What are you listening 2 now?

[pjme]

What a combination!  Rafael Kubelik was a marvelous conductor, who supported (at the time) contemporary composers like Martinu, Karl Amadeus Hartmann, and Alexander Tcherepnin, to name a few!

After the LP, this cd was available

[Brian]

Robert de Visee, (c. 1660—c. 1733).
"Theorbo Solos"
Jakob Lindberg, Theorbo by Michael Lowe, Wootton-by-Woodstock 1979.
Pitch a=392.
Recording: 2023 at Länna Church, Lännaby, Sweden.
SACD. See back cover for details.

A new recording by Lindberg, and to my ears a magnificent one. He has lost nothing of his poise and touch, playing on this fabulous sounding Lute. It has an inviting and enticing character and is rather seducing you, to enjoy in an unavoidable way Robert de Visee. SOTA sound. Recommended.

I am very excited for this recording and plan to stream it for the first time later today! I will probably buy a hard copy as well.

Currently something more modern:



Sophia Jani was recently named the new composer-in-residence of the Dallas Symphony, so this is an opportunity to explore her work. Her suite Six Pieces for Solo Violin is in seven parts (hah - there is a prelude that "doesn't count") and takes 41 minutes. The first three pieces (not counting the prelude) explore different techniques: scordatura, arpeggio, triads. Then the last three are a little more free and adventurous.

The musical language is tonal, perhaps gently melancholic or lonesome, and has a repetitive element reminiscent of minimalism (especially in "Arpeggio"). I do think the individual movements are too long. If she'd saved herself a lot of bother and written each movement only half as long, I would not feel like anything was missing.

However, it is a pleasant meditative listen for those who like mindful, mind-focusing contemporary music. There is a liner essay by David Lang.

[Irons]

George Lloyd: Symphony No.7

Very impressed with the 7th, Jeffrey. The price of the set worth for that symphony alone.

[Cato]

On Saturday I heard part of the Piano Concerto #2 by Tomas Svoboda, a Czech-American composer who died a few years ago.  He was born in Paris in 1939 to Czech parents.  They returned to Czechoslovakia for a while, but then escaped the Communist regime there and came to the U.S. in 1964.

I was very intrigued by what I heard: late Schoenberg meets Bartok...sort of: the work's nature was difficult to categorize.

The concerto was recorded with the First Piano Concerto, but the CD is difficult to find: it is not on YouTube.

The 1999 recording is by The Dayton Philharmonic, Neal Gittleman conducting, Norman Krieger was the pianist.


This has the Symphony #1 (composed at age 16), Overture of the Season, and the Concerto for Marimba:

See also:

http://www.tomassvoboda.com/bio.long.html

[Harry]

Very impressed with the 7th, Jeffrey. The price of the set worth for that symphony alone.

I am the odd one out, I like without reservation all Symphonies by Lloyd, to my ears his music is absolute bliss.

[foxandpeng]

Very impressed with the 7th, Jeffrey. The price of the set worth for that symphony alone.

Agreed. Lloyd 7 is outstanding

[foxandpeng]

I am the odd one out, I like without reservation all Symphonies by Lloyd, to my ears his music is absolute bliss.

I am in your camp, Harry. No duds.

[Le Buisson Ardent]

NP:

Koechlin
La Loi de la Jungle, Op. 175
Les Bandar-Log, Op. 176
La Méditation de Purun Bhagat, Op. 159
La Course de Printemps, Op. 95
Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz
Leif Segerstam

From this OOP recording -



I wish Segerstam had recorded the complete Le Livre de la Jungle. He recorded all of the symphonic poems (found on this pictured above), but he didn't record the three orchestral songs, which are a part of this cycle of works. Great performances and, in some ways, I prefer them to Zinman on RCA. Heinz Holliger also recorded several works from Le Livre de la Jungle on Hänssler, but not all of them. Steuart Bedford recorded this work in its complete form, but it's a live recording and, while I do appreciate his performances, the recording quality is a rather murky and there's intrusive applause that kind of ruins the listening experience. I'm still waiting for a new recording of Le Livre de la Jungle, but I don't think it'll happen --- I certainly won't hold my breath.

[Le Buisson Ardent]

Unusually - for me - even though I have all the symphonies (and the operas) and I keep trying to be engaged by Lloyd I simply don't.  Its not that I dislike it, it simply does not engage me.  So I enjoy some parts and then realise my mind has wandered for other parts.  I have no issue at all with the "old fashioned" aspect of his music and by rights I should like this music.  Isn't it odd how we all have unpredictable blank spots like this!

Count me as someone who isn't fond of George Lloyd's music. I'm not at all dismissive of him because of his rather backward-looking musical ideals, but the music itself is just boring and uninteresting to me. I remember @vandermolen sent me a disc of his (I forget which symphonies were on the disc), but it was on Lyrita and I just found the music dull (sorry Jeffrey!). When I saw that these Lyrita sets were coming out, I thought maybe I should give him another try, so when I listened to one of the symphonies via my free Spotify account, my general feeling about his music remained the same. When it comes to English composers, give me RVW, Bax, Delius, Britten, Tippett, Walton et. al. any day of the week over Lloyd.

[foxandpeng]

Count me as someone who isn't fond of George Lloyd's music. I'm not at all dismissive of him because of his rather backward-looking musical ideals, but the music itself is just boring and uninteresting to me. I remember @vandermolen sent me a disc of his (I forget which symphonies were on the disc), but it was on Lyrita and I just found the music dull (sorry Jeffrey!). When I saw that these Lyrita sets were coming out, I thought maybe I should give him another try, so when I listened to one of the symphonies via my free Spotify account, my general feeling about his music remained the same. When it comes to English composers, give me RVW, Bax, Delius, Britten, Tippett, Walton et. al. any day of the week over Lloyd.

Ah, we are all different! Having said that, I do rate most of your list extremely highly. Tippett and Bax fans are particularly welcome 😁

[vandermolen]

After the LP, this cd was available

I have that CD and very nice it is too!

[Harry]

The Pre-Raphaelite Cello.
Adrian Bradbury Cello.
Andrew West Piano.
See back cover for details.

This is a real treat for me. The music is wildly romantic, sentimental, passionate, otherworldly, and a great surprise for the quality of the music. Some stuff I never heard before. After a week of hard work, mostly thinking  this comes in as a balm for soul and body. For some it may amount to nothing, but for me, the performances is a treasure trove of sorts. Yummy.
The recording is direct and detailed, and fits the performance like a T. More of this is as welcome as a cold beer in the desert.
The Artwork is sublime!

[Brian]

Robert de Visee, (c. 1660—c. 1733).
"Theorbo Solos"
Jakob Lindberg, Theorbo by Michael Lowe, Wootton-by-Woodstock 1979.
Pitch a=392.
Recording: 2023 at Länna Church, Lännaby, Sweden.
SACD. See back cover for details.

A new recording by Lindberg, and to my ears a magnificent one. He has lost nothing of his poise and touch, playing on this fabulous sounding Lute. It has an inviting and enticing character and is rather seducing you, to enjoy in an unavoidable way Robert de Visee. SOTA sound. Recommended.

OK, listening to it now and can agree with you totally! He still has the touch and the instrument is beautiful.

[vandermolen]

The Pre-Raphaelite Cello.
Adrian Bradbury Cello.
Andrew West Piano.
See back cover for details.

This is a real treat for me. The music is wildly romantic, sentimental, passionate, otherworldly, and a great surprise for the quality of the music. Some stuff I never heard before. After a week of hard work, mostly thinking  this comes in as a balm for soul and body. For some it may amount to nothing, but for me, the performances is a treasure trove of sorts. Yummy.
The recording is direct and detailed, and fits the performance like a T. More of this is as welcome as a cold beer in the desert.
The Artwork is sublime!

I teach the Pre-Raphaelite painters - so nice to see that disc!

[Le Buisson Ardent]

NP:

Mahler
Kindertotenlieder
Alice Coote, mezzo-soprano
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra
Marc Albrecht

[Harry]

I teach the Pre-Raphaelite painters - so nice to see that disc!

I am really a great admirer of the Pre Raphaelite painters. I can watch those paintings for hours, and every time I do, find new details.

[vandermolen]

I am really a great admirer of the Pre Raphaelite painters. I can watch those paintings for hours, and every time I do, find new details.

OT
Holman Hunt is my favourite Harry, especially the Scapegoat (Manchester version) The Awakening Conscience, the Light of the World and Our English Coasts.

[Lisztianwagner]

Claude Debussy
Images oubliées
Estampes
Pour le Piano

Pianist: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

[DavidW]

I listened to a lot of things yesterday including Aho, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and all were stellar but the crown jewel of the evening, if not the week, if not the month was this total surprise for me, I instantly loved these sonatas never having heard them before (I only knew CPE Bach from the concertos and Sinfonias):



Will probably buy this!

[brewski]

Barber: Violin Concerto (Frankfurt Radio Symphony / Maria Ioudenitch, violin / Marta Gardolińska, conductor). Recorded in March, another winner from the Frankfurt crew. I've heard the violinist before, but am not familiar with the conductor; both do a beautiful job. Sensitive work all around, including from the orchestra, which is amassing quite an impressive archive with these broadcasts.

EDIT: As an encore, Ioudenitch does Kreisler's Recitative and Scherzo-Caprice, Op. 6 — marvelous.

Also on the same program, Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra, which I'm greatly anticipating.

-Bruce