What are you listening 2 now?

[Roasted Swan]

Bernstein: Jeremiah Symphony
St Louis SO/Bernstein

Nan Merriman is tremendous in this performance

[ritter]

Nan Merriman is tremendous in this performance

In my experience, Nan Merriman was terrific in almost everything she sang! 

[Todd]

Revisiting this fine disc.  Good performances, SOTA+ sound. 

[Karl Henning]

[Karl Henning]

Maiden-listen Monday!

[Harry]

Le Chant De Leschiquier.
Binchois & Dufay songs in the Buxheim Codex.
Tasto Solo.
See for all details back cover.
Instruments:
Hammered clavisimbalum • Paul Poletti, Barcelona (Spain) 2012.
Plectrum clavisimbalum • Philippe Humeau, Barbaste (France) 2003.
Organetto • Walter Chinaglia, Cermenate (Italy) 2011.
Harps • Norbert Maier, Schwaz-Tirol (Austria) 1998; Simon Capp (England) 1998.
Fiddle • Bernard Prunier, Paris (France) 2000.

This CD presents a selection of the exceptionally beautiful ballads and rondeaux of Gilles Binchois and Guillaume Dufay. They are joined by works by Johannes Ciconia and John Dunstable and those of other composers.  Tasto Solo  sheds light on various musicological, performance practice and artistic considerations regarding the instrumental execution of the chanson tablatures in the famous 'Buxheimer Orgelbuch'. In some works, the singing voice joins the ensemble to revive the rhetoric and expressiveness of the poetry as well as the beauty and finesse of the melodies. As to the recording, its excellent, and as a performance there is little to criticize apart from the fact that the soprano's contributions are somewhat uneven. she has a  hollow voice, which has mainly to do with the way she is trained and learned how to use that voice of hers. The expression therefore has its limits, but that shows only in a few songs fortunately. Not quite my style.

[Florestan]

[Todd]

[vandermolen]

Nan Merriman is tremendous in this performance

Totally agree and the performance, as a whole, has a great urgency about it despite the age of the recording.

[steve ridgway]

Ligeti: Lontano

[VonStupp]

Giuseppe Verdi
Opera Preludes & Overtures
La Scala - Riccardo Muti

I think the only other set of Verdi Overtures I know is Karajan's. Muti and Karajan have different enough approaches, and La Scala and Berlin are different enough sounding ensembles, to get something from each.
VS

[SonicMan46]

Visée, Robert de (c.1655-c.1732-3) - Chamber & Solo Works, the latter on lute, theorbo, and guitar with the performers in the top 4 recordings; I own nearly a dozen CDs of this composer, the remainder are on the bottom row - I put this music on often - not sure how much duplication is present but I may give a listing a try today!  Dave   P.S. short bio below and LINK to his recordings.

Robert de Visée was born in France around 1655. He was accepted by the King Louis XIV as a court musician at the age of 25. De Visée composed mostly for the guitar, theorbo, and lute, and is arguably the most important French composer of Baroque guitar music. He was employed to entertain the Dauphin, i.e. the heir apparent. He enjoyed a considerable reputation as a player of the guitar, the lute, the theorbo and the viola da gamba. The theorbo, imported by Italian musicians earlier, particularly as an accompanying instrument in chamber music which the lute, now already waning in prominence, was unable to do. By 1686 Robert de Visée was one of the King Louis XIV's favorite musicians performing regularly in the private royal chambers. However he held no official post until 1709, when he was appointed royal chamber singer. He was named "Guitar Master of the King" (Maître de Guitare du Roi) in 1719, this after having unofficially tutored the King from 1695, and ceded the position to his son Francois, in 1721. (Source)

Works:
Visée published two books of guitar music that contain twelve suites between them, as well as a few separate pieces: Livre de guitare dédié au roi (Paris, 1682) and Livre de pièces pour la guitare (Paris, 1686). He also published a collection of pieces for the theorbo and lute: Pièces de théorbe et de luth (Paris, 1716); these are in staff notation rather than tablature and may also be performed as ensemble pieces. The contents of all three books are tabulated with incipits and concordances in Rebours 2000. He composed many other pieces for theorbo and Baroque lute (the bulk of which are preserved in the Saizenay Ms.). (Source)  Note: see LINK for a more complete listing.

[Cato]

When you can hear the influence of Prokofiev, Copland, and even Varese and Penderecki, with the composer - David Shire -using a large symphony orchestra with some inventive percussion, I would say this soundtrack qualifies as Classical Music! 


Listen to the opening and I think you will be intrigued!

One of my favorite parts: where the "Dorothy Theme" soars above the trotting horses.

And also recently: Leo Ornstein's Piano Concerto

[Mandryka]

I've not heard that one, but I have heard a recording of them playing it in Munich in 2006 which I like very much.

[Karl Henning]

JS Bach

BWV 132, « Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn »
BWV 133, « Ich freue mich in dir »

[Linz]

Robert Schumann An Clara. Eric Le Sage

[Iota]

Boulez: Sonatine for flute and piano

Not marked on the cover (it looks like Naxos thought a fifth composer name would ruin the symmetry of the design) but in there it is.
Certainly some lovely moments and intriguing nuance/moods swirling around, but for the first time in Boulez' output that I can recall, I found some of the high energy fusillades of notes passages somewhat redundant, lacking in expressive purpose somehow. I'll probably try a different recording later to see if it might be down to the performance.

[Karl Henning]

lban Berg
Three Pieces for Orchestra

Hans Rosbaud & Südwestfunk-Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden

I'm in!

[AnotherSpin]

1889

[Linz]

Bruckner Symphony No. 5 in B Flat Major, 1878 Version Ed. Leopold Nowak, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra , Paavo Järvi