What Classical Music Are You Listening To Tonight?

[Antonmb]

Ravel: Orchestral Works, Vol. 6
Leonard Slatkin, Orchestre National de Lyon
François Dumont, piano
Naxos (2019), via Qobuz

A very nice recording. This Naxos/Slatkin/Lyon Ravel series has been a bit hit and miss, but this volume is very good. Dumont does a fine job on the piano concerto.

[bart]

Bliss - Mary of Magdala - The Enchantress - Meditations on a theme by John Blow
BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Andrew Davis
Dame Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano
James Platt, bass
Qobuz 24/96




I wasn't expecting too much from this, but is it actually quite a nice listen.


Bliss composed The Enchantress in 1951, the year of his sixtieth birthday, for Kathleen Ferrier. The text is a free adaptation of the Second Idyll of Theocritus, made by Henry Reed, and well suited to Bliss’s love of classical Greek authors.
Meditations on a Theme by John Blow, from 1955, was written for the CBSO, the first in a number of commissions from the John Feeney Trust. Inspired by John Blow’s Coronation Anthems, the work is a set of variations on a Sinfonia from that collection, each variation reflecting the text of a verse from Psalm XXIII.
Described as a sacred cantata, Mary of Magdala was Bliss’s second Feeney Trust commission, composed during 1962 and 1963. For a libretto, Bliss turned to Christopher Hassall, his collaborator on three previous works, including The Beatitudes. Bliss conducted the premiere at the Three Choirs Festival in 1963, and wrote in his programme note: ‘One of the loveliest stories in the New Testament is that in the 20th chapter of St John’s Gospel, telling of how Mary Magdalene, lingering at the sepulchre, was the first to see the risen Christ. She, supposing him to be the gardener.’
The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus give of their best under their former chief conductor Sir Andrew Davis, and the contributions from the soloists, Dame Sarah Connolly and James Platt, are outstanding. © Chandos

[SCAudiophile]

Just read a great article on Shostakovich #7;


https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34292312

[Formerly YB-2]

One could definitely say that Shostakovich lived in "interesting times". His audience was not the normal genre of audiences.

[Audiofan1]

Simply outstanding!

[audioguy3107]

Beethoven Symphony No. 2 in D major from the Simon Rattle vinyl box set

[bart]

Playing into my practice:

Tchaikovsky - Complete Works for Solo Piano
Valentina Lisitsa, piano
via Qobuz




Over 11 hours of romantic piano music...

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Frescobaldi - Toccate e Partite d'Intavolatura di Cimbalo - Libro Primo
Christophe Rousset
Qobuz 24/96




Rousset continues to add to his already impressive list of harpsichord recordings.

Frescobaldi brilliantly combines improvisation and architecture. These qualities resonate with the discography of harpsichordist Christophe Rousset, whose choice of repertoire and interpretation are adventurous and serious at the same time. Frescobaldi’s counterpoint goes along with the finest art of singing, inherited from the Italian madrigal, and the flexibility of his language highlights the virtuosity of his compositions. Christophe Rousset recorded toccate and partite on a beautiful and original harpsichord of the late 16th century. Its sound faithfully testifies for the significant place of this First Book of harpsichord pieces in the nascent modernity of Frescobaldi. If the modal harmonies are still old-fashioned, the free beat and subtle melodies make it an indisputable baroque master, admired from Italy to France and Germany: Bach is said to have had a copy of his Fiori musicali! This new disc by Christophe Rousset reveals the first treasures composed specifically for the harpsichord. Its repertoire was served from the beginning by musicians whose expressive boldness recalls in a musical way Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro. © Aparté

Some quiet late night listening.
Rousset is perfect for that.

[Antonmb]

Alexandre Tharaud - Versailles
Piano works of Couperin, Ramsay, d’Anglebert, and others
Erato (2019), via Qobuz

Tharaud plays with a beautiful light touch most of the time, although occasionally, as in one of Rameau’s familiar “Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin,” he decides to hit the keys a little hard for a sudden emphasis that I don’t think quite works. Overall though this is a very nice recording.

[bart]

Originally Posted by eljr

I know I have posted this spin previous but I really need to call attention to it.

OK, I know on the surface this recording makes no sense. An hour and 56 minutes of music dominated by harp. Piano etudes, done on a harp comprises an entire disc.

Disc 2 is predominately music inspired by Mr Glass with one very important exception, Koyaanisqatsi which Ms Meijer makes completely mesmerizing.

This is just a brilliant album.



Lavinia Meijer
The Glass Effect: The Music of Philip Glass

Release Date November 11, 2016
Duration01:55:58
Genre
Classical
Pop/Rock
Avant-Garde
Styles
Chamber Music
Contemporary Instrumental
Minimalism
Modern Composition
Recording DateJuly 1, 2016 - July 6, 2016
Recording Location
Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, Netherlands

Playing this again, it is indeed really good.