What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? III

[richardfinegold]

Have been doing some ‘lucky dips’ into my Chicago Solti box.

Strauss: Also Sprach, Till, Don Juan

Bruckner: Symphonies 9 and 6 (a tendentious reading said RO)

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique

All good listening without challenging established favourites.

I think the Bruckner 6 is really good...not sure I have an actual favorite here...

[teamsaint]

Ligeti SQ no 1.
Ardittis.

Surely a modern classic, and too rarely heard.

[frankbridge]

Michael Gordon:

Trance

Icebreaker

Decca Argo 452 418-2 ZH

Bizarre but true

[Bryn]

Michael Gordon:

Trance

Icebreaker

Decca Argo 452 418-2 ZH

Bizarre but true

Same recording, remixed for Cantaloupe Music in 2003:

[Stanfordian]

Marlis Petersen – ‘Dimensionen Innenwelt’ (‘Dimension Innerworld’)
Part 3 of Dimensions Trilogy
Mélodies - Fauré, Hahn & Duparc
Lieder - Schubert, Brahms, Wolf, Liszt, R. Strauss, Wagner, Reger, Weigl, Rößler & Füstenthal
Marlis Petersen (soprano)
Stephan Matthias Lademann (piano)
Gregor Hübne (violin) (track 22, R. Strauss)
Recorded 2019 Konzerthaus Blaibach, Germany
Solo Musica

Tombelle – 'Concertante & Orchestral Works'
‘Impressions matinales’ – Orchestral Suite No. 1
‘Livre d’images’ – Orchestral Suite No. 2
‘Fantasy’ for piano and orchestra, op. 26 (rev. 1896 version)
Hannes Minnaar (piano)
Brussels Philharmonic / Hervé Niquet
Recorded 2008, Studio 4 Flagey, Brussels, Belgium
Bru Zane – Portraits series, vol. 5 - CD 1 of 3 from set -
Tombelle Musique de chambre, chorale et symphonique

[Dave2002]

Michael Gordon:

Trance

Icebreaker

Decca Argo 452 418-2 ZH

Bizarre but true

Reminding me to listen to my copy of Timber.

[Bryn]

Bartok: Divertimento for Strings (ONdF, Roth). Watching and listening to this, one of Howard Skempton's favourite works.

[BBMmk2]

Brahms
Piano Concerto No.in D minor, Op.15
Stephen Hough
BBC SO
Sir Andrew Davis

Carl Nielsen
Symphony No.4, Op.29, ‘The Inextinguishable’.
The Hallé Orchestra
Sir John Barbirolli

The Piano Album 2
Stephen Hough, (piano).

[Stanfordian]

Saint-Saëns
Violin Concerto No. 3
‘La Muse et le Poète’ for violin, cello & orchestra
Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor
Renaud Capuçon (violin) & Gautier Capuçon (cello)
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France / Lionel Bringuier
Recorded 2013, Salle Pleyel, Paris (Op. 132, Op. 33); Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris (Op. 61)
Erato

Véronique Gens - ‘Néère’
French Mélodies from Hahn, Duparc & Chausson
Véronique Gens (soprano)
Susan Manoff (piano)
Recorded 2015 Studio Teldex, Berlin
Alpha Classics

[BBMmk2]

I’ve been dipping in, recently on a playlist by Warner called Nipper’s Picks. A very rewarding playlist it is. This is what today’s offering has conjured up!

Beethoven
Piano Sonata No.16 in G major , Op.31 No.1
Piano Sonata No.17 in D minor, Op.31, No.2 “The Tempest”
Piano Sonata No.18 in Eb major, Op.31, No.3
Daniel Barenboim, (piano)

Sibelius Great Tone Poems
Finlandia, Op.26
Karelia Suite, Op.11
Pohjola’s Daughter, Op.49
2 Pieces from “Kuolema”, Op.44/1 “Valse Triste”
Lemminkäinen Suite, Op.22, No.4, “The Return”
Hallé Orchestra
Sir John Barbirolli.

Vaughan Williams
Symphony No.7, “Sinfonia Antarctica”
The Wasps, Aristophanes Suite: Overture
Margaret Ritchie(soprano)
Hallé Orchestra
Sir John Barbirolli

Mussorgsky, orch.Ravel
Pictures at an Exhibition
Debussy
Prélude a’lapres midi d’un faune
Philharmonia Orchestra
Lorin Maazel.

[Bryn]

Via QOBUZ 96/24 streaming:





I know most of these pieces from performances by the composers, playing them at Schott Music, which I recorded. No slight on the composers' pianistic prowess is intended in saying that these studio recordings by the Ivory Duo Piano Ensemble (Natalie Tsaldarakis and Panayotis Archontides) constitute a considerable step up.

[gurnemanz]

Among Spotify's new releases I stumbled upon 13 songs from Winterreise with Noëmi Waysfeld accompanied by Guillaume de Chassy on the French Klarthe label. They are idiosyncratic "arrangements" which stay pretty close to the originals most of the time. They may not suit everyone but I lapped it up. I loved the naturalness of her voice and even the slight Gallic lilt to her German. Also some felicituos piano inventions. Clearly a labour of love.

[DublinJimbo]

Beethoven: Violin Sonatas 1, 2, 3 & 4
Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin), Martin Helmchen (piano)
Wonderful new release from BIS via Qobuz streaming. Studio recordings from September 2019.

Martin Helmchen goes from strength to strength. His ongoing Beethoven concerto series with Andrew Manze and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin is proving a highlight of the Beethoven year, and this first volume of the violin sonatas likewise jumps to the top of the heap.

Up to now, my go-to performers for these works have been Lorenzo Gatto and Julien Libeer — and then this comes along. Zimmermann is, of course, wonderful on the fiddle, but time and time again it's Helmchen's sublime musicality which takes the breath away. He has a rare ability to attract attention to himself without stepping intrusively into the spotlight — indeed, the interplay between the two performers is wonderful throughout. In the case of sonatas 1 to 3 which form the op. 12 set, the title page describes them as being for Claricembralo o Forte-Piano con un Violino, so it's appropriate that one's attention is drawn to the piano. Martin Helmchen is in total command of the often virtuoso piano writing. He carries it off with aplomb, tossing off the most difficult passages with ease and an impression of being absolutely relaxed while still in command. His pacing and phrasing are inspired.

I listened right through with unmitigated joy, and then right through again.

[Suffolkcoastal]

Score following - Days 138 & 139

Glinka:
Overture to Ruslan & Ludmilla

Gounod:
St Cecilia Mass (vocal score)
Symphony No 2 in E flat major

Grieg:
Piano Concerto in A minor op16
Peer Gynt Suite No 1 op46
Peer Gynt Suite No 2 op55

Griffes:
The White Peacock op7 no1

[Serial_Apologist]

Score following - Days 138 & 139

Glinka:
Overture to Ruslan & Ludmilla

Gounod:
St Cecilia Mass (vocal score)
Symphony No 2 in E flat major

Grieg:
Piano Concerto in A minor op16
Peer Gynt Suite No 1 op46
Peer Gynt Suite No 2 op55

Griffes:
The White Peacock op7 no1

I wonder why is it that whenever I hear Griffes' name mentioned, people always pronounce it as GRIFFIES?