What are you listening 2 now?

[Traverso]

I love the pictures of all the organs you post! 

Dutch national heritage.

I do my best to find nice pictures...

[VonStupp]

Heitor Villa-Lobos
Symphony 12
Uirapuru
Mandú-Çárárá
São Paulo SO & Choirs - Isaac Karabtchevsky

Finishing up the symphonies, here paired with two symphonic poems, the second with chorus. I will probably pick up with V-L's string quartets after the new year.
VS

[Spotted Horses]

Bacewicz, Symphony No 4, Borowicz.



When I listened to this work some time ago it didn't strike me as Bacewicz' best, but returning to it I am finding it vibrant and engaging. I don't have much time to listen these days, I have to remind myself that it can be worthwhile to spend some time on one work and give it time to sinks in.

[Iota]

Bach: Sonata No. 1 in B minor, BWV1014
Lucy van Dael (violin), Bob van Asperen (harpsichord)

A highly pleasant experience. I love the way the violin's first entry just seems to emerge from the lamenting harpsichord introduction. Van Dael's ornaments feel relaxed and free whatever the speed of the music, indeed her playing overall feels very free-spirited. She and van Asperen sound a very comfortable pairing.

[Lisztianwagner]

Anton Bruckner
Symphony No.5

Eugen Jochum & Staatskapelle Dresden

[DavidW]

The 9th is one of the finest symphonies of the 20th century, and proof to me that it is worth spending time with ANY work that one thinks is worth exploring. At first, I thought it was dull as dishwater. And now I love it, perhaps as much as a Mahler symphony. And it might be Pettersson's finest work.



And I discovered this exceptional post-Grieg neo-romantic. Worth checking out, the music is vibrant!

[ritter]

It's been a while since I last listened to any of Prokofiev's symphonies. So today, I've pulled Symphony No. 4 from the shelves, in both its versions (op. 47 and op. 112). Mstislav Rostropovich conducts the French National Orchestra.

CD 1 of the "Complete Symphonies" set.

[Mandryka]

Bach: Sonata No. 1 in B minor, BWV1014
Lucy van Dael (violin), Bob van Asperen (harpsichord)

A highly pleasant experience. I love the way the violin's first entry just seems to emerge from the lamenting harpsichord introduction. Van Dael's ornaments feel relaxed and free whatever the speed of the music, indeed her playing overall feels very free-spirited. She and van Asperen sound a very comfortable pairing.

I think they're an item, as they say.

[Linz]

Kalevi Aho Wind Quintet No. 1 and No. 2, Philharmonisches Bläserquintett Berlin

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Jacques Duphly: Pièces de clavecin. Aya Hamada.

[Karl Henning]

Malipiero SQ No.5 'dei capricci' (1950)
I was pleased to read that Malipiero composed with an owl perched on his shoulder.
One of my favourite SQs:

I met some rescue owls this Thursday last. Marvelous birds.

[Karl Henning]

TD:
Martha Argerich playing Chopin's Op. 39 scherzo in c# minor and Brahms' Op. 79 Rhapsodies.

[André]

Chopin's 1st piano concerto, by Emil Gilels and Eugene Ormandy (very good, with a particularly sonorous orchestral accompaniment) and Noel Mewton-Wood, with Walter Goehr and the Netherlands Radio Orchestra.

The Gilels is a known quantity, but some background info on Mewton-Wood is in order. An Australian pianist, he made a dozen successful recordings with Goehr for a mail-in order series (same as the Readers' Digest recordings from the 60s). These included Beethoven 4, Schumann, Bliss, the 3 Tchaikovsky PCs, the 2 Chopin PCs, etc.

Mewton-Wood died a tragic death at the young age of 31. He committed suicide by ingesting potassium cyanide (prussian acid). MW felt responsible for the death of his companion from a ruptured appendix - he blamed himself for not spotting the symptoms until it was too late.

Is the performance any good ? One of the best, and by a fair margin IMO. MW is very sensitive to the mood and shape of a musical phrase, but also a keen believer in keeping the long line free of agogic distortion. His interpretation is free from eccentricities but full of beautiful dynamic shadings that illuminate the discourse. The orchestra plays very well (Goehr was a splendid accompanist). The recording is muffled and in dire need of some remastering. Pristine Classical has worked on it with good result.

Check YT for a slew of his performances. Personally I think his Tchaikovsky 1 is unparalleled in musicality.

[André]

2023 was the first year in decades that passed without me listening to Bach's Christmas Oratorio. It felt odd, almost like mourning. So this year I jumped on the occasion to give this recording a first hearing ever.

Schreier is a huge servant, performer, innovator and proselyte of Bach's choral music. In this recording, made as he was nearing the end of his career as a singer, he plays the dual role of conductor and Evangelist. Most performances have the Evangelist reciter sing the tenor arias, but in reality they are two quite different roles. As the reciter he is one of the very best. Kurt Equiluz for Harnoncourt is my standard, but Schreier is an exalted alternate choice. As a conductor Schreier doesn't dawdle and keeps a strict rein on the proceedings. Everything moves along smartly, with a fine feeling for the dance the underlies all the solo arias as well as bringing a fine flow and nobility to the chorales.

The singing roles are variably taken, which surprised me. The soprano and tenor have light, dryish voices, while the alto and bass are very fine. The Oratorio is a festive work, with prominent parts for the brass (horns and trumpets). In this as well as generally, the Dresden Staatskapelle display a unique blend of instrumental brilliance, suavity and confidence as well as performing perfectly as an ensemble. Praise must be lavished upon the playing of Ludwig Güttler, trumpetist extraordinaire. With better soprano and tenor soloists this would have been a top 3 recommendation.

Other great recordings: Harnoncourt I, Behringer, Rademann, Schneidt, Kammler. They display perfect understanding of the community celebration aspect of the work as well as giving its joyful and reverential aspects the right balance.

[Traverso]

Jacques Duphly: Pièces de clavecin. Aya Hamada.



[/quot

Jacques Duphly: Pièces de clavecin. Aya Hamada.

A fine recording...

[brewski]

Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6 (Rozhdestvensky / Moscow Radio SO, recorded 1957). My first encounter with this piece, prior to hearing it live in a few weeks with the Philadelphia Orchestra and conductor Xian Zhang.

So far, liking it a lot. (But there's very little Prokofiev I don't like.) At some point will explore some of the other recordings, but this is quite good, in excellent sound, especially for 1957.

-Bruce

[Madiel]

The rest of the Mompou works.

[steve ridgway]

Nono: Fragmente-Stille, An Diotima

[steve ridgway]

Scelsi: Duo Für Violine Und Violoncello

[steve ridgway]

Crumb: Processional