What are you listening 2 now?

[brewski]

Just caught the end of a terrific reading of Schumann's Piano Quintet with the people below, part of the Bowdoin Festival. Will certainly be revisiting the earlier part of the program, which I missed.

Liszt: Les Jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este
Berg: Piano Sonata
Martinů: Piano Sonata
R. Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44
Robin Scott, YooJin Jang, violin • Phillip Ying, viola • David Ying, cello • Orion Weiss, piano

[Symphonic Addict]

Sallinen: Chamber Music II-IV
Widor: Piano Quintet No. 2

The chameleon-like demeanor of Sallinen's Chamber Music III for cello and string orchestra is something else. It clearly shows the composer's stamp about unpredictability that makes much of his music so characteristic.

The Widor has a more chromatic harmonic language than his first quintet. The movements 3 and 4 were particularly fabulous.

[71 dB]

Today I listened to some more Elgar:

Coronation March, Op. 65
Funeral March from Grania and Diarmid, Op. 42
March from Caractacus, Op. 35
March of the Mogul Emperors, Op. 66, No. 4
Polonia, Op. 76

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
James Judd
Naxos 8.557273

[Mister Sharpe]

Nothing jades one to the modest virtues of a cheeseburger worse than someone trying to convince you that it's a Kobe steak.

True, dat. But as a vegetarian I'm joyfully immune to the attractions of both! You could even say that I es-chew them. (sorry, gang, I couldn't help myself).   

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, 1872/77 Mixed Versions. Ed. Robert Haas
BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra, Jascha Horenstein
 

[VonStupp]

Malcolm Arnold
Symphony 3, op. 63
Symphony 4, op. 71
Royal Liverpool PO - Vernon Handley


Didn't much take to Arnold's Third Symphony, but his Fourth recouped any losses.
VS


CD2 from this set:

[Symphonic Addict]

Lambert: Horoscope

Tremendous imagination Lambert had, let alone his skills for orchestration. A wonderful ballet.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Bach, English Suites.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Manolis Kalomiris - Symphonic Concerto for piano and orchestra.

[Symphonic Addict]

Two French delights:

Koechlin: Silhouettes de comédie, for bassoon and orchestra
Gaubert: Trois Aquarelles, for flute, cello and piano

On Silhouettes de comédie Koechlin exploits the sound range of the bassoon in a remarkable way to portray twelve different characters (one per movement) with real personality, gracefulness, quirkiness and reflective moods, all of that helped by first-class orchestration. What a great work.

The Gaubert is redolent of Jongen and it's gorgeous. I don't know many pieces by this composer, but this exquisite chamber work proves that he had something interesting to say.

[hopefullytrusting]

Man, the BBC Proms and Mahler - that is a killer mix - my favorite Mahler Symphony No. 8 (conducted by Rattle):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKof4e_7cYA

[AnotherSpin]

Listening on a recommendation from another thread. The interpretation sounds quite restrained. There are some expressive moments, but they don't slip into the mannered style often associated with more flamboyant organists. Subtle personal touches stand out, like the gentle use of rubato. This adds a slight ebb and flow, while the phrasing remains natural and coherent. Overall, the performance favours consistency and subtlety. No extroversion in tempo or articulation. The atmosphere feels meditative and introspective, with a clear focus on poetic expression rather than technical display.

[Que]

I got it on disc... The balance in the Missa paschale does bother me less upon relistening.

[AnotherSpin]

From today's morning reading of Osho: "Total love includes all. Really nothing is left, all is included in it. And remember, I am not saying perfect love. I am saying total love - and these two  things are very different. For centuries we have been taught how to perfect our love, and we have failed because the whole idea was nonsense.

Love cannot be perfected. To perfect it is to kill it. And love cannot be killed because love is life, love is eternal, timeless. Love knows no death; love is the only phenomenon in human experience which transcends death."

Somehow, these words seem uncannily well-suited to the album I'd already listened to earlier today, and have now returned to once more. This time, however, I'm hearing it through my home audio system, taking advantage of a brief visit to town. The sound here is altogether finer: clearer, more transparent, as though it fully permeates and fills my perception. Once again, I'm struck by just how vital finely selected and well-balanced audio truly is - where every element has been chosen with care, down to the seemingly incidental details: cables (including power leads), connectors, power supplies (I rely on linear ones), etc.

[Florestan]

Once again, I'm struck by just how vital finely selected and well-balanced audio truly is - where every element has been chosen with care, down to the seemingly incidental details: cables (including power leads), connectors, power supplies (I rely on linear ones), etc.

I wonder what Osho would have said about this obsessive attachment to material things...

[vandermolen]

Bliss: Morning Heroes
A very impressive (live) performance conducted by the composer.

[Cato]

From a recommendation: Bruckner - Symphony #3 (Nowak 1889 Version)

Also recently:  Beethoven - Piano Concerto #4

It is interesting that from my youngest days I have always heard a presage of Brahms in this concerto.  There is something about the nature of the themes/motifs and the way in which Beethoven handles them, along with the orchestration, all of which gave me - and still do give me - an impression that I could be listening to a work by Brahms.

Anyway...

Ovchinnikov - Symphony #1

It is terrible that this composer's music has basically never been recorded on CD's or - now - for "streaming" or downloads! 

[Traverso]

Bach

Vol.4 CD 2

[Cato]

Kalliwoda: Symphony #7 

It has been too long since I last heard this dramatic and even enigmatic work!  Kalliwoda was part of the post-Beethoven generation of composers, like Schubert and Schumann.

Highly recommended!

[Iota]

Just caught the end of a terrific reading of Schumann's Piano Quintet with the people below, part of the Bowdoin Festival. Will certainly be revisiting the earlier part of the program, which I missed.

Liszt: Les Jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este
Berg: Piano Sonata
Martinů: Piano Sonata
R. Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44
Robin Scott, YooJin Jang, violin • Phillip Ying, viola • David Ying, cello • Orion Weiss, piano

Just had a listen to the engagingly footloose and mercurial Martinu Piano Sonata from the above, played superbly by Orion Weiss (starting about 37'40). Will certainly be returning for the Liszt and Berg that preceded it, and indeed for the Schumann Piano Quintet if it's going to be of this calibre!
Thanks for posting, @brewski!