What Classical Music Are You Listening To Tonight?

[bart]

More modern work:
Aart Strootman / Daniel Wohl - Obscure Atlas
Helena Basilova
Konsttnatyn Napolov
Maya Fridman
Qobuz 24/88.2




Although I'm a fan of the trptk label, this doesn't do it for me.

[Kal Rubinson]

Originally Posted by bart

More modern work:
Aart Strootman / Daniel Wohl - Obscure Atlas
Helena Basilova
Konsttnatyn Napolov
Maya Fridman
Qobuz 24/88.2

Although I'm a fan of the trptk label, this doesn't do it for me.

Yeah. Beautiful, clean sound at 352.4/32 multichannel but so what?

[bart]

Originally Posted by Kal Rubinson

Yeah. Beautiful, clean sound at 352.4/32 multichannel but so what?

They have produced fantastic stuff, but an important percentage of their output is a waste of time indeed.

[Kal Rubinson]

Originally Posted by bart

They have produced fantastic stuff, but an important percentage of their output is a waste of time indeed.

Yes. There are a couple that I really like. FWIW, they have some orchestral stuff coming down the pike.

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Antoine Forqueray - Charles Dollé - Late French Viol Music
Wieland Kuijken - Sigiswald Kuijken, viola da gamba
Robert Kohnen, harpsichord
via Qobuz




Recorded in '78.
For lovers of viola da gamba music, a good find (I love Qobuz! )

This was playing into the practice earlier today.
I think it was healing...

[jimtranr]

[bart]

This was playing into the waiting room earlier today:

Telemann - Trumpet & Horn Concertos
La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken
Jean-François & Pierre-Yves Madeuf
via Qobuz

[bart]

Beethoven - Triple Concerto - Piano Trio op. 36 (after the Symphony no. 2)
Isabele Faust
Jean-Guihen Queyras
Alexander Melnikov
Freiburger Barockorchester, Pablo Heras-Casado
Qobuz 24/96




Following Kal's suggestion.

Very subtle and transparent interpretation of the Triple Concerto, the orchestra is a bit receded in the recording.

I will compare it with another new version, the Dutch one, soon (Van Baerle Trio). I liked that album very much when I first listened to it.

After a successful trilogy devoted to the concertos and trios of Schumann, the team assembled alongside the Freiburger Barockorchester and Pablo Heras-Casado could not ignore one of Beethoven’s most unusual works: the Triple Concerto. They bring this score to life as only true chamber musicians can, revealing its subtlest colours and balances. The trio transcription of the Second Symphony, which was supervised by the composer himself, judiciously completes this exploration of lesser-known Beethoven, in which intimacy mingles with grandeur. © harmonia mundi

[bart]

Ludwig van Beethoven - Complete Works for Piano Trio vol. 5
Van Baerle Trio
Residentie Orkest The Hague, Jan Willem de Vriend
Qobuz 24/44.1




I have to say I prefer this version.
The sound is quite a bit more coherent (I am a fan of Bert van der Wolf!).
And although I'm a advocate of historically informed performance, a grand piano fits better here.

In 1799, after having made a name for himself with major compositions in the genres of the piano trio, piano sonata, violin sonata, and string quartet, but before finishing his first symphony, Beethoven wrote a work for mixed strings and winds. This piece, the Septet op. 20, would become one of his most popular compositions, with a large number of arrangements, including the one for piano trio on this volume. The form is clearly related to the divertimenti by Mozart, with six movements that alternate fast and slow tempos.

The appearance of the Triple Concerto in this series might surprise some listeners, as it is the only work with orchestra, but this composition has more in common with chamber music than with concertos. It was written in 1805, and its instrumentation is highly exceptional if not unprecedented altogether.
In tone, it is rather a stark contrast from Beethoven’s other concertos, which generally contain easily recognisable melodies and strikingly rhythmic material, neither of which are found to a great degree here. Furthermore, the opposition of soloist and orchestra, a central aspect of many solo works with orchestra written up until that point that was the engine behind much of the drama, is also absent, with the orchestra taking a largely subservient role to the three soloists. So, although the work was called a ‘Grand Concerto Concertant’ when it was published, it really has very little in common with other works with a similar title.
The question is whether this piece is a concerto at all, or whether it could be more fruitfully played and judged as a different kind of experimental piece in a more collaborative genre. This disc takes the latter approach, and by contextualising it in a series of piano trios, it presents this work as Beethoven’s most richly instrumented chamber music. © Challenge Records

[bart]

Berg - Violin Concerto - Seven Early Songs - Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6
San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas
Gil Shaham, violin
Susanna Phillips, soprano
Qobuz 24/192




This is a marvellous album.
Sound and performance (even the German diction of Phillips! ), and of course the music.