Classical music

13»

Comments

  • Which performances, out of curiosity?

    I’ve never been as much a fan of Haydn as of Mozart, though I have a few CDs of the quartets from the Mosaïques recordings way back when.

    Coincidentally, yesterday’s evening music was a very good CD of a Marais suite with their cellist (Christophe Coin) on bass viol and Christophe Rousset on harpsichord.
  • Merry VoleMerry Vole Shipmate
    edited January 23
    Putting in a plug for some contemporary 'classical' composers:

    Just for starters:

    Judith Weir
    Roxanna Panufnik
    Arvo Part

    and my current fav: Sally Beamish -her 'In The Stillness of a Church' is definately being sung in heaven
  • orfeoorfeo Shipmate
    Marsupial wrote: »
    Which performances, out of curiosity?

    I’ve never been as much a fan of Haydn as of Mozart, though I have a few CDs of the quartets from the Mosaïques recordings way back when.

    My Haydn string quartet performances are:

    Mosaiques for op.33 (and I think I would like their op.20 if I can find it)
    Amati for op.50
    Endellion for op.54 which I am nervously waiting to arrive
    Panocha for op.55
    and for a longer time I've had Kodaly for opp.64, 71, 74 and 76.

  • Merry VoleMerry Vole Shipmate
    edited January 23
    I forget to mention; 'In The Stillness of a Church' is a poem by Katrina Shepherd:

    In the stillness of a church Where candles glow
    In the softness of a fall Of fresh white snow
    In the brightness of the stars That shine this night
    In the calmness of a pool Of healing light
    In the clearness of a choir That softly sings
    In the oneness of a hush Of angels' wings
    In the mildness of a night By stable bare
    In the quietness of a lull Near cradle fair
    There's a patience as we wait For a new morn
    And the presence of a child Soon to be born

    music for choir by Sally Beamish
  • After a drought of listening in recent weeks, due to Mrs BA's control of the entertainment gear to watch assorted cricket matches, today has seen an eclectic mix on the player. Discs from my Sibelius box and Bach cantatas which were Christmas gifts, the Australian children's choir Gondwana Voices and some organ music from Wiesbaden Cathedral. Tomorrow is a white-ball cricket triple-header, so that will have to keep me going for a couple of days, as it's too hot to sit in the non-air-conditioned back room where the small player is located.
  • I've been reflecting on one of the discs which I listened to yesterday, a DG collection of Sibelius songs. I heard Nilsson perform some of them live almost 50 years ago, and have recordings from Flagstad, Nilsson, von Otter and Bjorling, so mainly performed in the higher registers. This latest disc is performed by Kim Borg and Tom Krause. Borg's bass voice in particular transforms my perception of the music, bringing to my ears more of a sense of drama than the others apart from Nilsson, although Krause's performance is also outstanding. I am left wondering if this is because the works are so overwhelmingly recorded by higher voices thus heightening the contrast.
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    I think theres a lot in your last sentence. How do you find Bjorling? I think he's one of the very greatest greats of the last century, and that recording of In the depths of the Temple has never been bettered.
  • Gee D wrote: »
    I think theres a lot in your last sentence. How do you find Bjorling? I think he's one of the very greatest greats of the last century, and that recording of In the depths of the Temple has never been bettered.

    I admire his pure ringing tone, and really like his interpretations of the bel canto and verismo repertoire. I am just now listening to the definitive recording of Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with Peter Pears and Dennis Brain - another voice with a fine, clear quality. The current hype around Jonas Kaufmann intrigues me, as some of his performances sound decidedly coarse by comparison with these and other tenors of an earlier generation such as Wunderlich.

    An ABC Classic listener's request over the weekend prompted me to pull out the recording of Songs of the Auvergne sung by Netania Davrath. I heard her perform these live in the Sydney Town Hall, possibly at an ABC Youth Concert in the mid- to late-60's. I've heard Te Kanawa perform selections live, and I have the modern Australian recording with Sara MacLiver. On LP I have Madeline Grey, who premiered the first set of songs back in the 20's. Davrath and Grey have the folk background of the songs woven into their performances, with Davrath the better in my view, but Te Kanawa and MacLiver just make the songs too sweetly classical for what they are. I'd love to hear a living performer who could bring that folk feeling back into the performance.
  • orfeoorfeo Shipmate
    edited January 27
    Today I had the rare privilege of hearing Poulenc's music for the short film La Belle au bois dormant (Sleeping Beauty).

    As best I can tell there is no commercial audio recording of the work. But incredibly the National Film and Sound Archive here in Canberra is one of 2 places in the world listed on WorldCat as having a copy of the film.

    And they let me watch it. Twice.

    Poulenc himself played harpsichord. There are also wind instruments (definitely clarinet and bassoon and fairly sure flute and oboe are the others), a harp and percussion (at least a xylophone and woodblock), though the 'credits' don't give all that detail for the rest of the instruments.

    About 6 minutes long, continuous score throughout the film, which is stop motion puppetry. It's basically an advertisement for a wine company, where the prince is told that wine will revive sleeping beauty ("l'âme du vin reveillera la belle"). She wakes, everyone has champagne and dances.
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    That Britten had quite gone out of mind. It's one of his best pieces and as you say, that particular recording is spot on, you can't imagine anyone ever doing better. The Songs of the Auvergne is not one of my favourites but I can understand why many people rave about it.

    Pity about the availability of the Poulenc. Still not sure about the possibilities of travel.
  • I love the Bailero from Songs of the Auvergne - it conjures up a hot, languid day.
  • edited January 27
    There are some things that are too terrible and beautiful in the way of a flood. I unwisely/foolishly listened to Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, the adagio. The strumming of the guitar is the beating of his wife's heart while she gives birth to a baby who is stillborn. There is crying and yelling, and sadness. Maybe it gets to the acceptance.
  • orfeo wrote: »
    Today I had the rare privilege of hearing Poulenc's music for the short film La Belle au bois dormant (Sleeping Beauty).

    As best I can tell there is no commercial audio recording of the work. But incredibly the National Film and Sound Archive here in Canberra is one of 2 places in the world listed on WorldCat as having a copy of the film.

    It seems to be available on a DVD compilation of films by the director Alexander Alexeieff, entitled "Le cinéma épinglé"
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    I have a large and wide-ranging classical collection to augment my even larger jazz collection. My go to classical piece is Dvorak's New World Symphony.
  • orfeoorfeo Shipmate
    orfeo wrote: »
    Today I had the rare privilege of hearing Poulenc's music for the short film La Belle au bois dormant (Sleeping Beauty).

    As best I can tell there is no commercial audio recording of the work. But incredibly the National Film and Sound Archive here in Canberra is one of 2 places in the world listed on WorldCat as having a copy of the film.

    It seems to be available on a DVD compilation of films by the director Alexander Alexeieff, entitled "Le cinéma épinglé"

    Oh, thank you for that information!
  • orfeoorfeo Shipmate
    It looks as if the DVD was released again in English-language form as "The Animation of Alexeieff ".
  • orfeoorfeo Shipmate
    Has anyone else encountered the music of Dora Pejacevic?

    Some of the best Romantic piano miniatures around in my opinion. She was a Croatian-Hungarian, from a noble family. Sadly she died in childbirth.
  • I heard one of her works recently on ABC Classic while driving. I agree, absolutely charming music. I'd like to hear more.
  • orfeoorfeo Shipmate
    There's a string of albums on the CPO label (which is basically the in-house label of a German seller called jpc). I recently bought the piano works, the violin works and a chamber music collection.
Sign In or Register to comment.