I’m listening to an assortment of new releases (on 7/11/25), and enjoying what I’m hearing.
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This is an excellent performance and top notch recording, as usual from Linn.
The album comprises Symphonies; No. 29, No. 31, No. 32, No. 35, No. 36, No. 38, No. 39, No. 40, No. 41 and the Requiem.
Released 17/10/25
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It is a box set of recordings originally released by Linn on separate albums (still available). The performances are outstanding and among the finest available for these works.
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I spotted this in Tidal, a slightly younger (30) Helene , the 2 sonatas are WOW …and the recording is superb
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This is a new release (14/11/25). A delightful performance of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and other works.
As usual, a stellar recording/mastering by Channel Classics.
This is another wonderful performance by Chloe Chua, who was 16 years old when this recording was made.
An album of delightful music.
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Checking out a new to me discovery.
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Recently enjoyed hearing Jean-Efflam Bavouzet perform Ravel’s complete piano music live, pieces he’s now twice recorded. Delightful performance that helped me better appreciate Miroirs in particular. Had always found Oiseaux tristes puzzling, but his performance brought into sharper focus what Mssr Ravel’s intention was. The waves in Une barque sur l’ocean were never more evident and the Alborado del gracioso was the best I’ve ever heard and helped me better understand why de Falla thought Ravel must have lived in Spain for some part of his life. The La valse was brilliantly performed, whipsawing from satisfied/celebratory 19th century Strauss waltzes to vertiginous, chaotic post WWI disintegration of the form. The next morning, he performed the rest of Ravel’s piano works, including the daunting Gaspard de la Nuit, again, in a brilliant performance. The 2025 and the 2003 recordings are both excellent. The best of all is the live performance, with the 2025 recording a close second.
Some other music I’ve been enjoying while recuperating from a recent illness included some wonderful John W. Duarte transcribed/arranged works to guitar, performed in lapidary articulation/tone by Francisco Correa (may not be appropriate to post here, but it was of a piece with other classical pieces I’ve been listening to)
and lastly, I have always enjoyed percussion and one of my favorite groups for such works is Third Coast Percussion, in particular a Çedille recording commemorating their 20th anniversary. I particularly call attention to Jlin’s Please Be Still, Tigran Hamasyan’s Sonata for Percussion Ensemble and Zakir Hussain’s (a name familiar to ECM listeners) first and last classical composition, Murmurs in Time, with the distinctive bols (spoken drum beat patterns) recitation in the first movement.
@Mike_O_Neill I agree. Ronald Brautigam’s fortepiano recordings are superb. I greatly enjoy his Mozart Complete Piano Sonatas and his Schubert Piano Sonatas 20 and 21. The Mozart Complete Piano Variations are also delightful, particularly the 12 Variations on ‘Ah, Vous Dirai-je, Maman’ that all of us limned in simplest form as children.
Striking to realize that a good number of these pieces were written while the US constitutional convention and ratification took place. Music moves in its own inimitable ways.
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who is the painting by?
I’ve researched this to no avail for several decades. It’s never been determined, to my knowledge. It is most certainly not Gerhard Noack, who Discogs attributes the cover art to. He was likely just the designer overall.
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google seems to think it’s a Van Gough
Yes, it’s definitely done in the Van Gogh style, but it’s not a Van Gogh.
Grok:
The image you shared is actually not a van Gogh at all. It’s a common misattribution that circulates online. This particular painting is a modern work (likely 20th–21st century) by an unknown or lesser-known artist, often falsely labeled as van Gogh because it imitates his dramatic, thick impasto style and moody palette.Real van Gogh paintings from his Drenthe period (September–December 1883) do exist (e.g., Peat Diggers in the Dunes, Cottage with Decrepit Barn and Stooping Woman), but none match this exact composition with the prominent blue-trimmed cottage and tall well sweep against that specific sky. This one is a convincing fake or pastiche, not an authentic van Gogh.
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The Op.109 is quite remarkable, dramatic on top of an already dramatic
I am not sure about the Slight Reprise on the final movement on Track 17 , maybe I am missing the point
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This is a marvellous performance of this iconic symphony, and an excellent recording/mastering by PentaTone.
Highly recommended.
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