What are you listening 2 now?

[Madiel]

Surely not

We all thought of one...

[Madiel]

Larrocha playing Bach

[Que]

Much obliged for the recommendation of Igor Markevitch's rendition. I've always found recordings by this gentleman of Ukrainian extraction — whom certain, ahem, enthusiastic imperial dreamers insist on claiming as their own — rather compelling. While the digital transfer of the original DG recording with the Berliners could benefit from a touch more aural depth and refinement, the performance itself is positively riveting.

Good to hear!
I'm a big Markevitch fan but, to my embarrassment, I wasn't aware the he was Ukranian. Fun fact: his conducting debut was with the Concertgebouworkest.

TD:



Recordings for two harpsichords are somewhat of a personal guilty pleasure. I realise that this kind "harpsichord music on steroids" is an acquired taste for most... 

https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2022/Nov/Rebel-Boismortier-CVS021.htm

[AnotherSpin]

Good to hear!
I'm a big Markevitch fan but, to my embarrassment, I wasn't aware the he was Ukranian. Fun fact: his conducting debut was with the Concertgebouworkest.

[..]

He came from an old line of Ukrainian Cossacks and was the great-grandson of the noted Ukrainian historian Mykola Markevych. The Ukrainian Cossacks were formidable warriors, and some of their combat techniques are employed today by the Ukrainian army in its fight against the Muscovite agressors.

[Christo]

Good to hear!
I'm a big Markevitch fan but, to my embarrassment, I wasn't aware the he was Ukranian. Fun fact: his conducting debut was with the Concertgebouworkest.

We have believed Russian imperialism for too long, which claims everything from the Tsarist & Soviet empires as "Russian", while the entire Russian culture is in fact a late offshoot on the older Ukrainian tradition from the ninth century. Even the Latin name "Russia" was stolen from (Western) Ukraine by the tyrannical Peter the Great in 1721 because the name had old papers & could nicely serve his imperial ambitions: Ukrainians were later forced to adopt a new name, although the "Ruthenians" in Western Ukraine still bear the old name. This name change also contributed to the Russian myth that Ukraine is only a "borderland", a hinterland of Russian culture, instead of the Russian culture's primeval soil.

Even now there are Westerners who pretend that Hitler was defeated by "the Russians", and not by the dozens of peoples who often suffered even worse under Stalin than under Hitler, such as the Ukrainians. Despite all this, an estimated 2 million ethnic Russians saw no other way out than serving in the German army, about a factor 100 more than Ukrainians -- who apparently had much more reason.

In art, the magnificent "Russian Museum" in St. Petersburg is full of Ukrainians, Byelorussians and others -- even now the "prison of nations" Russia includes 160 nations & ethnicities -- who are presented as "Russian" without exception. The best example is the Ukrainian Ilya Repin, the highlight of the museum and, in my opinion, the best painter ever; but most Westerners still believe that this Ukrainian in St. Petersburg -- like Dutch painters Van Dongen & Van Gogh worked in Paris -- was a "Russian". In music, besides Markevitch, there is the example of Reinhold Glière: also a Ukrainian in St. Petersburg. 

[Florestan]

Gonchigsumlaa's Symphony No. 2 conducted by Esipov with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUcClN92NOk

I've always been drawn to Mongolia, in a romantic sense, given its weather - from my perspective - it is a hellscape, so I don't think I would ever choose to live there, but it is one of those things that lies back in the recesses of my mind, and every now and then - makes itself known. Today, was such a day. Maybe its the landscapes, or maybe it is because all the images/videos I've seen of the place are so charming (but, of course, image/videos are merely the best slices of the apple). All that is to say is how I happened upon Gonchigsumlaa, who is considered one of the founders of Mongolian classical music, and, well, the symphony does not disappoint, but it also will not blow your socks off.

There are some very interesting elements to it - for example, compared to a "western" symphony it is highly dissonant, so that definitely helps push the piece into the above average tier for symphonies, but it is still restrained - entrapped by the so-called "classical" tradition, and so it doesn't truly fulfill its promise (of which there are many hints toward in the piece) - of a truly "Mongolian" sound, one that is not simply a mimic of a tradition that is not its own, which is not to say the work is imitative, as it most definitely is not.

It's has the spring, fair-like quality of Delius combined with a more pastoral-minded Borodin, if you can sort of imagine what that might sound like. The music is delightful, the performance and recording are both just decent - you could tell, I think, that everyone was professional, but I didn't feel the zest of passion - this felt like this was a job (honestly, I also understand that, I mean you get hired out - to play what? to play who? I get that reasoning).

All in all, I would recommend listening to this symphonies. The good far outweighs the bad, and those spring, fair-like sections really shine - music to make you feel good.

This is interesting and begs the question: how, in fact, could a genuinely Mongolian style and sound be expressed via a symphony, which is a Western invention, played on instruments which are also Western?

[Traverso]

Bach

CD 3

[hopefullytrusting]

Nokuthula Ngwenyama's Primal Message for String Quintet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLQ0tZ3c9LA

A chamber piece which succeeds at becoming larger than it is. The music is expansive and lovely, and the melody dances from player to player - everyone getting a moment in the sun. While, obviously, musical, it sets a scene, which feels physical and real. More often than not, I find chamber music to be in and of itself, serving no other purpose than the pure indulgence in the sonic landscape created by the players and the score, and I do not object to that, but, in the end, I prefer music that tries to tell a tale (I don't think I am unique in having this thought). I love how high it gets, harmonically, and I love how it ends in silence (aka the highest note known). All in all, this was a wonderful experience.

High recommendation.

[Madiel]

Ravel - Prix de Rome 1902

La Nuit
Alcyone



The chorus La Nuit is somewhat safe and unexciting. Nichols in his biography notes that Ravel's handwriting in this and the fugue is really "scrappy", unlike Ravel's entries in 1901 and 1903. Anyway, it was just enough to get Ravel into the final round.

Alcyone doesn't sound any more characteristic of Ravel than the previous year's Myrrha, but to my ears it does sound like a better composition. The text isn't all that great (um, we don't meet Alcyone's husband until he's already become a ghost), but it does provide some opportunities for sweeter music that Ravel took advantage of, which makes the whole thing less tiring to listen to.  So when the dramatic moments come they feel more effective. The ending is horribly abrupt but this time it's definitely the fault of the text - there's not a lot you can do to extend Alcyone crying "ah!" and then falling down dead.

So I think it's better. But the judges didn't give Ravel any kind of prize. Better luck next time...

[Madiel]

Delius, arr. Ravel

Prelude and Duet from Margot la Rouge



I don't really know Delius, I should try some again (I was bored as a teenager, but that was... a long time ago). It's not clear from what I've read whether Ravel arranged the whole opera, I suspect he did but this seems to be the only bit I can find people playing. And it's quite attractive.

[foxandpeng]

William Schuman
Symphonies 7 and 10, 'American Muse'
Gerard Schwarz
Seattle SO
Naxos


Schuman is great. If in doubt, add more drums.

[Madiel]

Ravel: String Quartet



It was written before the next Prix de Rome attempt, but not premiered until after it (and after Ravel said he'd had enough of the competition and didn't compete for a year).

Also, written when Ravel and Debussy were good friends, and when it premiered it was kind of the work that set off commentary about sounding like Debussy, and to be fair it probably does sound closer to Debussy than most of Ravel's other music. But he didn't end up being very happy about the comparison.

[Lisztianwagner]

Kurt Atterberg
Symphony No.1

Ari Rasilainen & Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt

[Madiel]

Finishing my evening with:

Stravinsky - Petrushka (Rattle, City of Birmingham SO)

[prémont]

Bach - Das Wohltemperierte Klavier (Second Tier from @coffee)

Lots of clever, changing patterns of many short notes cycling without much dynamic variation, producing a mechanical, hypnotic effect. The lack of any development and similarity of the pieces would make it work well as background music one might notice only intermittently without feeling one had missed anything .

This was my first encounter with WTC I in 1961 (and with the utterly nonsensial lecture about equal tuning on page 6 of the set), so I'm a bit biased, and I'm still able to enjoy Walcha's uncompromising playing, even if I since then have found more informed renderings preferable.

[Iota]

Schoenberg: Serenade, Op. 24
John Shirley-Quirk (bass baritone), Ensemble Intercontemporain, Boulez

Brilliant! A listen prompted by natter on the Schoenberg thread, I find the whimsy and the humour in this work seriously appealing, and what perfect instrumentation to achieve those ends!

[Traverso]

Scheinn-Tunder-Buxtehude

Great set of recordings with German Baroque cantatas. Greta de Reyghere is a very good  soprano who has the right  approach, sensitive but without ornaments that could affect and diminish the expression of the music and text.

[brewski]

More string quartets! Live from Wigmore Hall, the semifinalists of the International String Quartet Competition, all terrific. The finals will be livestreamed tomorrow.

Katarina String Quartet
Opus13
Quartet Integra
Quartett HANA
Terra String Quartet
Viatores Quartet

[Number Six]

Saturday Symphony!



Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10
André Previn, London Symphony Orchestra

[Roasted Swan]

More string quartets! Live from Wigmore Hall, the semifinalists of the International String Quartet Competition, all terrific. The finals will be livestreamed tomorrow.

Katarina String Quartet
Opus13
Quartet Integra
Quartett HANA
Terra String Quartet
Viatores Quartet

the standard is terrifying!!