Igor Levit's cycle should be coming out very soon (streaming will be up tomorrow), if you haven't heard his double disc of the late sonatas you might like it. Enjoyed Prokofiev's Symphony Concerto over lunch.
One of the best recordings for S/Q in my entire collection (well over 8,000 discs) and the music is delectable too - -
Music of Erik Satie, nicely performed by Louis Auriacombe leading the Paris Convervatore Orchestra on this 1968 Angel LP. Includes the Debussy-orchestrated Gymnopédies 1 & 3. This is a former radio station copy with their weird filing system sticker on the jacket.
Last record for this evening and it's a long-time favorite of mine: Ravel Piano Concerto In G Major and Piano Concerto In D Major For The Left Hand. Samson François (soloist) with the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra conducted by André Cluytens. Angel Records, 1960. Recording made in France; inner sleeve made and printed in England; LP made in U.S.A. .(It took 3 countries to put this album together!)
Being spun on the Naim : The Stravinsky and Prokofiev is normally outside my 'comfort zone' but I find the performances interesting. Unfortunately there seems to be a problem with my disc. When I try to play the Webern and Boulez, the disc must be faulty because all I can hear is strange unpleasant noises that bear no resemblance to musical notes. Should I get my CD player serviced ?
The best classical music works of the 21st century (top 25) The Guardian newspaper's choice. I have nos. 1, 2 and 11 in my collection. The best classical music works of the 21st century This took top spot:
Primephonic. Released today. "In a previous review of Incidental Music by Albéric Magnard (1865-1914), I had remarked that "his harmonic writing is where he stands apart and is what forms the backbone of his music. He studied music under Massenet, D'indy and Théodore Dubois, who himself had written a strong thesis on harmony, which explains Magnard's solid grasp of the matter. Most of his works display a keen manipulation of a natural harmonic progression from start to finish, favoring an economy of gestures and loud statements, and simply letting the innate harmonic flow dictate the music's direction, but with such a solid command of form, that everything fits in a neat little package." That statement certainly holds true for his symphonic writing as well. And be they Berlioz, Debussy, Bizet or Roussel, his music sounds nothing like his French compatriots. Listening blindfolded, one would assume this to be the music of a German composer. Albéric Magnard was a withdrawn and austere man, who didn't really care if his music "impressed" the public or not. He was more preoccupied with perfecting his highly organic treatment of harmony. Wagner and Brahms influences are most prominent in his music, but don't expect recurring motifs or memorable themes. His ideas unravel organically, one melding into the next, and may seem slightly amorphous at first, but there's a method to his madness. It's in the final denouement of each movement that everything resolves into one. At first glance, deciphering scores like these must prove difficult for conductors as there is nothing tangible that immediately comes to the surface, but as conductor Fabrice Bollon points out; "working on the pieces with the orchestral musicians, they discovered its real secrets, having found hidden doors and successfully opened them." The members of the Freiburg Philharmonic serve the music very well." Jean-Yves Duperron - September 2019 ALBERIC MAGNARD - Symphonies 3 and 4 - Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra - Fabrice Bollon - Naxos - 747313408276
There have been a bunch of exciting new releases on Spotify today: Prism II: Works by Bach, Beethoven, & Schnittke. Danish String Quartet, ECM. Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas. Igor Levit, Sony. Does anyone know if the late sonatas were re-recorded for this project or if he used the existing recordings? Langgaard: Prelude to Antichrist / Strauss: An Alpine Symphony. Thomas Dausgaard / Seattle Symphony. Seattle Symphony Media. I was at one of the concerts this recording of An Alpine Symphony was taken from!
This is cool, thanks for posting. Here is a link to a Spotify playlist with the works in the article (not mine): The Guardian's 25 Best Classical Works of the 21st Century (Sept. 12 2019), a playlist by Dom Ellis on Spotify
Listening to a 1956 recording of Rimsky-Korsakov, The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh, performed by the Chorus and Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre conducted by Vassily Nebolsin. This performance features Natalya Rozhdestvenskaya as Fevronia. An excellent performance sometimes hampered by the age of the recording but not overly disagreeably so.
Listening to CD 1 from "De Leidse Koorboeken Vol. II" performed by the Egidius Kwartet & College on Etcetera. The Leiden Choirbooks - works by Hollander, Non Papa, Baston, Lupi, De Monte, Richafort & Verdelot
Listening this afternoon to piano music of Joseph-Maurice Ravel performed by a very fine Ravel interpreter: Ruth Laredo. La Valse Sonatine Miroirs CBS Masterworks, 1982. Produced by Andrew Kazdin.
I just bought that very book about three weeks ago. It was remarkably cheap and in excellent condition for a volume that was published 50 years ago. The DGG Complete Beethoven Edition on CD came out in 1997 and it included quite a nice hardback book - but it was much smaller and in three languages while the above book is in English alone and much more lavish. Its large size makes the portraits and other illustrations jump off the page.
An old Creek player. But when it saw the disc, it bolted it's CD drawer shut. Maybe a bit of Ludwig can 'repair' my Naim.......
