What are you listening to now?

[Madiel]

Now streaming: possibly first ever listen to "The Inextinguishable".

[asin]B0027DQHGY[/asin]

[aligreto]

JS Bach: Cantata BWV 45 For the Eight Sunday after Trinity [Gardiner]....

[Harry]

Gernsheim: Symphonies - Köhler/Rhineland-Pfalz State Philharmonic Orchestra.

[asin]B000023ZLY[/asin]

Do try the CPO recordings, they are so much better in recording and performance. A whole plethora of details surface in the CPO recordings which you will not hear in the Kohler interpretation, despite the good orchestra he is using. Another letdown are the sonics, muffled and rather claustrophobic. The CPO is a 100 leagues better. The first volume is at present 7,99 € at JPC, and the second volume will follow soon for the same price.

[NikF]

Do try the CPO recordings, they are so much better in recording and performance. A whole plethora of details surface in the CPO recordings which you will not hear in the Kohler interpretation, despite the good orchestra he is using. Another letdown are the sonics, muffled and rather claustrophobic. The CPO is a 100 leagues better. The first volume is at present 7,99 € at JPC, and the second volume will follow soon for the same price.

Thanks, Harry. I'll certainly add your suggestion to my list.

[Mirror Image]

I'm going through the BIS recordings in the order they were released, so this came up first. I can see that orchestral music is to Leifs' advantage, but I still don't know quite what to make of it. It's interesting and not, all at the same time. As a person who likes progress and development, Leifs is a puzzle. This isn't the minimalism that I'm disinterested in, and yet... I don't know quite what it is.

Well, I do hope you find some pieces you enjoy from Leifs. I tend to not enjoy his larger works like Saga Symphony, Baldr, and Edda. His tone poems and smaller orchestral works are where it's at (for me anyway).

[Daverz]

Listened to this in the car while tooling about grocery shopping.  Some of it is great, nothing on this disc but what is at the least very good;  and the disc is one of many reasons for gratitude for "the Lenny boxes."

I think Hill was one of Bernstein's teachers.  Too bad that he didn't record any other Piston.

Earlier listening:

Bruckner 8
[asin]B00HE0F87O[/asin]
Enjoyed this swift interpretation and the East German orchestra and engineering.  The brass are thrilling.

Faure: Violin Sonata No. 2
[asin]B01BLUQI4O[/asin] Josef Suk in very good form, and Josef Hala's accompaniment is excellent.  Good sound, too.

John Adams: City Noir
[asin]B00JL1BIJG[/asin]
One of the more enjoyable of Adams works that I've heard in recent years.

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Konx-Om-Pax. Love these composers who can create eerie atmospheres but still have enough 'character' to tell who composed the music.

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to the Piano Concerto. Awesome work.

[Todd]

Disc 10.  Some common elements have become apparent in Suzuki's cantata set: flawless recorded sound; flawless instrumental ensembles; flawless choral work; very nearly flawless vocal soloists; perfect tempi; always at least superb and usually exquisite expressive range.  In short, this is basically a perfect set.

And I think that may be the problem.  Well, problem is not the word, exactly.  This perfection does make me appreciate the occasionally more energetic and live and very slightly imperfect Gardiner set.  I just can't envision Bach, as brilliant as he was, getting Suzuki-level perfection with every cantata, every time he led a performance.  I want something, if not "gritty", then at least more real-life, at least sometimes.  Obviously, the only sensible thing is to own both Gardiner and Suzuki.  I may be able to ditch the Harnoncourt/Leonhardt set now.

If there is a cantata in the remaining 45 discs that is anything short of gorgeous and brilliant, I will be shocked.

[Karl Henning]

Now streaming: possibly first ever listen to "The Inextinguishable".

[asin]B0027DQHGY[/asin]

Splendid!

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to San Francisco Polyphony. If I was only allowed to take one Ligeti recording to that desert island, this would be the one.

[Madiel]

I just can't envision Bach, as brilliant as he was, getting Suzuki-level perfection with every cantata, every time he led a performance. 

I can't envision Suzuki getting it with every performance, either. Isn't that the fundamental difference between a performance and a recording?

[Brian]

I can't envision Suzuki getting it with every performance, either. Isn't that the fundamental difference between a performance and a recording?

In my experience (which corroborates Todd's), it's not simply about the fact of being a recording; it's about the philosophy Suzuki has regarding recording. Some artists go into the recording studio trying to emulate the freshness, spontaneity, and one-night-only energy of a live performance. (A couple years ago Mikhail Pletnev released a CD of the off-the-cuff warmup performances he does at the start of sessions, when they're making sure the microphones are set up right.) Others - like Suzuki - use the recording setting to pursue absolute perfection. The as many takes as needed approach.

I guess what Todd and I are saying is Suzuki is a little like Kubrick.

[Todd]

Isn't that the fundamental difference between a performance and a recording?

No.  First, there are live recordings, which capture flaws and all, like the Gardiner set.  Second, as Brian described, there are different approaches to studio recordings.  For instance, Roberto Prosseda, in his Liszt recording for Decca, purposely sought a "live" feel and held two sessions a day, one like a normal studio session, and one with a small group of listeners, to achieve that effect.

I guess what Todd and I are saying is Suzuki is a little like Kubrick.

I wouldn't go that far, but Suzuki, on the evidence of the cantatas and orchestral suites and Brandenburgs sounds like he is very much a perfectionist. 

[aligreto]

Act 2

[aligreto]

Disc 10.  Some common elements have become apparent in Suzuki's cantata set: flawless recorded sound; flawless instrumental ensembles; flawless choral work; very nearly flawless vocal soloists; perfect tempi; always at least superb and usually exquisite expressive range.  In short, this is basically a perfect set.

And I think that may be the problem.  Well, problem is not the word, exactly.  This perfection does make me appreciate the occasionally more energetic and live and very slightly imperfect Gardiner set.  I just can't envision Bach, as brilliant as he was, getting Suzuki-level perfection with every cantata, every time he led a performance.  I want something, if not "gritty", then at least more real-life, at least sometimes.  Obviously, the only sensible thing is to own both Gardiner and Suzuki.  I may be able to ditch the Harnoncourt/Leonhardt set now.

If there is a cantata in the remaining 45 discs that is anything short of gorgeous and brilliant, I will be shocked.

I would also agree with you in relation to what you have said regarding the Suzuki approach. Sterile always springs to my mind but, to be fair, I think that too strong a term. Lack of warmth or soul is probably more to my way of hearing Suzuki's Bach. Mind you I do own his complete Cantata sets and the box set with all of the choral music in it and would not be without them but I do prefer to listen to Gardiner or Herreweghe myself.
One footnote here is that I have only heard Suzuki + Bach Collegium Japan once and that in the B minor Mass which was an absolutely wonderful performance and far more appealing a performance than any of his recordings that I have heard.

[ritter]

In anticipation of seeing he opera in the theatre next sunday:

[asin]B0040Y7EY2[/asin]
Great performance (pity about the cuts in the score, though  )..

[kishnevi]

CD  34 of Brilliant's Handel Edition,


Of the three cantatas on this disc, one is given a HWV number, one is credited to Anon.,  and one is "attributed" to Handel, and performed in two slightly different versions.

BTW,  even though I have this box for almost a year, it took until last night for me to realize the box includes the full Borgstede-Loreggian set of keyboard works.

[aligreto]

Gesualdo: 11 Madrigals -





Beautiful music beautifully sung.
There is a wonderful instrumental piece, Canzone del Principe, played on the harp in the midst of all of the vocal pieces.

[Marc]

Morning listening:



Q

This recording is really outstanding, even better than his more recent Bach recordings.

It is indeed!   After taking it of the shelve to refresh my memory, I was really impressed.
[...]

Q

I believe you guys.

Ordered.



Thread duty: listening to Franz Tunder's organ works, played by Pieter Dirksen and Vincent van Laar on the Schnitger et al organ of the Groningen Martinikerk.