Roon Music Blog: Classical Community Conversations [2025]

[CoralRad]

Nino Rota (1911-1979) wrote a lot of concert and chamber music although he is best known as a film composer. Here are three oechestral discs:

This is the best of the three containing the best performance of the La Strada ballet suite (his best known orchestral work?), as well as a great performance of the harp concerto.

This one contains the dances from the ballet (and film) The Leopard and the Concerto for Strings.

This one contains the Symphony on a Love Song.

All three with good sound, Streamable Qobuz USA.

[CoralRad]

This is an interesting program of Renaissance motets, songs, and instrumental pieces from the time of Henry VIII. 9 selections are composed by King Henry VIII himself, songs and instrumental pieces drawn from the Henry VIII Manuscript residing in the British Library.

The instrumental works are performed by Andrew Lawrence-King (harp), and the wind ensemble QuintEssential (cornett, shawm, sackbut, and percussion). The solo songs are sung beautifully by mezzo Clare Wilkinson. The choral pieces (including the six motets) were contained in an illustrated Royal Choirbook presented to Henry and Catherine of Aragon as a gift around 1518 and are sung by the British 12 voice mixed gender adult choral ensemble Alamire (ala-MEER-ay) founded by David Skinner.

Check out the cathedral-sized works Psallite felices (10 min) or Lauda vivi alpha (16 min) (which alternate polyphony with rich chordal passages and alternate textures from full choir to reduced voice parts) and try out Christe Jesu, Salve radix, Quam pulcra est, or Beati omnes.

The recordings are from three different venues - St. Michael’s Church, Summertown, Oxford; Chapel of Magdalen College, Oxford; and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Recorded in 2008 in good sound, streamable on Qobuz USA. If you like Alamire, Qobuz has 16 other releases available.

[jamie]

Greetings, all!

In the event you’ve not yet seen it, the March edition of Classical Community is now available on the Roon home page. You’ll find 150 pieces and 15 hours of listening bliss courtesy of your expert recommendations — assembled for the enjoyment and edification of all Roon listeners.

My sincerest appreciation and deep gratitude go out to our playlist contributors for the new edition. In order of appearance @plg, @Bauer, @S-and-E, @CoralRad, @Douglasmaurer, @7NoteScale, @mSpot @woodford, @Bolivar_Pou, @eclectic,
@SandboxGeneral, @Frederick_Davidson, , @Rugby, @DDPS, @Mike_O_Neill,
@jacobacci, @Arindal, @Saturn94, and @bill_perkins.

Thank you, as always, for making this thread and the resulting playlists such a joy.

[Rugby (aka Daniel or Big Dan)]

Continuing my education of Pleyel…

[woodford]

it’s liberation day!

[CoralRad]

These are good recordings from the 1990s of two easily approachable 20th century works streamable on Qobuz USA. The Cello Concerto features Janos Starker.

[CoralRad]

Some Charles Ives:

A classic with MTT and Boston recording of 3 Places in New England from 1970:


The second one is an early 90s recording in good sound of some short orchestral sets (<10 min each) comprised of short songs, followed by the vocal settings of the same works with piano accompaniment. Features soprano Susan Narucki and baritone Sanford Sylvan with Alan Feinberg on piano. Music Project under Richard Bernas perform the Orchestral sets. The ensemble London Voices appears on one track, New River.

Streamable Qobuz USA.

[Arindal]

Was diving into Beethoven’s earlier symphonies recently and listened to some of the recordings of no. 5 in my collection. I guess everyone has a favorite recording, the choice is vast. Qobuz alone lists 805 complete recordings. Found my initial judgment confirmed that I found Bernard Haitink´s reading with the LSO the most satisfying.

It is neither a spectacular recording nor a romantic one (which I would consider to be a failure), but I love it because it is as precise as lively, balanced, on the faster side but not rushed, doing the work justice in my opinion. Despite from great musicianship, the unusual balance of the mix really helps in my understanding. Brass is a bit further away from the listener, hence dampened, with the woodwinds highlighted more than one would expect.

[Bauer]

[eclectic]

A secular vocal work by Zelenka with interesting orchestration. Best found in Roon by searching “ZWV 177” Recommended…

Grok found the description below.

ZWV 177, titled Il Diamante, is a serenata composed by Jan Dismas Zelenka in 1737. This work is a rare example of Zelenka’s secular vocal-instrumental music, as he is primarily known for his sacred compositions. It was written for the court of Dresden to celebrate the marriage of Prince Georg Ignatius Lubomirski to Baroness Joanna Stein, performed as “table music” during the wedding feast on February 28, 1737. The commission for this piece came at a time when Johann Adolf Hasse, the court’s Kapellmeister, was unavailable, likely due to his work on an opera in Venice, giving Zelenka the opportunity to showcase his skill in the Italianate style.

Il Diamante is scored for five vocal soloists (four sopranos and one alto), chorus, and an orchestra that includes strings, oboes, bassoon, and continuo. The work opens with a sinfonia, followed by a series of recitatives, arias, and choruses that narrate an allegorical story. The characters include Terra (Earth), Giunone (Juno), and Venere (Venus), who bless the couple and celebrate love and fertility. A notable feature is the late addition of Venus, whose recitative and aria appear after the initial concluding chorus, possibly added to accommodate a prominent singer—some speculate Faustina Bordoni, Hasse’s wife, who may have performed under Hasse’s direction.

Musically, Il Diamante reflects Zelenka’s mastery of Baroque complexity, blending brilliant orchestration with technically demanding vocal writing. It stands out for its richness and originality, comparable to the vocal works of Johann Sebastian Bach, yet it remains a lesser-known gem due to Zelenka’s historical underappreciation. The piece was well-received at the Dresden court, highlighting Zelenka’s ability to excel outside his usual sacred domain. Today, it is available in recordings, such as the 2009 world premiere release by Ensemble Inégal and Prague Baroque Soloists under Adam Viktora, preserving this sparkling “diamond” of Zelenka’s oeuvre.

[Bauer]

[Bauer]

[CoralRad]

This is an excellent chamber music disc from Prazak Quartet featuring Janacek’s String Quartets 1 & 2 and the Violin Sonata.

Next Janacek piano music played by Schiff includes excellent readings of “In the Mists”, “From the Street”, and “On the Overgrown Path”.

And the fabulous Czech Phil under Ancerl with a great recording of Janacek’s Sinfonietta from 1961.

The Martinu is excellent as well from "59 and "61.

All in excellent sound and streamable Qobuz USA. All the compositions are worth hearing.

[DDPS]

I just got back home from seeing https://www.pegasusearlymusic.org/concert/monteverdi-vespers-of-1610-2/ - it was one of the greatest concerts I’ve ever seen.

[Saturn94]

[Richard_Graham (rdg)]

Beatrice Rana is a phenomenally talented pianist, and she brings a fresh perspective to familiar, and impressively recorded works.

Try the gorgeous ‘Siciliano’ (Track 5) before the rousing ‘Allegro’ of Concerto No. 2

[Richard_Graham (rdg)]

For pure entertainment, there is much to be said for a tenor holding a note for as long as possible, with a steady tone.

Pristine Classical have just remastered this, but before committing, I decided to give the Sony version a spin. Price is on fantastic form…what a voice! But when Corelli holds that note at the end of his first aria (‘Deserto sulla terra’; Track 7) it is little wonder that the audience spontaneously applauds. In some ways it is more thrilling than ‘Di quella pira’.

[mSpot]

@Richard_Graham

Warner Classics uploaded a few videos of the recording sessions to YouTube.

Beatrice Rana plays Bach: Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 1052: I. Allegro

Beatrice Rana plays Bach: Keyboard Concerto No.3 in D Major, BWV 1054

Beatrice Rana plays Bach, JS: Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056: II. Largo

[Bauer]

J.S.Bach Partita n°6 e-moll, Alexandra Dovgan, La Chaux-de-Fonds, 05.12.2023

A very promising talent, who is only 16…

[woodford]

curious about the Pristine Classical remastering. is it a download, or on CD?