This Lavinia Meijer recording is delightful. Thank you, Andreas. Perfect.
I greatly enjoyed her 2022 recording Are You Still Somewhere? as well.
Diverting interview with Mr. Fullana re: the Guarnieri del Gesu violin he plays in this morning’s Strad e-mail
interesting to see American orchestras recording for Channel.
Recently, Rachel Podger, the darling of English violinists, released her newest album, in which she takes on some sonatas for violin and piano by CPE Bach. I’ve recently begun to dedicate more time to CPE Bach’s output, and a rewarding journey of discovery it is…
So, coming around to have a listen to Miss Podger’s latest, I remembered having seen and heard some other recording with similar repertoire, some time ago. That would have been Tamsin Waley-Cohen’s 3-disk release from 2019, with CPE Bach’s ‘complete’ works for violin and piano. And to make things short, while I like and enjoy Podger’s album (together with Kristian Bezuidenhout from South Africa), I like Miss Waley-Cohen’s effort better. Curious that she too is being accompanied by a pianist from South Africa (James Baillieu), who plays beautifully on a modern grand piano, while Mr. Bezuidenhout uses on his album historically more adequate instruments–harpsichord and fortepiano.
The Albion Quartet is a still very young ensemble, having only been formed in 2016. In May 2018, they did a three-days recording session for Signum at the Britten Studio in Snape Maltings, and in 2019 and 2020 two impressive albums were released with Dvorák quartets. This is the second release from 2020, and the playing is gorgeous…
Miss Waley-Cohen is the quartet’s first violin… this is how I stumbled across these wonderful albums. The E flat quartet I have in four other recordings by Czech quartets, but none as nice as this one…
Agree about how rewarding CPE Bach works can be. He was “Bach” in the late 18th and 19th centuries. I was inspired to further explore his piano works by Marc-Andre Hamelin’s recent Hyperion recording. As part of a widening exploration I encountered and greatly enjoyed the Tamsin Waley-Cohen/James Baillieu you mention above. Will eventually get to the Rachel Podger/Kristian Bezuidenhout performance.
Was driving and in the mood for some Debussy symphonic sketches…, no telling why, but La Mer came to mind (grew up on West Coast USA and still miss it). Listened to three versions and had to call it a near draw with extra points to Jean Martinon/Orchestre National de l’ORTF 1973 for being so quintessentially French. The TIVO notes pulled in by Roon for this recording are priceless.
But please do not call these sketches musically impressionistic. They are instead musically symbolic in the spirit of symbolist poet Stephané Mallarmé (author of the poem l’après-midi d’un faune, obviously inspiration for another Debussy symphonic sketch) or so I’ve been informed. Splendid performances with other splendid Debussy symphonic sketches on the same recordings.
Oh dear, these recording are 30-60 years old. I must be showing my age. Any more contemporary versions that you folks admire?
I have just devoted 27 listening hours of my life to Mozart Symphonies and could hardly be happier. On balance, my preference is for the 225 Edition. This is largely based on the Pinnock recordings and frequently has a little more sparkle, although both are excellent so many thanks.
This is also an opportunity to share a couple of favourites and try to move the conversation on to contemporary classical music.
Before that, in case anyone doesn’t know it, if I had to choose one classical recording for a desert island, that would be Schubert’s Piano Trios, which can be found with the String Trios.
I know that minimalism is an acquired taste but everyone should try and possibly the two leading exponents are Philip Glass and John Adams.
The bold might like to try major operas
For those who want a smaller taste, these examples might be a good starting point.
Well. Here’s a strange interlude.
I played this album. I have never heard an orchestra sound so much like a Mellotron.
Try the first track. I thought it was King Crimson in the opening bars. 
It’s Purcell’s Gordian Knot. There’s also a prog fusion band called Gordian Knot. Doubly strange… 
My favorite probably is the Pierre Boulez recording with the Cleveland Orchestra, but I haven’t listened to Jean Martinon with the ORTF Orchestra; thanks for the recommendation!
Other than that, I’d recommend a listen to the version for two pianos, arranged masterfully by André Caplet (1878-1925), who would have known what he was doing, as he even was born at sea… 
Ahhh… and I also love Charles Trenet singing ‘La Mer’…
Great contribution to the conversation about ‘contemporary classical music’, with a full turn back to the Baroque… love it!
I loved it the first time I heard it with Philip Glass Glassworks, which with my more seasoned auditory cortex, puts me in mind of Eric Satie’s wonderful compositions.
I’d like to be able to pretend I don’t know what “Your Personal Cassette Player” refers to, but I do. I listened to many recordings on my Nakamichi cassette player. Shared so many wonderful recordings with friends using the Nak.
A more recent recording that I greatly enjoyed is Vikingur Olafsson’s
One of my earliest dates with my wife to be was going to see Koyaanisqatsi (her suggestion). We still talk about it.
Having discovered Philip Glass in his more accessible Glassworks, as a lover of most of ECM’s recordings, I acquired Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians and found/still find the album cover informative of his work with phasing, which, in the proper state, could be transporting. So gratifying to the physics kernel in me.
No looking back after that performance. On to Violin Phase, Octet and many others. I like his earliest works for the label most though. Mr. Reich’s ECM works are available on
Thank you @PFBTG for bringing these back up with your suggestions above. This is wonderful music.
Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes with the Cover art from Cathédral Sainte-Cécile d’Albi’s 15th Century Last Judgement mural (by unknown Flemish artists, not Bosch) is fun with the bonus of Mr. Cage’s early China Gates.
The two of them together. André and Claude met in 1907. Mssr. Caplet helped Debussy proofread his compositions. Debussy affectionately referred to him as le tombeau des fautes. Now on the hunt for his composition Le Masque de la mort rouge. If you know of a good version, please share it.
The Louis Lortie/Hélène Mercer recording is another fantastic Snape Maltings recording. Thank you. Putting me in the mood for both a good listen and delicious malty beverage. Would be even better coming from the Plough & Sail in Snape Village.
I haven’t listened to this Capet piece, but my interest is piqued and this will be my point of departure:
Then this… as string quartet with harp:
Splendid. Thank you! I found this
Iris Torossian is amazing on the harp in this piece. Hadn’t realized it was such an important piece in the harp repertoire. Ensemble Musica Nigella is wonderful on this piece as well.
I had just been reading about and listening to the Debussy String Quartet!
We were invited to post some contemporary classical music, and even if the two works masterfully interpreted on this album are not quite contemporary, both having been completed in 1946, they are in a modern style, although far removed from the ‘minimalist’ idiom. It seems undeniable that the British Gramophone Magazine quite often shows evidence of notable pro-English bias in their recommendations and critical reviews; in this case, though, I am in full agreement with their enthusiastic review. I love listening to string quartets, and I am very much looking forward to future recording projects by the four young musicians of the Albion Quartet…
Thanks everybody for the recommendations.
Speaking of Glass, Reich and minimalism I have to say I love Simeon ten Holt. With that out of my chest I can move to my present listening: JACK Quartet. I did enjoy the: Through the Mangrove Tunnels (composed by Scott Lee, released November 13, 2020 on New Focus Recordings). Going for Scott Lee found Hocket Piano Duo that gathers a lot of composers and can be a rabbit hole.
And in the end I’ll jump a bit back posting the new 10 minutes release of Isabelle Faust/Il Giardino Armonico/Giovanni Antonini:
Thank you Traian for the Simeon ten Holt recommendation. Had never heard his work before. Listening to Canto Ostinato by Simeonkwartet. Which of his compositions do you enjoy? Using Chris Maene Straight Strung Grand Piano (cf. bottom image) on Canto Ostinato.
I have difficulties listening through all sections of Canto Ostinato, makes me feel dizzy… One version I have hearted in my library, though, is the one by the Nederlands Saxofoon Octet…
I apologize. I’m going to drop 14 contemporary classical recordings that I have enjoyed. Minimum text. Reduced album cover image size.
According to Bachtrack, the top three most performed comtemporary classical music composers were Arvo Pärt, John Williams and Jorge Widmann, in that order.
Two amazing Pärt recordings
Viktoria Mullova’s album of Arvo Pärt’s music is excellent, and notable because the composer was present and participated in the recording sessions. An article in Gramophone has accounts of the recording sessions and explores Mullova’s connection to the music.
If you appreciate the music of Pärt, the Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks is another to explore. The cellist Sol Gabetta has championed his work, and his Cello Concerto No. 2, “Presence” is dedicated to her. I think it is a masterpiece.
I have both of these excellent recordings in my collection and agree that they are wonderful. I rediscovered Pēteris Vasks when surveying Sol Gabetta’s recordings. I’d initially encountered his String Quartet No. 4 composed for the Kronos Quartet (speaking of contemporary classical, their entire excellent oeuvre is splendidly this). I’ve been collecting Arvo Pärt since his first vinyl release with ECM. An amazing composer.
Valentin Sylvestrov’s Silent Songs are compositions near and dear to me because of their transparent poetry/song/music fusion. Baratynsky, Keats, Pushkin, Shevchenko Mandelstam, Shelley and Yesenin. Sadly, the great and principled composer had to fly (Kiev to Berlin) the fangs of the Russian Bellisarius at 85 y. I hope he can return to his home soon. I only recently acquired the Hélène Grimaud/Konstantin Krimmel recording and I think I prefer it to the Ilya Scheps/Sergey Yakovenko recording, but both are wonderful. The composer met with the performers and heard some of the performance. Image taken on my desk from CD booklet, showing Valentin Sylvestrov and Hélène Grimaud at the Berlin recording studio.
I had hoped to provoke some responses (other than meh, moving on) with the 14 recording drop for further discussion and appreciate your taking the time to do so and add to it. As with performances, there are preferences for older repertoire, but I’ve always been excited by the new, which, of course, includes new performer’s interpretations of the “established” repertoire.
