What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? III

[gramophonic]

Sullivan Irish Symphony, Imperial March, Victoria and Merrie England (Owain Arwel Hughes) (CPO, 1993)
Listening to this wonderful cd and yet again thinking of how Arthur Sullivan is deserving of much more modern praise than he gets in some ways. Not only him, in fact, but CPO for putting out seemingly endless interesting cds. This one turned up in a collection only recently and is well recorded as are all the other CPO cds I have.

[smittims]

CPO have been very good in reviving forgotten symphonies, by Weingartner, Larsson and Milhaud among others,, and in surprisingly good performances considering they must have been done on minimal rehearsal time. Sullivan's symphony is a delightful work, and surely deserves its place alongside the Bizet, Schumann and Mendelssohn symphonies.

[Pulcinella]

CPO have been very good in reviving forgotten symphonies, by Weingartner, Larsson and Milhaud among others,, and in surprisingly good performances considering they must have been done on minimal rehearsal time. Sullivan's symphony is a delightful work, and surely deserves its place alongside the Bizet, Schumann and Mendelssohn symphonies.

BBC MM issued a CD of Sullivan's Te Deum and Cello concerto: must dig it out for another hearing.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BBC-Music-Sullivan-Overture-Concerto/dp/B000MB0J2Q/ref=sr_1_1?crid=8M4G2Y9KH15V&keywords=Sullivan+Cello+Te+Deum&qid=1683790198&s=music&sprefix=sullivan+cello+te+deum%2Cpopular%2C174&sr=1-1-catcorr

[Sir Velo]

Sullivan Irish Symphony, Imperial March, Victoria and Merrie England (Owain Arwel Hughes) (CPO, 1993)
Listening to this wonderful cd and yet again thinking of how Arthur Sullivan is deserving of much more modern praise than he gets in some ways. Not only him, in fact, but CPO for putting out seemingly endless interesting cds. This one turned up in a collection only recently and is well recorded as are all the other CPO cds I have.

Just giving this is a spin on Qobuz in the Hickox/BBC Phil recording. Mendelssohn is the obvious model, shades of the Italian in the first subject. Gramophone thought thus: "Owain Arwel Hughes’s 1993 CPO version was, in all honesty, just a shade too lacklustre to be entirely convincing, so plaudits all round to Richard Hickox and his excellent Manchester band (and the Chandos production team) for at last granting the symphony the first wholly recommendable digital recording it so richly deserves."

[Sir Velo]

Sullivan's symphony is a delightful work, and surely deserves its place alongside the Bizet, Schumann and Mendelssohn symphonies.

Personally i wouldn't put it quite on the same level as Bizet or the other models but an enjoyable work nonetheless. It has a freshness, although the first movement when repeats are observed probably outstays its welcome. I'd certainly rank it alongside Parry's more celebrated symphonic utterances and worth the occasional outing.

[Stanfordian]

Ravel
Piano Trio in A minor
Saint-Saëns
Piano Trio No. 1 in F major, Op. 18
Cello Sonata No. 1 in C minor Op. 32
Maria De La Pau (piano), Yan Pascal Tortelier (violin), Paul Tortelier (cello)
Recorded 1978, Abbey Road, London (piano trios); 1979 Salle Wagram, Paris (sonata)
CD 13 of ‘Paul Tortelier - The Great EMI Recordings’ (20 CD set)

[MickyD]

CPO is also doing great service to Edward German - The National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland under Andrew Penny recording much of his music. Having only ever heard about 'Merrie England', my ears were surprised this morning to hear part of his second symphony (The 'Norwich') - very pleasant listening.

[teamsaint]

Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra SZ 116/Four Orchestral Pieces SZ 51 (Op. 12)

Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra/Karina Canellakis (24/192 download from eclassical)

After Susanna Mälkki's very fine version of the Concerto on BIS, another excellent performance (and recording). Takes-no-prisoners approach which works very well with what is possibly an over-familiar work. The Four Orchestral Pieces has been a favourite work since the Eliahu Inbal recording (and the first Boulez). I liked this performance very much.

Never really gotten ( I know, I know) into the Concerto for Orchestra for whatever reason , so will give this a listen to try to put that right.

[Petrushka]

Brahms: Symphony No 3
Elgar: Symphony No 1

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sir Adrian Boult

ICA Classics ICAC 5063

Recorded at the Royal Albert Hall, London on August 6 1977 (Brahms) and July 28 1976 (Elgar)

This is a sensational, utterly thrilling performance of the Elgar 1, quite the finest I've ever heard and in splendid sound too, a tribute to the BBC engineers of the day. So thrilled was I, indeed, that I spontaneously joined in the storm of applause at the end. The Elgar came just three days after the BBC broadcast a live relay from Salzburg of Karajan and the VPO in Bruckner 9, a recording I also have on CD. How lucky we were to have such quality in those days!

As an aside, I remember both of these days very well. I never did hear the Brahms that night as it was the day a close friend got married and I was at the party. The Elgar comes from that never to be forgotten summer of 1976.

[Mandryka]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm4dlKgImjo

Mahler’s piano reduction of Das lied von der erde - Katsaris, Fassbaender and Moser. I think it’s fabulous! Fabulous music and performance.

[smittims]

I think the Lied von der Erde was originally written in piano score, so , although I haven't heard it, I can imagine that works well. But for me the orchestration is such an essential part of the work that I don't even care for Schoenberg's chamber ensemble version.

I've just finished listening to Barbara Hannigan's Les Illuminations on this morning's TTN. It's a rather 'over the top' interpretation; she really throws herself into it with no reserve; I'm not sure Ben would have liked it, though, unlike many singers today, she really can sing.

The Marriner/Heather Harper recording remains my favourite, wit Pears/Goossens a close second.

[Master Jacques]

CPO is also doing great service to Edward German - The National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland under Andrew Penny recording much of his music. Having only ever heard about 'Merrie England', my ears were surprised this morning to hear part of his second symphony (The 'Norwich') - very pleasant listening.

I think these are the old Marco Polo releases, now reissued (at cheaper price) by Naxos. I agree, they are essential listening for Germanites, and anyone else with open ears to pleasant, well-constructed symphonies.

[Stanfordian]

Édouard Lalo
Cello Concerto in D minor (1876)
Enrique Casals
Cello Concerto in F major (1946)
(world premiere recording)
Jan Vogler (cello)
Moritzburg Festival Orchestra / Josep Caballé-Domenech
Recorded 2022, Lukaskirche, Dresden, Germany
Sony Classical CD, new release

Renee Fleming - 'Homage - The Age of the Diva'
Arias by Cilea, Smetana, Tchaikovsky, Puccini, Korngold, Gounod,
Richard Strauss, Rimsky-Korsakov, Verdi, Massenet, Janacek, Korngold
Renee Fleming (soprano)
Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre/Valery Gergiev
Recorded 2006 Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg
Decca, CD

[pastoralguy]

One of my all time favourite cds.

Brahms. String Sextets.

Belcea Quartet with Tabea Zimmermann, viola and Jean-Guihen Queyras, ‘cello.

Chicken soup for the soul!

[smittims]

I too love the Brahms sextets, which I first heard on Philips with the Berin Phil soloists. My favorite recording is Menuhin's, which curiously was available for only a few years on Lp, though it's been on CD for a long time: a distinguished ensemble including Cecil Aronowitz ,Ernst Wallfisch and Maurice Gendron.

I was pleased to hear Costanzo Festa's Magnificat beautifully sung on TTN this morning, and Roger Woodward playing a rare piece by Prokofiev. all too short, alas.

And on CD just recently, Brahms' first concerto with Clifford Curzon and George Szell, and Dvorak's Eighth , VPO/Karajan, two very distinguished recordings both produced by John Culshaw.