What are you listening to now?

[North Star]

Shostakovich's 15th string quartet...

...and it's just too goddamn unbearably miserable. I've listened 3 or 4 times today, and it's not going to work.

Now, this might be a bit obvious, but perhaps you should try it later. And I don't necessarily mean later today.

[Corey]

Not familiar with any of these pieces prior... delightful and inventive as Martinu always is.

[HIPster]

A really gorgeous disc from Concerto Italiano ~
[asin]B00004ZBLB[/asin]

[Todd]

https://www.youtube.com/v/rIvYES-ES6s

[Ken B]

Shostakovich's 15th string quartet...

...and it's just too goddamn unbearably miserable. I've listened 3 or 4 times today, and it's not going to work.

You say "soul-destroying and harmful to my mental well-being" as if it were a bad thing.

[Karl Henning]

First-Listen Fridays!

Fauré
divers pf solo works
Kathryn Stott



Buttermilk, buttermilk, buttermilk!

[The new erato]

Lush and pretty stuff. Definitely a keeper for the occasions one craves that.

[asin]B00QSMV30A[/asin]

[North Star]

First-Listen Fridays!

Fauré
divers pf solo works
Kathryn Stott
Buttermilk, buttermilk, buttermilk!

Very nice, Karl. I take it that you don't have the Collard set, then? I've been enjoying it rather a lot during the past two days.

Thread duty
First-Listen Friday

Wagner
Das Rheingold
Solti

[Karl Henning]

First-Listen Fridays!

Elgar
The Crown of India, An Imperial Masque in Two Tableaux, Op.66 (1912)
BBC Phil & al.
Sir Andrew Davis

[asin]B002Q1LJZQ[/asin]

[Karl Henning]

Very nice, Karl. I take it that you don't have the Collard set, then? I've been enjoying it rather a lot during the past two days.

Cheers, Karlo! You surmise passing shrewdly    . . . of course, Collard would be a temptation (and I am no goat) 

[Drasko]

Not familiar with any of these pieces prior... delightful and inventive as Martinu always is.

Nonet!!!

[North Star]

Cheers, Karlo! You surmise passing shrewdly    . . . of course, Collard would be a temptation (and I am no goat) 

Priced most affordably 
[asin]B000V1Z0H6[/asin]

Nonet!!!

Yes!!!

[HIPster]

Reflections on Death and Life by the Hamburger Ratsmusik ~
[asin]B0017KV78G[/asin]
Marais, Hume, Couperin, De Visee
Really gorgeous recording!

Sound is exemplary on this Hybrid SACD.

Mostly duo and solo pieces for theorbo and gamba, with occasional organ accompaniment.

[Karl Henning]

De[a]th-Life . . . hybrid CD . . . hmmm . . . .

[North Star]

Fauré
Nocturnes
Collard

[Mandryka]

Colin Tilney plays some music. Tilney means what he plays, you can tell. His candor is poignant; his complete spiritual and physical and intellectual focus is compelling to hear.

It's emotionally reticent and it's deadly serious. He reminds me of Jane Austen, for his good taste. But Jane Austen had a wicked sense of irony, and here there's no playfulness at all. As a result I find myself getting tired of the performance, I can't listen to the whole CD in one sitting. This may just be my mood tonight, I don't know.

Very good sound and very good, rich sounding, Italian virginal.

[Madiel]

Now, this might be a bit obvious, but perhaps you should try it later. And I don't necessarily mean later today.

Oh, I will. Whether it's months or a couple of years, it will come back around in the listening, like all the other Shostakovich quartets.

But as I've come to know them over the many years I've had the Fitzwilliam set, I think the 15th is the only one going on that rare downward trajectory in my estimation, instead of upwards. As much as anything it's just too long, given its unwavering mood. After about 20 minutes my mind says "alright, I got it, thanks, enough already" and switches off.

Which is basically why I tried listening multiple times - every time the recording ended, I realised I hadn't really heard half of it.

[North Star]

Oh, I will. Whether it's months or a couple of years, it will come back around in the listening, like all the other Shostakovich quartets.

But as I've come to know them over the many years I've had the Fitzwilliam set, I think the 15th is the only one going on that rare downward trajectory in my estimation, instead of upwards. As much as anything it's just too long, given its unwavering mood. After about 20 minutes my mind says "alright, I got it, thanks, enough already" and switches off.

Which is basically why I tried listening multiple times - every time the recording ended, I realised I hadn't really heard half of it.

It's some months since I last listened to the DSCH SQs, but while I recall being able to take the 15th, I certainly understand what you mean.

[Wakefield]

This afternoon:



I had almost forgotten how good this recording is.

Strongly recommended as one of the best versions available and very conveniently priced. 

[prémont]

This afternoon:



I had almost forgotten how good this recording is.

Strongly recommended as one of the best versions available and very conveniently priced. 

Yes, you are right. Nor have I listened to it - or anything else by Gilbert recently.