What are you listening 2 now?

[The new erato]

i  experienced that version live in a 2019 concert and IMHO it works quite well.

[Karl Henning]

i  experienced that version live in a 2019 concert and IMHO it works quite well.

Nice!

[Sergeant Rock]

Atterberg Symphony No. 6 in C major "Dollar" Hirokami conducting




Sarge

[André]

i  experienced that version live in a 2019 concert and IMHO it works quite well.

Same here (in 2020). It was a tremendous experience.

[Papy Oli]

A singularly great cantata IMO, which I got to know early on in my Bach explorations.

Coincidentally, it is very early on for me too  0:) This week is the first week where I am approaching the cantatas in a properly organised manner, focusing only on the 3 or 4 cantatas of the current liturgical calendar week (listening first from the Gardiner and the Kuijken cycles which I now own and streaming some alternative versions).

Now in it for the long run   

[André]

Only the last work here is called 'Divertimento'. The others are a 4 movement violin concerto, a violin and piano sonata, an arrangement of 5 sonatas by Scarlatti for flute, violin, viola, cello and harp and a piece based on Weber for string quartet and harp. The actual divertimento is a concertante suite for flute and chamber orchestra.

The transmogrification of the Scarlatti sonatas is nothing short of a steal (literally) by Françaix: the language and personality of these works become entirely original. Never for one moment would I have guessed they were based on Scarlatti's. The violin concerto (1979) is a world premiere and I'm at a loss to understand why it's not part of the repertoire already.

Lots of variety here among these 5 works in 19 movements, and not a dull moment. This disc is pure enchantment.

[Traverso]

Mozart

CD7

Symphony No.29 (1954)

Symphony No.38 (1956)

Symphony No.40 (1962)

[Iota]

And now for something completely different:

Nothing but sex or violence on these early music covers!

Here:



Dukas: Piano Sonata


A first listen and not quite sure what I make of this. I liked it without ever being in danger of a raised pulse. Wiki says his influences were Beethoven, Debussy (who also taught him) and Franck. Franck I could definitely hear, but Debussy and Beethoven? Not on this occasion at least (maybe some Beethovenian trills in 2nd movement, but that 'maybe' from the bottom of the barrel). I thought I could hear much more Faure myself.
But those citing the other influences clearly know it much better than I, so plan to listen again at some point to see if my deafness to what others hear, falls away. The work is also very highly lauded, as is the performance.

To compound my possibly philistine-like sensibilities, the cover intrigued me perhaps more than anything else. :-/

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Leoš Janáček

String Quartet No.2 "Intimate Letters"

Pavel Haas

String Quartet No.2 "From the Monkey Mountains"

Excellent choices! 

PD

[Artem]

Abbado's live version of Mahler's 4th wouldn't make me want to replace my favourite interpretation of the 4th by Sinopli also live, but Berg's songs on that disk are very nice.

[ritter]

Pierre Jamet and his quintet (Jamet at the harp, plus flute, violin, viola and cello) play music they were intimately connected to (AFAIK, all works were either composed with this ensemble in mind or premiered by them, or dedicated to Jamet):

CD 2 of this set:


Gabriel Pierné's Voyage au pays du tendre is here performed with a reciter giving the names of the "villages" of this voyage ("tenderness", "confident friendship", "perfidy-meanness", etc. —you get it). Quaint, but extremely saccharine and sentimental. The same composer's Variations libres et final are much better to these ears. Vincent d'Indy's Suite en parties is IMHO a rather uninspired (as so often with this composer) and run-of-the-mill exercise in cheap neoclassical pastiche. Roussel's Sérénade is on an altogether higher plane than the works that precede it, particularly the wonderful andante middle movement. Florent Schmitt's Suite en rocaille, op. 84 is a loving tribute to the exuberance of the Louis XV era from a modern perspective, and works wonderfully (particularly the third movement, sans lenteur, which is touchingly nostalgic without a hint of kitsch or sentimentality).  I still haven't reached the Jean Françaix Quintet, and TBH I've never cared much for that composer (but, who knows, perhaps I'm in for a pleasant surprise).

[Karl Henning]

CD 13:

Willem Pijper
Zes symfonische epigrammen
Haitink

Berlioz
Les nuits d'été, Op. 7
Ann Murray, sop
Haitink

R. Strauss
Tod und Verklärung, Op. 24
Masur

Ives
Three Places in New England
Jn Adams

[SonicMan46]

Delius, Frederick (1862-1934) - Orchestral Works & Concertos w/ Mackerras, Orchestras, and Tasmin Little/Raphael Wallfisch - still reading the book on British Music (last pic) and at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries - just finished Delius and always enjoyed his traveling exploits (Florida orange plantation, Virginia, Paris w/ his wife Jelka, and others); own a half dozen discs of his music - this book is quite detailed and discusses many British composers that I own no music and many I've never even heard about (and likely have little if anything recorded?); however, I do have a lot of British music and will have to just be selective as I finish the book.  Dave

   

[VonStupp]

Claude Debussy
The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, L. 124/130

Fritz Weaver & Felicia Montealegre - speakers
NY Phil. - Leonard Bernstein

Music that doesn't sound typical of full-on impressionist Debussy, nor the dewy-eyed Romanticism of his youth, I find his late music of Le Martyre de Saint-Sébastien fascinating, and his orchestral colors remain strong.

I am the rare classical music listener who relishes incidental music that comes complete with narration or spoken portions, and Montealegre is committedly impassioned as St. Sebastian and Fritz Weaver is affable as the narrator. St. Sebastian reminds me strongly of Honegger's Joan of Arc at the Stake, but without the wide variety of musical styles.

Bernstein translates the French narration into English himself, and I suspect he interpolates in a couple of places, probably to make the meaning of this story affect an audience of the 1960's. The chorus and vocal soloists, however, still sing in French.

Tilson Thomas is still the go-to performance for me though, with Leslie Caron speaking in French, but the New York Phil. sounds great here. I know Pierre Boulez came out with a critical edition of Martyrdom in the late 2000's, but I haven't heard the recordings of Thierry Fisher on BBC, Jacques Mercier, or Danielle Gatti since that edition came out.

[Traverso]

Delius, Frederick (1862-1934) - Orchestral Works & Concertos w/ Mackerras, Orchestras, and Tasmin Little/Raphael Wallfisch - still reading the book on British Music (last pic) and at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries - just finished Delius and always enjoyed his traveling exploits (Florida orange plantation, Virginia, Paris w/ his wife Jelka, and others); own a half dozen discs of his music - this book is quite detailed and discusses many British composers that I own no music and many I've never even heard about (and likely have little if anything recorded?); however, I do have a lot of British music and will have to just be selective as I finish the book.  Dave

   

We all are selective,it's called discrimination.

[Sergeant Rock]

Atterberg Ballad  Without Words, Hirokami conducting (a substantial one movement, 18 minute work)




Sarge

[SonicMan46]

We all are selective,it's called discrimination.

LOL!   So right you are - just finished the chapter on Arnold Bax, and own 12+ CDs including a symphony box - so I'm going to discriminately pick out 3 or 4 discs -    Dave

[Symphonic Addict]

Saygun keeps surprising me. On this occasion with his masterful quartets. There are four of them, being the last one unfinished. This is a fascinating journey where each quartet is somewhat more advanced than the previous one. The quality of the music repays many listens, and the entire quartets demand them. I was especially hooked by the 1st one. It has a kind of mysticism and notable Oriental influences. The Adagio is particularly beautiful. Recommended for any fan of this composer. Along with the Toch's quartets, these have been major discoveries to me.

[Karl Henning]

Winding up this splendid box at last—

CD 14:

Takemitsu
A Flock Descends Into the Pentagonal Garden
Jn Adams

Shostakovich
Symphony № 5 in d minor, Op.47
Kurt Sanderling

Schreker
Vom ewigen Leben
Claudia Barainsky
Gerd Albrecht

[SonicMan46]

Bax, Arnold (1883-1953) - Tone Poems & Chamber Works + Others on the 4 discs below - well, I'm discriminating in my Bax collection of a dozen or so discs, and selected the ones below; really like his chamber works.  Dave