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[bart]

Boccherini - Vol. 2 Sonate per il violoncello
Les Basses Réunies, Bruno Cocset
Qobuz 24/96




Great new album from one of my favourite ensembles.
Terrific sound, typical for Alpha.

[Bachtoven]

She has added so many notes and ornaments that these are new pieces. I enjoy them, as well as her arrangements of Bach's Violin Sonatas and Partitas. Very close, clear sound.

[Bachtoven]

Still working my way through this 20-CD set. So far, just one disappointment, the 6th Partita. He plays it too fast for my taste.

[Bachtoven]

Continuing with this set...

]

[Bachtoven]

About as close to minimalism as I can stomach, and mainly because they play guitars! Great sound.

[Bachtoven]

Finished listening to this set today with No.1 and No.2. Overall, I think this is my favorite set.

[Howard]

Phase Four LP Stokowski conducting the Royal Philharmonic "1812 Overture."

[joeinid]

Welcome Howard.

[Howard]

Thank you.

[bart]

Christoph Graupner - Concertos & Ouvertures
L'arpa festante, Rien Voskuilen
via Qobuz




This is lovely music.
I appreciate it very much that ensembles revive this overlooked composer.

In 1709, the music-loving Landgraf Ernst Ludwig from Darmstadt had discovered Christoph Graupner as a harpsichordist at the Hamburg Opera in 1709 and had hired him on the spot. The Landgraf had made a real stroke of luck with Graupner, because he was not only an outstanding musician but also a perfect organizer of the courtly musical life and especially for the church music which had to be performed weekly. Over the years, more than 1,400 works of sacred music and more than 250 concertos and orchestral works have gathered from his pen and paper. L’arpa festante and Rien Voskuilen have put together an exquisite selection with orchestral music from this repertoire for the present album: two concertos for oboes and trumpets and two Ouvertures for transverse flute in the French style, probably all from the first half of the 1730’s. © Accent

[bart]

Jean-Marie Leclair - Violin Concerto Op. 7
Les Muffatti, Peter Van Heyghen
Luis Otavio Santos, violin
Qobuz 24/96




This is a recommendation of Cédric, my amp maker.
As usual, an exceedingly good recording.
But it is more than that.
It is catching music, played with vigour.
Recommended by me also!

[bart]

Sorry, double post.

[bart]

Mozart / Beethoven - Quintets for Piano and Winds
Ensemble Dialoghi
Qobuz 24/96




I was a bit hesitant, watching the cover.
But "Stereoplay", one of the leading German magazines, encouraged me to listen to it.
And it is fantastic!
What a good recording!
The playing is equally top notch.

[bart]

Mendelssohn - IN TIME - Violin Concerto & Octet
Anima Eterna Brugge, Jakob Lehmann
Chouchane Siranossian, violin




Our beloved Concertgebouw Orchestra (the one from Bruges, where we are members) had to do it with young (assistent and guest) conductors last year.
Van Immerseel had a liver transplant, but he's alive and kicking again now.
Nevertheless, he is looking for the survival of his fantastic orchestra into the next decades, this with fresh blood.
This album is the first recording with new talent leading Anima Eterna.
We attended a concert earlier this year (Beethoven's 9th), and we rest assured: there is a future for this orchestra!

This was recording of the month in "Stereoplay".

Chouchane Siranossian is a rising star of the baroque and classical violin, Jakob Lehmann a virtuoso violinist and orchestral director who frequently conducts Anima Eterna. Together, they embody what the Bruges orchestra and its founder, Jos van Immerseel, have decided to call the ‘Next Generation Anima Eterna’... Today they are presenting Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in its original version. “We wanted to take a look into Mendelssohn’s workshop. He struggled with his self-diagnosed ‘revision disease’ and always strove to work hard on himself and his creations” says Jakob Lehmann. Chouchane Siranossian keeps on : “It was a fascinating experience for me to discover historical research and its implementation on period instruments in collaboration with Anima Eterna Brugge. In my interpretation, I used exclusively the fingerings, bowings and other performance markings of Ferdinand David and Joseph Joachim, both of whom rehearsed the work with the composer.”
This recording is rounded off with the Octet, also in its original version, which is longer and has many alterations in instrumentation, harmony and articulation... © Alpha Classics

[bart]

Purcell - Songs & Dances
Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, François Lazarevitch
Tim Mead, countertenor
Qobuz 24/96




Nice and well played and sung collection of intimate songs and uplifting dances.
Alpha sound, thus good.

[bart]

Schnittke - Vasks - Pärt - The Invisible Link
Maya Fridman & Daniël Kool
trptk label




The Schnittke is already quite something, the Vasks is an amazing solo work, and the Pärt (Fratres) was never more intensely performed (and better recorded) than on this album.
Looking forward to download the 5.0 version in the future.

[Jack in Wilmington]

Just received these in todays mail.

[bart]

Anton Bruckner - Symphony no. 8
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden




Fantastic music of course, but it is played magnificently here.
Probably my top choice of all the versions I own.
Splendid 5.0 sound.

[bart]

Myaskovsky, Shebalin & Nechaev - Violin Sonatas
Sasha Rozhdestvensky, violin
Viktoria Postnikova, piano
Qobuz 24/96




To tell you the truth, I had never heard of these composers.
But as Hifi Critic recommended this album, I'm playing it.
Seems these are all works that appear for the first time on CD (or stream).
Well recorded, interesting music.

[bart]

Rebecca Dale - Requiem for my mother
Qobuz 24/96




This is a very nice discovery, thank you Ed!

Young British composer Rebecca Dale, the first female composer to sign to Decca Classics, will release her debut album ‘Requiem For My Mother’ on 31st August – featuring two major works: her brand new Materna Requiem and her choral symphony When Music Sounds.
At the heart of Rebecca’s first recording is her Materna Requiem – a beautifully moving and uplifting tribute to her late mother, who died in 2010. The work draws from both the traditional text of the Catholic Mass and contemporary poetry and is a homage to parents everywhere. It features the voices of soprano Louise Alder, tenor Trystan Griffiths and young choristers Hannah Dienes-Williams and Edward Hyde (BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year 2016) alongside the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. The work will receive its world premiere performance at The North Wales International Music Festival in St Asaph Cathedral on 22nd September.
Rebecca Dale says of the album: “It’s an amazing feeling to be releasing my first album and sharing my music with everyone. The Requiem is a very personal piece to me, and it uses melodies I wrote when I was a child so you could say I’ve been working on it for most of my life! When I first wrote the Requiem I didn’t even realise it would receive a performance so it’s a hugely exciting moment to hear it on record, and I hope the piece connects with people.”
The first track from Rebecca’s new album, ‘Pie Jesu’, is out now and expresses a parent’s love for their son or daughter – so instead of using a child’s voice as is tradition for this movement, it’s represented as a father singing to his newborn.
The process of writing the Materna Requiem has been somewhat cathartic for Rebecca – she describes the musical tribute to her mother as “a way for me to build a bridge back to her”. Rebecca is keen to help others who have suffered the loss of a parent and is a supporter of Winston’s Wish – the UK’s first childhood bereavement charity. Donation buckets will be available at the premiere performance of the work, plus Rebecca will be taking part in ‘TrekFest’ for the charity.
Rebecca’s work first came to public attention when BBC Radio 3 premiered her choral symphony ‘When Music Sounds’ in 2014 and the track, ‘I’ll Sing’, went to No.1 on the Classical iTunes chart. It seems fitting that the whole piece is recorded on her debut album. Performed by the Cantus Ensemble – one of London’s leading chamber choirs – this inspiring orchestral work is a glorious counterpart to the Requiem and concludes the album in stunning style. © Decca/Universal Music

[bart]

Daniel Barenboim - On My New Piano
Qobuz 24/96




I think this was the first official recording on a straight strung grand piano from Chris Maene.
It was Barenboim who asked Chris Maene to make him one.

http://www.chrismaene.be/nl/the-stra...g-grand-piano/


We attended a classical concert with one of these pianos in Brugge earlier this year and liked what we heard.
Different: yes.
Not earth shatteringly so, but the notes are clearer, less smeared. Powerful sound.

[bart]

Dussek - Concerto for two pianos - Piano Quintet - Notturno Concertant
Alexei Lubimov
Olga Pashchenko, fortepiano
Finnish Baroque Orchestra
Qobuz 24/96




Entertaining and fresh music, that makes me think of Mozart, but also of Schubert and even Chopin.
Pashchenko plays on a fortepiano also made my Chris Maene, cf. my post above.

[Bruce]

[bart]

Debussy - Les Trois Sonates - The Late Works
Qobuz 24/96




Really delicious works (duo and trio).
Great sound too.
This goes into my favourites!

[bart]

Copland - Orchestral Works 4 -Symphonies
BBC Philharmonic, Yuri Torchinsky
John Wilson
Qobuz 24/96




I'm a big Copland fan.
Call it blasphemy, but I think I might prefer this version of the 3rd symphony over the one I own with Leonard Bernstein. I'll check it later.

[bart]

Bach - Sonatas & Partitas BWV 1001-1006
Giuliano Carmignola, violin
Qobuz 24/96




A lot of new and remastered versions of these masterpieces are showing up lately.
Fully deserved!
Carmignola is certainly one of the best baroque violin players nowadays.
I like this interpretation.
It is intimate, quiet, wonderfully musical, and the playing is close to technical perfection too.

[bart]

Antonio Vivaldi
Cecilia Bartoli
Ensemble Matheus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi
Qobuz 24/96




I'm not the biggest Vivaldi fan, and la Bartoli can sometimes be ear shattering.
But this album is a gem.
We're playing this for the second time today, and it is truly fantastic.

[bart]

Liszt - Wagner - A Faust Overture - A Faust Symphony
Staatskapelle Dresden, Christian Thielemann
Blu-ray




Image and sound are top notch.
We do love to see the artists from time to time.

[bart]

François Couperin - L'Alchimiste
Bertand Cuiller, harpsichord
Qobuz 24/96




First listen.
This is very well recorded and equally well played.
Beautiful sounding instrument also.

A miniature Theatre of the World This box set launches a new complete recording of François Couperin's works for harpsichord: an extensive selection of vocal pieces and chamber music and the organ masses will be gathered around this rich corpus, each in its own way shedding further light on the keyboard music. In this first volume, Bertrand Cuiller draws the portrait of a mysterious alchemist: the ordres chosen here play with the colour of sounds, alliterations, double meanings and parodies, freely inspired by the world of the theatre. An enigmatic world to which Bertrand Cuiller undoubtedly holds the key . . .© harmonia mundi

Awards

5 de Diapason

[bart]

Arianna Savall & Petter Udland Johansen
Hirundo Maris - Silent Night - Early Christmas Music and Carols
Qobuz 24/96




Wonderful album.
Arianna is a worthy daughter of her father!
But all musicians deliver here.
This goes into my favourites.


Led by Catalan musician Arianna Savall and Norwegian musician Petter Udland Johansen, the Hirundo Maris ensemble (latin for "sea swallow") invites us on a somewhat mystical journey into the world of winter - particularly the Christmas and Advent period. Most of the songs are traditional (with some excursions into Praetorius’ and Juan García de Zéspedes’ early Baroque), from both Northern and Southern Europe, as the swallow in question metaphorically travels from Norway to Catalonia. The musicians of the ensemble arrange and adapt the music themselves, giving a very original and personal sound. They alternate between medieval classical and modern folk songs, with instruments that seem to come from a distant past…

We hear a cittern, Scottish bagpipes, a flageolet from the British Isles, a Dobro (a folk guitar with a resonator, written with a capital letter as the model is registered), a cornet, a double bass, percussion, as well as Ariana Savall's triple harp and Johansen's Hardanger violin. The instruments come from all over Europe, each adding their own brand of folk and popular cultural heritage to the mix. The cardinal points here are music from oral tradition, old music from the depths of the Middle Ages, pieces conceived by Hirundo Maris, and improvisation. The ensemble blurs the stylistic boundaries and guarantees exemplary artistry. Of course, the album closes with Gruber's almost mandatory Silent Night , written in 1818, performed here in a somewhat international folk version. © SM/Qobuz

[Bachtoven]

[Bachtoven]

Excellent playing and sound.

[Bachtoven]

Sonatas 30-32. Superb playing and sound. I really like this set. Sure, Pollini hits a little harder at times, but she is plenty forceful and has vastly better sound, which adds to the pleasure.

[bart]

Mahler - Stephan - Butterworth - Weill - Requiem - The Pity Of War
Ian Bostridge
Antonio Pappano
via Qobuz




Very good recital.
The booklet is equally touching (war photographs of the American Civil War, WW I, WW II).

[chops]

Tidal

[bart]

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




Lesser known works from Telemann.
Certainly worth hearing!

[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.

[Kuoppis]

I’m impressed Bart, you know Pina Bausch. She was fantastic.

IMHO she really was on the forefront of her line of art for decades. Have seen many of her original performances.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[bart]

I’m impressed Bart, you know Pina Bausch. She was fantastic.

IMHO she really was on the forefront of her line of art for decades. Have seen many of her original performances.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Unfortunately, I was too late to see her original dance performances.
But I'm so happy we can still enjoy her magnificent creations on Blu-ray.

If you like her too, do you know this one Kuoppis?

[Kuoppis]

Hi Bart, unfortunately I do not remember all the performances I have seen. But I have mostly seen her live, was not aware of the blue rays.


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[bart]

Hi Bart, unfortunately I do not remember all the performances I have seen. But I have mostly seen her live, was not aware of the blue rays.

That Blu-ray "Pina" is more like a documentary that explains her way of working through interviews with people who worked with her (dancers mostly) and parts of performances.
My wife and I like it a lot.

[Kuoppis]

Just so wonderful via the Pass INT-60 and the Harbeth 30.2, 40th anniversary. I am in such a good place with my summerhouse system now as well. It’s a real pleasure.

The Bajuvarian Single Malt and Cohibas might add to it a bit , and of course the first real vacation in three years.


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[FDPDK]

That sounds as a well deserved vacation , enjoy it

[Kuoppis]

That sounds as a well deserved vacation , enjoy it

Thank you Flemming, very kind.

IMHO this is one perspective what makes audio systems worthwhile: enjoying the results of continuous enquiry when you get the chance to indulge in it.

[Kuoppis]

A long time favorite.



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[bart]

Mozart - Flute Concertos
La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken
Barthold Kuijken, flute
via Qobuz




Wonderful interpretations of these works.
Sound is decent, but not as good as in the more recent recordings on SACD I own.

[bart]

Offenbach - Colorature
Jodie Devos, soprano
Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Laurent Campellone
Qobuz 24/96




Belgian soprano Devos scored well in the Queen Elisabeth Competition for Voice a couple of years ago.
I didn't expect much of this album, but was curious.
I have to admit, these are enjoyable pieces and Jodie Devos shines.

The elegant Jodie Devos puts her talents to work in service of a fairly unknown known side of Offenbach, taking on several somewhat-forgotten pieces which call for very specific voices, known in Offenbach’s day by names such as "chanteuse d’agilité", "chanteuse à roulade" or "première chanteuse légère". Of course, everyone knows the tune of the doll Olympia from Tales of Hoffmann, or the telling of the death of Eurydice in Orpheus in the Underworld, but the substantial repertoire of the composer's smaller pieces (which he generally referred to as "operettas" to distinguish them from his larger works, his famous opéras bouffe) contains a number of virtuoso arias for coloratura soprano. In them, we hear the vocal imitation of the jeu perlé piano technique or of Paganini's "flying staccato", in which unstinting bravura hides the real difficulty behind something apparently easy. But the difference from many bel canto composers, who merely show off vocals and melody, is that Offenbach knows how to charge these things with emotion, with textual significance, with personality, and with contrasts: simple mechanics never take precedence over diversity. This record allows us to discover a neat little collection of sadly little-known works which are well overdue a return to the French stage. © SM/Qobuz

[bart]

Boccherini - Sonate per il violoncello - Vol. 2
Les Basses Réunies, Bruno Cocset
Qobuz 24/96




Almost everything this cellist has recorded is of the highest quality.
He has a very recognisable way of playing also.

[bart]

Jodie Devos
Caroline Meng
Quatuor Giardini - Il Était Une Fois
Qobuz 24/96




Listening to that other album of Jodie Devos earlier this evening left me wanting more.
This is another highly enjoyable album, with another great voice, Caroline Meng.
The piano quartet makes the singing very transparent.
I like it!