What Classical Music Are You Listening To Tonight?

[Antonmb]

Debussy: Les Trois Sonates, The Late Works
Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov, et al
Harmonia Mundi (2018), 24/96 files

Here’s a lovely recording of some of my favorite Debussy.

[bart]

Originally Posted by cma29

Just got a shipment from Presto Classical with some new gems...

Marin Marais: Pièces de viole
La Rêveuse, Benjamin Perrot, Florence Bolton



A delightful recording of 18th century French viol music played by four instrumentalists including two viols, harpsichord and baroque guitar. The music is wonderful and the playing is extremely alert and improvisatory in spirit. The icing on the cake is the vividly dense recording that puts the listener in the room with the players. I like this one.

Good idea Carlos!
Streaming it now (Qobuz 24/96).

I played it when it came out in January, and it is indeed a very good album.

Marin Marais, "chamber viola player to the King", and a talented composer is the author of this rich work full of contrasts, which forms the bridge, in the French viola tradition, between the generation of pioneers (with Saint-Colombe at their head) and the generation of the last French viola players (such as Forqueray or Caix d'Hervelois). This selection gives us an insight into the art of Marais - who was recognised in his own time as a technically gifted and brilliant musician - by way of his two Livres de viole, published in 1717 and 1725 respectively. It was in this period, which was both especially artistically fruitful but also unstable and subject to all sorts of political, economic and social turmoil, that Marais brought out his two last works. This album brings together a good number of strikingly original pieces, in particular from the Suite d’un goût étranger, a real introduction to the world of tonalities. The viola responds very differently to different tones: each tonality has its own very particular effect in terms of musical rhetoric: the Paraza in D minor sounds opulent and full, the Badinage in F sharp minor fragile and uncertain. Special mention should also go to a rare and stunning piece called Le Tact, which requires a curious sort of left-handed pizzicato without any help from the right (which he calls "tact", a forerunner of very modern techniques). This is where Marais shows his particular genius, because he loves the instrument's sensitive, vulnerable instrument, which he explores with great poetry. Founded by theorbist Benjamin Perrot and the viola player Florence Bolton, La Rêveuse (taking its name from the final piece of this album) is an ensemble which specialises in the artistic heritage of the 17th and 18th Centuries, periods which are rich in experiences and artistic inventions of all kinds. © SM/Qobuz

[AudioNut]

Listening to . . . An extraordinary set of CD's . . .

Italiane Baroque

Chiara Banchini - Conductor & Violin
Ensemble 415
Amandine Beyer - Baroque Violin

Ensemble 415 was a remarkable group of Baroque musicians - founded by Chiara Banchini in 1981 and, unfortunately, dissolved in 2012.

This recording is wonderful and is made even more so because it was a gift from a very dear friend who, along with his wife, visited me and my wife a couple of weeks ago. What a treat having those folks here.

Thank you so much, dear friend. (A friend who just happens to be a regular contributor to this thread.) Thanks for the visit and thanks for this group of recordings.




The ensemble is noted for its performances of Italian Baroque string music on period instruments. Banchini was one of the very best Baroque violinists performing at the end of the twentieth century, and the ensemble is at its best performing concerti featuring their director as soloist. Their performances of music such as Vivaldi, Corelli, Boccherini, Muffat, and Tartini offer an opportunity to hear less well-known Baroque repertoire by composers who were very well known during the eighteenth century.

[bart]

Originally Posted by AudioNut

Listening to . . . An extraordinary set of CD's . . .

Italiane Baroque

Chiara Banchini - Conductor & Violin
Ensemble 415
Amandine Beyer - Baroque Violin

Ensemble 415 was a remarkable group of Baroque musicians - founded by Chiara Banchini in 1981 and, unfortunately, dissolved in 2012.

This recording is wonderful and is made even more so because it was a gift from a very dear friend who, along with his wife, visited me and my wife a couple of weeks ago. What a treat having those folks here.

Thank you so much, dear friend. (A friend who just happens to be a regular contributor to this thread.) Thanks for the visit and thanks for this group of recordings.




The ensemble is noted for its performances of Italian Baroque string music on period instruments. Banchini was one of the very best Baroque violinists performing at the end of the twentieth century, and the ensemble is at its best performing concerti featuring their director as soloist. Their performances of music such as Vivaldi, Corelli, Boccherini, Muffat, and Tartini offer an opportunity to hear less well-known Baroque repertoire by composers who were very well known during the eighteenth century.

[bart]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

Deep Light: Clarinet Masterpieces
Works for clarinet & piano by Weber, Finzi, Williams, Schumann
Cristo Barrios, clarinet
Andrew West, piano
lbs Classical (2018), 24/88 files

Very well played and a very nice recording and selection of pieces.

Thank you for posting this Tony.
A real gem.
Streaming it now (Qobuz 24/88.2).

[cma29]

Nice to see all the old-timers here .

Bach: Brandenburg Concertos & Orchestral Suites
Masaaki Suzuki (harpsichord and direction)
Bach Collegium Japan



I have several versions of these works, but I saw that Presto had a sale on this 3-SACD set for $22 and I jumped on it.

Excellent sound and performances from Suzuki and his forces. Good addition to the library.

[aardvarkbark]

Originally Posted by cma29

Excellent sound and performances from Suzuki and his forces. Good addition to the library.

I added this set earlier this year, too, along with another good set by Sukuki & Co, currently enjoying...

[Antonmb]

Originally Posted by cma29

Bach: Brandenburg Concertos & Orchestral Suites

Masaaki Suzuki (harpsichord and direction)

Bach Collegium Japan


Excellent sound and performances from Suzuki and his forces. Good addition to the library.

Originally Posted by aardvarkbark

I added this set earlier this year, too, along with another good set by Sukuki & Co, currently enjoying...

Suzuki and his Collegium produce some wonderful Bach recordings. I love the cantata recordings in particular.

[Still-One]

Joshua Bell - Romance of the Violin

[cma29]

More new music from the recent Presto Classical shipment...

One Byrde in Hande
Byrd's Keyboard Music
Richard Egarr, harpsichord



William Byrd (1540(?)-1623) was an English composer of the Tudor era. This is a most enjoyable recital of Byrd's keyboard music. What really helps this disc is the sheer sound of the playing which is captured as punchy, crisp and resonant. A Gramophone Editor's Choice for August 2018.