What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? III

[jayne lee wilson]

So farewell to Garbarek and The Hilliard....after 25 years, seemingly the last in this series, this haunting sonority that has affected so many & became a part of the musical world around us.......

Letting these soothing sounds drift around the house one more time....



Qobuz/ECM/24/48...

[Edgy 2]

Mieczysław Weinberg

3 Pieces for Violin and Piano
Piano Trio in A minor op. 24
Violin Sonata No. 6 op. 136bis

Gidon Kremer (violin), Yulianna Avdeeva (piano), Giedrė Dirvanauskaitė (cello)
Gidon Kremer continues his championing of Weinberg's music. The Trio is especially fine, but the entire disc reinforces the value of Weinberg's output. He featured during our music group's session today (Saturday).

[Joseph K]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaQvPhVvQaY

Bartok, string quartet no. 1.

[BBMmk2]

A friend mentioned to me of another Respighi orchestral music set,mid which I’ve never heard of, surprisingly. It’s played by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, under John Neschling. I’ll certainly be exploring this.

[Stanfordian]

Messiaen
'Early and Late Orchestral Works'
Le Tombeau resplendissant
Les Offrandes oubliées, méditation symphonique
Un sourire
L'Ascension (Quatre meditations pour l'orchestre)
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich / Paavo Järvi
Recorded 2019 live & studio, Tonhalle, Zurich
Alpha Classics - new release

Vivaldi - ‘Arie d'Opera dal fondo Foà 28’
Arias from operas: Tieteberga, La Candace, La Silvia, Tito Manlio, La verità in cimento, Medea e Giasone
Sandrine Piau (soprano), Paul Agnew (tenor), Ann Hallenberg (mezzo-soprano), Guillemette Laurens (mezzo-soprano)
Modo Antiquo / Federico Maria Sardelli
Recorded 2005 Oratorio dei Vanchetoni, Firenze
Naïve - One of the highlights of the series.

[pastoralguy]

A lovely 99p charity shop find this morning. Oboe Concertos by J.S. & C.P.E. Bach.

Heinz Holliger, oboe, directing Camerata Bern with no less a leader than Thomas Zehetmair! A super Philips disc from 1998.

[MrGongGong]

I have 6 Genelecs and a Sub to play with today

[Master Jacques]

Taking time out after a full day's writing with ....

Tippett
Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli
Symphony No.3
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Josephine Barstow
c. Raymond Leppard
(Carlton Classics 15656 91402)

The performance of the magnificent (55') 3rd Symphony, from a Royal Festival Hall concert on 15 December 1976, remains very special. I doubt whether any soprano has got close to the searing, powerful flood-tide of emotion released by Barstow in the final movements (she sadly never recorded the work in the studio) and Leppard's precision and energy match her inspiration in the earlier, instrumental sections - the "slow movement" is utterly lovely. If anyone harbours doubts about the quality of this work, here is a performance which might just change their mind.

[Pulcinella]

Taking time out after a full day's writing with ....

Tippett
Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli
Symphony No.3
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Josephine Barstow
c. Raymond Leppard
(Carlton Classics 15656 91402)

The performance of the magnificent (55') 3rd Symphony, from a Royal Festival Hall concert on 15 December 1976, remains very special. I doubt whether any soprano has got close to the searing, powerful flood-tide of emotion released by Barstow in the final movements (she sadly never recorded the work in the studio) and Leppard's precision and energy match her inspiration in the earlier, instrumental sections - the "slow movement" is utterly lovely. If anyone harbours doubts about the quality of this work, here is a performance which might just change their mind.

It's this recording that has started to make me appreciate the work more (I was at an early RLPO concert conducted by Groves, with Heather Harper as soloist), and I know that RichardB was interested in hearing it (but don't know if he has yet).

[HighlandDougie]

de Falla: El sombrero de tres picos/El amor brujo

Marina Heredia (cantaora)/Carmen Romeu (mezzo-soprano)/Mahler Chamber Orchestra/Pablo Heras-Casado

Reading Vints's excoriation of Murillo elsewhere (for, I suppose, peddling a rose-tinted and sentimental view of life in 17th century Spain) made me wonder if these two works by de Falla aren't a kind of musical equivalent - based on a romanticised notion of gypsy/village life in a Spanish version of never-never land - but the thought didn't last for very long. The vivid performances - and the excellent modern recording - more than justify Diapason awarding this relatively new disc a "Diapason d'Or" (they tend to be a bit stingy with them). P H-C is a very gifted conductor - and Marina Heredia a knock-out in the gypsy songs. Treble sangrias all round.

[BBMmk2]

Ottorino Respighi
Trittico Botticelliano
Il Tramonto
Vetrate di Chiesa
Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège
John Neschling

[Master Jacques]

It's this recording that has started to make me appreciate the work more (I was at an early RLPO concert conducted by Groves, with Heather Harper as soloist), and I know that RichardB was interested in hearing it (but don't know if he has yet).

I hope Richard has: with Tippett (perhaps more than with some other composers), there may be one particular performance which can open our ears to something wonderful. Like you, I started with Harper - excellent as ever - but Barstow gets "inside" the songs to an uncanny degree, and unlocks the music's power for me. Glad you think so too!

[jayne lee wilson]

Taking time out after a full day's writing with ....

Tippett
Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli
Symphony No.3
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Josephine Barstow
c. Raymond Leppard
(Carlton Classics 15656 91402)

The performance of the magnificent (55') 3rd Symphony, from a Royal Festival Hall concert on 15 December 1976, remains very special. I doubt whether any soprano has got close to the searing, powerful flood-tide of emotion released by Barstow in the final movements (she sadly never recorded the work in the studio) and Leppard's precision and energy match her inspiration in the earlier, instrumental sections - the "slow movement" is utterly lovely. If anyone harbours doubts about the quality of this work, here is a performance which might just change their mind.

Love to know what you were writing....or would that blow your cover...?

Just choosing what to listen to now.... earlier, it was, again, Garbarek/Hilliard and Monteverdi (Savall and Bestion)....and no day is quite complete without one of those marvellous new CPE Bach Cello Concertos...

[teamsaint]

Christopher Rouse. Symphony #3 .

NYP/ Gilbert.

Very sad and surprised to read that Rouse passed away last month.
There is a decent obituary in Gramophone this month.
I have always really enjoyed his music, and although it is a pity he wasn’t more widely appreciated in Europe, he was highly regarded in his own country .

He left a very fine musical legacy.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/christopher-rouse-death-composer-classical-experimental-pulitzer-prize-a9119641.html

[DublinJimbo]

Beethoven
Violin Concerto in D major op. 61

Leonidas Kavakos (violin and direction)
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

A terrific release, displaying remarkable artistry. Time and time again Kavakos approaches the music with fresh insights. Whether it's an unexpected way with phrasing or a different emphasis on some orchestral lines … he grabbed my attention without fail the whole way through. His approach is leisurely (49:22 compared with Isabelle Faust's 40:50), but the performance never drags. Extended cadenzas throughout contribute to the 'heavenly length' and didn't always convince me despite being based on Beethoven's own cadenzas for the piano version. That said, Leonidas Kavakos is an astonishing violinist and plays magnificently throughout, not just in the cadenzas where he sometimes out-Paganinis Paganini.

I was very wary when I saw that the soloist also directs the orchestra, but I needn't have worried. As already touched on, the orchestral contribution isn't merely impressive in its combination of full-throatedness and intimate interplay as appropriate, but Kavakos brings out details which I'd never been aware of before. A remarkable release, then, and a fitting contribution to Beethoven's big year.

(The violin concerto is coupled with the Septet op. 20 and excerpts from the folksong variations opp. 105 and 107, which I haven't got round to listening to yet. I'll try those when I fully recover from the concerto experience.)