The classical what are you listening to now ? thread.

[gavreid]

Argo (2) – D18D 3. 3 x LP, 1976. I had this on a 90s CD but just picked this up for £5

 

[alanbeeb]

Gardner Read Symphony #4

Tell us a bit about that? What's it like? I see the recording is by Lorin Maazel and the Cleveland orchestra so it must have some pedigree.

 

[windhoek]

Le Quattro Stagioni as performed by Rachel Podger Brecon Baroque.

 

[davidjt]

The Pretre/Caballe/Bergonzi La Traviata. Trying very hard not to bang on about it, but one of the delights of the new dac is the separation and clarity of vocals. Opera never sounded this convincing before. It's a delight.

 

[alanbeeb]

An odd find on NEW vinyl yesterday at a new record shop that has opened near me.... why DG should think this worthy of a vinyl release is a bit odd, but I'm not complaining too much. The vinyl quality is superb, totally silent surfaces on both discs.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09X99XPGH/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

A solidly OK but not great performance of the Dvorak Violin Concerto from Hilary Hahn with the Frankfurt RSO under Andrés Orozco-Estrada. And a jolly nice Carmen Fantasia.... however both of these performances are blown into irrelevance by the completely new-to-me Violin Concerto by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera.

Premiered in 1960 by Ruggeri Ricci and the NY Phil with Leonard Bernstein, this is a stonker of a concerto that I cannot believe is not in the repertoire - its up there with Berg, Britten and Shostakovich amongst 20th Century concertos as far as my ears are concerned.... superb!

I was less convinced by the performance of the Dvorak - which is too closely recorded and just doesn't have the swing and danceability of Sarah Chang with Colin Davis and the LSO. But the Ginastera is a real worthwhile discovery for me - and much better recorded.

 

[jandl100]

Strange and immersive and beautiful

For piano trio, electronics.

 

[jandl100]

Gardner Read 4th symphony.

Tell us a bit about that? What's it like? I see the recording is by Lorin Maazel and the Cleveland orchestra so it must have some pedigree.

It's an enjoyable listen. A live concert recording.
To my uneducated ears, it's fully tonal.
Almost Sibelian in some of its textures. Perhaps inspired in part by Sibelius 7th.
A nicely constructed slow buildup to the 1st movement (of 2).
Quite delicate and sparsely orchestrated in parts.
Worth a listen for sure.

It's on Spotify.
https://open.spotify.com/album/1Ik6SBhKDWZcLlZFsuzqq2?si=sDaQtgArSOaeNRyR4zIixg

 

[Jim Audiomisc]

Just 'discovered' Alan Hovhaness's works. Really like what I've heard on some randomly-chosen Naxos "American Classics" examples of his work.

 

[jandl100]

Yes, Hovhannes is fun in a New Age-y kind of way.
Coincidentally, a few days ago I listened to his guitar concerto, very enjoyable.

It's generally music of the Easy Listening variety, imo, but some pieces I find more challenging, like the string quartet music.

 

[jandl100]

I'm not usually much into French music (a horrible generalisation, I know) but this intriguing concept double album of French string trios composed between 1926 and 1939 is proving very enjoyable indeed.

 

[eisenach]

Britten : A Ceremony of Carols; Cleobury, King's College.



I've had the RCA version by The Philadelphia Singers on my shelves for a while. It's women's voices, as Britten wanted and is no doubt quite accurately performed, but to me lacks a bit of "magic".

I've just found the King's version, second hand. Boys voices, of course, and technically it's not perfect, but the fragility of the voices, to my mind, complements the texts perfectly. The harp playing is outstanding. Yep, the magic was there. I was moved ! Well recorded, as you'd expect from Argo.

 

[Jim Audiomisc]

Yes, Hovhannes is fun in a New Age-y kind of way.
Coincidentally, a few days ago I listened to his guitar concerto, very enjoyable.

It's generally music of the Easy Listening variety, imo, but some pieces I find more challenging, like the string quartet music.

TBH I'm not interested in "challenging" music as I don't want to have pass an exam. Got fed up with decades of R3 "three farts and a raspberry" items the gave it before moving on. I just want what I find I enjoy or is moving is worth listening to.

To me it sounds more 'world music based' albeit with a bias towards his parental roots. FWIW I also like Indian Classical (sic) music some of the far-eastern types. Just for the sounds they make and the emotional impact. I guess I like 'modal' in a broad sense. Hovnaness t me seems more like a differently rooted form of Vaughn Williams.

 

[jandl100]

Yes, @Jim Audiomisc, I'm sympathetic to your viewpoint on Hovhaness.
I wasn't intending to be disparaging.
The guitar concerto that I enjoyed is of the laidback, tonally non challenging variety as well.

The string quartets I mentioned as being more challenging I have failed so far to get on with!

 

[eisenach]

Pure Hell ! What were they thinking of ? Christmas can only get better from here.

Bach's music has suffered all kinds of abuse, but usually survives it, more or less. This is definitely a great deal less. I don't think I'll make it to the end. 70 minutes to go, and the service of 9 lessons and carols from King's will rescue me !

(If you want to suffer, too, you can find it here :

)

 

[Barrymagrec]

Thought we`d have a Ring day (Karajan) but got up a little late so will hold over Gotterdammerung until New Years Eve, as usual, that will be Solti.

 

[davidjt]

There aren't that many 'great recordings' in my collection as I tend to prefer sota sound, but the Oistrakh/Rostropovich/Richter performance on EMI Classics of LvB's Triple Concerto was so enjoyable tonight that I let it run on to the Brahms Double. Both excellent.

 

[Todd A]

Natacha Kudritskaya as soloist has impressed mightily. Her pairing with Daniel Rowland playing violin and piano works by Enescu represents the best recording of that repertoire that I've heard. I expected to enjoy this. But not this much. It bowled me over. The Chausson, recorded big and bold, is like a musical tidal wave washing over the listener. It sounds lush and gorgeous and rich and beautiful and daring – and all-encompassing. The listener sits nearly paralyzed in awe and delight. The playing offers unabashedly over the top opulence and sheer decadence, in the manner of a chocolate lava cake topped with chocolate ice cream and chocolate shavings and fresh whipped cream and a chocolate covered strawberry. It’s all too terribly much, yet one devours it greedily. Kudritskaya and Rowland hand-picked the accompanying soloists, and they are all of one mind. Gloriously so.

But wait, there’s more! What follows is something rare, transcribed Debussy that works. Craig White did the transcription duties for Canope, Bruyeres, and La Puerto, and the duo deliver. The very familiar pieces take on a different life with Rowland’s super-rich, almost dark-hued playing sounding almost viola-like at times, until he must soar into the uppermost registers. The melodies melt the heart. Some of the string writing, or at least playing, adds an air of vague eastern sounds, which makes sense given the composer. These transcriptions do not match let alone supplant the originals, but Mr White’s work is good enough that I shall probably have to sample more of his scribblings.

The disc closes out with Franck’s Violin Sonata. Here’s a work that needs to be overcooked to succeed, and the duo delivers. Really, this piece cannot be over-interpreted. I want gobs of vibrato, outsized dynamic contrasts, swelling forte playing, the whole thing. Kudritskaya and Rowland agree. What’s best is that the musical roles are often reversed, with Rowland’s rich, thick tone adding weight and Kudritskaya’s often crisp, nimble piano playing adding propulsion. Sure, she hammers out low register playing when needed, but she keeps things moving forward while the violinist sort of meanders in the most appealing way. This recording is so good it almost makes me want to engage in comparative listening.

Given Kudritskaya and Rowland’s style, I’d love to hear what they could do with Schumann, Strauss, Szymanowski, and Korngold. More common core rep violin sonatas would surely delight, as well. And they may be able to deliver Bartok Violin Sonatas to rival Zsigmondy and Nisse in terms of heat.

I streamed this, so it cannot rate as a purchase of the year this year, but I think I shall have to add it to my collection next year.

 

[Todd A]

Natacha Kudritskaya and Daniel Rowland’s A French Connection recording I listened to yesterday was a blockbuster. This mixed rep disc Les années folles is an earlier recording by the duo that blends more geographically disparate music. It starts with a Debussy Violin Sonata and Beau Soir that stylistically matches their all-French music disc perfectly. The playing is super-heated and delights. Things stay French with Poulenc’s Violin Sonata. The pair work their magic again. Then they change things up with a short piece by Piazzolla that sounds extremely fine, making me wish they had included more.

Then things turn to Ravel, first with a transcribed Pièce en forme de Habanera and then with the M77 Violin Sonata. The former sounds lovely and precise. The latter starts off downright dreamy, and as the first movement progresses, Rowland, in particular, brings all manner of coloristic effects to bear as Kudritskaya keeps things more grounded – until she then starts playing in an almost faux improvised manner. The second movement sounds like jazz with a surrealist or absurdist edge. The Perpetuum mobile closer more than meets that designation and zips along in a manner seemingly swifter than Allegro. The duo brings enough of a unique sound that my ears perked up. They make me want to do comparative listening for this work as well.

Next come a couple pieces by Gershwin: It Ain’t Necessarily So and Bess, You Is My Woman Now. The duo delivers ample swing, though better renditions are available. Finally comes George Antheil’s Second Violin Sonata. This compact work is dense with ideas and radical shifts, jazz inspirations and chaos, vibrant rhythm and striking dynamics, virtuosic violin and piano playing, and bongos. I’ve never heard anything quite like it.

The recording overall is not quite to the same staggering level as their all-French recording, but at its best, it most certainly is. The well-known warhorses sound fresh. That’s good. More than good.

 

[Todd A]

Out of the blue, I decided to listen to a gob of recordings of Dvořák final numbered quartet, Op 105. No in depth commentary will follow, just the most general of descriptions.

Psophos first, with its aughts lineup. Beautiful, mellow, bland bordering on the boring.

 

[Todd A]

The Vanbrugh take a shot at Dvorak’s Op 105. Somewhat distantly recorded, the Irish ensemble digs in and delivers dramatic playing, quiet playing, perfect pacing, supremely fine ensemble, and just sound swell. Maybe not as “idiomatic” as some Czech ensembles, but that’s OK.