What are you listening to now?

[aligreto]

For a while, the first four symphonies were not counted at all. The composer had removed them from his work catalog, which for years led to great confusion in the numbering: the Ninth was for years the fifth. It was only in 1917 that the correct order was restored by the Czech music scientist Otakar Sourek, although the old as well as the new numbering was still retained here and there until the 1970s.

Thank you for correcting my ignorance. I was not aware of any of that. 

[Traverso]

Thank you for correcting my ignorance. I was not aware of any of that. 

They simply did not exist, those first four symphonies, but even today they are only performed sporadically, not in the last place because the composer himself thought that he had found his way in the symphonic repertoire only later, had succeeded. to develop his own 'language', even though it was - like almost all of his work - strongly based on the Czech-Bohemian folkloristic idiom. Yet it is only in the Sixth Symphony that we recognize 'our' Dvorák (1841-1904): with this work he has shaken off the strong influences of Mendelssohn and Schumann in one fell swoop.

[aligreto]

They simply did not exist, those first four symphonies, but even today they are only performed sporadically, not in the last place because the composer himself thought that he had found his way in the symphonic repertoire only later, had succeeded. to develop his own 'language', even though it was - like almost all of his work - strongly based on the Czech-Bohemian folkloristic idiom. Yet it is only in the Sixth Symphony that we recognize 'our' Dvorák (1841-1904): with this work he has shaken off the strong influences of Mendelssohn and Schumann in one fell swoop.

Thank you again for your input. I have a lot of different versions of Dvorak's symphonies in my collection but, to be honest, I have not paid too much attention to this composer in the past. I do remember, like Schubert, liking the early works myself, but this is only an impression and a memory. I should investigate Dvorak's symphonies further. Sounds like a project for the future.

[aligreto]

Kraus: Sinfonie in D major [Concerto Koln]





Wonderfully buoyant performances in the outer movements and poised, refined performances in the slow movements.

[Moonfish]

Tchaikovsky: Symphonic Fantasy "Francesca da Rimini"           
USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Svetlanov

A little "muddy" with distortions (especially the brass). Otherwise a fine performance.

[listener]

HAYDN: Symphonies 32 in C, 33 in C and 34 in d
Cologne Chamber Orch.,  Helmut Müller-Brühl, cond.

And from later contemporaries
KURPINSKI:   Clarinet Concerto
LESSEL: Variations for flute and orch.
MILWID: Sinfonia concertante for oboe and orch.
Ludwik Kurkiewicz, clarinet     Wlodimierz Tomaszczuk, flute   Janusz Banaszek, oboe
Bydgoszcz Philharmonic Orch.,  Zbigniew Chwedczuk, cond.

The concertos are brilliant-sounding showpieces, and I think a radio play would be a virtuoso challenge for announcers not accustomed to Polish consonants

[Moonfish]

Sibelius:
The Tempest: Prelude
The Oceanides
Night Ride and Sunrise

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Jochum

Excellent rendition of the tone poems. I have never heard Jochum performing Sibelius before. I have a feeling of that he didn't record much in this particular niche (Sibelius)? Unfortunately....

[Moonfish]

Wagner:
Parsifal: Vorspiel (Prelude)
Parsifal: Karfreitagszauber (Good Friday Music)

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Jochum

Lohengrin: Vorspiele (Preludes) - Act I & Act III                 Berliner Philharmoniker/Jochum

Ah, Jochum's Wagner is glorious! A recording to be treasured and revisited!



https://www.youtube.com/v/9k7bRxKDjJA

[king ubu]

first spin - gorgeous!

[Que]

first spin - gorgeous!

I'm jealous.... 

Q

[king ubu]

I'm jealous.... 

Q

Well, I'm sure you'll soon have your own copy 

The new one by Daucé (with Lucile Richardot) is wonderful too, btw, though it took me a moment to adapt to Daucé doing english stuff ... but that voice is so amazing ... and realizing she was the "messagiera" in Gardiner's semi-staged "L'Orfeo" last year (I couldn't catch the other two Monteverdi operas alas, she had parts in all three) made complete sense - what a beguiling and convincing performance that was, although a short one.

[aligreto]

Schubert: String Quartet No. 10 [Kodaly Quartet]

[aligreto]

Wagner:
Parsifal: Vorspiel (Prelude)
Parsifal: Karfreitagszauber (Good Friday Music)

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Jochum

Lohengrin: Vorspiele (Preludes) - Act I & Act III                 Berliner Philharmoniker/Jochum

Ah, Jochum's Wagner is glorious! A recording to be treasured and revisited!

That 10" vinyl was my introduction to Parsifal. You are correct: what a recording 

[Mandryka]

Siegbert Rampe plays some Peter Philips on a clavichord. Two different clavichords in fact, from an clavercordilogical point of view the recording and Rampe's essay in the booklet is valuable. Rampe is without a doubt the greatest clavichord player since JS Bach. There's a lyricism about Philips's music which reminds me of Scheidemann, especially in the transcriptions.

[André]

The Franck items are very well done, esp the Variations. Rogé and Maazel probe deep in the score's subterranean textures and harmonic nooks. Impressive. The Bartok coupling is a strange idea, the common link being the pianist, this time paired with the excellent Walter Weller. This is Bartok's opus 1 from 1905, a very lisztian affair. I had never heard it before. All told, a good program, well performed and recorded (vintage Decca sound from 1976).

[San Antone]

Schubert : Music for violin and piano
Löwenstein, Moll

[Malx]

Keyboards are king tonight:

J.S.Bach, Goldberg Variations - Celine Frisch (Harpsichord).

Beethoven, Piano Sonatas Nos 12, 13 & 14 - Abdel Rahman El Bacha (Bechstein piano).

[SurprisedByBeauty]

My latest composer-discovery. My, what gorgeous music! Especially the 8 songs for SQ4t & voice!

#morninglistening to the #chambermusic of @surprisedbeauty-discovery #HenriMarteau on #cpo / @jpc_de

: http://a-fwd.to/EUnzLga

w/#IsasiQuartet incl. @KarstenDobers + #KarineDeshayes

#StringQuartets

[Madiel]

Antique numeration.

The sequential numbering of his symphonies has also been confused: (a) they were initially numbered by order of publication, not composition; (b) the first four symphonies to be composed were published after the last five; and (c) the last five symphonies were not published in order of composition. This explains why, for example, the New World Symphony was originally published as No. 5, was later known as No. 8, and definitively renumbered as No. 9 in the critical editions published in the 1950s.

No composer's numbering has been wrecked more than Dvorak's. He was meticulous on his scores.

[Moonfish]

Elgar:
Sea Pictures
Symphony No. 2 
 
Larissa Avdeyeva     
USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Svetlanov

a. Sea Pictures - Great performance, but a bit odd hearing it in Russian. Avdeyeva has a great voice, but it is quite unusual (even unsettling) to hear these works sung in the Russian language. However, the orchestration around her voice is supreme.

b. Symphony No. 2 - Surprisingly, I took a liking for Svetlanov's performance. I didn't quite know what to expect hearing the USSR State SO taking on Elgar's beautiful symphony. The brass (as always) is great and brings thundering crescendos into the stormy parts of the symphony. It is a little fast compared to what I'm used to (Boult in particular), but it is a very enjoyable performance. I wish it was more widely available. I just stumbled upon it in the Svetlanov compilation.