What Classical Music Are You Listening To Tonight?

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Pieter van Loenen
Tobias Borsboom - The Silence Between
Qobuz 24/88.2




Works from Stravinsky, Takemitsu, Debussy, Schwertsik and Poulenc.
Yet another fine chamber music release from trptk!

More of trptk tonight.
Of course their new recordings are chamber music mostly, but I heard there is a album with symphonic work coming soon...

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Back in the living room.
Travelling in Covid times...

Anastasia Feruleva & Frank van de Laar - L'Esprit Du Temps
Qobuz 24/88.2




Works from Stravinsky, Lili and Nadia Boulanger, and Enescu.
I especially liked Enescu's 2nd Cello Sonata.

We stay with trptk.
Sonic bliss.

Not all of their albums are artistic wonders, but a lot of them combine quasi perfect sound with beautiful music and great musicianship.

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Chopin - Scherzi & Ballades
Abdel Rahman El Bacha
Qobuz 24/192




We're big fans of this pianist, and his latest album adds to our enthusiasm.

Fantastic 2021 release.

[Kal Rubinson]

Originally Posted by bart

Nadia & Lili Boulanger / Bacewicz / Bernstein / Piazzolla - The Boulanger Legacy
Merel Vercammen & Dina Ivanova
ttrptk
Qobuz 24/88.2




Entertaining new release from the Dutch label.
Nadia Boulanger was one of the greatest music pedagogues of the 20th century.
Students of her include Aaron Copland, Philip Glass, Barenboim and Quincy Jones.
Her sister Lili was an ever bigger talent, but she died very young.

Every composer on this album sat with Nadia to learn.

I keep trying but my recent TRPTK downloads all fail.

[bart]

Originally Posted by Kal Rubinson

I keep trying but my recent TRPTK downloads all fail.

For me many, not all.
There are some good chamber music albums.
But of course, ymmv.

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Joseph Haydn - Twelve Trios for Transverse Flute, Violin and Violoncello
Barthold Kuijken
Sigiswald Kuijken
Wieland Kuijken
via Qobuz




This was playing gently into the practice today.

This double-disc reissue combines two releases by Barthold, Sigiswald, and Wieland Kuijken, respectively from 1978 and 1986. The earlier one, especially, dates from the years when historical-performance philosophies were first applied to music of the Classical era, and both recordings have held up well. Barthold Kuijken's gentle transverse flute blends in with the other two instruments in a way that's difficult to achieve with a modern flute. The works are all incidental pieces by Haydn, written for his princely employer at Esterháza. All are in three movements, although the sequence of the three is hardly duplicated at all. They are pleasant examples of background music, with short movements artfully arranged so as to draw the listener's ear to a single affecting detail, and the Kuijkens deliver ingratiating performances without a hint of the severity that sometimes afflicts Baroque specialists playing Classical music.
There are a few caveats for the buyer. The two discs don't form a sonic whole and haven't even been dynamically equalized. They don't really form an artistic whole, either. The music is not the advertised "Twelve Trios for transverse flute, violin, and violoncello" of Haydn; the works on the first disc are alternate versions of divertimenti for two violins and cello, while the second consists of baryton trios in an arrangement made during Haydn's day with, the performers argue, Haydn's implicit or explicit approval. Haydn realized that the baryton, a bizarre cello-like instrument with a lot of sympathetic strings, was an instrument played by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy and very few others, the reasoning goes, so he composed these works with an eye toward eventual transposition for the forces represented here. The argument is rather detailed, and those with a specific interest in the performance practice of the era will doubtless find it useful. It is a bit exasperating, however, for the general listener who is curious as to what the original versions of these pieces sounded like but who, despite several decades of "authentic" performances, rarely if ever gets to hear them. None of this, however, affects the pleasant, polished, and (as always with Haydn), slightly jocular music heard on these two discs.

© TiVo

This was playing into the clinic today.

[bart]

Abdel Rahman El Bacha - Arabesques - Œuvres pour piano
Qobuz 24/96




The piano player brings his own compositions.
Not bad.
Ideal to accompany some work.

[Kal Rubinson]

Originally Posted by bart

For me many, not all.
There are some good chamber music albums.
But of course, ymmv.

Mostly the MCH ones but everything that gets through has been great.

[ehoove]

Symphony No.5
Tchaikovsky
Berlin Philharmonic
Herbert von Karajan Conducting
Very solid piece of classical vinyl.
EMI/Angel Records RL-32067
Regards,
Jim

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Arcangelo Corelli - Concerti Grossi op. 6
La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken
via Qobuz




These masterpieces playing quietly into my practice...

I played these pieces again in my clinic today.
Corelli seems to touch people.
On more than one occasion they've asked me which composer they were listening to, in order to do some more listening at home.