What Classical Music Are You Listening To Tonight?

[bart]

Je m'abandonne à vous
Airs sur des poésies de la Comtesse de la Suze
Marc Mauillon
Angélique Mauillon
Myriam Rignol
Qobuz 24/96




Wonderful evocation of what could have been a listening evening in a late 17th century French castle, or, why not, the Versailles palace itself.
Very relaxed performance.
The recording could have been a bit more closely miked, the sound is a bit distant at times.

Henriette de Coligny, Comtesse de La Suze, was more than just a woman of letters admired in her time, even by the very demanding Boileau. It was as a free woman that she married for love; after the death of her husband, a second one was forced on her, but, still a free woman, she demanded to be ‘de-married’! Surrounded by expert musicians, Marc Mauillon shows us that her précieux poetic universe mixes tenderness with the most unexpected strokes of audacity, so much so that her verse inspired many composers of the Grand Siècle –and after! © harmonia mundi

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Offenbach - Colorature
Jodie Devos, soprano
Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Laurent Campellone
Qobuz 24/96




Belgian soprano Devos scored well in the Queen Elisabeth Competition for Voice a couple of years ago.
I didn't expect much of this album, but was curious.
In fact, these are quite enjoyable pieces and Jodie Devos shines.

The elegant Jodie Devos puts her talents to work in service of a fairly unknown known side of Offenbach, taking on several somewhat-forgotten pieces which call for very specific voices, known in Offenbach’s day by names such as "chanteuse d’agilité", "chanteuse à roulade" or "première chanteuse légère". Of course, everyone knows the tune of the doll Olympia from Tales of Hoffmann, or the telling of the death of Eurydice in Orpheus in the Underworld, but the substantial repertoire of the composer's smaller pieces (which he generally referred to as "operettas" to distinguish them from his larger works, his famous opéras bouffe) contains a number of virtuoso arias for coloratura soprano. In them, we hear the vocal imitation of the jeu perlé piano technique or of Paganini's "flying staccato", in which unstinting bravura hides the real difficulty behind something apparently easy. But the difference from many bel canto composers, who merely show off vocals and melody, is that Offenbach knows how to charge these things with emotion, with textual significance, with personality, and with contrasts: simple mechanics never take precedence over diversity. This record allows us to discover a neat little collection of sadly little-known works which are well overdue a return to the French stage. © SM/Qobuz

This album has been growing on me.
This is in fact very enjoyable music.
Devos is fantastic.

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Now streaming:

Bach - Lambert - De Visée - Weiss - Baroque
Nils Mönkemeyer
Dorothee Mields - Andreas Arend
Qobuz 24/88.2




I heard a piece through my earbuds when I was jogging this morning.
It is Klara recording of the month, and that is well deserved!

The liner notes aren't very clear, so here are the details of this most singular recording, which focuses especially on Bach. Violist Nils Mönkemeyer and lutist Andreas Arend have chosen to perform, in a single "double" suite – BWV 995 and 1011 – the two preludes to the suite, and then the two allemandes etc. – in the knowledge that the BWV 995 is transcription for solo lute made by Bach himself of his own Suite for Cello n°5 BWV 1011… But here, we hear BWV 995 re-written by our two soloists, for viol and lute. As for the Suite BWV 1011, originally written for solo cello, Mönkemeyer has given it over to solo viola, without making any changes to the discourse. At every turn, movement by movement, the juxtaposition shows off the "developed" harmony that Bach gives to the lute, more inferred than really written out, just as in the version for the solo instrument. Mönkemeyer and Arend round off the programme with other examples of the very ancient and widely-practised baroque-era habit of transcription, with pieces by Robert de Visée and Michel Lambert (who were themselves models for Bach when he wrote "à la française") and the famous lutist Leopold Weiss, a friend of Bach's, whose Rondeau was long thought to be a work of Bach's before musicologists credited its true composer. © SM/Qobuz

This remains one of the finer classical releases of 2018.

[bart]

Joseph Canteloube - Chants d'Auvergne
Orchestre National de Lille, Jean-Claude Casadesus
Véronique Gens, soprano
SACD




This is one of our favourite fun albums.
Not as serious as Wagner or Mahler, but a joy to listen to!

Once you accept the fundamental premise -- Joseph Canteloube's Chants d'Auvergne are gussied-up folk songs -- they become the cutest little things in the world. Of course, not everybody can accept the premise since it involves accepting, first, that the folk song is a legitimate vehicle for high culture, and second, that a little sentimentality never hurt anybody. For listeners for whom Schubert's lieder are the only possible songs, Canteloube's Chants will seem far too close to kitsch for aesthetic comfort. But listeners who can accept the artless beauty of the tunes and the warm orchestral syrup in which they are encased, Canteloube's Chants are just the thing when Puccini's Madame Butterfly becomes too much.
There have been many terrific recordings of Canteloube's Chants d'Auvergne over the years, but this recording by soprano Véronique Gens accompanied by Jean-Claude Casadesus leading the Orchestre National de Lille can takes its place among the best. With many impressive recordings of repertoire from Rameau through Mozart to her credit, Gens may at first seem an unlikely choice for performing gussied-up folk songs, but her darkly lustrous and deep-chested tone, along with her birth in the Auvergne region make, her a natural for the part. And indeed, while one can tell immediately that the singer is Gens, one never gets the sense that she's condescending to the repertoire, but rather doing exactly the repertoire she wants to do and enjoying herself completely while doing it. Casadesus is a faithful accompanist, but this is emphatically Gens' show and, for those who can accept the fundamental premise, pure pleasure. Naxos' sound is rich, deep, warm, and round.

© TiVo

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Music for a time of war
The Oregon Symphony, Carlos Kalmar



Fabulous disc.
I bought it because I wanted another version of The Unanswered Question and got 3 masterpieces on top of it.
Very good recording (listening in multi-channel).

One of the better albums in our collection.

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Elgar - Complete Songs for voice and piano volume 2
Roocroft - Jarnot - Mees




We liked volume 1 so much we purchased the second also.
The surround mix places you somewhere between the piano, which is just behind you, and the singer, who is some 6 meters in front of you.
Nice effect and it adds to the experience.

I do like streaming in stereo, but I'm glad I have the option to listen in surround also.

The 2 volumes are always in rotation here.

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Bach - Brandenburg Concertos 1-6
Orchestra Mozart, Claudio Abbado
Giuliano Carmignola, principal violin



Claudio Abbado brings his own flavour to these masterpieces, Carmignola plays as if it is all very easy, and the rest of the ensemble is also fantastic (I can especially mention the harpsichord player).
The recording is outstanding, the 5 channels provide a real sense of being there (again, the harpsichord is crystal clear).
What a joy!

A "bit" of Bach to end the evening...

[ehoove]

War Requiem
Benjamin Britten
The London Symphony
Benjamin Britton Conducting
Galina Vishnevskaya (Soprano)
Peter Pears (Tenor)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Baritone)
Fabulous!
London ffrr LOH 90067 R2R 7.5 ips
Regards,
Jim

[Formerly YB-2]

Puccini's "Tosca" with Jussi Bjorling. When Pavarotti was ask who he should be compared to he replied, "I want only to be compared to Jussi Bjorling. I want to sing like Jussi Bjorling." He was right. To my ears only Jussi Bjorling compares to Pavarotti.

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

De Visée - Weiss - Dufaut
Jonas Nordberg, theorbo & lute
Qobuz 24/192




Fantastic album.
Calmness and quietness...

I liked this album even more than the first time.