It was in 2019 that I was suddenly on a Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas trip. Of course, I was familiar with many of the more important ones, but it was in 2019 that I listened to a lot of these various sonatas in a lot of different performances. I have since added several recordings and box sets to my own personal collection. This one here I bought on CD in April of 2019, and it has become one of my favorite recordings of these two sonatas. I really enjoy revisiting it.
4 Likes
I was hesitant about this but, having heard it, I am now very pleased that I bought the download.
Nulla in mundo pax sincera is one of my favourite arias, which is performed wonderfully.
The review below says it all…
6 Likes
There is a plethora of recordings of Mahler’s 5th. I have several recordings in my library.
I enjoyed this reading and performance very much, so I bought the download.
Excellent stuff!
4 Likes
I keep returning to Neeme Järvi’s Sibelius recordings from the 1980’s (BIS) and this one is spectacular. It’s not overly done in terms of romanticism but I find the dynamics and tempos just about perfect. En Saga is especially wonderful.
I’m jumping back in for my third listen in a month.
8 Likes
In atmos on Apple Music
2 Likes
These last few days, I’ve listened to various versions of Stravinsky’s THE SOLDIER’S TALE suite. I have recordings by Ashkenazy, Boulez, Järvi in my collection.
This here is a complete version, and it does have Christopher Lee as all three characters: Narrator, Soldier, and Devil, and I could listen to Christopher Lee no matter what he’s speaking about, simply because he has such a great voice. It’s definitely a favorite of mine. I bought this on on CD in 1999, but it is also available for streaming.
Any of you recommend some more versions (suites or complete) of this piece I should check out?
4 Likes
I will listen to it.
1 Like
An adventuresome, superbly executed new Marc-André Hamelin album, Found Objects/Sound Objects is reviewed in the November Gramophone by Jed Distler (he loves it and states that it “may be Hamelin’s most uncompromising, most personal and most interesting release to date”) and the Fall 2025 International Piano by Jonathan Dobson who also finds it remarkable for it’s “combination of technical firepower and his boundless intellectual curiosity make this collection utterly compelling”. In the same Gramophone issue Michelle Assay interviews Mr. Hamelin, providing context for this recording and for his wide-ranging, expertly employed/deployed musical curiosity and inspirations for composition. This recording is, to this listener, immediately gripping, starting as it does with a Frank Zappa (yes, that Frank Zappa) classical composition. His execution and transcription of this challenging piece is exquisite. I won’t describe each piece in detail, except to say, in passing, that his performance the piece (of so-called plunderphonics) he commissioned by John Oswald is a dazzling performance, even if the piece itself is not well tied together. If you’ve never heard a prepared piano piece you cared for, please have a listen to his performance of John Cage’s The Perilous Night. It is wonderful. I greatly admire his return to Stefan Wolpe’s work with the Passacaglia. Wondrous. The palate cleanser, as he terms it, is Yehudi Wyner’s Refrain and thence into his own and anachronistically titled Hexensabbat. An astonishing piece/performance from this composer/pianist. Speaking of anachronistic, this recording is neither that, nor avant garde. Just reflective of the amazing range of music under the Classical umbrella. I loved this recording by this excellent artist. See what you make of it.
A comment in the Michelle Assay Hamelin interview led me to another of his recordings, specifically the Janáček On an Overgrown Path, book 1. I had listened to these before, but needed to return to them. These are remarkable and evocative pieces bringing in elements of folk music and tales, superbly performed. The Schumann pieces on this recording are enjoyable, but the Janáček is the highlight. Every time I listen I find something startling and new and a new favorite among the ten pieces, although They Chattered Like Swallows never ceases to delight me.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a few other recordings that each bring something splendid to these pieces and also provide Book 2 performances. Most highly regarded by many is
I also greatly enjoyed
But perhaps my favorite of all the recordings of the complete Janáček solo piano works is
A controversial choice by the light of critical appraisals, but the ECM sound engineering prowess and Mr. Schiff’s wondrous Central European way on a Bösendorfer at the time tilts me that way.
Each of the last three recordings are worthy of a complete listen. I was pleasantly astonished by this part of Janáček’s oeuvre. Perhaps you will be too.
6 Likes
I just came across a performance on YouTube of Yo Yo Ma playing this piece. Beautiful!
I did a quick search in Roon and this recording came up on Qobuz. Anyone have any suggestions of other performances that are available on Qobuz?
2 Likes
How about the first to transcribe this Catalan Christmas song (El cant dels ocells) and lullaby to cello (from ocells to cello seems natural enough), Pablo Casals? He opened concerts with this piece after his 1939 exile from his beloved Catalonia because of the Franco regime. As well as bringing him solace, he extended the song’s fame to far beyond Catalonia. Who knows what music will result from and bring solace peculiar to our own plutocratic, cruelty-celebrating times?
3 Likes
Thanks! Added to Listen Later.
Stravinsky’s own recording of the complete Soldier’s Tale is very good.
Stravinsky started a tradition where voice parts are performed not by professional actors, but by fellow composers. Notably, Aaron Copland participated multiple times in the role of Narrator. I heard a recording (not released commercially) on a radio program where Stravinsky conducted, Copland was the Narrator, Elliott Carter as the Soldier, and John Cage as the Devil. Copland’s
performance is very good, speaking in a natural voice rather than sounding like a trained actor. Aaron Copland has also performed the role alongside composers Roger Sessions and Virgil Thomson.
The Soldier’s Tale (L’Histoire du Soldat) was originally written for the theater, and included not only spoken voice but also dancers. On YouTube, you can find many performances that include dancers. One that I particularly like features violinist Leila Josefowicz and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen (both known as Stravinsky specialists). Unfortunately the video was uploaded to YouTube in low resolution, but not too bad when viewed in a smaller window or screen. I linked YouTube at the start of the performance (10:36), but the introduction at the beginning of the video is also worth watching.
For the instrumental suite, I recommend the album The Medinah Sessions, played by Chicago Pro Musica, a chamber ensemble that includes several members of the Chicago Symphony. Overall, the album is outstanding and includes an engaging collection of works by various composers, and it is recorded in audiophile sound by Reference Recordings. The album is available on streaming services.
5 Likes
BTW, my all-time favorite performance of L’Histoire du Soldat was hearing it live at the San Francisco Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas, and all the voice parts performed by Sir Patrick Stewart (best known as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek). Such a great voice and expressiveness in his speech. The concerts were recorded, and hopefully would be released someday.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/music/article/a-birthday-bash-for-stravinsky-symphony-s-2924725.php
2 Likes
Ha, that sounds like a fun performance. Just the curiosity value alone is over the top.
@Bauer Oh, I didn’t know of this release. Thanks for posting and I will listen today.
Wilson and Sinfonia of London sure seem to have chops for musicals. Oklahoma was great as well.
I’ve not warmed up to the orchestral work they’ve recorded.
8 Likes
I’ve decided that today is the day that I start listening to some music traditionally performed during the Christmas period.
These are some of my favourite performances/recordings of these wonderful works.
6 Likes
Happy Holidays fellow Roon Musical Blog posters and readers. This is an image of the Christmas Tree Nebula taken from atop Mount Lemmon in Tucson, AZ, December 2025 by astronomy student Chase McMahon.
Some enjoyable listens recently as we approach the end of the Ravel sesquicentennial. The first was a pleasant surprise to me with Nelson Goerner performing Ravel’s Piano concerti with the Orchestra philharmonique de Monte Carlo conducted by Kazuki Yamada. Tight and percussive jazz swing by the orchestra in the Gmaj piano concerto with a persuasive and flowing Goerner performance. The highlight of the recording to this listener, although these musical forces also acquitted themselves well with the other pieces.
Doesn’t displace from pole position Michelangeli’s very different and superb performance of the Ravel Gmaj piano concerto performed with Ettore Gracis/Philharmonia Orchestra. Ravellian perfectionism to a tee.
I also greatly enjoyed François-Xavier Poizat’s performance of the Ravel Gmaj piano concerto. This is a brilliant contemporary performance by an astonishingly good pianist and, indeed, the entire 6 disc set of Ravel’s Complete Works with Piano by this artist is very rewarding. A significant disturbance in the Force.
Immediately following my listen to Mr. Goerner’s most recent Ravel recording, Roon (thank you, algorithm) brought me a performance by the Orchestra Philharmonique de Monte Carlo of a work by composer Éric Montalbetti, whose work is described as tapestry like, rather than thematic. Please don’t let that put you off. I was immediately engrossed in this performance. Richly polyphonic. It’s the third piece on this album. I had a listen to the rest of the disc and the other works were enjoyable, but none so much as the third piece. Treat yourself to a glass of holiday cheer and a listen.
6 Likes
In preparation for Christmas!
Last year I had the great pleasure to hear them live!
5 Likes