Classical Music Only | What You're Listening to Now, Or Very Recently | Any Mediums :

[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-straight-strung-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! :thumbsup:

 

[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?