What I listened to today

[jserraglio]

Beethoven: Missa Solemnis

Angela Denoke
Michelle DeYoung
Stephen Gould
Alexander Vinogradov

Chicago Symphony Chorus
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Helmuth Rilling

Chicago, Symphony Center
20 January 2005

[maestrob]

Kogan's tone can be slightly metallic, but I do admire his virtuosity in repertoire like the Carmen Fantasy. Truly a great artist and vastly unappreciated in the West.

[jserraglio]

Kogan's tone can be slightly metallic, but I do admire his virtuosity in repertoire like the Carmen Fantasy. Truly a great artist and vastly unappreciated in the West.

I heard Kogan playing the Brahms in Boston, late 60s, early 70s. (Jordan Hall? a Russian band, not the BSO? I am not sure). Anyway I had absolutely no clue back then who this Leonid Kogan was but was bowled over nevertheless. He planted himself rock solid in front of the orchestra and delivered incredible overpowering sound. Unforgettable concert! I realize today how lucky lucky lucky I was to hear this master violinist of the Russian School in person. One of the seminal concerts that hooked me on classical music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7CKyg1B2MI 1959 studio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miGpH6Ul-cU 1967 live

[jserraglio]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLFHBg0h7e0

[jserraglio]

Pettersson Symphony No. 6
Kamu-Norrkoping SO 1976

Pettersson Symphony No. 5
Kahler-Berlin Sibelius Orch Bluebell

[Rach3]

My first hearing of the brief, light “ Les Djinns” , I suspect a work rarely played (?) outside France. I am also a fan of Chamayou.Here the “ Variations” first section not played as darkly as some do.The Saint-Saens Op.111 Etudes are sadly neglected ( I have Piers Lane’s great cd of all his Etudes ) , the encore here a gorgeous example.

https://www.rtbf.be/auvio/detail_concer ... id=2814147

Enregistré le 20/07/2021 à l'Opéra Berlioz du Corum de Montpellier

Guillaume Connesson - Feux d'artifice, pour orchestre (1998 - révision 2003)

César Franck - Les Djinns, Poème symphonique FWV 45 pour piano et orchestre
- Variations symphoniques pour piano et orchestre FWV 46

Camille Saint-Saëns - Six Etudes pour piano op 111 : n° 4 Les Cloches de Las Palmas (bis)
- Symphonie en fa Majeur, « Urbs Roma »

Bertrand Chamayou, piano
Orchestre National de France,Cristian Macelaru

[maestrob]

Wonderful, Joe, many thanks! I have the famous Russian Legends Box, which features many of Leonid Kogan's Russian recordings, but I've not heard his as recorded here in the West. I'll be checking your postings out soon.

Steve, I'm a huge supporter of Chamayou, and will listen to many of these tomorrow. Thanks, as always!

[jserraglio]

One of my favorite composers.

Malcolm Arnold – Toward The Unknown Region: A Story of Survival
Tony Palmer Film, complete

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZsuYbn8DaE

This documentary celebrates Malcolm Arnold, one of Britain's most underestimated and yet most popular composers, who wrote scores to altogether 132 films including Whistle Down the Wind, Hobson's Choice and the Oscar-winning Bridge Over the River Kwai. Sir Malcolm also composed ballets, symphonies and operas. Although the film features friends and family, and includes extracts from his works, it does not shirk the darker side of Arnold's life, full of complications caused by a mental illness he suffered from.

[maestrob]

One of my favorite composers.

Malcolm Arnold – Toward The Unknown Region: A Story of Survival
Tony Palmer Film, complete

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZsuYbn8DaE

This documentary celebrates Malcolm Arnold, one of Britain's most underestimated and yet most popular composers, who wrote scores to altogether 132 films including Whistle Down the Wind, Hobson's Choice and the Oscar-winning Bridge Over the River Kwai. Sir Malcolm also composed ballets, symphonies and operas. Although the film features friends and family, and includes extracts from his works, it does not shirk the darker side of Arnold's life, full of complications caused by a mental illness he suffered from.

Certainly! Thanks for this, jserraglio!

I've admired his symphonies for many years, and own them all now in a box set, including the one for band. Wonderfully inventive writing! Bridge Over the River Kwai is still one of the best movies ever made, IMHO.

[jserraglio]

Certainly! Thanks for this, jserraglio!
I've admired his symphonies for many years, and own them all now in a box set, including the one for band. Wonderfully inventive writing! Bridge Over the River Kwai is still one of the best movies ever made, IMHO.

I saw Kwai as a teen & later attended many university concert band concerts. If only Arnold had been German, he’d be up there with Mahler. I bought his symphonies on Conifer and have listened over and over to these masterpieces. The English, Irish, Scottish & Cornish Dances on Lyrita is one of my all-time favorite discs.

Can’t believe Arnold turned down offers to score Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Strangelove.

The Palmer film is a shattering portrait of a genius who never quite fit in.

[maestrob]

Kogan's tone can be slightly metallic, but I do admire his virtuosity in repertoire like the Carmen Fantasy. Truly a great artist and vastly unappreciated in the West.

I heard Kogan playing the Brahms in Boston, late 60s, early 70s. (Jordan Hall? a Russian band, not the BSO? I am not sure). Anyway I had absolutely no clue back then who this Leonid Kogan was but was bowled over nevertheless. He planted himself rock solid in front of the orchestra and delivered incredible overpowering sound. Unforgettable concert! I realize today how lucky lucky lucky I was to hear this master violinist of the Russian School in person. One of the seminal concerts that hooked me on classical music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7CKyg1B2MI 1959 studio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miGpH6Ul-cU 1967 live

Have heard the EMI studio recording today, and I find Kogan's tone is wonderfully recorded by EMI's engineers (Abbey Road studio?), without a trace of the metallic edge in his Russian concert recordings. FWIW, David Oistrakh's recordings from the same source occasionally have a bit of an edge as well, but not like Kogan. His intensity and honesty reign supreme in Brahms, and I feel he's worthy to stand next to Heifetz, Oistrakh, or any of the best of his era or any other. NOW I understand your enthusiasm, Joe!

Will try the concert version you posted very soon. Thanks!

[Rach3]

Cesar Franck's Piano Trio Op.1,No.1, written when he was 17-18, my first hearing.Amazing, powerful work, here Richter,Kagan,Gutman live in Moscow, 1983:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK7StsZ ... 90&index=1

[Rach3]

Cesar Franck's Piano Trio Op.1,No.1, written when he was 17-18, my first hearing.Amazing, powerful work, here Richter,Kagan,Gutman live in Moscow, 1983:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK7StsZ ... 90&index=1

Ordered a 320kbps mp3 download from Presto. A Portici Trio,Pavane label. Like the work even better second and third re-hearings , right up there with the composer's Violin Sonata, Piano Quintet.Like the recording even better than the Russians above.

[maestrob]

My first hearing of the brief, light “ Les Djinns” , I suspect a work rarely played (?) outside France. I am also a fan of Chamayou.Here the “ Variations” first section not played as darkly as some do.The Saint-Saens Op.111 Etudes are sadly neglected ( I have Piers Lane’s great cd of all his Etudes ) , the encore here a gorgeous example.

https://www.rtbf.be/auvio/detail_concer ... id=2814147

Enregistré le 20/07/2021 à l'Opéra Berlioz du Corum de Montpellier

Guillaume Connesson - Feux d'artifice, pour orchestre (1998 - révision 2003)

César Franck - Les Djinns, Poème symphonique FWV 45 pour piano et orchestre
- Variations symphoniques pour piano et orchestre FWV 46

Camille Saint-Saëns - Six Etudes pour piano op 111 : n° 4 Les Cloches de Las Palmas (bis)
- Symphonie en fa Majeur, « Urbs Roma »

Bertrand Chamayou, piano
Orchestre National de France,Cristian Macelaru

This was a fine concert and beautifully recorded. Many thanks, Etienne!

I imagine that the conductor was Roumanian, judging by how the announcer pronounced his name. Chamayou played brilliantly, and I was particularly pleased with his ease and fluidity in the "bis," the Saint-Saens Etude. I have a CD of those on an obscure label, and Chamayou added much beauty and life to the one he played. Would love for him to record more.

Here's the cover of his brand-new 2021 Saint-Saens release with Capucon:

[Rach3]

Pianist Christian Zacharais at age 76 playing in Spain recently, Haydn Sonatas Nos. 21 and 39, Bach’s French Suite No.2, and Schubert’s G Major Sonata D.894, perhaps my fav Schubert piano sonata over D.’s 664, 784, 840,959 and 960. Live recital.

https://www.rtbf.be/auvio/detail_concer ... id=2815690

[Rach3]

Myaskovsky, Cello Sonata No.2, Rostropovich, Richter, live in Moscow, 1953. A rare gem, probably a one-hear for me, but recommended even for a one-hear, music for the heart without placing too heavy a burden on the mind ( ie, ideal for my mind ! ) :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9HaVy2Nglw

[jserraglio]

[maestrob]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLFHBg0h7e0

An excellent Shostakovich, Joe. Many thanks!

[Wallingford]

The three Brahms symphonies that Monteux never did commercially:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWvmG4mMxw0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNG8xaO9rBg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZQo-EqTp-M

AMAZING tempo changes in the First.

[jserraglio]

Alfred Cortot solo piano, on Biddulph CDs.

Chopin, Franck, Schumann, Weber, Mendelssohn, Debussy, Ravel, and short encore pieces.

Wonderful transfers, and I have for comparison the Chopin & Schumann on Japanese-pressed Angel COLH LPs.

[Wallingford]

Cortot, in 1947, doing Beethoven's First Concerto. He was 70 that year, and at that time his technique hadn't quite reached the unbearable level:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMFzRixYmc0

He released a nice Kinderszenen that year.

[Rach3]

Sir Arthur Bliss' Piano Concerto ( 1939 I believe),Peter Donohoe,Royal Scottish Orchestra,David-Lloyd Jones,Naxos cd:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-J1zPc ... p88viLDWbg

[Rach3]

Geirr Tveitt , Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 5 , Havard Grimse, Royal Scottish Orchestram Naxos cd:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5fUItO ... wgvMldUl18

Leif Ove Andsnes says he does not play the Tveitts because they “ do not speak to him “, yet he tours often the ubiquitous Grieg. They speak to me and Grimse.

[jserraglio]

Masur-Leipzig Gewandhaus - Beethoven Missa Solemnis 1973 Eterna LP
https://www.discogs.com/release/1265654 ... AwODQzNzU=

Anna Tomowa-Sintow
Annelies Burmeister
Peter Schreier
Hermann Christian Polster

Wonderful performance. I am a fan of his early GDR recordings, not of his NYP, except for Britten’s War Requiem.

[jserraglio]

Beethoven Fidelio video

https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/103924-00 ... a-comique/

Available till 30/IX/2022

Siobhan Stagg (Leonore)
Michael Spyres (Florestan)
Mari Eriksmoen (Marzelline)
Albert Dohmen (Rocco)
Gabor Bretz (Don Pizarro)
Christian Immler (Don Fernando)
Linard Vrielink (Jaquino)

Pygmalion Ensemble Choir and Orchestra
Raphaël Pichon, conducting

Opéra Comique, Paris
Performance of October 1, 2021

[Rach3]

Pettersson Symphony No. 6
Kamu-Norrkoping SO 1976

Pettersson Symphony No. 5
Kahler-Berlin Sibelius Orch Bluebell

Thanks for the suggestions !
Heard his 8th Symphony ( and any Pettersson ) first time today.Also today, his 6th and 7th Symphonies. Enjoyed the 8th most, although a close call, the other 2 certainly worth a hear, also at YT. Not easy listening , but for me all 3 more enjoyable than most of the Mahler symphonies. Disciplined dark better than undisciplined light ( or dark) for me. Sibelius lovers ( like me ) will find these Petterssons attractive I think. I do plan to re-hear all 3 (on separate days !) so my “ most” may change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cou4gP8cBcs (6)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fN5-uKlFv8 (7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cou4gP8cBcs (8)

[maestrob]

Pettersson Symphony No. 6
Kamu-Norrkoping SO 1976

Pettersson Symphony No. 5
Kahler-Berlin Sibelius Orch Bluebell

Thanks for the suggestions !
Heard his 8th Symphony ( and any Pettersson ) first time today.Also today, his 6th and 7th Symphonies. Enjoyed the 8th most, although a close call, the other 2 certainly worth a hear, also at YT. Not easy listening , but for me all 3 more enjoyable than most of the Mahler symphonies. Disciplined dark better than undisciplined light ( or dark) for me. Sibelius lovers ( like me ) will find these Petterssons attractive I think. I do plan to re-hear all 3 (on separate days !) so my “ most” may change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cou4gP8cBcs (6)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fN5-uKlFv8 (7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cou4gP8cBcs (8)

Swedish composer Allan Pettersson suffered from terrible pain during much of his later life from rheumatoid arthritis, but my feeling is that this is the source of the terrible darkness, even agony expressed in his symphonies. I find them tough going, but also very rewarding.

I have these on my shelves, bought them as they were issued:

[maestrob]

Cesar Franck's Piano Trio Op.1,No.1, written when he was 17-18, my first hearing.Amazing, powerful work, here Richter,Kagan,Gutman live in Moscow, 1983:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK7StsZ ... 90&index=1

Ordered a 320kbps mp3 download from Presto. A Portici Trio,Pavane label. Like the work even better second and third re-hearings , right up there with the composer's Violin Sonata, Piano Quintet.Like the recording even better than the Russians above.

Totally agree with you here, Steve! A remarkable Op. 1. I have ordered both recordings. Many thanks for posting about this magnificent work, so incredibly mature and rewarding from one so young. Why it isn't performed or recorded more often is beyond my ken.

[Rach3]

Kirill Gerstein is a pianist I follow. Here an unhackneyed programme, my first hearings of the Debussy,Komitas and Kapralova.

From BBC:

Russian-American pianist Kirill Gerstein performs a fascinating and diverse programme of late 19th- and early 20th-century repertoire: rare pieces by Debussy sit alongside a group of April Preludes (1937) by the sadly short-lived Czech composer Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915-40), and a set of folk dances by the Armenian priest-musician Komitas

Live from London's Wigmore Hall ( Today,Monday Oct.4,2021 I believe.)


Komitas: 7 Armenian folk dances
Debussy: Page d'album (Pièce pour le Vêtement du blessé); Elégie; Les soirs illuminés par l'ardeur du charbon; Berceuse héroïque; Etude retrouvée
Janáček: Piano Sonata 1. X. 1905 ('From the Street')
Vítězslava Kaprálová: April Preludes Op. 13
Scriabin: Vers la flamme Op. 72


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00108fl ( All except the Scriabin )
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00108fn (The Scriabin )

[maestrob]

Sir Arthur Bliss' Piano Concerto ( 1939 I believe),Peter Donohoe,Royal Scottish Orchestra,David-Lloyd Jones,Naxos cd:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-J1zPc ... p88viLDWbg

I have this recording, along with the composer's own with the electrifying his pupil, Lamar Crowson and the London Symphony, made for Everest on 35mm magnetic film in, I believe, 1959, the year before his death in 1960.

[maestrob]

My first hearing of the above works, Enescu's Violin Sonatas are incredibly original and played to perfection by the pair of artists (Daniel Rowland & Natacha Kudritskaya) on this recording. An absolutely stunning album, available on Amazon for streaming. A must-have, but I can't find it on youtube to post a link here.

[Rach3]

My first hearings of young Catalan pianist Jorge Tabares and some of the works, including attractive works of a teenage de Larrocha. Live in Barcelona, 2020 ; brief recital:

Antonio Soler (1729-1783)
Keyboard Sonata in G minor, R.377

Oscar Espla (1886-1976)
Sonata Española, Op.53 - excerpts

Alicia de Larrocha (1923-2009)
Pecados de juventud - excerpts

Federico Mompou (1893-1987)
Música callada (Silent music) - excerpts

Jorge Tabares (1996-)
Preludios para piano

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00108g1

[Rach3]

I watched two Oct.4 Stage 1 recitals ( Sumino,Holt ) and these 2 additional Oct.5 excerpts. I do not plan to watch any more of the Chopin Competition.When it is over, I will watch the final solo recitals ( only, not concertos ) of the the top 4 or 5. Too much Chopin, too many pianists , frankly ridiculous hubris on the part of the Competition.

Life is not fair:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnPZnRc97Lo About 1:10:00 to end,Op.10,# 2,Yasko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcMEzDO-sus About 4:18:00 to 4:23:00,Op.49, Gad Crema

[Rach3]

Sibelius lovers ( like me ) will find these Petterssons attractive I think. I do plan to re-hear all 3 (on separate days !) so my “ most” may change.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cou4gP8cBcs (6)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fN5-uKlFv8 (7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cou4gP8cBcs (8)

Enjoyed the 8th and 15th most , with 8th probably my fav.Highly recommended. The only of his 16 I did not hear were Nos.1-4, and 12 (choral).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm2Ih9w ... X&index=15 (15th)

Bio: https://theamericanscholar.org/who-the- ... ettersson/

Added his Violin Concerto # 2. A troubled first-half gives way to a tranquil conclusion.Not an easy listen, but rewarding.May consider acquiring the concerto.

Ida Haendel,Swedish Radio Symphony, Herbert Blomstedt ,studio, not sure original label :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJeu5xL_sE4

[maestrob]

Haven't heard Stravinsky's own recording of his opera "The Rake's Progress" with Judith Raskin for several years, so it was time for a go at it this morning. In the early 1980's I was priviledged to sit in on her voice lessons with my voice teacher as I was absorbing vocal technique, and I watched and listened entranced as her voice grew smoother, more reliable, and healed itself after her first bout with breast cancer. Raskin gave up her debut at Glyndebourne in a Mozart opera in order to make this now historic recording with the composer himself conducting, having already made appearances on record with Robert Shaw and George Szell.

Raskin retained her fascination with 20th Century song after working with Stravinsky, having perfect pitch and the ability to accurately sing micro-tonalities between notes. Her musicianship was extraordinary. I remember being fascinated by her well-attended coming out recital in the mid 1980's that featured thorny compositions by Hugo Weisgall, Arnold Schoenberg and Pierre Boulez among others of the atonal school. Not my cuppa generally, but she made it interesting.

At any rate, here's the cover. It's available on Spotify.

[Rach3]

I watched two Oct.4 Stage 1 recitals ( Sumino,Holt ) and these 2 additional Oct.5 excerpts. I do not plan to watch any more of the Chopin Competition.When it is over, I will watch the final solo recitals ( only, not concertos ) of the the top 4 or 5. Too much Chopin, too many pianists , frankly ridiculous hubris on the part of the Competition.

Life is not fair:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnPZnRc97Lo About 1:10:00 to end,Op.10,# 2,Yasko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcMEzDO-sus About 4:18:00 to 4:23:00,Op.49, Gad Crema

On the other hand, a possible medalist ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhE_Xv3MGHE About 3:00:00 , Martin Garcia Garcia

Etudes Op.25,#4, Op.10,# 4; Nocturne,Op.55,# 2 ; First Ballade , Op.23.

[maestrob]

Geirr Tveitt , Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 5 , Havard Grimse, Royal Scottish Orchestram Naxos cd:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5fUItO ... wgvMldUl18

Leif Ove Andsnes says he does not play the Tveitts because they “ do not speak to him “, yet he tours often the ubiquitous Grieg. They speak to me and Grimse.

Me too. Lovely and quite original. Thanks to Naxos's generosity and your good taste, I've ordered a copy from Presto. Many thanks!

[jserraglio]

J-G Queyras - Britten Cello Suites Harmonia Mundi

[maestrob]

Kirill Gerstein is a pianist I follow. Here an unhackneyed programme, my first hearings of the Debussy,Komitas and Kapralova.

From BBC:

Russian-American pianist Kirill Gerstein performs a fascinating and diverse programme of late 19th- and early 20th-century repertoire: rare pieces by Debussy sit alongside a group of April Preludes (1937) by the sadly short-lived Czech composer Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915-40), and a set of folk dances by the Armenian priest-musician Komitas

Live from London's Wigmore Hall ( Today,Monday Oct.4,2021 I believe.)


Komitas: 7 Armenian folk dances
Debussy: Page d'album (Pièce pour le Vêtement du blessé); Elégie; Les soirs illuminés par l'ardeur du charbon; Berceuse héroïque; Etude retrouvée
Janáček: Piano Sonata 1. X. 1905 ('From the Street')
Vítězslava Kaprálová: April Preludes Op. 13
Scriabin: Vers la flamme Op. 72


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00108fl ( All except the Scriabin )
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00108fn (The Scriabin )

This was a fascinating, eclectic recital, some of which I hadn't heard before. Enjoyed everything in it.
Many Thanks, Etienne!

[jserraglio]

Bach Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 in d minor, BWV 1052, No. 2 in E Major, BWV 1053

Zuzana Ruzickova, harpsichord
Prague Chamber Orchestra
Gyorgy Lehel, conductor
1963 SUPRAPHON

[Rach3]

The Kanneh-Masons play Frank Bridge’s passionate Cello Sonata at Verbier Summer Festival , 2021:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001090x ( At about 32:00 in )

Boris Giltburg plays at Wigmore Hall Oct.4,2021, live video here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13NFAYK_qPo&t=199s

Prokofieff 6th Sonata, Ravel Valses nobles et sentimentales, Schumann Carnaval, Ravel La Valse. I heard the Prokofieff and La Valse.

[jserraglio]

RCA Ormandy Bizet Suites

[Rach3]

On the other hand, a possible medalist ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhE_Xv3MGHE About 3:00:00 , Martin Garcia Garcia

Etudes Op.25,#4, Op.10,# 4; Nocturne,Op.55,# 2 ; First Ballade , Op.23.

And another,Xiaoxuan Li, a remarkable,very original 3rd Scherzo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXOqeL-X3Xo

[jserraglio]

Rozhdestvensky, Svetlanov & Gauk-Moscow Radio PO - Ipplitov-Ivanov & Glazunov 1962-70 Melodiya-Angel SR-40119

[Rach3]

On the other hand, a possible medalist ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhE_Xv3MGHE About 3:00:00 , Martin Garcia Garcia

Etudes Op.25,#4, Op.10,# 4; Nocturne,Op.55,# 2 ; First Ballade , Op.23.

And another,Xiaoxuan Li, a remarkable,very original 3rd Scherzo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXOqeL-X3Xo

Had to hear one more, Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu, an on-line fav, and I must admit excellent, especially left-hand nuances:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjhxpTQvLqY

[jserraglio]

Falla Nights [Alexander Jokheles-Rozhdestvensky-Moscow], Amor Brujo Suite [Irina Arkhipova-Jansons-Moscow] 1963 Melodiya/CFP 40295

[jserraglio]

Anner Bylsma - Bach Cello Suites cycle live 1998 Leiden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAXFTkpUiXY

[maestrob]

Just resurrected this recent release from my shelves to give it another hearing.

Sabine Devielhe may be the top French coloratura soprano nowadays: certainly whet she does to Lakme's famous aria outshines other versions I've heard. Hers is a beautiful, liquid & flexible voice full of depth and meaning in even her renditions of Stravinsky and other more recent works, all while her innocent simplicity of tone can convey the most complex aria from Thomas's Hamlet. Accompanied by Francois-Xavier Roth & his original-instruments band & by Alexandre Tharaud on piano in some selections, Les Siecles, this some of the most wondrous and sophisticated French singing I've ever heard. Available on Spotify & Amazon HD.

Here she is at the recording session singing Lakme's famous aria: "Ou va le jeune Hindou?" (Bell Song)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMO0KFL3E58

[maestrob]

Pianist Christian Zacharais at age 76 playing in Spain recently, Haydn Sonatas Nos. 21 and 39, Bach’s French Suite No.2, and Schubert’s G Major Sonata D.894, perhaps my fav Schubert piano sonata over D.’s 664, 784, 840,959 and 960. Live recital.

https://www.rtbf.be/auvio/detail_concer ... id=2815690

This was a very special recital with excellence in every work. I thought the Schubert was especially fine. Checking around, I find that Zacharias has recorded four discs of Scarlatti sonatas which I will acquire, and that there is much to hear on Spotify by this talented pianist whom I have not heard before. This was very much worth my time.

Many thanks, Steve!

[Rach3]

One of my favorite composers.

Malcolm Arnold – Toward The Unknown Region: A Story of Survival
Tony Palmer Film, complete

Thanks for the suggestion.

Have by now heard, for my first time, 8 of his 9 symphonies, all except # 9. Apparently referred to by some as an “English Shostakovich” in these works.After first - hearings only , I found # 6 most memorable, worth hearing again, possible purchase, although as usual first hearings are not always reliable.

Here,National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland under Andrew Penny,Naxos cd , part of Penny's recordings of the complete Arnold symphonies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBJPRAC ... 7&index=19