What are you listening to now?

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Boulez's Piano Sonata no 2

Still one of my favourite piano pieces, it's a remarkable work. 

who's playing?

[Autumn Leaves]

Today's listening:



Various random Preludes & Fugues - all of them were good.



Preludes & Fugues #13-24

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Claude Helffer 

Don't think I've heard this one!

[ritter]

Don't think I've heard this one!

He actually has not one, but two recordings of the piece:

An early recording--1970--on DG (avaialble on CD in Japan)...



...and a later effort on Astrée:



also available in this set:

[SimonNZ]

If you get a chance to comment on the CD of Heinrich Isaac songs in the box I'd be interested. I don't want to buy the whole box but the Isaac CD is one I'd like to hear - it's expensive but if you say it's outstanding I'll take the hit.

It just occurred to me which "big box" this is: the 50 cd L'oiseau-Lyre Medieval/Renaissance box has been released.

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Decca/94788104

And I'm currently stoney, stoney broke 

[Harry]

Shakespeare's time must have been great fun, musically of course, and in terms of theater ravishing to behold, no doubt. The inspiration some musicians got from all what happened in that neck of the world is still generating great fun and humanity. Its the ultimate set of music to get your spirits revitalized.

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2016/09/the-sound-of-shakespeare-in-streets-and.html?spref=tw

[bluemooze]

Boulez's Piano Sonata no 2

Still one of my favourite piano pieces, it's a remarkable work. 

I love this place.  No rules.  No moderators to compel anyone to practice forum etiquette and be considerate of others.

Thread duty:
Guess

[marvinbrown]

  It's the 225 Anniversary of Mozart's death and so it'll be nothing but Mozart for a while!

  Currently listening to this genius' symphonies in REVERSE order: starting with No. 41 and working backwards:


  [asin]B00000410J[/asin]
  [asin]B00000410I[/asin]

  Sir Neville Marriner conducts the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in stunning fashion! Excellent sound quality!

  marvin

 

[Harry]

I love this place.  No rules.  No moderators to compel anyone to practice forum etiquette and be considerate of others.

Thread duty:
Guess

I urge you to be considerate to other members, and adhere to forum etiquette. Its not a place to misbehave. And yes we have rules too! What a incomprehensible way to start your journey on GMG.

[Florestan]

Thread duty:
Guess

I couldn´t care less, dude!

[Florestan]

And the first composer whose music I´ll explore in chronological order is...



Scherzo in B-flat minor op. 4
Piano Sonata No. 2 in F-sharp minor op. 2
Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major op. 1
Six Songs op. 3

Wilhelm Kempff (S)
Anatol Ugorsky (PS1, PS2)
Jessye Norman, Dietrich Fischer-Diskau, Daniel Barenboim (SS)

[Que]

The SEON box has the Kiukjens's Couperin recordings, which should be on everyone's need-to-have list.  At least a couple of them are unobtainable any other way.
I also liked the Leonhardt Bach recordings much better than Harry.
The only recordings in the bunch I did not like were the ones featuring a certain male alto named Jacobs.

I think René Jabobs' career change to (glorious) conducting must have been a matter of Divine Intervention...

Q

[Que]

Thread duty:

[asin]B001JK7URG[/asin]

AllMusic Review by Uncle Dave Lewis 

Fully two-thirds of this disc, Stradivarius' Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco: Concerti à più Istrumenti Opera Sesta, had passed under the laser, with the reviewer's jaws agape at the undeniable excellence of the proceedings thereon, before note was taken that this performance was the work of the Verona-based orchestra Il Tempio Armonico under the direction of Alberto Rasi. That much should have been obvious; Rasi and his group have been recording Dall'Abaco's six opus numbers seemingly entire, with the whole Opus 2 on ORF and Opus 5 on a previous (and outstanding) Stradivarius disc. As good as that was, this one, which contains the 12 concerti in Dall'Abaco's last opus, issued in Amsterdam when the composer was 60, manages to exceed the already high standard set by its predecessor. Firstly, the recording quality is perfect; this was made at the Villa Verità in Verona, a seventeenth century edifice now used as a resort hotel that regularly serves as a low-key concert venue. The acoustics are just right to accommodate the 15 pieces in Il Tempio Armonico; it decays just enough to provide warmth and a sense of room size without swallowing the music. Secondly, although the dimensions of the group are modest, they put out a BIG sound; it hardly seems possible that Rasi's band could produce such a full, rich ensemble, but it does. Il Tempio Armonico likewise benefits by being efficient, fleet of foot, well drilled, and scrupulously in tune.

Thirdly, though, one must take note of the quality of the work itself. Dall'Abaco was an Italian musician roughly the age of Antonio Vivaldi, and superficially sounds like Vivaldi, though in their day the two were regarded as peers. While Vivaldi worked practically his whole career in Venice, Dall'Abaco was based in Munich from about 1715; his music combines the scrappy angularity and drive of Vivaldi with a subtle hint of the hardy counterpoint and ballast of the German Baroque. Most of the latter aspect goes toward filling in the underpinnings of the music and results in a very satisfying texture. Dall'Abaco's Opus 6 was published in 1735, and while normally one might assume these 12 concerti were written over a long period of time, Dall'Abaco introduces some slight elements drawn from the galant style then emergent in Italy, which demonstrates that even in the twilight of his career Dall'Abaco still had his ear to the ground for new and worthwhile sources of inspiration.

Rasi and Il Tempio Armonico have wisely arranged the opus in an order to best facilitate listening, rather than recording the whole work in its original order, and each concerto appears to open upon new and unheralded vistas; this music is often immediately memorable and makes you want to listen -- even to just individual movements -- again and again. Stradivarius' Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco: Concerti à più Istrumenti Opera Sesta with Alberto Rasi and Il Tempio Armonico is two discs of top-flight Baroque orchestral music that are built to last, and perhaps Rasi was aware of the sense of occasion, as after Opus 6 there is nothing left of Dall'Abaco except his chamber music. This is urgently recommended to those who appreciate and enjoy the Baroque.

[Harry]

I think René Jabobs' career change to (glorious) conducting must have been a matter of Divine Intervention...

Q

I think we all agree about this horrible time when he tried to sing. I did not even keep those discs in the SEON box, threw them away when I opened the box. Still have nightmares about his voice, but as a conductor he is quite good.

[Harry]

More music from Shakespeare's time.

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2016/09/the-sound-of-shakespeare-joyne-hands_14.html?spref=tw

[Harry]

The SEON box has the Kiukjens's Couperin recordings, which should be on everyone's need-to-have list.  At least a couple of them are unobtainable any other way.
I also liked the Leonhardt Bach recordings much better than Harry.

I liked all the Leonhardt recordings for what they are, excellent interpretations belonging firmly to their time. Some of them, especially the organ recordings from Northern Italy are sublime and for me reference. It is true that I have problems with how he plays all the music in this box, but that's just detail criticism and never a doubt about his musicianship. I find that Dutch people are more critical about him and Bruggen for instance as in the rest of the world.

[The new erato]

I think René Jabobs' career change to (glorious) conducting must have been a matter of Divine Intervention...

Q

Yes, as a singer he was a hoot.

[Florestan]

Kyrie in F major KV 33 (1766)

Only the pure heart of a child can supplicate God in such a jocund manner. Haydn would have been delighted to hear it.

[Reckoner]

Rachmaninov: Piano Trio No. 2

[Florestan]

Kyrie in F major KV 33 (1766)

Only the pure heart of a child can supplicate God in such a jocund manner. Haydn would have been delighted to hear it.

Same work, different performance



Dagmar Schellenberger-Ernst (Soprano), Michael-Christfried Winkler (Organ), Herbert Kegel (Conductor)
Leipzig Radio Chorus
Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra

Now I am really confused. Kegel´s version is much slower (3:45) and reverential than Harnoncourt´s (1:38). The differences are striking, it´s as if you´re listening to two different pieces. Who is right? Musically and psychologically my preference goes to Harnoncourt, but is he historically accurate?

EDIT: I see the score is marked Larghetto but Harnconcourt sounds more like Andantino... I think both versions are very good and work equally well, but my romantic self has a soft spot for Harnoncourt. 

Oh, and btw: why is there a metronome marking in the score? Who came up with it? Certainly not Wolfferl neither Leopold.