What are you listening 2 now?

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing disc 6 from this Dvořák with Neuamnn/CzPO set:

[Traverso]

Beethoven

pianosonatas 1-2 & 5

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

NP:

Handel
Flute Sonata in B minor, Op. 1/9, HWV 367b
Rachel Brown (flute), Richard Egarr (harpsichord)

From this 2-CD set -

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 6 in A Major, 1881 Version. Ed. Leopold Nowak, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Hiroshi Wakasugi

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

NP:

Handel
As Pants The Hart, HWV 251b, "Chandos Anthem No. 6"
Various soloists
The Sixteen Choir & Orchestra
Christophers

From this set -

[Lisztianwagner]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concertos No. 20 & 21

Jan Lisiecki (piano)
Christian Zacharias & Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

[Linz]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Mozart Szell Original Jacket Cleveland Orchestra CD10
George Szell piano, Joseph Roisman violin, Boris Kroyt viola, Mischa Schneider cello
Quartet in G minor, for Piano , Violin, Viola and Cello, K 476
Quartet in E-flat Major for Piano, Violin, Viola and Cello, K. 493

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

NP:

Khachaturian
Symphony No. 1 in E minor
Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie
Frank Beermann

[Linz]

Edward Elgar Symphony No. 2 in E flat, Op. 63, Philharmonia Orchestra, Bernard Haitink

[AnotherSpin]

CD1

[hopefullytrusting]

Eat your heart out Grieg, Medtner, and Mendelssohn; it was Fibich who was the true master of the "lyrical pieces":

Book 1 of his Moods: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWtp8uRLFUg

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner Sympphony No. 1 in C Minor, 1877 Linz version with revisions - Ed. Robert Haas, Staatskapelle Berlin, Otmar Suitner

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

NP:

Khachaturian
Symphony No. 2 in E minor
Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie
Frank Beermann

[Linz]

Richard Strauss Complete Orchestral Works, CD3
Metamorphosen
Alpine Symphony, Op. 64
Staatskapelle Desden,  Rudolf Kempe

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Some Bach before dinner:

Harpsichord Concerto In D Minor, BWV 1052
The English Concert
Trevor Pinnock (harpsichord/direction)

From this set -

[San Antone]

Falla : El amor brujo
Josep Pons

[Mapman]

Some more birthday presents:

Stravinsky: Violin Concerto
Hahn; Marriner: ASMF



Strauss: Vier letzte Lieder
Fleming; Thielemann: Munich

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing Act I from this recording:

Handel
Orlando, HMV 30
Various soloists
Harry van der Kamp (bass), Rosa Mannion (soprano), Rosemary Joshua (soprano), Hilary Summers (contralto), Patricia Bardon (mezzo-soprano)
Les Arts Florissants
William Christie




About Handel's Orlando:

Orlando is one of Handel's magic operas. Based on Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, its poetry and visual spectacle appealed to Handel's imagination. This opera includes Handel's first attempt to depict human madness in music, which he was to do again in his oratorio Saul. The part of Zoroastre is sumptuous, solemn, grand, and imposing. This noble magician seeks to protect Orlando and the rest of the characters from the consequences of their actions. His music, written for the fabulous bass voice of Antonio Montagnana, holds the opera together, and imbues it with mystery and life. As the opera progresses, passions of the heart tear Orlando to pieces, and as his emotional state becomes wilder and frenzied, the magic of Zoroastre saves him from complete insanity. In order to create this impression of emotional instability, the music becomes rhythmically complex and contains the first instance of the use of quintuple time. It is contained in a rondo-like structure at the end of Act II, during which Orlando raves.

Woven throughout the passions of Orlando's music is the pastoral music of the shepherdess Dorinda, the love music of Angelica and Medoro, and the magical and spectacular music for the special effects. Orlando has often been compared with Mozart's Magic Flute and not unfavorably. It is also thought that the madness of Orlando influenced the creation of the character of Orfeo by Gluck. The music shows the influence of Henry Purcell, and harks back to the time before the Academy when Handel composed the magic operas Rinaldo and Teseo.

The musical forms used in the opera are developed to suit the dramatic and emotional situations. Rigid adherence to da capo forms and the exit convention is dispensed with entirely. Ariosos, modified da capo forms, interrupted arias, elaborately orchestrated recitatives, together with dramatic scenic construction and visual spectacle, help this opera completely transcend the restrictions of opera seria style. There is a marked increase in the use of vocal ensembles as well; there are three duets, and a concerted trio. The duets have completely original forms adapted to the demands of the text and the emotions of the characters. At the climax of Act III, Orlando grabs Angelica physically and throws her bodily into the cave. They alternate singing, and the phrases of each become shorter and shorter. The contrast between the insane Orlando and the despairing Angelica is heightened by a contrast in their accompaniments. She is accompanied only by the basses playing pianissimo, while he has the full complement of the continuo section plus bassoons at a fortissimo dynamic level. The resolution of the drama is built around one of Handel's finest sleep scenes, written for the hero Orlando, and is finished with a concerted vocal ensemble.

[Article taken from All Music Guide]

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

NP:

Glazunov
From the Middle Ages, Op. 79
Scottish National Orchestra
Järvi

[brewski]

Gubaidulina: In Tempus Praesens (Anne-Sophie Mutter / LSO / Gergiev). First time listening to this synced with the score, and as is often the case, fascinating to see what's on the page.