What are you listening to now?

[SymphonicAddict]

String octet

Along with the Mendelssohn, the Glière, the Svendsen and the Bargiel, the most spellbinding string octets I know.

[Traverso]

I have always liked Bohm's Mozart 

I like also Klemperer and the Mozart symphonies,Krips with the Concertgebouw orchestra,Tate and the English chamber Orchestra,Hogwood and the Academy,Marriner and the other Academy.
They all have their weak and strong points.Klemperer No.29 is very dear to me,Hogwood is too.......at first I liked his recordings very much but for an authentic Mozart I prefer Frans Brüggen.,Krips is wonderfull and Tate is perhaps my first choice for a complete set.

[Kontrapunctus]

No. 1 and 2 today--incendiary performances!

[Que]

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 [Mengelberg]





This performance is not about the almost 90 year old vintage recording quality [which is very good given its age] but rather about the vintage performance and interpretation. This is a a tense, taut and exciting performance that is electrically charged and readily engages for its freshness and insight. It leaves one almost breathless in places. A magnificent performance.

I agree, Mengelberg's Tchaikovsky is extraordinary. 

Q

[aligreto]

Spohr: Clarinet Concerto No. 1 [Ottensamer/Wildner]

[aligreto]

I like also Klemperer and the Mozart symphonies,Krips with the Concertgebouw orchestra,Tate and the English chamber Orchestra,Hogwood and the Academy,Marriner and the other Academy.
They all have their weak and strong points.Klemperer No.29 is very dear to me,Hogwood is too.......at first I liked his recordings very much but for an authentic Mozart I prefer Frans Brüggen.,Krips is wonderfull and Tate is perhaps my first choice for a complete set.

I would like to add my endorsement to the Tate and the English chamber Orchestra cycle. One that you do not see very often but it is a fine cycle.
I would also like to put a word in for the Mackerras cycle 

[aligreto]

I agree, Mengelberg's Tchaikovsky is extraordinary. 

Q

Cheers Que; another fan 

[Mirror Image]

Mozart

Symphony No. 33

I gave that set away to a friend many years ago. Not because I didn't think the performances were good, but because I don't think much of Mozart.

[SymphonicAddict]

Dello Joio - The Triumph of Joan Symphony

How polystylistic and authentic this is. Certainly it has a VW-ish grandeur to it, some Baxian-less-diffuse stuff, some cragginess of Hindemith (?), the Hanson's spirit and a voice of his own. Worth listening and deservedly recommended. Last, but not least, the performance makes justice to the work, vivid sound, a noticeable experience.

[vandermolen]

Dello Joio - The Triumph of Joan Symphony

How polystylistic and authentic this is. Certainly it has a VW-ish grandeur to it, some Baxian-less-diffuse stuff, some cragginess of Hindemith (?), the Hanson's spirit and a voice of his own. Worth listening and deservedly recommended. Last, but not least, the performance makes justice to the work, vivid sound, a noticeable experience.

x

I enjoy this fine CD and many other releases conducted by James Sedares.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

No. 1 and 2 today--incendiary performances!

+1. Monumental.

[Daverz]

I gave that set away to a friend many years ago. Not because I didn't think the performances were good, but because I don't think much of Mozart.

I don't see much need to have the early Mozart symphonies, but Böhm did seem to think they were worthwhile recording.

[André]

This afternoon, this version of Shostakovich's 5th, from 1959:




And tonight, this one from 1953:



Two diametrically opposed conceptions of the work. I doubt Ormandy was capable of infusing his conducting with blackness and despair. Although there is great drama, sunny vistas are never far from the corner. Mitropoulos OTOH was a past master at making music sound pitch black and full of wrenching despair. That both are equally satisfying is a measure of the greatness of the music and a testament to great conducting.

The Mitropoulos is in excellent, ample-sounding mono. The slight tubbiness in the bass actually contributes to the recording's pessimistic atmosphere. The Ormandy has some stunningly beautiful wind and horn solos that melt the heart. The strings in the slow movement are beyond gorgeous. I found the coda slightly dispassionate, with low brass and percussion not ripping as they could have.

[Daverz]

Bloch: Concerto Symphonique.  I'm warming to it finally.  This is a post-WWII work, but it has a cinematic quality (stentorian brass fanfares) I associate with earlier works like Schelomo.  The sonics are a bit wooden. 

[asin] B000YKNVGG[/asin]

Symphony for Trombone



This hasn't been recorded often.  It's a short work, similar in melodramatic style to the Concerto Symphonique, but a bit more lyrical.  Hard to evaluate the performance, but the trombone playing seems good and the orchestral playing seems OK.  Sound is good for a Soviet recording.  There's also a recording by Lindberg on Bis and one by Arutiunian on Claves.

...Arutiunian is so much better that I think the old Soviet runthrough can be forgotten.

...And Lindberg is even better.


[asin] B000027E7J[/asin]

[Que]

Morning listening:



Q

[Florestan]

This must be the least melancholy and least sorrowful D960 I have ever heard. It's as if, by choosing fast --- much too fast for my taste --- tempi for the first two movements and by his light, at times playful touch, Curzon wanted to make the case for this sonata being of a much lighter and brighter nature than everybody else supposes it to be. I am not won over. By contrast, the Moments Musicaux are bleak, humourless and dull --- possibly the worst Schubert playing I've ever heard, musically not technically speaking.

Meh.

[Mandryka]

This must be the least melancholy and least sorrowful D960 I have ever heard. It's as if, by choosing fast --- much too fast for my taste --- tempi for the first two movements and by his light, at times playful touch, Curzon wanted to make the case for this sonata being of a much lighter and brighter nature than everybody else supposes it to be. I am not won over. By contrast, the Moments Musicaux are bleak, humourless and dull --- possibly the worst Schubert playing I've ever heard, musically not technically speaking.

Meh.

I heard him play this in a private concert in University College, Oxford. He was very nervous, it was not good. However there is a really special live D960 from him in Salzburg on Orfeo.

[Traverso]

Mozart

To start the day with.
CD 2

Serenade in C minor,KV 388/384a "Nacht Musique"
Serenade in E flat,KV 375

[vandermolen]

Both works:
[asin]B000JJSP72[/asin]

[vandermolen]

Bloch: Concerto Symphonique.  I'm warming to it finally.  This is a post-WWII work, but it has a cinematic quality (stentorian brass fanfares) I associate with earlier works like Schelomo.  The sonics are a bit wooden. 

[asin] B000YKNVGG[/asin]

Symphony for Trombone



This hasn't been recorded often.  It's a short work, similar in melodramatic style to the Concerto Symphonique, but a bit more lyrical.  Hard to evaluate the performance, but the trombone playing seems good and the orchestral playing seems OK.  Sound is good for a Soviet recording.  There's also a recording by Lindberg on Bis and one by Arutiunian on Claves.

...Arutiunian is so much better that I think the old Soviet runthrough can be forgotten.

...And Lindberg is even better.


[asin] B000027E7J[/asin]

I like the Bloch work very much - there is a fine version on Chandos.