What Classical Music Are You Listening To Tonight?

[bart]

Vivaldi - The Four Seasons
Janine Jansen
Qobuz 24/96




I read about this album in a review.
It is indeed a very solid performance with terrific sound!


Eschewing its usual heavy orchestral sound in favor of a more stripped-down instrumentation, Dutch violinist Janine Jansen's second album offers a fresh interpretation of one of the most performed classical works, Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. The 2005 follow-up to her Barry Wordsworth-conducted debut, the subtle but passionate renditions of the "La Primavera," "L'estate," "L'autunno," and "L'inverno" concertos are performed with a sparse, eight-piece ensemble including Lithuanian violinist Julian Rachlin, her cellist brother Maarten, and harpsichordist father Jan.

© TiVo

[Kal Rubinson]

Originally Posted by bart

Thanks Kal, but I must be doing something wrong, because I find less than via the Qobuz app itself.

That is, indeed, the case. However, the way to do this is to find the tracks/albums with the Qobuz app itself and tag them as Favorites. Then, when you look at Favorites in Roon, they will appear and play.

That is because you can find them but not play them in the Qobuz app and because you can play them but not find them in Roon.

[bart]

Following a suggestion of Jim:

Lutosławski - Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4 & Jeux vénitiens
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu
Qobuz 24/96




I don't own too many works of this composer, but have heard quite some.
After having heard this album, I'm definitely going to explore more of his oeuvre.

What a curious and charming piece of work the First Symphony by Witold Lutosławski is! Written in 1947, it is still borrowing from Stravinski, Bartók, Prokofiev and clearly Roussel, and yet it display the composer's own personal ideas, and his flawless skill in orchestration. But he had not yet made the dodecaphonic style his own, nor the principle of randomness which would be found later in 1961's Jeux vénitiens (Venetian Games). In his case, randomness refers to musicians or groups of musicians having the freedom to play their different parts when they feel like it, or when the conductor gives them a cue. But for sure, this piece's formal framework is still constrained: every performance will shed a different light on it, but it is still the same work. The album finishes with the Fourth Symphony, the composer's last, written between 1988 and 1991, performed in 1993 with Lutosławski himself conducting before his death a few months later. In this work he makes a clear return to his harmonic and melodic ideas, which at times approach Mahler or Bartók, even though the discourse remains decidedly modern. The contrast between the First Symphony, Jeux vénitiens and the Fourth Symphony could not be more spectacular, and it gives a brilliant picture of the evolution of a musical genius who embraced a wide range of influences, constantly adapting them to his own style. © SM/Qobuz

[bart]

Originally Posted by Kal Rubinson

That is, indeed, the case. However, the way to do this is to find the tracks/albums with the Qobuz app itself and tag them as Favorites. Then, when you look at Favorites in Roon, they will appear and play.

That is because you can find them but not play them in the Qobuz app and because you can play them but not find them in Roon.

Thanks again Kal!
I was doing it right then.

By the way, I'm looking seriously at the exaSound S88.
Have you heard it already?

[PHC1]

Wilson Audiophile Recording.


James B. Welch, Univerity Organist and Carillonneur at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is a Southern California native. He studied from 1968 to 1969 with Parley Belnap at Brigham Young University. In 1970 he attended the Mozarteum Akademie in Salzburg, Austria, where he studies with Professor Josef F Doppelbauer.

The selections by Walther and Haydn were recorded on the tracker-action organ built by Dirk a. Flentrop of Holland for All Saints' Episcopal Church in Palo Alto, California. This two-manual organ has 1144 pipes arranged in 22 ranks.

The organ on which the remaining selections were recorded was designed by the late Walter Holtkamp of Cleveland. Ohio, and manufactured and installed by the Moller Organ Company of Hagerstown, Maryland. This three-manual organ consists of 79 ranks, for a total of 4334 pipes.

[bart]

Originally Posted by 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

This accompanied our dinner and was clearly better than your average Christmas music.

[PHC1]

It’s a very nice album Bart. Here is the PDF album info. https://static.qobuz.com/goodies/89/000120398.pdf

[bart]

Originally Posted by PHC1

It’s a very nice album Bart. Here is the PDF album info. https://static.qobuz.com/goodies/89/000120398.pdf

Serge, that's what I like about Qobuz: the booklets are included.

[Kal Rubinson]

Originally Posted by bart

By the way, I'm looking seriously at the exaSound S88.
Have you heard it already?

Yes. Listening through it right now.

[bart]

Originally Posted by Kal Rubinson

Yes. Listening through it right now.

Kal, I'm looking very much forward to your findings!