What are you listening to now?

[Monsieur Croche]

Prokofiev ~ Piano Concerto No. 2
SPOILER ALERT: I think this is the best performance out of the many that have come along since this recording's release.
Malcolm Frager, pianist; Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, Rene Leibowitz. The recording a result of the contract that comes via having won 1st Prize in the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium competition.... Frager was 25 at the time.
 
https://www.youtube.com/v/tmeuWYJUkMw
2nd -- 4th movements:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMttI5sv5Ak
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIyoyGrWGYY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnkSxCPZgVM

[Mirror Image]

Concerto for String Quartet & Orchestra:

Listening to this work yet again.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Johannes Maria Staud (b. 1974)



Stromab (2016-'17)
For large orchestra

Wiener Symphoniker, François-Xavier Roth

So far, not bad. A third of the way through and there is certainly a big emphasis on melody. I like that it has a lot of percussion as well. I have no idea if I will go back to listen again and again though. The second half of the piece I think is fun. I think this somehow has a very John Williams feel to it.......something like a not-quite-so-tonal Star Wars.........

https://www.youtube.com/v/vUSfR_bFgcI

[kishnevi]

This April 1964 performance has been around for a long time under different guises. It's a radio broadcast that derives from a concert and the sound shows both its age and provenance. Certainly, the sound of the orchestra calls for much tolerance, but the voices are well caught, immediate, ringing and reasonably well-defined. The interpretation here is what matters and, boy ! What a night at the Symphony this must have been ! Keilberth conducts passionately, coaxing his bambergers to feats of expressive playing. Wunderlich threw all caution to the winds. He sounds like a true heldentenor, not a Lohengrin understudy, the voice at its hedonistic best, unbridled and ringing defiantly. The baritone part was of course a DFD chestnut, recorded here weeks after the loss of his wife. He alternately croons and emotes - which I like - but he doesn't bark or shout.

I think it's both performers' best performance of Das lied. Ten weeks later the two singers would reprise the work in Vienna under Krips (reissued on DG), and each would go on to sing it in the studio with different partners. So, despite the poor orchestral sound, this is pretty much unmissable for the devoted mahlerian. Clips can be sampled on the net. You can then decide if the technical quality proves to be an insurmountable obstacle.

I must look for that one, considering that I think the Vienna Krips recording you mention is one of the best around...

TD
Finishing a second listen to this set, liking it as much as I did the first time.
Martinu
Symphonies 5 and 6
Meister ORF Vienna RSO

[Mirror Image]

Oboe Concerto, H 353
Harpsichord Concerto, H 246
Piano Concerto No. 3, H 316

Ivan Séquardt, oboe
Zuzana Růžičková, harpsichord
Josef Páleníček, piano
Václav Neumann, conductor
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra



Quite simply a stunning disc. Impeccable performances of magnificent music.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Thomas Larcher (b. 1963)



Red and Green (2010)
For large orchestra

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Vedernikov

I have heard his second symphony before, so I expected something very neo-Romantic. Very melodic for sure, sounds even more like a movie soundtrack than Staud's Stromab I listened to earlier. Certainly not a criticism though; I really enjoy this music.

https://www.youtube.com/v/0E4wsDbo-Tg

[Todd]

In what way(s)?

The Schubert sonatas are too episodic or sectional (D784) and don't really flow very well (D664).  The Szymanowski is relatively better, but compared to Sinae Lee, it sound less urgent, and a couple allusions to Beethoven are underplayed. 


TD:

[Mirror Image]

Now:

[André]

Discs 5 and 9.

Crespin's most famous disc is probably the Ansermet coupling of Shéhérazade and Les nuits d'été. It has never been a favourite of mine. Although vocally sumptuous, this regal singer does not quite inhabit the world of Ravel as Danco does. In the Berlioz, there is the always the vexing problem of the texts: the composer intended the songs to be distributed among different singers, male or female, depending on the context. When the soprano utters the opening line of Absence,  « Come back, come back, my beloved lass », it's always jarring to hear it sung by a female (the same goes for the opening song, Villanelle). That's why it makes more sense to have a group of singers (2-3) alternate in the songs.  To compound the problem, the cruelly taxing tessitura of Villanelle makes it all but impossible for a tenor not to bleat in the opening lines. Stuart Burrows is the best of the gentlemen who recorded it, but even he has a hard time keeping his voice from vibrating unduly. Crespin sings Villanelle beautifully, but she has trouble articulating the words clearly. Berlioz may have set the bar too high for any single singer to encompass everything with equal success.

The other  disc calls for no such reservation: Crespin is Didon (Les Troyens) and Salomé (Hérodiade). She is equally at home as Cassandre (Troyens again). Breathtaking singing indeed.

[listener]

HINDEMITH: Prelude 'When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd'
Symphony: Mathis der Mahler    Sinfonia Serena
Sydney S.O.      Werner Andreas Albert, cond.
It would be interesting to hear the Sinfonia live sometime, the third movement asks for a small off-stage string group to respond to the main body of strings on stage. And there is a lively paraphrase of a march for wind instruments by Beethoven for a second movement.
And the collection from the 2006 Schloss vor Husum Festival.

[kyjo]

Ah yes, so that Jewish vein runs through his music much like that Moravian-Boheminan influence ran through Martinu's music. Very cool. I must check out his chamber music. I have a fairly good sized Bloch collection. I also remember rather enjoying his Sacred Service. I'm not sure if you've heard this work or not?

What I've heard of Bloch's chamber music (String Quartet no. 1 and Piano Quintet no. 1) is absolutely phenomenal, John. Both are epic masterpieces that have a great emotional impact on me. Definitely check at least these two works out when you get a chance

[kyjo]

Schumann's Violin Concerto:

[asin] B0007WQHVM[/asin]

I gotta say, I'm not surprised this work this work isn't very frequently played. Hardly one of Schumann's better efforts IMO. Bell gives a fine performance, though.

[kishnevi]

What I've heard of Bloch's chamber music (String Quartet no. 1 and Piano Quintet no. 1) is absolutely phenomenal, John. Both are epic masterpieces that have a great emotional impact on me. Definitely check at least these two works out when you get a chance

I suggest this one
[asin]B000276K3M[/asin]
SQ 3 is split between the two discs, but keeping the recording to two CDs can't be done without a split like that.
TD
[asin]B00L5J4QHS[/asin]
CD 6, the  Sixth Book (1614)

[ludwigii]

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Piano Concertos No. 5 "Emperor"

Wilhelm Backhaus
Wiener Philharmoniker
Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt




Sviatoslav Richter said that his favorite concert was the First, for its freshness, I find myself with the same taste, in effect when it starts is as a world  blossomed. Never loved instead truly the Fifth, probably much more important. I do not like optimistic celebrations.
But then who was this emperor ? 

[SimonNZ]

Brian Elias' Cello Concerto - Leonard Elschenbroich, cello, Ryan Wigglesworth, cond.

World Premiere: 2017 BBC Proms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuE5ulB4R3s

[kyjo]

Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta:

[asin]B000001GD5[/asin]

I had forgotten how much I love this piece! And man, what a smokin' performance!

[amw]

Symphony No. 2 by a composer named Agustín González Acilu.

Does anyone have any idea who this is or what he did? It's not a bad symphony, well put together if a little bombastic, very Generacion del '51 stuff but probably closer to Luís de Pablo than Cristóbal Halffter.

[Mirror Image]

Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta:

[asin]B000001GD5[/asin]

I had forgotten how much I love this piece! And man, what a smokin' performance!

Certainly a masterpiece, Kyle.

Now playing Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten from this recording:

[Mirror Image]

What I've heard of Bloch's chamber music (String Quartet no. 1 and Piano Quintet no. 1) is absolutely phenomenal, John. Both are epic masterpieces that have a great emotional impact on me. Definitely check at least these two works out when you get a chance

Will do, Kyle.

[Mirror Image]

Litany to the Virgin Mary, Op. 59: