Favorite Discoveries of 2010

[Brahmsian]

What are your favorite discoveries up to now, for 2010?  Either works, composers or recordings. 

One of mine so far is the simple, yet oh so beautiful music for Female Chorus by Brahms.

[Brian]

Not sure why this is in the "Composer" subsection, but since it is, I'll mention Niels W. Gade. Pre-2010, I'd only heard his overture "Echoes of Ossian"; now I am a fan of his First and Sixth symphonies and Novelettes for string orchestra. The rest of the symphonies are in my listening queue to be played sometime in the next few days. An excitingly dramatic composer whose marvelous and super-energetic First was like Grieg meeting Mendelssohn and indulging in some high drama. Very promising.

[Brahmsian]

Not sure why this is in the "Composer" subsection,

Oops, my mistake.  Hopefully the mods can correct my absent mind. 

[bhodges]

Oops, my mistake.  Hopefully the mods can correct my absent mind. 

Not sure what can be done about that  but the thread is now in the "General" section. 

One of my discoveries of the year happened just this week in live performance, and I hope to get the recording soon: Louis Andriessen's De Staat (1976).

--Bruce

[Lethevich]

Atterberg. I'd heard about him a lot on the forum, but hadn't got around to hearing him. Dreadully good he is too - slightly superior to Alfvén, substantially superior to Peterson-Berger.

[Christo]

I was among the many who turned their ears towards Atterberg, this year and also last year. But I remain still somewhat unconvinced. I played his seventh and eight symphonies a lot, but could never get used to the fact that the idiom is so full blooded Romantic, 19th Century almost. I still haven't tried the much praised Third though ... 

So, my only "discovery" of late is the Norwegian Ludvig Irgens Jensen, in particularly for the sake of his Symphony and great orchestral Passacaglia.

[some guy]

Not sure if it qualifies as a discovery if you play a CD in 2010 that you've owned for several years but just never really attended to.

If it does, then I'd say my favorites so far this year have been Sachiko M and Mattin. They're both very spare, sparse minimalists. Long stretches of silence. Very small sounds. And that's something I've recently come to enjoy very much, so they finally resonated with me. And I've acquired several more than the single CD of each that I came into 2010 with. Solo CDs and them playing with other people like Keith Rowe and Otomo Yoshihide and that sort.

[Keemun]

I discovered George Rochberg in January.  My favorite part of this discovery is his 5th Symphony. 

I also found an appreciation for Schumman's symphonies.  I'm not sure if this counts as a discovery, because I've tried listening to them off and on for a couple of years and found them boring.  But this year that has changed. 

[Franco]

I discovered two amazing things:

1. I can listen to Wagner without becoming nauseous, and

2. The fortepiano is not a bad sounding piano.

I have come to actually enjoy PI recordings of Haydn and Mozart, so much so that I just bought the Van Swieten Haydn Piano Trios and love them - and I even watched the entire Das Rheingold.

[Brahmsian]

I also found an appreciation for Schumman's symphonies.  I'm not sure if this counts as a discovery, because I've tried listening to them off and on for a couple of years and found them boring.  But this year that has changed. 

Todd, which recording changed your mind?  I'm curious.    By the way, I adore Schumann's symphonies.  Probably my favorite early Romantic era symphonies.

[some guy]

hehe sounds like something that anyone can do with little or no practice.

You say that as if that were a bad thing.

[Brian]

I was among the many who turned their ears towards Atterberg, this year and also last year. But I remain still somewhat unconvinced. I played his seventh and eight symphonies a lot, but could never get used to the fact that the idiom is so full blooded Romantic, 19th Century almost. I still haven't tried the much praised Third though ... 

The Third is perhaps even more romantic in language and orchestral style. 3 and 8 are organizationally opposites - 8 founded on a 'motto' theme (actually the motif of three ascending notes which founds the first and second movements, trio of the scherzo, and the contrapuntal finale) which appears throughout, 3 a series of almost completely unrelated tone poems - but I love them both. For more "modern" musical languages turn to 5 and 6, but Atterberg was an unabashed romantic no matter what he was composing. It's his appeal to me, really. The man was born a few decades too late; his is the last cycle of great romantic symphonies. I wouldn't call him the last great romantic, though, not with Strauss and Rach and a percentage of Shostakovich's output vying for the title.

[Christo]

The Third is perhaps even more romantic in language and orchestral style. 3 and 8 are organizationally opposites - 8 founded on a 'motto' theme (actually the motif of three ascending notes which founds the first and second movements, trio of the scherzo, and the contrapuntal finale) which appears throughout, 3 a series of almost completely unrelated tone poems - but I love them both. For more "modern" musical languages turn to 5 and 6, but Atterberg was an unabashed romantic no matter what he was composing. It's his appeal to me, really. The man was born a few decades too late; his is the last cycle of great romantic symphonies. I wouldn't call him the last great romantic, though, not with Strauss and Rach and a percentage of Shostakovich's output vying for the title.

Very helpful, many thanks.  Am playing the `tone poems' of the Third at the moment (but silently, my family is sleeping ...) 

[Gabriel]

In my case, I guess it is the chamber music of Prinz Louis Ferdinand of Prussia. Cherubini's overture to Démophoon, Weber's overture to Beherrscher der Geister (sometimes it's a bit rough, but appealing anyway), and Grétry's L'amant jaloux have been other important discoveries.

[DavidW]

Paavo Järvi's Beethoven 3rd and René Jacobs' Mozart 38th and 41st were both revelatory cds, and my favorite discoveries so far this year.

[kishnevi]

Primary discovery so far this  year:  Alexander MacKenzie's Violin Concerto, courtesy of a Hyperion recording.  I'll be on the lookout for more of his work, too.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I discovered George Rochberg in January.  My favorite part of this discovery is his 5th Symphony. 

I'm curious what else you've heard. The 5th Symphony was the first Rochberg I heard, and my reaction was lukewarm: a well-done Mahler imitation but rather uninspired and overblown. Since then, I've heard some other Rochberg pieces (1st and 2nd Symphonies, Violin Concerto, quartets) and found a much more interesting and adventurous composer than I expected.

Busoni's Berceuse Elegiaque, the only piece by Busoni I like, so far, it's been like a drug, I have to listen to it repeatedly.

I've got this on an all-Busoni CD on CPO. I've barely listened to it, and will take your post as a recommendation to do so. BTW, John Adams made a chamber orchestra version of this piece (why, I don't know, but it sounds quite nice).

As for me, I haven't discovered any new composer this year. But I did discover that I can enjoy the harpsichord if it's played and recorded well enough. What convinced me were CDs of Byrd by Gustav Leonhardt, and Scarlatti by Trevor Pinnock and Pierre Hantai.

[Papy Oli]

3 main ones for me :

- Solo Piano works as a genre : step by step discovery thanks to the recommendations and samples from GMG'ers, turning from a past complete dislike of this piano sound to a fair share of my music spending 

- My first Live Mahler symphony (the Sixth) - a powerful and memorable experience 

- One work that fascinates and mesmerizes me : Kanon Pokajanen by Arvo Part - making time stand still....  0:)

[Sergeant Rock]

- My first Live Mahler symphony (the Sixth) - a powerful and memorable experience 

I hear you, bro. Hearing Szell conduct the Sixth live literally changed my life.

Sarge

[Scarpia]

I hear you, bro. Hearing Szell conduct the Sixth live literally changed my life.

Okay, that's hard to believe.  I heard Karajan do Bruckner 8 with the Vienna Philharmonic and it was the best concert I have ever heard or expect to hear.  But it didn't change my life.