What are you listening 2 now?

[Todd]

Op 28.

[DavidW]

Mozart: Requiem (1990)
Marriner, Academy of St Martin in the Fields

I listened to a Requiem recording recently - I think it was Rene Jacobs - and I remembered that I love this music. So I set aside a few new-to-me recordings to stream over the next few days (this one, Harnoncourt's last one, and Bernstein's last one). I have Marriner to thank for introducing me to Wolfie's music a million and a half years ago, thanks of course to the Amadeus film and soundtrack. That soundtrack only has a small portion of this piece, though. This recording is from half a decade later, but 5 min in, and I know I will like it just as much as the bit from the film.

I was going to say that my was introduction... but I was wrong. It took me awhile to track it down based on my vague memory of a tape I bought in high school.  But I did. This was my first Mozart Requiem:



I kind of miss those days when I didn't care about the performers, the instruments, sound quality. I just bought these tapes and fell in love with the music.

[DavidW]

Thread duty:

[foxandpeng]

Gál: Symphony No. 1
Orchestra of the Swan/Woods

One of the British prizewinners of the 1928 Columbia Schubert Centenary competition, of which I listened to the overall winner (Atterberg 6) earlier.

I love the Gál symphonies... 2 and 4 most of all!

Thread duty:

John Metcalf
Cello Symphony
Raphael Wallfisch
William Boughton
English Symphony Orchestra
Nimbus

This is a beautiful and engaging Cello Symphony by Metcalf. I can take or leave the accompanying Mapping Wales and Plain Chants, both of which lack the invention and emotion of the Cello Symphony, but this is worth your time. It has melody and pathos, and improves on every listen.

Well recommended, and I think it is worth adding Metcalf's own commentary:

"Here are a few pointers for the first time listener:

The work opens quietly with the solo cello above a pedal bass. It has for me the character of a journey by night on foot or at sea. As the orchestra celli and voices and other instruments join, the solo instrument is 'lost from view' in a swelling crowd and the music builds over several minutes to a climax. A trumpet solo 'invites' the solo cello to 'speak' and a declamatory and rhapsodic solo passage with orchestra follows. At the end of this passage the music dies away and reverts again to an echo of the opening with bassoons and voices over the pedal base.

A short linking solo passage follows for solo cello accompanied by orchestral celli playing pizzicato. The second section opens with all the celli playing solo lines in a gentle rocking, elegiac passage. This again builds as other instruments join and an extended dramatic passage of music follows. A sudden very quiet moment with solo instrument above muted trombones heralds the end of the second section.

The third section opens with the whole orchestra in chordal writing. A massive fortissimo leads to the reintroduction of the solo instrument using musical ideas which recall the first section. The rhapsodic character of the music continues and leads to the statement of a broad romantic melody first by the cello then the whole orchestra. This carries the music on towards its conclusion where the voices, which up to then have had a subliminal, colouristic role, are heard prominently in the texture for the first time."

[Bachtoven]

[foxandpeng]

Gavin Bryars
Cello Concerto, 'Farewell to Philosophy'
Julian Lloyd-Webber
James Judd
English Chamber Orchestra

Brilliant, to be honest. But then, Bryars often is, IMO.

[NumberSix]

I was going to say that my was introduction... but I was wrong. It took me awhile to track it down based on my vague memory of a tape I bought in high school.  But I did. This was my first Mozart Requiem:



I kind of miss those days when I didn't care about the performers, the instruments, sound quality. I just bought these tapes and fell in love with the music.

Wow, I love it! Can you still play the tape? (or find a digital version, maybe on youtube?)

And yes, I was just thinking about a modern version of that issue, how annoyed I am with myself right now for my struggles with finding the goldilocks streaming service, etc. I didn't have this problem 12 months ago. I was just happy with either Apple or Spotify, depending on my mood. . .

They all work great, and they all have this issue or that issue. But everything plays more music than I could dream of hearing in the years I have left. So who cares?

[Mapman]

A couple 50 cent CDs from a library sale today:

Brahms: String Quintet #1, Op. 88
Juilliard Quartet, Trampler

My first listen to this work. I'm not as impressed with the tone of the Juilliard quartet as I am with the Emerson quartet.



Borodin: String Quartet #2
Emerson Quartet

I've heard this recording before, so it's nice to finally own it. The first and third movements are gorgeous!

[André]

Gavin Bryars
Cello Concerto, 'Farewell to Philosophy'
Julian Lloyd-Webber
James Judd
English Chamber Orchestra

Brilliant, to be honest. But then, Bryars often is, IMO.

I haven't listened to that disc in ages, but I recall liking the concerto a lot. I should pick this one for this week's listening.

[André]

When leading the Wiener Philharmoniker Böhm became a different conductor and they became better musicians. This recording is very slightly slower than those he made with the Berliner Philharmoniker or the Concertgebouworkest (a glorious disc in its own right). The extra time is entirely spent on painstaking articulation (every string or wind line is heard clear as day), and adding 'air' in and around the attacks. Wind instruments are constantly to the fore, even when playing counterpoint figurations. It's like the proverbial veil being lifted, shafts of light coming through and revealing fine details of texture and rythm. All the extra details add up and make the performances seem incredibly vibrant.

Not every tempo is measured though: both slow movements are faster than similar big band recordings by the BP (Karajan), LSO (Abbado), WP (Bernstein), Klemperer (PO) or Walter (Columbia SO). This Jupiter's Andante cantabile really sings, something you'd never guess from the Bernstein or Walter recordings. The Jupiter finale is a case in point. It's slower than Szell but it bubbles and smiles all the way to the crystal clear canon before the coda.

[DavidW]

Wow, I love it! Can you still play the tape? (or find a digital version, maybe on youtube?)

I can stream it, rereleased on Vox:

[AnotherSpin]

When leading the Wiener Philharmoniker Böhm became a different conductor and they became better musicians. This recording is very slightly slower than those he made with the Berliner Philharmoniker or the Concertgebouworkest (a glorious disc in its own right). The extra time is entirely spent on painstaking articulation (every string or wind line is heard clear as day), and adding 'air' in and around the attacks. Wind instruments are constantly to the fore, even when playing counterpoint figurations. It's like the proverbial veil being lifted, shafts of light coming through and revealing fine details of texture and rythm. All the extra details add up and make the performances seem incredibly vibrant.

Not every tempo is measured though: both slow movements are faster than similar big band recordings by the BP (Karajan), LSO (Abbado), WP (Bernstein), Klemperer (PO) or Walter (Columbia SO). This Jupiter's Andante cantabile really sings, something you'd never guess from the Bernstein or Walter recordings. The Jupiter finale is a case in point. It's slower than Szell but it bubbles and smiles all the way to the crystal clear canon before the coda.

It was a CD that I heard in a friend's apartment in the early 90s, and I was simply left speechless. It felt like I was hearing well-known music for the first time ever. The difficulty was that the availability of CDs in Ukraine at that time was strictly limited, and I had no way to buy the same one for myself. A few years later, the situation improved, and I bought the disc. But somehow, I couldn't recreate that very first impression. I suppose that happens often in life. Will listen to it again, who knows.

[steve ridgway]

Penderecki: A sea of dreams did breathe on me...



I'm enjoying this lengthy cycle of songs for a trio of contrasting singers, choir and orchestra .

[Maestro267]

Penderecki: A sea of dreams did breathe on me...

[image]

I'm enjoying this lengthy cycle of songs for a trio of contrasting singers, choir and orchestra .

I was a tad surprised that it wasn't retroactively considered to be his 9th Symphony. It's similar to his 8th Symphony in that it's songs for soloists, choir and orchestra, and A sea of dreams has the distinction of having the songs grouped into three parts that would correspond to movements in a symphony.

[foxandpeng]

I haven't listened to that disc in ages, but I recall liking the concerto a lot. I should pick this one for this week's listening.

Ah, happy listening. Bryars is fantastic.

Thread duty:

Krzysztof Penderecki
Cello Concerto 2
Antoni Wit
Warsaw PO
Naxos

A suitably Pendereckian Cello Concerto to begin the day.

It is raining outside. Yes, Krzysztof, yes, it is.

[Maestro267]

Delius: A Song of the High Hills
BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Andrew Davis

Got reminded of this gorgeous piece yesterday when a new performance showed up on my Youtube feed. I really should listen to/get more Delius for my collection. Stunning music, richly orchestrated, in this case with a wordless choir as well.

[Que]

This arrived on disc:



Johannes Tourout (Tonnrout/Thauranth/Tauront/Thaurath/Torrenth) was a Flemish cantor at the Austrian (Habsburg) imperial court in the 1460's. This recording with songs, motets, a Magnificat and a (almost complete) mass, proves that Tourout was a very significant Franco-Flemish composer.

http://www.musica-dei-donum.org/cd_reviews/Passacaille_PAS1124.html

[vandermolen]

Such a wonderful piece!

And I increasingly admire Handley's recording of it with the Ulster Orchestra.

[Madiel]

Nielsen: Sovnen (The Sleep)



Enjoyable. It seems from my previous notes that I agree with the Gramophone reviewer, this is the best performance on this album.

I do wish there were more options though. Works for choir and orchestra are one genre that, apart from the Beethoven and Mahler symphonies, has really fallen off the radar in the modern world.

[steve ridgway]

Krzysztof Penderecki
Cello Concerto 2
Antoni Wit
Warsaw PO
Naxos

That's one I bought this morning from the Chandos download sale. The samples sounded good .