What are you listening 2 now?

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing Alfvén En Skargardssagen, Op. 20 (A Legend Of The Skerries)

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Now streaming via Presto Music --- Korngold Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35



Exquisite so far. Bomsori has such a gorgeous tone and lyrical approach to the violin.

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Now playing Britten String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 36



The Emperor Quartet's three volume Britten series on BIS is exemplary.

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Now playing Schuman Prayer in a Time of War

[DavidW]

Beethoven Piano Sonatas #15-17 (Op 28, 31 No. 1, 31 No. 2)

[VonStupp]

Hugo Alfvén
At the Turn of the Century, op. 12
The Bells, op. 13
Cantata for the 1917 Reformation Festivities in Uppsala, op. 36

Lena Hoel, soprano
Karl-Magnus Fredriksson, baritone
Royal Philharmonic Choir of Stockholm
Gävle SO - Stefan Parkman

Particularly excellent soloists.
VS

[Karl Henning]

A wonderful surprise:

Severo Ornstein - the composers son:
https://www.poonhill.com/

"A pyrotechnical dazzler, Ornstein's Concerto was clearly written by a pianist with a physical passion for hammering every inch of the keyboard. From the first note, the writing for piano teems with raw virtuosity. Using a traditional three-movement concerto form, the work glories in chromatic runs and gapped scales, as well as chords built of fourths and fifths (no tame triads for Ornstein). Rapid-fire runs and octave gymnastics alternate within toccata-like sections and passages of static repetition. Defying the reputation of modernists for taking their art too seriously, this work brims with fun and wild daring. Like watching a high-diver, it leaves the listener breathless, wondering if a safe landing is possible.

Fifty years after its composition, in a letter to Oliver Daniel, who was then preparing a biography of Stokowski, Ornstein recalled rehearsals for the premiere of the Concerto and gave a sense of the challenge of performing a brand-new work:

I remember our meeting when Stokowski looked at the score. He had a funny little room at the head of a rickety stairway back of the stage of the old Academy of Music. He studied the score for a long time, then turned to me and said, 'Let's do it.' We eventually gave two performances in Philadelphia and one in New York. He must have realized the difficulty of the piece because instead of leaving the rehearsal for Friday morning, the day of the concert, he set the first rehearsal for the previous Monday. Then his professionalism was very evident. He turned to the men and indicated that there would have to be not only extra rehearsals but longer ones. He practically devoted the entire week's work to the Concerto and gave a dazzling performance. It was entirely clear to me after working with him that under the surface appearance of great bravura there was a thoroughness that might almost be considered of an academic nature.

Ornstein's Piano Concerto has lain dormant for seventy years. Like the whole of his output, it awaits fresh performances and renewed critical attention."

https://americansymphony.org/concert-notes/piano-concerto-1925/

Thank you!
TD:

[André]

The mono sound is wide ranging, the aural scene precise and vivid, the playing incredibly virtuosic. Ormandy is on steroids (the Sacre is despatched in under 30 minutes).



The catch here is Le Nouvel Age, a 3-movement symphonic suite. Its slow movement must be the most enigmatic, static, mesmerizing, hieratic, seductive (etc, etc) of all the Markevitch scores I've heard. It defies description. The rest of the work is very fine. The Sinfonietta is good, too, but more modest in scope and reach.




This program is a stroke of okay, not quite genius, but certainly not far from that. All these pieces individually would be chicken fodder as fillers for some big pieces by their respective composers. Put together and ordered to maximize interest through their contrasting styles, each piece stands out and catches the attention. Add to that the gorgeous sound of the Fazioli instrument and the characterful playing of Ulrike Fendel and you get a sleeper of a record.

[Linz]

Lennox Berkeley Symphonies 1 & 2
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Nicholas Braithwaite

[Karl Henning]

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Now playing Grofé Death Valley Suite



These Grofé 'musical postcard' works are so much fun.

[Lisztianwagner]

Benjamin Britten
Spring Symphony

Robert Tear (tenor), Dame Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano), Sheila Armstrong (soprano), London Symphony Chorus
AndréPrevin & London Symphony Orchestra

Michael Tippett
Concerto for double string orchestra

Neville Marriner & Academy of St Martin in the Fields

[Karl Henning]

The catch here is Le Nouvel Age, a 3-movement symphonic suite. Its slow movement must be the most enigmatic, static, mesmerizing, hieratic, seductive (etc, etc) of all the Markevitch scores I've heard. It defies description. The rest of the work is very fine. The Sinfonietta is good, too, but more modest in scope and reach.

Thanks for the reminder, it's been too long:

[Karl Henning]

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, 1872 First concept version. Ed. William Carragan [2005]
Gürzenich-Orchester Köln; François-Xavier Roth

[Irons]

Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

Margrit Weber with Ferenc Fricsay conducting Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin.

Wonderful artistry from soloist, conductor and orchestra. Boy! Rach knows what he is doing when he hits you with that big tune.

[Henk]

Nice! If you allow me, I recommend his Piano Concerto too. It has a quite beautiful slow movement.

Completed listening to the piano album. Gorgeous music, a keeper. The PC is more late-romantic to my ears and doesn't really spark my interest. I've listened to a performance by Ewa Kupiec.
Quite a remarkable figure Paderewski having also been prime-minister of Poland.

[SonicMan46]

While listening to Francois Couperin, I was exploring Amazon for alternate recordings and came across the 5-CD Brilliant set of his uncle Louis' works, who died tragically young as described below:

Couperin, Louis (1626-1661) - on sale at JPC for $13 Euros, but decided to buy the $10 USD DL from PrestoMusic - burned to 2 CD-Rs (total about 820 MB at 320 kbps) and listening to the first one on my den speakers - really excellent. The harpsichordist is Massimo Berghella playing a 2018 reproduction instrument (pic below), a copy from Vincent Thibaut, 1681. Recordings from 2021/22.

Louis Couperin was a French Baroque composer and performer. He moved to Paris in 1650–1651 with the help of Jacques Champion de Chambonnières. Couperin worked as organist of the Church of St. Gervais in Paris and as musician at the court. He quickly became a prominent Parisian musician, establishing himself as a harpsichordist, organist, and violist, but his career was cut short by his early death at the age of thirty-five. None of Couperin's music was published during his lifetime, but manuscript copies of some 200 pieces survive, some of them only rediscovered in the mid-20th century. The first historically important member of the Couperin family, Louis made contributions to the development of both the French organ school and the French harpsichord school. (Source)

 

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Now playing Bernstein Halil



One of my favorite works from Bernstein. Hauntingly beautiful. He truly had a gift for melody that I think is sometimes unfairly downplayed.

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Playing Bernstein Halil but the premiere recording this time: