Now enjoying some Mozart this morning. Mozart wrote only the introduction to symphony 37, but I am glad to have it here, since it isn't included in any of my late Mozart sets.
I wonder what his contemporaries thought of Les Elemens? Especially that opening chord. The wiki source calls it "a tone cluster and includes all the notes of the D harmonic minor scale." Jean-Fery Rebel (18 April 1666 – 2 January 1747) Les Elemens Telemann Sonata (Septet) in E minor Gluck Alessandro Musica Antiqua Koln Reinhard Goebel Archiv, 1995
One of those "wasn't even on my radar screen" things has popped up in the past few days: a song collection by Enrique Granados called Collección de tonadillas escritas en estilo antiguo. Oddly, the 12 songs are published in two different orders and hence have two numbering systems. No matter; the ones I've heard (most but not all of the set) have been uniformly delightful. The records that have brought them to my attention are 78s by Conchita Supervia and (one song only) Sofia del Campo, about whom a cursory web search has revealed--well, basically nothing. Delightful singer, though, with lots of personality shining through. In more recent times, Victoria de los Angeles and Elly Ameling have recorded one or another of them. I don't have a complete set by anyone, but I suppose now I have an excuse to look for one. Anyhow, worth a listen if you are susceptible to Spanish songcraft.
Dvorak Legends; Czech Suite WDR Sinfonieorchester Cristian Macelaru Linn, 2022 I don't get this release from Linn. It was evidently from a broadcast. The engineer didn't place the microphones in the best place for a recording. There is not enough life in the performance to keep me awake. It was a waste of money.
Having just enjoyed this new 2CD release, I highly recommend it! Great transfers and performances. Her Chopin is particularly special.
Had never heard this 1975 recording with Galway and Argerich It was reissued with a less interesting cover in 1997 and adding a Reinecke sonata with Phillip Moll, piano, recorded in 1981.
I bought that DVD set of the Boulez/Chéreau centenary production of Der Ring des Nibelungen from Wonder Book. I also found these two Telarc CDs at the Salvation Army today. HANDEL: Messiah - Boston Baroque conduced by Martin Pearlman (that makes it my 3rd copy of the oratorio on CD) MOZART: The Magic Flute - Scottish Chamber Orchestra & Chorus conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras
Now enjoying Handel Oboe Concertos Andrius Puskunigis, oboe Klaipeda Chamber Orchestra Vincent Bernhardt Brilliant Classics, 2022 If you like Handel, you might want to sample this. It is extremely well done.
Morning, all! Now enjoying a spin of this sadly neglected set. It contains some of the Budapest's 1940s LvB recordings in great transfers by Seth Winner.
I enjoyed this disc of Massenet songs with orchestra. Besides the well known Veronique Gens, the voices of Jodie Devos and Cyrille Dubois were impressive. Bru Zane, 2022
My very first Pathe center-start 78 was a Massenet song, albeit piano-accompanied: "Chant Provencal (Mireille)," sung by tenor Albert Vaguet. I bought it in Paris during my one and only venture abroad, back in 1978, at a little 78 RPM antique record specialty shop that--at the time, to a teen recent high school graduate--seemed uniformly astronomically priced. A little 8.5" disc, and pretty well worn, it was about the cheapest such record the place had, and I was determined to buy one as a souvenir of my trip, center-start Pathes being pretty close to unobtanium in my part of the United States in those pre-Internet days. Vaguet, who made a multitude of records for Pathe, had a somewhat odd career otherwise: after a stint with the Paris Opera, he was forced to retire by some sort of mysterious vocal affliction that supposedly left him unable to sing for more than a short period at a time. Luckily for him, records in those days lasted no more than around 4-and-a-half minutes per side. Oh, yes, that "78," like all Pathe center-start discs, actually would have run near or above 90 RPM. Backing the Massenet song was an aria from Planquette's Le Cloches de Corneville (i.e., The Chimes of Normandy). I still have the record, which has long since ceased to be a "star" of my collection but still retains lots of sentimental attachment.
That song is included in this sampling of Massenet's songs! The singer here is a soprano with a wide vibrato. They estimate that Massenet composed around a thousand of these short songs. By the way, evidently the orchestral backing was also composed by Massenet. 1- Pensée de printemps [Cyrille Dubois] 2- Le Poète et le Fantôme [Véronique Gens] 3- Hymne d’amour [Étienne Dupuis] 4- Amoureuse [Nicole Car] 5- Si tu veux, Mignonne [Jodie Devos] 6- Chant provençal [Chantal Santon Jeffery] 7- Rêverie de Colombine (from Le Roman d’Arlequin) [instr.] 8- Souvenez-vous, Vierge Marie ! – Prière de Saint Bernard [Véronique Gens] 9- Les Enfants [Jodie Devos] 10- Pensée d’automne [Cyrille Dubois] 11- Baiser-Impromptu [Chantal Santon Jeffery] 12- Je t’aime [Nicole Car] 13- À Colombine [Étienne Dupuis] 14- Scène religieuse (from Les Érinnyes) (instr.) 15- Sœur d’élection [Véronique Gens] 16- Crépuscule (from Poème pastoral) [Jodie Devos] 17- Aurore (from Poème pastoral) [Chantal Santon Jeffery] 18- Pitchounette [Cyrille Dubois] 19- L’improvisatore – Rimembranza di Trastevere [Nicole Car] 20- Les Fleurs [Nicole Car, Étienne Dupuis] 21- Menuet d’amour (from Thérèse) [instr.] 22- Marquise [Chantal Santon Jeffery] 23- On dit ! [Véronique Gens] 24- Musette (from Poème pastoral) [Jodie Devos] 25- La Chanson de Musette (from La Vie de Bohème) [Cyrille Dubois]
Schubert: Piano Trio, Op 99 Milhaud: Pastorale Hindemith: Kleine Kammermusik Boston Chamber Players RCA Red Seal, 1970 The Schubert trio is wonderful.
Borodin Symphony No. 2 In the Steppes of Central Asia Tchaikovsky Romeo & Juliet Overture Staatskapelle Dresden Kurt Sanderling Berlin Classics, 1998 The Borodin symphony is the thing on this recording! It has very impressive sound also. It is available for download a couple of places including Presto. My download was from 7digital.
now enjoying Bartok: Music for Strings, percussion, and celesta Honegger: Symphony No. 3 Stravinsky: Agon Leningrad Philharmonic Yevgeny Mravinsky Praga, 1967, 2021
now listening to Berlioz La Damnation de Faust Edith Mathis; Stuart Burrows; Donald McIntyre; Thomas Paul; Tanglewood Chorus Boston Symphony Seiji Ozawa DG, 1974 2CDs
If you like this work, it's worth chasing out an earlier recording by the Boston SO: the one under Charles Munch on RCA, which was among RCA's first stereo recordings.