What are you listening to now?

Started by Dungeon Master, February 15, 2013, 09:13:11 PM

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Que

#141920
Morning listening:

[asin]B00HSW6R1Y[/asin]
Q

Irons

Quote from: André on September 14, 2019, 10:37:42 AM


Finished listening to this set this morning. Symphonies 93-104. Dresdner Philharmonie, Günther Herbig. Recorded 1974-75 in the Lukaskirche, Dresden (yes, Dresden, not Leipzig).

The best thing about this set is the excellent sound. You'd never guess it was recorded 45 years ago. The orchestra is excellent an the conducting mostly very good. My only caveat is that brass and timpani are not assertive as we have come to expect from conductors such as Goodman, Fey, Minkowski or Harnoncourt. As a MI set I would put it on the same footing as those by Jochum, Dorati, Fischer, Solti, and just below Davis RCOA, where the orchestra plays with more bite and the hall gives greater vibrancy to the colours. Szell continues to reign supreme in the first half (93-98) despite rougher sound. I also like Harnoncourt RCOA and Bernstein but both are sometimes eccentric and the NY sound is dated.

An Eterna Edition recording made in the GDR. Out of all the labels behind the old "Iron Curtain" Eterna had the best production values.
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

Que

And now, for something completely different:



I already have a splendid recording of this music by Léon Berben (Aeolus).
But this interpretation by Joseph Kelemen, played on Lübeck's own organ, charmed me immediately when sampling.
The differences in approach and organs (which are probably connected) justifies the duplication...  :)

Q

Harry

Agreed. Is a gorgeous recording.
Quote from Manuel, born in Spain, currently working at Fawlty Towers.

" I am from Barcelona, I know nothing.............."

vandermolen

#141924
Miaskovsky: Symphony 17.
Svetlanov's performance is excellent but I find an even greater urgency in Gauk's older performance. One of the finest, most dramatic and, in its slow movement, most lyrical of the Miaskovsky symphonies I think.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Irons

Quote from: vandermolen on September 15, 2019, 01:11:45 AM
Miaskovsky: Symphony 17.
Svetlanov's performance is excellent but I find an even greater urgency in Gauk's older performance. One of the finest, most dramatic and, in its slow movement, most lyrical of the Miaskovsky symphonies I think.


Noted, Jeffrey. Thanks.
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

aligreto

Zelenka: Sonata No. I for two oboes and bassoon [Ensemble Zefiro]



aligreto

Quote from: vers la flamme on September 14, 2019, 03:34:21 PM


Robert Schumann: Symphony No.1 in B-flat major, op.38, "Spring". Leonard Bernstein, Vienna Philharmonic. I've tried with Schumann's symphonies a good few times, but they just have yet to make any lasting impression on me. I'm a huge admirer of his piano music, his Lieder, and (increasingly) his chamber music, so I will keep trying with his symphonies.

I agree with the recommendation of Gardiner but I know that these things are very subjective. My collection of Schumann symphonic cycles would probably be evenly split between HIP and non HIP. However, if you like your Romantic music to be bold, powerful and very up front then I wonder if you have tried Sawallisch in this music?

Que

Sometimes a collector's life is very good,  with a steady stream of new sweet pickings...
In that respect jpc's sales section is an essential life line these days!

[asin]B00G0A28B8[/asin]
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Apr14/Erlebach_sonatas_VRS2146.htm

Q


Mandryka

#141930


Ciconia's motet Venecie Mundi Splendor, sung in a incisively articulated away, with a slow pulse, which gives the motet the feeling of dignity and nobility. Straight singing. The tone of the male singers is very distinctive, almost like brass instruments. No instrument only passages. I'm going to have to explore this CD.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Iota

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on September 14, 2019, 01:07:56 PM
Oh, that's got to be good. While I'm not always in a Boulez mood, I can listen to Rituel practically anytime.

Actually I didn't really warm to Rituel until I heard the David Robertson recording below (having previously heard Gielen and Boulez). I couldn't say why, perhaps just a chance alignment of mood and music on that occasion, and to be honest there are still a number of other Boulez pieces that resonate more immediately with me. But spurred by your and SA's enthusiasm I shall listen to it with freshly energised ears over the next few days.



aligreto

Haydn: String Quartet Op. 71, No. 2 [Kodály Quartet]





The opening Adagio is elegant and sublime. It soon give way to an Allegro which is a major contrast in tone, tempo and sentiment and this continues unabated until the conclusion of the movement. The slow movement is poised and elegant. The Menuetto is a fine and lively contrasting movement. The Finale is a robust, exciting and an exuberant affair. The work is very well played and recorded.

aligreto

Handel: Fireworks Music [Gardiner]





This is a suitably buoyant and celebratory performance and a robust, powerful and exciting presentation of this music.

Traverso


Harry

Quote from: Que on September 15, 2019, 02:26:07 AM
Sometimes a collector's life is very good,  with a steady stream of new sweet pickings...
In that respect jpc's sales section is an essential life line these days!

[asin]B00G0A28B8[/asin]
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Apr14/Erlebach_sonatas_VRS2146.htm

Q

One I clearly oversaw when ordering the Verso CD'S . Corrected this. Still the same low price. I gather you are positive about this Erlebach recording?
Quote from Manuel, born in Spain, currently working at Fawlty Towers.

" I am from Barcelona, I know nothing.............."

Tsaraslondon



Recordings from 1969 and 1974 so a mite old fashioned now, no doubt, and the Ambrosian Singers, who lend their voices to about half of the disc, hardly sound authentic however virtuosic their contribution. Still, authentic or not, there is much that is splendid from both them and King's College, Cambridge. Glorious indeed.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

Madiel

Nielsen, Piano Music for Young and Old

Which I've managed to buy 2 recordings of before I'd ever even heard it.  Starting with Herman D. Koppel's recording in this box.



This ain't a masterwork. It's what you get when a box called "Masterworks" includes the complete piano music on 2 discs. They're extremely simple piano pieces that I suspect I'm only going to listen to when I'm being a completist in my listening.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

vers la flamme

Quote from: aligreto on September 15, 2019, 02:20:33 AM
I agree with the recommendation of Gardiner but I know that these things are very subjective. My collection of Schumann symphonic cycles would probably be evenly split between HIP and non HIP. However, if you like your Romantic music to be bold, powerful and very up front then I wonder if you have tried Sawallisch in this music?

Bold, powerful, and up-front sounds good to me ;D You know, I haven't tried Sawallisch, and you're not the first to have given me that recommendation. I think that's likely the one to get. It helps, I guess, that I'm a huge fan of the Staatskapelle Dresden. I still need to sample it some.

Thread duties:



Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.9 in D major. Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic. This is my first time hearing the symphony in full. I've just reached the final movement Adagio, which I have heard before, as part of Bernstein's Harvard Norton lectures, performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and preceded by a beautiful spoken introduction by Bernstein, detailing his ideas behind the meaning of this movement and the "triple death" that Mahler foretold with the music. Whether or not this is an accurate interpretation is not up to me to decide, but I'll say this much: I'm a huge fan of Bernstein's Mahler (and will remain such), and I trust his interpretations, even if his recordings of Mahler symphonies can sometimes sound like "an epitaph on the grave of Western Civilization" as someone once hilariously attested on another forum. After nearly 5 months, I will have finally listened to everything of this great box set at least once. Best $30 I ever spent  :)

vers la flamme

Almost forgot, my thoughts on the symphony: absolutely devastating, just as they all say. However, upon first impression, I'm not sure if the middle movements live up to the massive promise of the first movement.