What Classical Music Are You Listening To Tonight?

[bart]

Beethoven - Symphony No. 9
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Mendelssohn Choir Of Pittsburgh, Manfred Honeck
Qobuz 24/192




I read good things about this recording.
They were true.

Conductor Manfred Honeck and his Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra recorded this live reading of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, in 2019. The marketplace was not exactly crying out for a new Beethoven's Ninth, even considering Honeck's strong track record in Classical-era repertory and Reference Recordings' increasingly fine results in Pittsburgh's Heinz Hall. However, it is absolutely worth experiencing Honeck's accomplishment here. The reading is distinctive and justified at length in a booklet essay by Honeck. His reading is fast, blazing, kinetic, with moments of high contrast, such as the ethereal third movement in its entirety, giving the listener breathing space. The first movement is quick, but Honeck relaxes the tempo just slightly as things proceed, making room for the brass to give their stentorian statements. The scherzo is very fast throughout, which has the effect of not stealing the delicate discourse from the slow movement, and the finale, though also fast, is never rushed. There is a certain logic in playing the work this way, inasmuch as the impossible-to-sing passages in the solos become just a bit less impossible at these speeds. Most impressive is that Honeck holds the musicians and the singers together at his blazing speeds; his 22:30 timing for the finale comes in more than two minutes faster than, say, Fritz Reiner's classic Chicago Symphony recording, and Honeck would have been even faster had he not offered a rather deliberate reading of the movement's recitative introduction. The soloists shine, and they deliver in a difficult reading that, at its best, feels like the cry of exultation Beethoven envisioned. The slightly American accent of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh is somehow not a detriment but an inducement here; there is real energy running through the performance and real joy. Reference Recordings has once again produced audiophile-quality sound whose depth and transparency are awesome even on everyday equipment.

© TiVo

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

John Luther Adams - The Become Trilogy
Seattle Symphony, Ludovic Morlot
via Qobuz




'Become Desert' was a work I listened to last year, after Tony had posted it.
Now the trilogy is complete, although the composer never intended to write a trilogy.
Become River, Become Ocean, Become Desert are the three pieces.
Fascinating, uplifting soundscapes.
The explanation by the composer in the booklet is worth reading.

@Kal: I looked for a multichannel version, but couldn't find one (it is mentioned that they recorded in multichannel and it was performed with the public sitting in between the orchestra that was divided into five sections)

We enjoyed ourselves being immersed in this set again.
It is different from most I've heard in the classical world, and it's beautiful.

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Arvo Pärt - Miserere
Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Münchner Rundfunkorchester
œnm. œstereisches ensemble fuer neue musik, Howard Arman
Qobuz 24/48




This is one I'm going to listen to a lot!
Nice booklet also.

The Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, born in 1935, has succeeded in bringing sacred music back to a broader audience, and away from the confines of the church service, more than almost any other contemporary composer. The meditative character of his works, and his return to the simplest and most basic musical forms, convey moments of intense spirituality. Before his emigration from the Soviet Union, Pärt had already invented what he termed the "tintinnabuli" style of composition. He produced an early and important example of this expressive style in 1977 with his Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, scored for string orchestra and bell. It is also a key feature of the choral and instrumental works presented by BR-Klassik on this new album: five works for choir as well as two for instrumental ensemble, covering all of the composer’s creative epochs between 1986 and 2019.

Alongside shorter a cappella choral works such as Tribute to Caesar (1997), Which Was the Son of... (2000), The Deer's Cry (2007) and Ja ma kuulsin hääle... (2017), the highlight of this album – almost 30 minutes in length and with its absolutely spectacular sound effects – is the Miserere for soli, mixed voices, ensemble and organ (1989/1992).

Ever since its premiere in 1989 in Rouen, France, and the recording by the Hilliard Ensemble under Paul Hillier, this is the first time a professional choir has dared undertake a production of this masterful composition – a work conveying the growth, flourishing and transience of human existence in sound. Arvo Pärt had never heard some of these pieces sung by a full choir before - “always only by a small ensemble”. The impressive programme is rounded off by two instrumental works: Festina lente (1986/1990) for string orchestra and harp, and Sequentia (2014/2019) for violin, percussion and string orchestra. © BR-Klassik

Fabulous!

[JemHadar]

Mari Samuelsen | MARI

her playing and tone just take my breath away...stunningly beautiful

[bart]

Vivaldi - Concerti per fagotto V
Sergio Azzolini
L'Onda Armonica
Qobuz 24/88.2




Another splendid release in this ongoing Naïve series.
Very good bassoon player.

I had a long chat with Sigiswald Kuijken recently.
He told me for him, Vivaldi was an acquired taste.
He only appreciated the Italian composer later in his career.
"I was a snob and thought Bach and Mozart were right for me, because it is much more complex music. But then I began to see that Vivaldi wrote simple music, but that it is always exactly right!".

[bart]

Originally Posted by Jem666

Mari Samuelsen | MARI

her playing and tone just take my breath away...stunningly beautiful

Hi Jacques, streaming it now (Qobuz 24/96).
Indeed absolutely worth listening to.
A lot of contemporary composers I know quite well, but also a couple that are new to me.
A couple of pieces of a certain mister Bach also.

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Roland de Lassus - Cantiones Sacrae - sex vocum
Collegium Vocale, Philippe Herreweghe




Herreweghe turns 70 today!
We do celebrate him here in Belgium, in the newspapers, and on the radio, with 2 days of interviews, lots of music and a live concert tonight.
He's one of the really great conductors, and he's a medical doctor too (psychiatrist).
Gramophone Magazine says his version of the Saint Matthew's Passion (Bach) is the best one ever.

He was kind of a pioneer also, in the seventies, with undiscovered music then.
This disc is an example of polyphonic treasures he dug up.

On our tube system, which does voices exceptionally well.

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Francesco Geminiani - Sonates pour violoncelle avec la basse continue
Bruno Cocset, Luca Pianca & Les Basses Réunies



Very beautiful chamber music, and as always a marvelous recording by Alpha.

Geminiani doesn't get much better than this I guess...

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Sainte-Colombe - Concerts à deux violes esgales - Volume II
Les Voix Humaines




This is soul food for me...

Still on the tube system.
These KEF LS50 Metas really sound good!

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Mr. de Sainte-Colombe le Fils - Pièces de Viole
Jordi Savall




Will I ever get tired of hearing these works?
I doubt it.
I play them through my iPhone when I'm travelling, in my practice, and like now through our living room system. They keep thrilling me.

Through the tubes and KEFs now.
This set is very well recorded.