What are you listening to now?

[André]

Strauss: Arabella. A 1955 production of the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by Rudolf Kempe. Sung in English by Eleanor Steber, Hilde Gueden, George London, Roberta Peters, Blanche Thebom. Supernaturally well sung by all, wonderfully conducted by that expert straussian, Rudolf Kempe, in barely tolerable sound.

[André]

Shostakovich: symphony no 9. USSR Ministry of Culture Orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky (Olympia).

This evening's program: the 5th symphony with which this is coupled, and another Carmina Burana (Ozawa, Berlin Phil).

[HIPster]

G. Muffat - Armonico Tributo
The Parley of Instruments
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Had not listened to this one in a while - great disc!

[Ken B]

Aaron Copland, Symphony 3
Leonard Bernstein, Symphony 2
Both conducted by Lenny
Smurf box disc 52

[Sadko]

After having found my way through the Czech on "Supraphonline" I felt like having found access to Aladdin's Cave . (The prices for lossless downloads of their own material are very nice.) Currently listening to this:

Beethoven: Sonata op. 111

Haydn: Sonata in E flat major, Hob. XVI/49

Josef Páleníček



(Did he not like to be photographed? )

[Mookalafalas]

On early music listening binge:

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All from this:
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[HIPster]

On early music listening binge

  Looking good, Baklavaboy!

Thread duty ~
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Music from Castello, Marini, Merula and Frescobaldi.  Beautifully played and recorded (a very immediate recording!).

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Symphonic Dances. Great performance.

[Ken B]

Berlioz, some symphony which I hear is fantastic, Stan Skrow

[Moonfish]

Liszt: Annees de Pelerinage Suisse          Bolet

My favored Annees together with Berman's. 

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Symphony No. 3 'Le Divin Poème'. Outstanding performance. Muti's understanding is Scriabin's symphonies is almost unparalleled. I never heard a Scriabin symphony cycle as passionate as this one.

[PaulR]

Perhaps one of Mussorgsky's greatest works:

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I love the fact that this uses the Stravinsky ending, which I think gives it an edge over Gergiev's reading (which I like very much too)

[Todd]

Year 3 from Lortie.  I'm not sure what happened.  Perhaps because the third year isn't so overtly virtuosic, Lortie just doesn't deliver most of the time.  The playing sounds rushed too often; the harmonies don't sound adventurous.  Only Les Jeux d'euax a la Ville d'Este really satisfies in its proto-"Impressionistic" style, though the too heavy Fazioli bass overwhelms it at times.  My least favorite third year among the four sets I've heard recently, and that's something of a problem since this is my favorite group of works from the set.

Yoram Ish-Hurwitz is in the bullpen.

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

  Mwwwaahaahaahaaa! 

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[Brian]

From this Big Box O'Cheap Liszt:

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Piano Concerto No 2
Robert Casadesus
Cleveland Orch
George Szell

Casadesus is at first a little hesitant when the music shifts into a higher gear, but not for long. This single 19 minute performance is worth the $18 I paid for the entire box.

[Todd]

Andrea Lucchesini and Mario Brunello playing some LvB works for Cello and Piano on Agora Musica.  Bel canto Beethoven extraordinaire.  (Couldn't find a pic of volume one online.)

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Symphony No. 2. Absolutely sublime.

[Moonfish]

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No 4            London SO/Dorati

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Barber: Violon Concerto           Hahn/The Saint Paul Chamber O/Wolff

Hahn's serene playing is a delight. I do not exactly enjoy the third movement in contrast to the first two which I find mesmerizing.
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Schumann:Piano Quintet Op 44                Gulda/Hagen Quartett
Schumann: String Quartet Op 41.1          Hagen Quartett

The quintet is magical as always! Perhaps I have watched a specific Bergman movie too often?   

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[Mandryka]

A B Michelangeli plays Ravel's Valses Nobles et Sentimentales in Tokyo in 1973. A poignant wistful nostalgic performance - it's as if snatches of previously heard dance tunes come back to trouble haunt the listener. There's also a stream of consciousness feeling to the music, ideas popping up from nowhere, mood changes which are both natural and random at the same time. This is oneiric music as ABM plays it, like a fantasy, a waking dream. I wonder if Ravel was influenced by Proust.

[EigenUser]

A B Michelangeli plays Ravel's Valses Nobles et Sentimentales in Tokyo in 1973. A poignant wistful nostalgic performance - it's as if snatches of previously heard dance tunes come back to trouble haunt the listener. There's also a stream of consciousness feeling to the music, ideas popping up from nowhere, mood changes which are both natural and random at the same time. This is oneiric music as ABM plays it, like a fanatasy, a waking dream. I wonder if Ravel was influenced by Proust.

Oddly enough, I think that Ravel's Valses Nobles et Sentimentales and (even more so) the Introduction and Allegro are my favorite works of Ravel. Yes, I love D&C, both PCs, the SQ, and even Bolero, but these are the ones I replay the most.

Actually, I'd add Le Tombeau de Couperin, too. And Ma Mere l'Oye.