What are you listening to now?

[Cato]

Hmm, I wonder if Cato knows that Franck.

Yes, Franck's religious works are always at the top of the list!  0:)

Some more Mahler for the afternoon - I listened to Symphony 3 from the Kubelik box. I thought it was very good - I was expecting it to sound a little faster than what im used to but I was wrong about that.

The DGG Mahler symphonies with Rafael Kubelik are a must: the recording of the Sixth is a must, an all-around fave!

[aligreto]

Bartok: String Quartets Nos. 2 & 3....

[Florestan]

Stabat Mater from this:

[RebLem]

Since my last report, I have been listening to the following:

From a 5 CD Music & Arts set, licensed from EMI, of the complete Symphonies of Beethoven by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Otto Klemperer at the Vienna Festival, May & June, 1960.  You may notice that some numbers are missing in my account of the tracks on these CDs.  That's because I chose to omit the separately delineated applause tracks.

CD 1
Tr. 1-4.....Sym. 1 in D Major, Op. 21 (1800) (27'36)--rec. 7 June 1960
Tr. 6-9.....Sym. 3 in E Flat Major, Op. 55 "Eroica" (1804) (49'04)--rec. 29 May 1960

This First is an old fashioned performance which views this work as little more than juvenilia, or at best, more Mozartean than Beethovenian.  Its not the view of the work I prefer, which is that expressed, for example, by Solti, who views it as a fully mature Beethovenian Symphony, worthy of keeping company with the other eight.  Solti is not the only conductor with this view; Kempe, Schuricht and others take a similar view.  Of its type, though, this is an excellent performance.

This Eroica is one of the great ones.  The sforzandi in Mvt. 1 are truly hair-raising and Klemperer has a definite point of view on the marcia funebre.  Others perform it as if it were a public spectacle, whether for the funeral of a great and magnificent person who must be memorialized, as with Karajan, or as a tragic record of the depravities to which humans are heir, as is the case with Furtwangler's post-WWII recordings.  Klemperer does not focus on the great social sweep of these tragic events, but on their effect on the individual psyche.  It is a much more private, confessional view of the movement.  Its very much like the difference between Weinberg's string quartets and those of Shostakovich, it seems to me.  The last two movements are much more joyous, representing, it seems to me, the triumph of the human spirit over adversity, an optimistic "life must go on, and only in this way can we defeat those who tried to destroy us" sort of attitude.


CD 4 of a 6 cpo set of the complete string quartets (17) of Moisei Vainberg (1919-1996) performed by the Quatuor Danel (Marc Danel, 1st vn, Gilles Millet, 2nd vn., Vlad Bogdanas, viola, and Guy Danel, cello).

Tr. 1-5.......String Quartet 5 in B Flat Major, Op. 27 () (25'37)
Tr. 6-9.......String Quartet 9 in F Sharp Minor, Op. 80 () (28'31)
Tr. 10-14...String Quartet 14, Op. 122 () (23'22)

The Fifth Quartet was Vainberg's first quartet with more than 4 movements.  It is part of a series a chamber works which Vainberg composed in the three years after moving to Moscow.  When he left Poland in 1939, he first went to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where he studied at a local conservatory, graduating in 1941; the Nazis invaded Russia just after his graduation concert, and he hightailed it to Tashkent.  The success of his First Symphony led Shostakovich to suggest he move to Moscow, which he did shortly thereafter.  H remained there for the rest of his life.

From Wikipedia:

Much confusion has been caused by different renditions of the composer's names. In the Polish language (i.e. prior to his move to the USSR), his name was spelled as 'Mojsze (Mieczysław) Wajnberg, whereas in the Russian language (i.e. after the move) he was and still is known as 'Моисей Самуилович Вайнберг' (Moisey Samuilovich Vaynberg). In the world of Yiddish theater of antebellum Warsaw he was known as Moishe Weinberg (Yiddish: משה װײַנבערג), which is analogous to the Russian Moisey. Among close friends he would also go by his Polish diminutive 'Mietek'. Re-transliteration of his surname from Cyrillic (Вайнберг) back into the Latin alphabet produced a variety of spellings, including 'Weinberg', 'Vainberg', and 'Vaynberg'. The form 'Weinberg' is now being increasingly used as the most frequent English-language rendition of this common Jewish surname, notably in the latest edition of Grove and by Weinberg's biographer, Per Skans.

So, why am I using Moisei Vainberg even though the CD set lists him as Mieczyslaw Weinberg, I hear you ask. I wasn't sure which version I should use, so I posted on it at my favorite classical music site, asking for advice and guidance. The consensus seems to be that it should be Moisei Vainberg, because that is how the Library of Congress lists him. OTOH, the liner notes for this issue allege that the composer himself preferred the version they use, which is Mieczyslaw Weinberg. Considering the historic enmity between Russians and Poles, not to mention Russian anti-Semitism, however, one can understand why he might say that without meaning it.


CD 12-14 in the 14 CD ABC set of Beethoven piano sonatas and concerti by Australian pianist Gerard Willems on Australian Stuart & Sons superpianos, with the Sinfonia Australis, cond. by Anthony Walker.  CDs 12-14 recorded in the Eugene Goosens Hall of the Australian Broadcast Company's Ultimo Centre, 26-27 October & 2-3 November, 2003, & 27-29 March, 3-6 April, & 26-28 July 2003.  Also included in the set is a DVD containing a video of the performance of the Emperor Concerto (but its the same performance on on C D 14), both with and without commentary, a sales pitch for Stuart & Sons Pianos by Wayne Stuart, and tracks on a youth piano competition held in Australia.

CD 12--
Tr. 1-3.....Piano Concerto 1 in C Major, Op. 15 (1795, rev. 1899) (39'29)
Tr. 4-6.....Piano Concerto 2 in B Flat Major, Op. 19 (c. 1801) (29'03)
CD 13--
Tr. 1-3.....Piano Concerto 3 in C Minor, Op. 27 (1803 ?) (36'21)
Tr. 4-6.....Piano Concerto 4 in G Major, Op. 58 (1806) (33'53)
CD 14--
Tr. 1-3.....Piano Concerto 5 in E Flat Major, Op. 73 "Emperor" (1809) (39'48)

My favorites in these works heretofore have been Curzon/Kubelik in 4 and 5, the classic Fleisher/Szell set, and the relatively recent Goode/Ivan Fischer set.  So, where does this new set by Willems/Walker fit in?

The First Piano Concerto is a personal favorite of mine; it is my second favorite of the Beethoven piano concerti, after the Emperor.  It was on the program of the first Chicago Symphony concert I ever attended, with Alfred Brendel and conductor Dean Dixon.  It was preceded by a mercifully short excerpt from one of Henze's stage works, and followed, after the intermission, by a good performance of the Brahms Fourth Symphony.

This new recording by Willems shows rather less Sturm und Drang than most performances; it seems quieter and more contemplative than most.  Of particular note is the fact that the performance seems so natural.  The engineers do not fiddle with the controls to make the piano more prominent than it is in a live performance, as has been common practice on far too many sets of these works.  It sounds more like a cohesive, intergrated whole here than most others.  The third movement seems somewhat fleeter than most others.  While it does not replace Fleisher or Goode in my affections, this is a performance I feel I will return to again and again, as I do not with many of the other sets in my collection.

The Second Concerto is also a fine performance, closer to an MOR performance than the First, but one of very high quality.  This is not a concerto I play often, but I think I will return to this one rather more than most.

CD 13 is more of the same--good music making from musicians who are obviously in sync with one another, who share the same view of these works; the engineering is also of a piece with CD 12, with the piano not out of proportion to the orchestra.  Each of these performances is all one cohesive whole.

CD 14 is simply a joyous romp, with the precision of a chamber ensemble with musicians who understand each other.  In terms of tempo and dynamics, its a pretty MOR interpretation, but again the engineering is flawless; the transition from the second to the third movement seems rather slower and less spectacular, in a good way, than usual.

[Brian]

Test-driving Sebastian Fagerlund's Violin Concerto (2012).

[aligreto]

Saint-Saens and Lalo Cello Concertos....

[San Antone]

the arrangement for choir, soloists, cello, harp and organ is very fine.  have you heard it?

[Cato]

Since my last report, I have been listening to the following:

From a 5 CD Music & Arts set, licensed from EMI, of the complete Symphonies of Beethoven by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Otto Klemperer at the Vienna Festival, May & June, 1960.  You may notice that some numbers are missing in my account of the tracks on these CDs.  That's because I chose to omit the separately delineated applause tracks.

CD 1
Tr. 1-4.....Sym. 1 in D Major, Op. 21 (1800) (27'36)--rec. 7 June 1960
Tr. 6-9.....Sym. 3 in E Flat Major, Op. 55 "Eroica" (1804) (49'04)--rec. 29 May 1960

This First is an old fashioned performance which views this work as little more than juvenilia, or at best, more Mozartean than Beethovenian.  Its not the view of the work I prefer, which is that expressed, for example, by Solti, who views it as a fully mature Beethovenian Symphony, worthy of keeping company with the other eight.  Solti is not the only conductor with this view; Kempe, Schuricht and others take a similar view.  Of its type, though, this is an excellent performance.

This Eroica is one of the great ones.  The sforzandi in Mvt. 1 are truly hair-raising and Klemperer has a definite point of view on the marcia funebre.  Others perform it as if it were a public spectacle, whether for the funeral of a great and magnificent person who must be memorialized, as with Karajan, or as a tragic record of the depravities to which humans are heir, as is the case with Furtwangler's post-WWII recordings.  Klemperer does not focus on the great social sweep of these tragic events, but on their effect on the individual psyche.  It is a much more private, confessional view of the movement.  Its very much like the difference between Weinberg's string quartets and those of Shostakovich, it seems to me.  The last two movements are much more joyous, representing, it seems to me, the triumph of the human spirit over adversity, an optimistic "life must go on, and only in this way can we defeat those who tried to destroy us" sort of attitude.

Many thanks for this: I recall listening to Klemperer's Beethoven in the good old days    and Toscanini comparison debates with friends.  Toscanini was handicapped with Mono sound, but he had the edge in, e.g. the Seventh Symphony.

[André]

The unsinkable Sea Symphony by Ralph Vaughan-Williams. London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus led by Sir  Adrian Boult. Sheila Armstrong et John Carol Case, soloists. The combination of Walt Whitman's poetry and RVW's music is magical.

[Sergeant Rock]

François-Joseph Gossec (1734-1829) Symphonie à grand orchestre D major "La Chasse" and Symphonie à 17 parties F major.




Sarge

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Medea Suite. Great!

[HIPster]

Spending some time with this recording ~
[asin]B00009IC6R[/asin]
Review by amazon's Giordano Bruno pretty much say it all.   

Really excellent performance!

[San Antone]

Oboe and Orchestra

[André]

Schubert: the Ninth Symphony. Les Musiciens du Louvre, under Marc Minkowski. Good playing, but nothing sensational. Rythmically dull, an impression magnified by the observance of all those repeats  zzzzzz....

[pi2000]

Rita Gorr
[asin]B00LW6QI4I[/asin]

[San Antone]

101 for orchestra

[Moonfish]

Corelli:
Violin Sonatas Op. 5 Nos 1-11               
Sonate a violino e violincello o cimbalo Op. 5 (Rome, 1700)
Dedicated to Electress Sophie Charlotte of Brandenburg
Baudet/ter Linden/Fentross/Belder

Delightful! This little Brilliant Classics box is proving to be a treasure trove of Corelli's works.

[asin] B0044ZQ8QC[/asin]

[ritter]

Listening to the miraculous recording of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande conducted by Désormière in occupied Paris in 1941:

[asin]B000066TUT[/asin]

I had this in its incarnation on the Documents label (with their usual poor, no-frills presentation), but saw a sealed copy (dirt cheap) of the sumptuos production by the now defunct Andante label and grabbed it. This album also includes excerpts of the opera (conducted by Wolff and Coppola) recorded even earlier than Désormiere world première effort, and which might be interesting.

[San Antone]

Listening to the miraculous recording of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande conducted by Désormière in occupied Paris in 1941:

[asin]B000066TUT[/asin]

I had this in its incarnation on the Documents label (with their usual poor, no-frills presentation), but saw a sealed copy (dirt cheap) of the sumptuos production by the now defunct Andante label and grabbed it. This album also includes excerpts of the opera (conducted by Wolff and Coppola) recorded even earlier than Désormiere world première effort, and which might be interesting.

I've got that same recording.  Love the work.

[bhodges]

Dvořák: Symphony No. 8; Janáček: Suite from Jenůfa (Honeck/Pittsburgh) - Outstanding performances of both. In my book, the Dvořák is one of the best out there - sweetly conceived, magnificently played, and stunningly recorded - and the suite (arranged by Honeck and Tomás Ille) is excellent, too. I've heard much about Honeck, but this recording (and his Bruckner 4, also with Pittsburgh) are my first experiences with his work.

I suspect the biggest surprise for some will be just how well the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is playing these days.

[asin]B00K7VL7MC[/asin]

--Bruce