Purchases Today

[aligreto]

[EigenUser]

I don't want you to give me grief about buying any more Turangalila recordings again! Consider this a form of black mail.

BTW, that Lintu recording of the TS that I asked you about came out on Spotify two weeks ago. It is outstanding. Possibly my new favorite recording.

[Mirror Image]

BTW, that Lintu recording of the TS that I asked you about came out on Spotify two weeks ago. It is outstanding. Possibly my new favorite recording.

Very nice, Nate. I have yet to listen to it. In fact, it's still sealed. I figured it was a good performance. Lintu is an excellent conductor.

[ritter]

Some Reynaldo Hahn rarities  (and one old favourite):

[asin]B00U2U9VZS[/asin]

[Moonfish]

A Mengelberg Party!  I would love to hear your impressions of both the Brahms and the Tchaikovsky symphonies!!   

[Mirror Image]

Some Reynaldo Hahn rarities  (and one old favourite):

[asin]B00U2U9VZS[/asin]

Very nice, ritter. Hahn is still relatively unexplored territory for me. Could you perhaps give an idea of what his music is like or what kind of sound-world the music inhabits? I'd be much obliged kind sir.

[Mirror Image]

I had to right a horrible wrong:

[asin]B0090S4B2G[/asin]

How this set slipped past me is beyond me? Hat-tip to fellow member, jfdrex.

[ritter]

Very nice, ritter. Hahn is still relatively unexplored territory for me. Could you perhaps give an idea of what his music is like or what kind of sound-world the music inhabits? I'd be much obliged kind sir.

I apologize for the delayed reply, Mirror Image.

I must start by saying that my appreciation of Hahn is tinged by several extra-musical issues. It's probably  clear by now to many that I'm a bit of a francophile. I'm also fascinated by the world of Marcel Proust (with whom Reynaldo had a close liaison), and am myself a Venezuelan living in Europe. Furthermore, my grandmother's family was acquainted with the Echenagucias (Hahn's maternal family). None of this, of course, makes Hahn's music better or worse, or more or less interesting. And yet...

The most popular segment of Hahn's oeuvre is clearly his art songs, or mélodies (a genre which IIRC you don't care much for). He excelled at this from an early age, and some of his settings (in many occasions, of major French poets) are actually quite accomplished, and certainly go beyond the "salon music" label that has often been attached to Hahn's compositions. For example, the Chansons grises (on Verlaine) and À Chloris (on Théophile de Viau) are IMHO at the same level as anything Fauré composed in this form.

Then there's the piano music, with the four suites that make up Le Rossignol éperdu enjoying a sort of renaissance as of late. A string of minatures, some of which are character pieces, others are travel-inspired, unpretentious as a whole, and quite pleasant in general (perhaps too long to listen to in one go).

The stage works are particularly "French". His opera Le Marchand de Venise is quite beautiful (but avaialable only from semi-private sources), and his operettas (Ciboulette being the most famous one) are good if you like that sort of thing (but knowledge of the French language is a requisite to appreciate them, I venture to say).

Finally, there's the orchestral and ensemble stuff, like the CD I just bought. Here Hahn's backward-looking attitude in music is very palpable. Le Bal de Béatrice d'Este is delightful, with a curious orchestration of winds, piano, two harps and percussion. It's not really neo-classical avant la lettre, it's trying to emulate the "spirit" (more than the "style") of some renaissance music ("archaïsant" is the French term that would apply, and I cannot find an exact English equivalent).  The Concerto provençal (for flute, clarinet, bassoon, horn and strings) is a delight, very atmospheric and very carefree (surprisingly so, as it was composed in 1944, when Hahn was stearing clear in the South of France from the Nazis in occupied Paris).

Well, this is turning out too long already, and I haven't answered your question: what does his music sound like? We're in a world that rejects any sort of harmonic innovation, but that is well crafted and has a definite charm, even if at times it turns (deliberately) into pastiche and, at others (seldom), can almost be kitsch   I'd say it's compeltely imbued by nostalgia, pleasant to the ear,  and deliberatly démodé by the time it was composed. But, with these features, Hahn does have a very personal style, which could not be confused with that of any other composer. The sound world of a certain period  in France that had ended long before Hahn stopped compsoing, and directed to some social circles ("le grand monde") whose influnece had also vanished by then.

If you wish to explore Hahn's orchestral/ensemble music, then the new Timpani CD is great (it's the best performance of Béatrice d'Este I've heard). Another good entry point would be the Piano concerto, where this "nostalgic" fealing is really accomplished, and which I think is a piece that deserves wider recognition:

[asin]B000002ZYF[/asin]

Here it's performed by the wondeful Magda Tagliaferro (under the composer):

https://www.youtube.com/v/mEFe46xfIXg

[Mirror Image]

I apologize for the delayed reply, Mirror Image.

I must start by saying that my appreciation of Hahn is tinged by several extra-musical issues. It's probably  clear by now to many that I'm a bit of a francophile. I'm also fascinated by the world of Marcel Proust (with whom Reynaldo had a close liaison), and am myself a Venezuelan living in Europe. Furthermore, my grandmother's family was acquainted with the Echenagucias (Hahn's maternal family). None of this, of course, makes Hahn's music better or worse, or more or less interesting. And yet...

The most popular segment of Hahn's oeuvre is clearly his art songs, or mélodies (a genre which IIRC you don't care much for). He excelled at this from an early age, and some of his settings (in many occasions, of major French poets) are actually quite accomplished, and certainly go beyond the "salon music" label that has often been attached to Hahn's compositions. For example, the Chansons grises (on Verlaine) and À Chloris (on Théophile de Viau) or IMHO at the same level as anything Fauré composed in this form.

Then there's the piano music, with the four suites that make up Le Rossignol éperdu enjoying a sort of renaissance as of late. A string of minatures, some of which are character pieces, others are travel-inspired, unpretentious as a whole, and quite pleasant in general (perhaps too long to listen to in one go).

The stage works are particularly "French". His opera Le Marchand de Venise is quite beautiful (but avaialable only from semi-private sources), and his operettas (Ciboulette being the most famous one) are good if you like that sort of thing (but knowledge of the French language is a requisite to appreciate them, I venture to say).

Finally, there's the orchestral and ensemble stuff, like the CD I just bought. Here Hahn's backward-looking attitude in music is very palpable. Le Bal de Béatrice d'Este is delightful, with a curious orchestration of winds, piano, two harps and percussion. It's not really neo-classical avant la lettre, it's trying to emulate the "spirit" (more than the "style") of some renaissance music ("archaïsant" is the French term that would apply, and I cannot find an exact English equivalent).  The Concerto provençal (for flute, clarinet, bassoon, horn and strings) is a delight, very atmospheric and very carefree (surprisingly so, as it was composed in 1944, when Hahn was stearing clear in the South of France from the Nazis in occupied Paris).

Well, this is turning out too long already, and I haven't answered your question: what does his music sound like? We're in a world that rejects any sort of harmonic innovation, but that is well crafted and has a definite charm, even if at times it turns (deliberately) into pastiche and, at others (seldom), can almost be kitsch   I'd say it's compeltely imbued by nostalgia, pleasant to the ear,  and deliberatly démodé by the time it was composed. But, with these features, Hahn does have a very personal style, which could not be confused with that of any other composer. The sound world of a certain period  in France that had ended long before Hahn stopped compsoing, and directed to some social circles ("le grand monde") whose influnece had also vanished by then.

If you wish to explore Hahn's orchestral/ensemble music, then the new Timpani CD is great (it's the best performance of Béatrice d'Este I've heard). Another good entry point would be the Piano concerto, where this "nostalgic" fealing is really accomplished, and which I think is a piece that deserves wider recognition:

[asin]B000002ZYF[/asin]

Here it's performed by the wondeful Magda Tagliaferro (under the composer):

https://www.youtube.com/v/mEFe46xfIXg

Wow, thanks for the detailed response, ritter. I'll definitely have to look more into Hahn's music as some point.

[Mirror Image]

Just bought:

[PerfectWagnerite]

Just bought:

Cute girl. Almost as pretty as Julia Fischer.

[Mirror Image]

Bought this for the Nielsen:

[aligreto]

[Henk]

Bought this for the Nielsen:

Not for Vilde?

[Mirror Image]

Not for Vilde?

Oh, I thought was a given, Henk?

[Mirror Image]

Just bought:

[Mirror Image]

Just bought:

[Todd]

[king ubu]

I'm not that much of a handelian (I know, I know, that's my loss and not George Frideric's  ), but I can say I find Sandrine Piau an utterly delightful singer  . Enjoy!

No visit in several days (very few new arrivals ... hey, it's only days after all) - but that one is on my list to get while the "early music" sale on presto lasts. Their shipping has gone up some again, it seems, but I just love their online store and newletter and all. And they offer good service, too (the other two large UK classical shops, I keep forgetting their names, sorry, but I don't get past the [lack of] design of their websites, too messy for my taste).

This, I think, was the only classical arrival lately:

[asin]B00PCCWXPG[/asin]

[TheGSMoeller]

picked up the other 2 DG recordings of Bernstein's Sibelius...




and bought the following on iTunes, although I'm linking the Amazon page. One of the best 3rd performances I've listened to, very animated and full of life. Not a big Hindemith listener, but the "Temperaments" piece is nice.

[asin]B00009IAY3[/asin]