What are you listening 2 now?

[vandermolen]

Vítězslav Novák
Slovak Suite

Libor Pešek & RLPO

'In the Tatra Mountains' is a great work as well.

[Symphonic Addict]

These rather academic quartets didn't strike me as being anywhere near the "cream" of the Raff "crop", but I'm curious what you thought of them. His SQ no. 7, 4 piano trios, and 2 piano quartets are a different matter altogether - they're full of masterfully crafted and melodically inspired music.

I beg to differ with you on his string quartets. They're much more than "academic", and frankly, I rarely hear that quality in those works. As with his piano trios, they're tuneful, expertly written and compelling.

[Iota]

From time to time I like to listen to the Portsmouth Sinfonia play the classics. I find it strangely rejuvenating.

From Wiki:

The Portsmouth Sinfonia was an English orchestra founded by a group of students at the Portsmouth School of Art in 1970.[1] The Sinfonia was generally open to anyone and ended up drawing players who were either people without musical training or, if they were musicians, ones that chose to play an instrument that was entirely new to them. Among the founding members was one of their teachers, English composer Gavin Bryars. The orchestra started as a one-off, tongue-in-cheek performance art ensemble but became a cultural phenomenon over the following 10 years, with concerts, record albums, a film and a hit single. They last performed publicly in 1979.[2]

History
Bryars was interested more in experimenting with the nature of music than forming a traditional orchestra. Instead of picking the most competent musicians he could find, he encouraged anyone to join, regardless of talent, ability or experience. The only rules were that everyone had to come for rehearsals and that people should try their best to get it right and not intentionally try to play badly.

[kyjo]

Over the course of the workday I used streaming (even for the albums below that I actually own) to listen to the following Vine works:

Symphonies 3 and 8 (a first listen for the latter, not entirely a fan)
String quartets 3 and 5
Piano sonata no.4 (possibly a first listen to this as well)



Unaccountably I didn't get around to pulling out the 1st piano sonata which has kind of become Vine's calling card.

I could count Vine amongst my favorite living composers, especially for his excellent SQs, which are accessible, colorful, and rather original.

[Linz]

Bruckner Symphony No. 6 in A Major, 1881 Version. Ed. Leopold Nowak, Bruckner Orchester Linz, Markus Poschner

[Symphonic Addict]

Taneyev: String Quartets 9 and 1

I'm getting enamoured of these elegant quartets once again. There's less classical influence on them and more romantic elements.




This man knew how to write cogent, ominous symphonies. Another home run.

[prémont]

Are these historical cellos mostly made of spruce? Just curious.

Various luthiers to some extent select different materials for their instruments, giving each one a distinct sound quality, but I am not an expert on the subject.

[Spotted Horses]

Mozart, Divertimento for three basset horns, KV439b, No 1. I know these works from an excellent recording from Sabine Meyer's ensemble, Trio di clarone, but I'm listening to the recording by Le Trio di Bassetto, equally good, slightly better sound, to my ear. KV439b is a set of five divertimenti for three basset horns. Beware of arrangements in which one or more parts is replaced by bassoon and/or oboe. The effect of the music is ruined, in my view.

This is utterly delightful music featuring simple but subtle contrapuntal voice leading.

[Ian]

I've been searching for this one on CD for years. The long wait was ended this morning when the postman popped this through my letterbox.

It's good, it's very good. Easily top five good! 😊

The Planets peformed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Charles Groves.

[SimonNZ]

[Brian]

Trying out this new release.



The two composers are alternated on the program. Halasz was 85 years old at the recording sessions, by the way. He's been with Naxos for something like 40 years now.

[Florestan]

Trying out this new release.



The two composers are alternated on the program. Halasz was 85 years old at the recording sessions, by the way.

Your thoughts?

[Linz]

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Complete Keyboard Concertos, Vol. 15/2 CDs, Miklos Spanyi

[Todd]

Halasz was 85 years old at the recording sessions, by the way.

He's pulling a Skrowaczewski.  Descharmes is a fine pianist.  I may have to give that recording a shot.

TD:

[Brian]

Your thoughts?

Aside from the clever programming combination of the two composers, the main unique trait is the orchestra's size as an opera pit band. It is very small - the booklet says that at full staff with a full percussion section, it would only be 62 musicians. Here I think they are closer to 50 in the larger works (EDIT: but Aubade of course is scored for only 18).

That could be good or bad for some people, depending on the orchestral sound they like. Do you have the Rossini overture series on Naxos? Imagine a more technically skilled, rehearsed version of that orchestra playing these works.

[VonStupp]

Wilhelm Stenhammar
As You Like It
A Dream Play
Romeo and Juliet
   Helsingborg SO - Arvo Volmer

Ett Folk (One People)
Stockholm Exhibition Cantata
   Swedish RSO & Choir - Thomas Dausgaard

Really like the cantatas; there is more to them musically than mere Nationalistic jingoism (perhaps too harsh a term), although there is still a touch of that here.

Incidental Music tends to be hit and miss for me. All the little bits rarely come together as a whole, even if it still makes for enjoyable listening.
VS

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Moura Lympany HMV recordings.

[hopefullytrusting]

A Moldovian celebration!

Eugen Doga's String Quartets 2 & 6
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t2iQNpZYbXE
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T59savtDKPM

Özcan Sönmez's Symphony 1
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UqrM3egactI

Gheorghe Mustea's String Quartet 1
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SFgOqcVV4qg

Bao Yuankai's Symphony 5
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=35iIySFHip0

Drawn from:
https://moldarte.eu/classical-music-in-the-republic-of-moldova/

It is amazing. I've been on this planet for over 4 decades, and I've heard a lot of music, and ye t - there are still sounds that I've not heard.

I'm speaking specifically to Doga's String Quartet No. 2, but each piece today opened up new soundscapes to me. Intriguing rhythms, beguiling sounds, interesting voices.

I'll never lose that sense of wonder when it comes to creative acts of music. I always come away pretty amazed.

[Karl Henning]

[André]

This performance of Bruckner's 5th is better known from its DGG incarnation, but I believe Altus has made a better job at remastering the tapes than DG did. Although it's monophonic, the sound is full, immediate, wide-ranging and crystal clear. The performance is justly famous, one of the most powerful ever. Schuricht tweaks tempos within phrases here and there in the first movement, but it never sounds gratuitous. The whole movement is perfectly held together. Some conductors have trouble making the succession of questing string pizzicatos, majestic brass chorales and full-blown  allegros sound wholly organic.

Schuricht is a master at establishing the long line while also giving the incidentals their proper place in the musical discourse. The same qualities inform his handling of the gigantic finale. Tension never flags, the WP strings giving a sharp, almost angry edge to their playing in the fugue. The tempo itself is not fast (it's marked allegro moderato). The brass save an extra ounce or two of lung power for the amazing coda. The performance as a whole is as powerful as Klemperer's but it flows more naturally. A classic performance in excellent spund.