What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[one_o_six]

WCLV, Cleveland Recording, Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, October 13, 2005 (?), on local classical radio

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) 
Concerto for piano and ochestra, Op.16

Anton Bruckner (1824 - 1896)
SYmphony No. 3

Lars Vogt, piano
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
Herbert Blomstedt
 

[adamdavid80]

Clara Haskil, live recording of Schubert d960

[Kullervo]

Tonight:



and first listen to this (both the pieces and the composer are new to me):

[scarpia]

Vaughan Williams, symphony #8, #9.
Haitink, LPO.

An outstanding recorded performance.  I really didn't like these symphonies after listening to one of the supposedly definitive recordings, but they sit better with me in these versions.  Looking forward to listening to the rest of the cycle.

[karlhenning]

Vaughan Williams, symphony #8, #9.
Haitink, LPO.

An outstanding recorded performance.  I really didn't like these symphonies after listening to one of the supposedly definitive recordings, but they sit better with me in these versions.  Looking forward to listening to the rest of the cycle.

Pleased to hear it.

[Drasko]

Yuli (Julius) Meytus(s) was born in 1903 in Elisavetgrad. In 1919-20 he was a pianist in the First Cavalry Army. In 1923-24 he was the leader in Kharkov Opera Theatre and the manager of the musical part of Proletcult theatre. He died in April 1997 in Kiev.
© Chris Goddard
http://www.webrarian.co.uk/music/mp3s.html

According to Russian wiki entry
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Мейтус,_Юлий_Сергеевич
he wrote no less than 18 operas and lots of film scores among other things but only thing I could trace down is this Russian film with his score.
http://www.petershop.com/en/catalogue/videodvd/marlen-martynovich-huciev/dva-fedora-dvd-2.html

[Lilas Pastia]

Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 (Blomstedt/Staatskapelle Dresden)

Alhjough the list of candidates is impressive (Giulini, Böhm , Karajan, all with the WP come to mind), this is IMHO the most perfectly natural expression of brucknerian art: the interpretive side combines loftiness, earthiness, spirituality to just about the most perfect incarnation of how it should sound and how it should go. And it's all captured in resplendently spacious and well-balanced sonics.

[mahler10th]

The 1970's Karajan take on Tchaikovsky, the second of three cycles I think.  (60's, 70's and 80's).
The sound quality here is impressive, and Mr. Karajan is his usual self with the fantastic BPO.  Most distinctive.  Plenty of rich Brass and Strings augments the classic Tchaikovsky soundscape, and we are driven along in each symphony sometimes at breakneck speed (not really, but Karajan could make you think that.)  Fast or not, the result is superb, not something you want to switch off in a hurry and swap for some Borodin.  The sixth is a little, just a little faster than one might expect for 'Pathetique' - 'Pathetique' on steroids, but luscious it is, full and eminently satisfying.   
I also have the Jansons set which is fairly boisterous  -  I love that just as much, but for different reasons.
A real nutcracker.

[Keemun]

Alhjough the list of candidates is impressive (Giulini, Böhm , Karajan, all with the WP come to mind), this is IMHO the most perfectly natural expression of brucknerian art: the interpretive side combines loftiness, earthiness, spirituality to just about the most perfect incarnation of how it should sound and how it should go. And it's all captured in resplendently spacious and well-balanced sonics.

I've not finished listening to it yet, but what I have heard was very good, indeed.   

[Brian]

RACHMANINOV | Piano Concerto No 2
Sviatoslav Richter
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra; Stanislaw Wislocki

[Brian]

Vaughan Williams, symphony #8, #9.
Haitink, LPO.

An outstanding recorded performance.  I really didn't like these symphonies after listening to one of the supposedly definitive recordings, but they sit better with me in these versions.  Looking forward to listening to the rest of the cycle.

Hilarious that you posted this four hours after Christo posted Hurwitz's 1-out-of-10 review of the same CD. 

Corey, you may enjoy the "doctored" cover art I made for that Rautavaara disc...

[Kullervo]

Ah yes, should've got the HIP version.

[Wanderer]

Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim's Progress (Noble/London PO & Chorus/Boult).

Tell me a little about this music and recording Tasos

Here's a review, Harry. Skalkottas is a very favourite composer of mine. His violin concerto is a dodecaphonic work but it doesn't sound academic or sterile (as the usual argument against the style goes, anyway). After a lengthy orchestral introduction (a common trait in all Skalkottas' concertos) the violin enters, weaving in and out of proceedings, lithe and sombre at the same time.

[Wanderer]

Four Last Songs (1948) for soprano & orchestra (20'51)
Strauss's greatest works, captured in beautiful sound & performance.

Over the weekend I was listening to Fleming's new recording of these songs, and reminded that I haven't heard Isokoski's, which has gotten more positive reviews than perhaps any other recent version.  How do you like it? 

I've recently purchased Fleming's new recording as well, but haven't listened to it except for the odd excerpt here and there. I quite like what I'm hearing. Isokoski's version on Ondine, however, is so far my favourite version overall. She sings beautifully and has the ability to blend her voice with the orchestra in a fashion it renders the result more magical still (I'm specifically thinking of Im Abendrot here). Thirded, then.

[Brian]

Okay, I'm supposed to be writing a paper but am bored, so I've spent the past 40 minutes toiling over a fake album cover in Microsoft Paint.  The result is crude but pleasing.



If only the paper weren't due in 36 hours. 

[lukeottevanger]

Michael Finnissy: Traum des Sängers (1994) (Finnissy/Ixion Ensemble) - Liking this very much.  Somehow more delicate than I would have expected from this composer.

--Bruce

Lovely piece, isn't it? Very poetic, in fact! 

[Christo]

Hilarious that you posted this four hours after Christo posted Hurwitz's 1-out-of-10 review of the same CD. 

Indeed  David Hurwitz' verdict on Haitink's version of the Ninth is rather eloquent:

To make a long story short, the Ninth suffers from all of the same faults as the Eighth: inattention to coloristic detail, lack of contrast in tempo and dynamics, excessively slow tempos. The second movement probably comes off the worst. ... Here, it's the musical equivalent of some extra mascara on the face of an aging hooker.

Faced with what Haitink has done here and elsewhere in this worst-ever cycle of Vaughan Williams symphonies with none other than THE orchestra most associated with this composer's music, the shades of RVW and Sir Adrian Boult must be spinning in their graves. Shame on the British press for not having either the guts or the honesty to say so, and shame on EMI for permitting these abominations to cohabitate with the two classic cycles (Boult and Handley) already in its catalog.

:

[Sergeant Rock]

Indeed  David Hurwitz' verdict on Haitink's version of the Ninth is rather eloquent...

We've discussed this before, a few weeks ago. The Hurwitz review is very funny (especially the numerical rating)...but completely wrong-headed. As I explained before in some detail (I won't repeat the argument now), Haitink's 8th and 9th are among my favorite recordings and sufficiently different from the norm to be absolutely must-hears, and must-haves for the VW enthusiast. Here's the Gramophone review (posted as an antidote to Hurwitz and, in my opinion, a far more accurate description of these amazing performances):

A friendly word of warning to VW fans everywhere: Haitink will make you think again. No 'little' Eighth, this, rather an unapologetically big-scale conception, full of doughty integrity and always seeking out the intuitive logic that binds VW's symphonic thinking. If the Scherzo alla marcia falls short in terms of twinkling good humour here, the preceding, inimitably subtitled Variazioni senza tema unfolds with a revelatory sweep and purposefulness.

Likewise, the finale by and large forfeits celebratory pomp and glitter in favour of a sinewy, intriguingly defiant strength entirely consistent with Haitink's patient view as a whole. Most distinctive of all is the sublime Cavatina for strings: very measured, raptly concentrated and imbued with a lofty serenity to relate it all the more movingly to the great Romanza of VW's Fifth Symphony. Some listeners may find the emotional temperature set just a few notches too low for comfort, but, as a thought-provoking alternative to Barbirolli (Pye, 5/66 – nla), Handley and Slatkin (my own top choices, the last-named now only available as part of a six-CD set), Haitink's Eighth certainly earns its spurs.

Turning to the craggy, questing Ninth, both Slatkin and Handley have given of their considerable best in this endlessly fascinating, wonderfully vital utterance. On balance, however, I'm inclined to rate Haitink's resplendent new version as the finest yet, a thrillingly convinced and convincing demonstration of the timeless universality of VW's masterpiece. I love the clear-sighted dedication and stoic grandeur of the opening Moderato maestoso. Not only is Haitink meticulously faithful to both the letter and spirit of the score, VW's argument evolves with a nobility and wholeness that grip from first measure to last. Those ff tenuto strings at Fig 2 (1'02) in the second movement have just the right 'mud on boots' feel to them, and, like Handley before him, Haitink doesn't overplay his hand in the central lyrical episode (its chaste beauty all the more affecting as a consequence). The hobgoblins of the Scherzo cackle with plenty of malevolent glee, yet Haitink proves just as tenderly responsive to the strings' ravishing cantabile e sostenuto dialogue between Figs 30 and 34 (from 4'06 to 4'42).

It's in the awesome final movement, though, where Haitink really surpasses himself: VW's monolithic vision is surveyed with an organic power and cumulative impact that left this listener, at any rate, dumb struck with admiration and gratitude.

Throughout, the LPO play marvellously for their former chief, and EMI's Abbey Road sound is excellent, truthful in timbre and expertly balanced (listen out for some handsomely extended bass sonorities). A distinguished achievement and absolutely not to be missed. Now, what chance a Job from this same exemplary partnership.
   


Sarge

[karlhenning]

Great performance of Schoenberg's most successful application of the twelve-tone method.

Oh, that's a strange assertion, James.

Of course, you are making quite a reputation for yourself, in strange assertions 

[karlhenning]

Yester even, Maria and I listened together to:

Dmitri Dmitriyevich
String Quartet No. 1 in C Major, Opus 49
The Emersons

Great little piece;  Maria hadn't heard it before, and she was particularly dleighted with the 'discovery'.

Secondly, an excellent performance.  I find no occasion to be somehow 'disappointed' that the Emersons are not the Borodins.