What are you listening 2 now?

[prémont]

It's not the same because AoF has an internal organisation, it's a systematic exploration of a form, and the recurring themes give the whole a structure which is easy to recognise just by listening. The motets are just a random bunch of motets which happen to have been written by Gombert. 

I see your point, but it was in the first hand the academic aspect which I alluded to. Even one piece (whether Gombert or AoF) may be to much. I own rather many Gombert recordings, but I have to admit that I in the beginning didn't listen to a whole CD at one sitting.

[ritter]

Yeah. You say it's rare, but the next thing you know you'll be presenting with another case of Handelitis.

The risk seems to have been averted. It is very unlikely that Handel will appear chez ritter again in the next decade, at least... 

[nico1616]

A very, very rare appearance of Handel chez ritter. Semele, conducted by John Nelson and with a stellar cast: Battle, Horne, Ramey, et al.

Absolutely stunning! This one and Alcina is the best Händel has to offer in opera/oratorium. Vanity has never been represented so well in music than with the character of Semele. This also works perfectly in the theatre, the Robert Carsen staging is legendary.

[nico1616]

I have know Klemperer's Magic Flute for ages and it is one of the best. Somehow I always avoided the rest of his Mozart, for fear it would be ponderous. But then I found this 8 cd box in the thrift store and it is unexpectedly great. One of these boxes I keep coming back to.

[Traverso]

Monteverdi

I do not see this recording very often,it is a really fine recording.

[vandermolen]

Walton: Symphony No.1
Philharmonia Orchestra, Cond. William Walton

[brewski]

Hadn't planned to start the day with Wagner, but stumbled across Götterdämmerung live from La Monnaie in Brussels, so some Rhine gremlin got the better of me.

Started about 10 minutes ago. I haven't heard the opera in probably ten years.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

NP:

Dvořák
Cypresses for String Quartet, B. 152
Panocha Quartet

From this set -

[Iota]

Hindemith: Kammermusik No.1, Op.24 No.1
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Chailly

The opening with heavy hints of Stravinsky's Petrushka such a great start to this wild, razzmatazz-y trip, the oasis-like refuge from the mayhem in the slow movement a lovely thing, and the whole piece just fizzing with creative energy.

[VonStupp]

WA Mozart
Double Concerto for Flute and Harp, K. 299
Flute Concerto in G Major, K. 313
Andante for Flute, K. 315

Claude Monteux, flute
Osian Ellis, harp
AoSMitF - Neville Marriner

My favorite recording of these flute concertante works from Mozart, at least among the ones I know.
VS

[Traverso]

Bach

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

NP:

Dvořák
Legenden, Op. 59
English Chamber Orchestra
Kubelik

From this Japan SHM-CD -

[DavidW]

I find it sensational.

Yes! I listened to it last night and it was. Will be checking out his Debussy next.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Schumann

3 Poems of Emanuel Geibel, op.30
12 Poems of Justinus Kerner, op.35



Judging from this and other opuses, Schumann regards Geibel as a poet for light entertainment. Kerner is quite a different matter. I think Stirb', Lieb' und Freud! is one of Schumann's masterpiece songs, but there are plenty of other ones in op.35 with a lot of depth to them.

A truly lovely set. I need to get back to listening to it. I should've bought the Schubert Hyperion set when it was still in-print, but my love for this composer hadn't quite reached its apex, so I stupidly passed on it. But that's okay, the Matthias Goerne set of various Schubert lieder on Harmonia Mundi has been incredibly enriching.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Absolutely stunning! This one and Alcina is the best Händel has to offer in opera/oratorium. Vanity has never been represented so well in music than with the character of Semele. This also works perfectly in the theatre, the Robert Carsen staging is legendary.

I don't know --- I was mightily impressed with Hercules (w/ Minkowski at the helm) from a few nights ago. Astonishing work. Of course, my Handel journey has really just started, so perhaps I'm too green to really make such an assertion, but, hey, if the music touches you, then that should be worth something.

[Cato]

Until I attended a 7th and 8th grade Honors Musicians Concert yesterday, (over 150 students ages 12-14 from our semi-rural region were performing in choirs and orchestras) I had never heard of Pavel Chesnokov !

The student orchestra performed a version of his Salvation is Created:

An incredible work for Basso Profundo, at one point the music sinks to the note G1 for the Bass soloist!

[Lisztianwagner]

Maurice Ravel
Sonatine
Le Tombeau de Couperin

Pianist: Samson François

[SonicMan46]

Danzi, Franz (1763-1826) - Bassoon & Clarinet on the discs below; the middle recording are 'Bassoon Quartets' on period instruments - the cover art is a rhino by Albrecht Dürer w/ animals added by graphic designer Nina Targan Mouravi (b.1964) (maybe she pick four because the works are quartets?  )  Dave

   

[nico1616]

I don't know --- I was mightily impressed with Hercules (w/ Minkowski at the helm) from a few nights ago. Astonishing work. Of course, my Handel journey has really just started, so perhaps I'm too green to really make such an assertion, but, hey, if the music touches you, then that should be worth something.

That Minkowski Hercules is also one of the best, very dramatic and compelling. It would also be in my top 5 of Handel opera/oratorios. I would choose the Nelson Semele, a Giulio Cesare (Minkowski or Jacobs), Orlando (Christie) and Agrippina (Gardiner) or Alcina (Hickox). There was a time I could not get enough of Handel's vocal works, his catalogue is endless and there are so many superb recordings.

[Traverso]

Stravinsky