What Classical Music Are You Listening To Tonight?

[ehoove]

Symphony No. 4 in E minor Op, 98
Brahms
Philharmonia Orchestra
Herbert Von Karajan
Well Played and conducted!
Angel Records 35298
Regards,
Jim

[ehoove]

Symphony No.4 in A Major Op.90
Mendelssohn
Symphony No. 40 in G minor K.550
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
ODD Gruner-Hegge Conducting
Solid offering!
RCA Camden Living Stereo CAS 508
Regards,
Jim

[bart]

Originally Posted by ehoove

English Chamber Orchestra
Raymond Leppard Conducting
Wynton Marsalis Trumpet
Edita Gruberova Soprano
Wonderful Selection of works by Purcell, Haandel, Torelli, Fasch and Molter. Excellent on all counts!
CBS Records Masterworks IM 39061
Regards,
Jim

Streaming it now via Qobuz.
I like it!

Having made a commercially and artistically successful classical debut with a classical-period album the year before, Marsalis doubled back to the Baroque era for the follow-up, a grab bag of concertos, overtures, arias, and such. If anything, this album is even more winning than the debut album because the program offers several easily assimilated changes of pace and the music contains more opportunities for Marsalis to soar in the trumpet's high-flying upper register. He flashes through the Fasch Trumpet Concerto, a pair of Torelli Sonatas for Trumpet and Strings, short excerpts from Purcell's operas, and Molter's Trumpet Concerto No. 2 in high style, displaying a smooth, straightforward tone that doesn't go beyond letting the music speak for itself. Soprano Edita Gruberova sounds luminous yet a bit distant and not too intelligible in Handel's Let the Bright Seraphim and Eternal Source of Light Divine and Purcell's Sound the Trumpet. But then, it's pretty obvious who the designated star is; Marsalis' trumpet is always mixed above that of his singer. Raymond Leppard returns to lead stylishly tailored accompaniments, recorded in London with the crack English Chamber Orchestra. Like the one before it, this classical album was released simultaneously with a Marsalis jazz project (Hot House Flowers), making both divisions of CBS Records extremely happy.

© TiVo

[bart]

Georg Friedrich Händel - To all lovers of Musick - Sonatas op. 5
Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
via Qobuz




Fine playing but the sound is not what I expect from Challenge Classics.

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Schubert - Die schöne Müllerin
Christian Gerhaher & Gerold Huber
Qobuz 24/48




I listened twice to Fischer-Dieskau, and now again to this version.
This small comparison is hard work!

The sound is impeccable, it is of course a recording that is 55 years younger than the one above.
Gerhaher is equally very very good technically.
Huber also does a great job supporting this wonderful singer.
Fischer-Dieskau's voice maybe a little bit superior in absolute terms.
But I prefer this version.
It touches me more.
It provokes tears in my eyes more easily.
This goes right to my heart...

Still one of our favourite pieces.
Wonderful...

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Couperin
Forqueray
Atsushi Sakaï - Christophe Rousset - Marion Martineau - Isabelle Saint-Yves
Qobuz 24/96




Another splendid release from this week.
Rousset is not only a brilliant conductor, he's also a magnificent harpsichordist.
The other 3 musicians play the viola da gamba, and are equally good.
Good recording.

This is beautiful music, and we're lucky it was discovered last century!


In 1730, the catalogue of Couperin’s works that headed his Fourth book of harpsichord pieces mentioned ‘pieces for viol with figured bass’, but apparently no such collection had ever appeared in his name. Musicians long regretted that they must do without these compositions, which seemed to be lost, or even never published. There the matter rested until the early twentieth century, when a perspicacious musicologist discovered a book of pieces for viol by a mysterious Mr. F. C. and connected it with Couperin. Then the pieces of the puzzle fell perfectly into place: the initials the date of 1728 on the title page, the book’s title, Pièces de violes avec la basse chiffrée, and even its retail price of ‘6 livres tournois’ as in the announcement in the catalogue. Upon perusing the score, any final doubts melted away. In addition to the use of embellishments typical of Couperin, the broad style, the flavoursome harmony and the obscure titles of the second suite fully reflect Couperin’s artistry and confirm the paternity of these pieces. It is curious, given the exquisite quality of the set, that the composer preferred to conserve a certain form of anonymity. Should we see in this no more than the coquetry of someone who cultivated a taste for enigma throughout his life, or a sign of respect in dealing with an instrument that was not his own? The pieces by Forqueray that punctuate this recording come from scattered manuscript sources. While Antoine Forqueray’s output for viol was essentially transmitted by his son Jean-Baptiste, who published a posthumous Livre in 1747, certain pieces – those on this recording in particular – have survived as copies. The three pieces do not stand completely apart from the rest of Forqueray’s œuvre, but they do display a style closer to that of the early eighteenth century and they are sometimes marked by an Italianate flavour that recalls the sonatas of Corelli. Atsushi Sakai plays on a copy of a French bass viol dated 1687, Christophe Rousset a copy of a Flemish Ruckers harpsichord of 1624, Marion Martineau a copy of a Parisian bass viol of 1693 and Isabelle Saint-Yves another copy of exactly the same instrument! © SM/Qobuz

[bart]

A bit of vigour in the practice:

W.A. Mozart - Sinfonia Concertante K.364 - Violin Concerto K.216
La Petite Bande
Sigiswald Kuijken, viola & violin
Ryo Terakado, violin




Enthusiastic playing, very musical.

[AudioNut]

Listening to . . . . . ⬇︎ ⬇︎ ⬇︎ ⬇︎ ⬇︎ ⬇︎




I'm playing records again, after a 4 year hiatus - and I found this wonderful four disc set among my little collection - and it is EXTRAORDINARY.

I posted the CD recording of this same music last week . . . and the LP is better.

LOVE IT !!!!!!

[audioguy3107]

[bart]

Originally Posted by AudioNut

Listening to . . . . . ⬇︎ ⬇︎ ⬇︎ ⬇︎ ⬇︎ ⬇︎




I'm playing records again, after a 4 year hiatus - and I found this wonderful four disc set among my little collection - and it is EXTRAORDINARY.

I posted the CD recording of this same music last week . . . and the LP is better.

LOVE IT !!!!!!

I'm so glad you're enjoying your LPs again Julian!!