What are you listening 2 now?

[JBS]

CD 2

Gaspard de la Nuit
Menuet sur le nom de Haydn
Valses nobles et sentimentales
Prelude
A la maniere de Borodin
A la maniere de Chabrier
Le tombeau de Couperin

My opinion of the performance can be found in the Purchases Today thread.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing Shostakovich's 8th:

[steve ridgway]

Scelsi - String Quartet #3 (Tier 136 for @coffee)

A hypnotic, gently flowing piece filled with rich sounds rather than musical pitches. Scelsi had an inspired disregard for anyone else's "rules of music" .

[Linz]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart The Symphonies CD 7
Symphony No. 26 in E flat major, K.184/K.161a
Symphony No. 27 in G major, K.199/K.161b
Symphony No. 22 in C major, K.162
Symphony in D major, K.181/K.162b
Symphony No. 24 in B flat major, K.182/K.173dA
The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood

[steve ridgway]

Stockhausen - In Freundschaft (Tier 136 for @coffee)

I found this solo trumpet work absorbing to follow. It sounds very difficult with changing tempos and volumes, and sudden interruptions of one pattern with a strongly contrasting one. Some of the notes are also rather drawn out with changes of timbre. The recording was spatialised in some way giving the effect of multiple performers in different locations, adding a sense of depth.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing Schnittke's 8th:

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Last for the night --- Saint-Saëns' Clarinet Sonata in E♭ major, Op. 167:

[steve ridgway]

Beethoven - Symphony #9 in D minor, op. 125 "Choral" (from the First Tier of @coffee)

I listened all the way through but it's not to my taste.

[steve ridgway]

Scriabin - Deux Poèmes Op 63

Random selection found something to clear my mind .

[steve ridgway]

Crumb - Makrokosmos, Volume I (Twelve Fantasy Pieces After The Zodiac For Amplified Piano)

Only had to skip one random non-classical album to hit more absorbing piano music (although the first album by Egg does actually include pieces by Bach and Stravinsky).

[Harry]

Luigi Ludovico Madonis (1695-1777)
Sonatas for Violin & Basso continuo, (1738).  from: XII Symphonies for Violin and Bass, dedicated to Anna Ioannovna, Empress of Russia. (St Petersburg 1738).
Maria Krestinskaya. Violin, (Giovanni Paolo Maggini, Brescia 1627)
Pavel Serbin, Cello, (Amsterdam School c. 1770)
Imbi Tarum,  Harpsichord, (two-manual French harpsichord after Blanchet. Samuli Siponmaa, 1994.
Recording: 4-7 July 2019 at Hall-Wiimsi St John Church, Tallin (Estonia).

Beautifully performed and recorded, these sonatas delight on first hearing. So easily played by Maria Krestinskaya, on a Violin by Giovanni Paolo Maggini, which sounds like a dream. In fact this CD sounds like a drop of moisture from heaven, touched by angels. Really!
Some of the dance movements Russian and Ukrainian melodies are taken up and combined with Italian stylistic elements of the time, which is a rare treat and sounds gorgeous. Madonis is rarely recorded, and he deserves better as that, for the quality of his music is beyond doubt. And so is the performance. Recording is excellent too. A good start in the morning. The Avalons Eidolon Diamond speakers have arrived at the dealer, and I go for a listen next week, and see if they fit the bill.

[foxandpeng]

Peter Maxwell Davies's Eight Songs for a Mad King with Kelvin Thomas and the Psappha Ensemble:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6357vL9TPg

To call this work arresting is an understatement. It is disturbing; it is frightening; it is difficult to look at (I've still not looked at it entirely). It is one thing to hear madness; it is a whole other thing to see it, and I've seen few things sadder than someone losing their mind. It terrifies me that Davies's can capture the break with reality so well, while still remain ethical. The whole thing is fragmentary because everything is crumbling, and reality, which is hard enough for the sane to hold together - is impossible for those lacking such faculties. This feels like something Pasolini would compose; it an experience, and, hopefully, by the end of the month I'll be able to watch it.

Highest recommendation.

Agree completely. Eight Songs is simply outstanding.

[Que]

Continuing with Renaissance lamentations:



Music by Alexander Agricola, Christobel de Morales, Jacob Arcadelt and Orlando di Lasso (Lassus).

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/may08/Lamentatio_ktc1343.htm

Quote of the week: Refreshingly, there is also a slight sense of 'under-polish'. Not every note, nuance and nicety is buffed to perfection, as would be the case if the Tallis Scholars, say, were singing.

[foxandpeng]

William Schuman
Symphonies 4 and 9
Gerard Schwarz
Seattle SO
Naxos


I'm so glad I spent some extended time with the Schuman symphonies a while ago. I used to think that they were a bit 'meh', and that they weren't so worthwhile. After a few weeks of repeated listening, my view changed completely and I have come to very much enjoy and appreciate them.

Great way to start Friday's working day.

[Harry]

Gavriil Nikolayevich Popov (1904-72).
Symphony No.2, Op.39 "Motherland".
USSR Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Provatorov.
Recorded in Moscow, 1961.

Symphony No.5, Op.77 "Pastoral".
USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Gurgen Karapetyan.
Recorded in Moscow, 1963.
CD edition remastered for ALTO by Paul Arden-Taylor.
1995 (tracks 1-4), 1997 (tracks 5-6), Olympia Compact Discs Ltd. Released by Alto Records under license.

A remarkable re-release, and a very welcome one too. It may not be High Fidelity but it is well remastered, and good enough to enjoy. Popov was a hugely talented composer, and well, Shostakovich said so too. I did not have recordings of his music but I am glad I have now. Fascinating music, well performed. I wish modern recordings were forthcoming. But we have to do with the present recording. And that is no punishment.

[Harry]

William Schuman
Symphonies 4 and 9
Gerard Schwarz
Seattle SO
Naxos


I'm so glad I spent some extended time with the Schuman symphonies a while ago. I used to think that they were a bit 'meh', and that they weren't so worthwhile. After a few weeks of repeated listening, my view changed completely and I have come to very much enjoy and appreciate them.

Great way to start Friday's working day.

I remember when they were released, bought them and was duly impressed, but alas since then I did not play them again. Understandable, because I had a huge pile of CD'S waiting, and with streaming it only increased. Will however try to get to the Schumanns again

[Traverso]

Bach





 

[foxandpeng]

Gavriil Nikolayevich Popov (1904-72).
Symphony No.2, Op.39 "Motherland".
USSR Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Provatorov.
Recorded in Moscow, 1961.

Symphony No.5, Op.77 "Pastoral".
USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Gurgen Karapetyan.
Recorded in Moscow, 1963.
CD edition remastered for ALTO by Paul Arden-Taylor.
1995 (tracks 1-4), 1997 (tracks 5-6), Olympia Compact Discs Ltd. Released by Alto Records under license.

A remarkable re-release, and a very welcome one too. It may not be High Fidelity but it is well remastered, and good enough to enjoy. Popov was a hugely talented composer, and well, Shostakovich said so too. I did not have recordings of his music but I am glad I have now. Fascinating music, well performed. I wish modern recordings were forthcoming. But we have to do with the present recording. And that is no punishment.

These are also very worthwhile!

[foxandpeng]

I remember when they were released, bought them and was duly impressed, but alas since then I did not play them again. Understandable, because I had a huge pile of CD'S waiting, and with streaming it only increased. Will however try to get to the Schumanns again

So much music, so little time!

[Harry]

So much music, so little time!

Could we apply for another 100 years on this earth?