What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[PaulR]

Indeed, dinner was yummy. 



Atterberg's Third - one of my new favorites for sure!

ooh have to listen to that one again soon....recently listened to the 9th, and loved it.  the 5th is my favorite of his so far

[George]

Meanwhile, the Blomstedt set is one of my faves, and the Ashkenazy the least liked among the several cycles I own.  If you want a "warmer" set, try Bernstein/NYPO, Maazel/WP, or Segerstam/HPO

I honestly don't enjoy the music enough to get a third interpretation. I am happy with my Ashkenazy set, that's why I recommended it.

[Earthlight]

Beethoven's piano sonatas, the complete cycle by Claude Frank. I've been listening to it every night for about two weeks; play a disc a couple of times, take it out, play the next one, and now that I'm at the bottom of the pile I might as well start over. I can't tell which is my "favorite" (the word doesn't apply here), and I don't always know which particular sonata I'm even listening to. I'm loving every minute.

[George]

Beethoven's piano sonatas, the complete cycle by Claude Frank. I've been listening to it every night for about two weeks; play a disc a couple of times, take it out, play the next one, and now that I'm at the bottom of the pile I might as well start over. I can't tell which is my "favorite" (the word doesn't apply here), and I don't always know which particular sonata I'm even listening to. I'm loving every minute.

Who else have you heard in these works?

[Monsieur Croche]

I just acquired this set yesterday, my first Michelangeli record:



This is aristocratic music-making. The touch employed by Michelangeli is unique: it is wholesome, big, and strong, but never heavy. The playing is sensitive and attentive to nuances. There is a certain precision and detachment here that may come across as expressionlessness in other composers, but is marvellously suited to Debussy, clarifying textures and – by underplaying the Romantic sentiment of these works – presenting them as "abstract" masterpieces by one of the most radical 20th-century composers. I can imagine him doing an excellent Ravel. Michelangeli also conjured a wide range of colour that is almost frightening in its vividness – indeed I feel this to be more colourful than Gieseking, or almost every other pianists out there I've heard! My sole gripe is with the dynamic range of the performance: While loud passages are exhilarating, Michelangeli seems to be slightly insensitive towards the lower end of the dynamic scale, thus robbing some of the magic from the pianissimo passages in this music (It's pianissimo, dammit! Not piano!). The sound quality is fine. Overall, this performance is not the best in the field, but it goes right to the first rank of Debussy pianism.

[Harry]

Goodmorning all!

Johann Pachelbel
Easter Cantatas.
Concertisti: Monika Mauch, Constanze Backes, sopranos, Rolf Popken, alto, Harry van Berne, tenor, Harry van der Kamp, Bass.
La Capella Ducale & Musica Fiata, Roland Wilson.

As expected from this group, from which I have many recordings on the CPO label, this is nothing short of wonderful, no matter what singing or playing, both are in my ears honey for the soul. This is the way I like my music to be, in perfect balance. Despite prejudices against this composer, the music is on a high level, meaning well written.
Recording is topnotch too.
"A man merits praise for notes full of wisdom, he never dies: this the muse has forbidden", a epigram with with Johan Mattheson concluded his article in his Grundlage einer Ehrenpforte of 1740 He thus not only proclaimed his high esteem for the Nuremberg master, but also decidedly enlisted himself against the neglect of Pachalbel's music, which had already practically fallen into oblivion. It was Mattheson's effort that we are so well informed about this composer. I for one am thankful for that.
Enjoy.

[Wanderer]

Nice overall, but it doesn't surpass the Kennedy/CBSO/Rattle account. I put the biggest part of the blame on Davis and his rather generic reading. Hahn is good, but with such tepid accompaniment the performance never takes off.

He just pours a thick, sticky sauce over to the music.

In my view, Davis seems to do more or less exactly that in his recent recordings with the LSO, being the LSO Live series or this particular release. Concerning the latter, the word murky comes to mind, too. There's minimal detail that comes through; instead Davis favours a restricted and homogenized, monochrome sound. What a waste of SACD sonics!

[Que]

See my earlier comments HERE.

Q

[Harry]

Gioacchino Rossini.

Peches de Viellesse, Volume VI.
Works for Piano.
Stefan Irmer, Piano, (Steinway D 1901.)

After Chopin and Medtner comes for me the piano music Rossini composed. It is much underrated and rarely performed outside the studio, which is surprising considering the quality of it all. Every piece is a jewel in the crown, detailed in expression, and so well written. Caressed by Rossini's loving hands, he created a magnificent collection of superb pearls carefully put on a string, and to be played by no less than a master hand, that you will find in Stefan Irmer, a superb musician that clearly loves these works. State of the art recordings, and this praise goes to all 8 volumes, which I collected over the years. If you want the music Rossini wrote for piano, these are the recordings to go for.
Recommended!

[Christo]

Kajanus conducts Sibelius,

Symphony no. 3

                           

[Wanderer]

Listening to various concertos from this excellent set, presently No.25, K.503.

[Harry]

Kajanus conducts Sibelius,

Symphony no. 3

                           

Sibelius is bugging you huh?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Sibelius is bugging you huh?

Better than CIA-belius.

[Christo]

Sibelius is bugging you huh?

And what about your curiosity about it? 

[Harry]

And what about your curiosity about it? 

Understandably, after the rather vehement statement that the Second made you mentally unstable...

[Harry]

Better than CIA-belius.

O, so now you sided with Christo against one Grunneger huh?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

O, so now you sided with Christo against one Grunneger huh?

One of my best friends (female) will be in Groningen (the city) for a long weekend - so, I wouldn't dare side against any lovely inhabitant of that incredible province. 

[Christo]

Understandably, after the rather vehement statement that the Second made you mentally unstable...

That would have been quite a statement indeed. But I only recall any wordings of this kind - by you. So, let me summarize:

1. It was you who came up with unmotivated terms like:

You are severely traumatized in your youth....that is clear.

2. Whereas I had merely told you, that:

I have to confess that I heard the Second when I was 17 ... and was shocked by its vulgarity.

3. So please, dear Harry, be quiet now - I can hardly hear Kajanus conducting the LSO, a recording dating from June 1932 !   

[Harry]

That would have been quite a statement indeed. But I only recall any wordings of this kind - by you. So, let me summarize:

1. It was you who came up with unmotivated terms like:
2. Whereas I had merely told you, that:
3. So please, dear Harry, be quiet now - I can hardly hear Kajanus conducting the LSO, a recording dating from June 1932 !   

Sure, you will hear nothing from me anymore, although "Shocked by its vulgarity" seems to me a form of trauma.
But maybe that's because I am a relation/mediator coach for quite a while now, and I am deformed by my experience, that may well be.

[Harry]

One of my best friends (female) will be in Groningen (the city) for a long weekend - so, I wouldn't dare side against any lovely inhabitant of that incredible province. 

And where is she staying, pray tell me!