Dmitri's Dacha

[karlhenning]

[DSCH 4/Listening group]
If in July, I'm in. It's a welcome reason to listen to #4 properly. Is there a dedicated thread? Rules? Etc.?

No rules. Just right.

The thread will be here.

[Mirror Image]

Let's have a Koechlin listening night, but, wait, nobody has any of his recordings.

[karlhenning]

OT, buddy! ; )

[Mirror Image]

OT, buddy! ; )

Overtime?

[Scarpia]

Overtime?

Off topic, I presume.

[eyeresist]

OT=MI (More Interesting, not Mirror Image)

[Mirror Image]

OT=MI (More Interesting, not Mirror Image)

I don't know about that. I'm thinking more along the lines of MI=Mutated Imp.

[karlhenning]

(* ahem *) No matter how hot Koechlin may be, it is hard to justify derailing the Shostakovich thread over him ; )

Quite a few places in the historical Kondrashin recording of the Fourth where artifacts from the source (and in places, just plain quality of the recording) which verge on Getting in the Way.

[jlaurson]

STRING QUARTETS
The Borodins [yaddayaddayadda] have made three recordings of the complete cycle.

They have made one recording of the complete cycle. And with the Emerson, even if one liked their performances, the applause is bloody annoying.

[Brian]

The latter was written in 1960 but inspired by the firebombing of Dresden, a disaster that was also a source for Strauss's Metamorphosen. Unlike Metamorphosen, however, this is a bleak creation that offers no sense of hope or reconciliation.

Wrong thread for this, perhaps, but whatever gleam of light or hope there may be in the middle passages of Metamorphosen, I should think that the work's dying moments, and especially those two haunting final chords, leave all such "sense of hope or reconciliation" snuffed out.

[eyeresist]

Recently I've been listening to the chamber symphonies a lot, as an accompaniment to writing. I have the two-CD set of Barshai conducting the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, as reissued by Brilliant.

[ASIN]B000ZLOADC[/ASIN]

This set has come in for much criticism which I think is unwarranted. It is perhaps not the very fiercest performance one could imagine, but it is certainly not bland or effete. The orchestra is excellent, especially considering they are unknowns, and I think the Italian band are the reason these performances are much more warm and shapely than "dry as dust" Barshai generally manages. It's always good to find "new" orchestral music by Shostakovich, and if that's what you're looking for I recommend you start here.

[karlhenning]

I've never been mad for the "chamber symphonies." I'm inclined simply to listen to the source quartets.

[DavidW]

I've never been mad for the "chamber symphonies." I'm inclined simply to listen to the source quartets.

Next you're gonna say that you don't like Barber's Adagio!

Stinker!

[karlhenning]

I'm no fun anymore!

[DavidW]

I have a recording of one of the chamber symphonies coupled with an interesting piece... the Suite on Finnish Themes.  Anybody heard that one before?

[karlhenning]

I had that disc!  And, I think I listened to the piece once, and it didn't impress itself upon mine memory. (No! Don't call me a stinker!)

[eyeresist]

I've never been mad for the "chamber symphonies." I'm inclined simply to listen to the source quartets.

Well, the symphonies are perfect for me, as the sound of the string quartet (or similar group) has never sat well upon my ears. Too shrill, too timbrally monotonous. Too much display of ego. The adaptations have a richer, smoother and more varied sound, and the musicians are required to show a bit more discipline.
Ain't I a stinker?

[karlhenning]

We could perhaps interest monsieur in ze Bartók chamber symphonies?  Arranged, I believe, by André Rieu . . . .

; )

[eyeresist]

Don't get me started on bloody Bartok....

[Brahmsian]

Bump.  According to my listening log, that's 9 Shostakovich compositions in a row I've listened to now.

I'll make it a perfect 10 when I spin Symphony No. 14.