What Classical Music Are You Listening To Tonight?

[bart]

Listening again to:




Qobuz 24/96 stream.
Marvellously recorded, extremely well played ingenious melodies.
What could a harpsichord lover wish more?!


Staying true to himself, harpsichordist Jean Rondeau stirs up another musical storm. In his interpretation of around fifteen Sonatas by Scarlatti, he unleashes a kind of rawness, a poetic rawness, as if he had invented the sonatas on the spot. But no, no, they are indeed Scarlatti’s sonatas! On the other hand, Domenico's letter to Queen Marie-Barbara de Bragança, found in the accompanying booklet, is factually apocryphal. She was his pupil as early as 1720 and continued to be until her royal marriage to the Spanish court; it seems that it was for her that he wrote his approximately five hundred and fifty-five sonatas, that is to say that he had found a student worthy of his genius.

The farce on the ninth track is also apocryphal, which Rondeau uses as an interlude between the two “parts” of his programme. It is a funny little improvisation of jumbled notes and clusters - enough to clean the ears between the two Scarlattis. The instrument used here is quite amazing; it is a harpsichord “based on German models”, built in 2006 by Jonte Knif & Arno Pelto. It offers an extremely rich sound with a rather unusual tone, showing that it takes more than just pressing the keys of a harpsichord to get the desired sound. With his very personal technique, Rondeau makes his harpsichord wonderfully unique, giving the baroque music an incredibly modern feel. © SM/Qobuz

[ehoove]

The Oboe
Concertos by Bellini, Cimarosa, Donizetti, Salieri
Bramberg Symphony Orchestra
Peter Maag Conducting
Heinz Holliger - Oboe
Very nice LP and performance id a tad laid back.
Deutsche Grammophon 139-152 SLPM
Regards,
Jim

[bart]

Telemann - Solo Fantasias
Richard Boothby, viola da gamba
Qobuz 24/96




Lesser known works from Telemann.
Certainly worth hearing!

[bart]

Playing this terrific album again:

Marin Marais - Pièces de viole
Florence Bolton
Benjamin Perrot
Qobuz 24/96

[bart]

New release:

Anne Sofie Von Otter - A Simple Song
Bengt Forsberg, organ
Qobuz 24/96




Quite interesting collection of songs, and instruments.
At first I didn't want to listen to the whole album, but it kept me in its grip.

Bernstein, Copland, Ives, Mahler, Strauss, Pärt, Duruflé, Messiaen, Martin, Liszt and Richard Rodgers: those are the composers honoured here by Anne Sofie von Otter, accompanied on the organ (which makes the album truly original, in addition to the eclectic repertoire) by Bengt Forsberg. A few fellow musicians join forces for a few pieces here and there; we find the violin, cello, harp, viola and even an electric guitar for Bernstein's Mass aria. A touching detail is that the organ used is that of St. James Church in Stockholm, the same church where a very young Anne Sofie first started singing, initially as a member of the choir, then quickly as a soloist, notably with St. John Passion. It was also in this church that she first performed as a soloist more than thirty-five years ago with none other than Bengt Forsberg. The programme alternates between English, German and French, with a touch of Latin for incursions into the sacred world. It ends with an almost improvised version of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" from the musical The Sound of Music; indeed, Von Otter has been enjoying crossing the barriers between periods and genres for several years now. © SM/Qobuz

[bart]

Watching and listening (in 5.0) to one of our most cherished Blu-rays:

Gluck - Orpheus und Eurydike
Dance-opera by Pina Bausch




A feast for the ear, but also for the eye.
The dance performances are brilliant.

[bart]

^^^^ When I could only take 10 discs (or recordings) to a desert island, this would be one of them.

[jimtranr]

[Antonmb]

Bach: The Bach Suites
Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Karl Münchinger
London (197?), vinyl

One of my favorite versions of the orchestral suites: brilliant performance, wonderful pacing, and good sound on vinyl.

[DVass13]

Camille Saint-Saens - The Carnival of the Animals