout. The quieter section (starting at 3'20" in the video above) where the music becomes "tropical", is pure magic IMHO (that glissando of the celesta, followed by a clarinet solo, a very delicately scored orchestral interjection, all with an habanera rhythm in the background!). Then we get the second movement, "Orgsnum", inspired by Pérotin, and the work concludes with "Xilófono - danza final", which is overtly Afro-Cuban. Quite marvellous!

[Madiel]

Haydn: op.50/1



Oh dear God. It's been a couple of years since I've listened to op.50 (first listen in the "new" house, which for some reason feels oddly relevant here even though that's been true of lots of works). I remembered I liked the first movement of op.50/1 and that it was one of the things that encouraged me to pick the Amati, but..

I'd forgotten just how utterly amazing it was. The way that Haydn holds the music back and then unleashes the triplets. Sublime.

[Linz]

Bruckner Symphony No. 5 in B Flat Major, 1878 Version Ed. Leopold Nowak, Christoph von Dohnányi,  The Cleveland Orchestra

[Todd]

Decided to revisit my personal reference DSCH string quartet set.  Disc one.  As good as I recall.

[JBS]

[Mapman]

Decided to revisit my personal reference DSCH string quartet set.  Disc one.  As good as I recall.

It's a good day to start, as it's Shostakovich's birthday.

I listened to his 8th quartet, with the Jerusalem Quartet. I'm not sure if I've heard the entire quartet before, but I'm glad that I listened today. It's wonderful music! The 2nd movement is famous, and I also enjoyed the 3rd. The outer slow movements give the emotional context for the inner movements.

[JBS]

After the opera



First listen not only to the works themselves but in the case of Cassadó and Perelló (and possibly Arbós) to anything by the composer.

[Symphonic Addict]

Taneyev: String Quartet No. 8

Formidable and well-crafted music whose 4th mov. reminds of Beethoven's String Quartets op. 59 Nos. 2 and 3.




Bax: Sonata for two pianos

Bax's voice is quite recognizable and unmistakable mostly due to the harmonic ideas tinged with impressionistic touches, and this work shows that very well.

[Wanderer]

[vandermolen]

Bloch: 'Israel Symphony'
Utah SO/Abravanel
This is an excellent Bloch compilation (from Koch and Vanguard earlier releases).

[Irons]

Medtner: Piano Sonata in B flat minor 'Sonata Romantica'.

Steven Osborne piano.