What Classical Music Are You Listening To Tonight?

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Back home from a marvelous concert.
I'll post more when I find some time, but this lady performed really well tonight:

Alisa Weilerstein



Together with the Philharmonia Orchestra, she played this very Elgar Cello Concerto, which I am playing now with her and the Staatskapelle Berlin, conducted by Daniel Barenboim.



She plays the Elgar piece very well, as she did a couple of hours ago live. She really touched me.

Elliot Carter's Cello Concerto is on this CD too.
He said about it: "What a great service you have done for me and my music. I can't thank you enough for the expert musicianship displayed here."
At 104 years old, he still had a very sharp mind it seems!

It's a beautiful sunny day, so this is veranda time!
Weilerstein sounds good through the tubes!

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Telemann - 12 Fantaisies
Héloïse Gaillard, flutes



What a fabulous disc this is!
I adore Telemann's compositions for a solo instrument (oboe, violin,...).
This is no exception: enchanting melodies, wonderful playing, and then the sound...
Ideal for late night listening.

Another album on our tubes system.

[bart]

Telemann - Quixotte & La Changeante
Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi




Still on our second system, and remaining with Agogique.
Fine performance and very good sound, but it is not the best recording from the label.

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Telemann - Hoffnung des Wiedersehens - Telemann Arias
L'Orfeo Barockorchester, cond. by Michi Gaigg
Dorothee Mields, soprano




We saw this wonderful soprano last year with Philippe Herreweghe's Collegium Vocale, and she impressed us.
On that evening, we bought this album, and it is simply wonderful.
Another fine example of the genius of Telemann...

We remain in the veranda, enjoying this album that also offers some world premiere recordings.

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Charles Tessier - Carnets de voyages
Le Poême Harmonique, Vincent Dumestre



This CD is a pure delight.
With pieces in Italian and English (Dowland).
This must be one of the best ensembles in the world.
What a fantastic soprano they have!
We got to see them a couple of years ago in Bruges, and now I'm tempted to book some tickets to attend a spectacle with Couperin's 'Leçons des Ténèbres' in April, in the Castle of Versailles.
But it is in the middle of the week, and a 3 hour drive...

One of our favourite albums, by one of our favourite ensembles.

[bart]

Anton Bruckner - Symphony No. 7
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Qobuz 24/44.1




What a beautiful symphony this is, I always say to myself when I hear it.
This is album is well recorded, and Haitink was still top, at 90.

Bernard Haitink was born and educated in Amsterdam. His conducting career began at the Netherlands Radio where in 1957 he became the Chief Conductor of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. The links between Bernard Haitink and the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra have withstood the test of time, even when his career was taking him all over the world. One fine example of this was Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust in 1998, later issued on Challenge Classics. He returned on 15 June 2019, when he gave his very last concert in Amsterdam, with Bruckner's Symphony No. 7, a work that has always been especilly dear to him. © Challenge Classics

[ehoove]

Mozart
Violinsonaten K301.302.303.304
Itzhak Pearlman - Violin
Daniel Barenbooim - Piano
Always a wonderful listen, amazing pace and play!
Deutsche Grammophon 410 896-2 (German Pressing)
Regards,
Jim

[bart]

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy - String Symphonies Volume 3
Margot Oitzinger
L'Orfeo Barockorchester, Michi Gaigg
via Qobuz




This is quite lovely chamber music.
The Scene for alto and strings (MWC H 1) "Che vuoi, mio cor?... Lo lo so… Mai, se di lei t'accendi" is simply gorgeous.

[bart]

Originally Posted by ehoove

The Violin Concertos
W. A. Mozart
Julia Fischer
Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
Yakov Kreizberg Cond.
In honor of Mozart's 265th Birthday Today!
Fabulous 3 SACD + 1 DVD Set, Excellent!
Pentatone Classics PTC 5186 453
Regards,
Jim

We're playing the whole set today.
What a treat!

[bart]

Domenico Scarlatti - Sonates Volume 6
Pierre Hantaï
Qobuz 24/96




This was quite ideal to accompany some preparations for a seminar.
Got a Diapason d'Or.


Since setting off in the early 2000s, Pierre Hantaï is still journeying into Domenico Scarlatti’s world. After a hiatus of more than ten years following the third volume, the harpsichordist finally recorded a fourth volume in 2016 and this autumn sees the sixth one come into bloom, once again superbly recorded in Haarlem in the Netherlands by Nicolas Bartholomée. Pierre Hantaï is taking his time to gradually construct a perfect anthology of Scarlatti’s keyboard work. Here, he explores some of his little-known sonatas. His keyboard intensifies the profound rhythmic force of Scarlatti’s world: the sharp lines burst forth, the harmonic tension constantly explodes, the new tones are revealed smoothly, and his playing – with an exhilarating left hand – is stunning throughout. The first five sonatas of this new release (all of which have a fairly fast tempo) form a representative ensemble of a rather uncompromising Scarlatti, followed by a moment of gravity and meditation with the exquisite Sonata in F minor, K. 69, while the surrounding Sonatas K. 502 and K. 43 (with a wonderfully volatile left hand) have clearly marked rhythms. The style and atmosphere changes with Sonata in C major, K. 384, whose tender “French” tone is emphasised by Pierre Hantaï, and at the same time there’s an almost modern feel which goes beyond even Soler’s most audacious scores. Fascinating! While the tender sonatas (K. 550, K. 544) distil an aftertaste that is slightly more spicy than the previous volumes, what continues to surprise us with Hantaï in this repertoire is his prolonged search for a “Hispanic” feel - a Spain in a majestic trance, with colliding rhythms and contrasting accents and registers.
Let’s hope that Pierre Hantaï does not wait another ten years to deliver the seventh volume; there is no doubt that these Scarlatti recordings will remain one of the most exciting and necessary musical adventures of the 21st century. A perfectly captured sound, style and universe. © Pierre-Yves Lascar/Qobuz