What are you listening to now?

[HIPster]

Another new addition is up next - comes with an endorsement by Florestan:

[asin]B000WC389Q[/asin]
Q

Excellent. 

Morning listening ~

[asin]B000002SS1[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Falstaff.

[aligreto]

Fergus Johnston: Je goute le jeu - A set of variations on a theme coupled with an interesting rearrangement of orchestral seating.

[aligreto]

[asin]B000002SS1[/asin]

Still a favourite here 

[Todd]

Second listen, this time through cans.  This purchase was one of those "why not?" type deals, but the music and artistry are utterly captivating.  Ah, serendipity. 

[NikF]

Mahler: Symphony 1 - Solti/CSO.

[asin]B0000041Z6[/asin]

I have the Bernstein cycles and the Kubelik, but this is different. From the outset it's weighty and charged and powerful, but still manages to sound so open. To use a term like 'cinematic' doesn't begin do it service. I'd go so far as to say that in many ways it's been a revelation - it has such presence. And although firmly in the realms of trite, if the remainder of the cycle compares then this is one to bring out rarely like a favoured single malt.

[Mahlerian]

I know, right?!?! Crazy. 

Ha on the Bruckner (and the 19th century) - for me.  I really like this performance too.

As Jeffrey Smith notes, it is certainly HIP.  Again, it sounds wonderful to my ears.

Sarge, believe it or not, but I actually have posted listening to Celibadache's Bruckner fourth here previously.  That's my gateway to Bruckner; a favorite recording for me.  Listening to that one is like listening to a Dark Star from 1969 - to be savored.

I am considering the Simone Young Bruckner set, based on reviews here.

Herreweghe also recorded Bruckner's fascinating Mass in E minor, which sounds like nothing else from its time.  One who is interested in Early Music may just enjoy it quite a bit (though I know one such Amazon reviewer who did not).

[HIPster]

Herreweghe also recorded Bruckner's fascinating Mass in E minor, which sounds like nothing else from its time.  One who is interested in Early Music may just enjoy it quite a bit (though I know one such Amazon reviewer who did not).

Thank you, Mahlerian. 

I do plan to check it out.  Added to the wishlist. 

Thread duty ~

In keeping with this HIP-themed theme, playing Adagio - A Consideration of a Serious Matter:

[asin]B00EP22OLC[/asin]

Matthias Maute has come up with something really special here: a very moving meditation on death and dying, which uses music through the ages.  Issues of authenticity or performance practice are decidedly not present, or relevant.

A beautiful release.

[Turner]

Khachaturian: Symphony no.1 (1934) / Tjeknavorian, LSO/ rca LP

A pleasant, rather conservatively-sounding work, reminding of even R-Korsakov a lot of the time.

[aligreto]

Bax: Symphony No. 4 [Handley]....

[aligreto]

Mahler: Symphony 1 - Solti/CSO.

[asin]B0000041Z6[/asin]

I have the Bernstein cycles and the Kubelik, but this is different. From the outset it's weighty and charged and powerful, but still manages to sound so open. To use a term like 'cinematic' doesn't begin do it service. I'd go so far as to say that in many ways it's been a revelation - it has such presence. And although firmly in the realms of trite, if the remainder of the cycle compares then this is one to bring out rarely like a favoured single malt.

Great to see that you are off to a good start with that cycle 

[Mirror Image]

Bax: Symphony No. 4 [Handley]....

How are you enjoying Handley's cycle, aligreto? I own all of the cycles of Bax's symphonies: Handley, Thomson, and Lloyd-Jones. How do the Handley performances compare to say Thomson's? Any kind of feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[aligreto]

How are you enjoying Handley's cycle, aligreto? I own all of the cycles of Bax's symphonies: Handley, Thomson, and Lloyd-Jones. How do the Handley performances compare to say Thomson's? Any kind of feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I do not own the Thompson unfortunately so I cannot comment there at all. For me the Lloyd-Jones cycle is perfectly fine but the Handley cycle is definitely a step above in both performance and interpretation. As you know there is a strong sense of the lyrical and of the pastoral in Bax's music but there is also a sense of underlying menace and foreboding which Handley brings out very well I think. One is often fearfully watching over one's shoulder listening to Handley. It is an undercurrent that I enjoy.

[HIPster]

Hesperion XX

[asin]B0000017MQ[/asin]

Excellent Early Music sampler.

Superb sound quality too.

[NikF]

Rorem: Symphony No. 3 - Serebrier/Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

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A fine work and one that I enjoy, however this evening its secondary role is in being something of a sorbet after hearing the Solti Mahler 1.

[Mirror Image]

I do not own the Thompson unfortunately so I cannot comment there at all. For me the Lloyd-Jones cycle is perfectly fine but the Handley cycle is definitely a step above in both performance and interpretation. As you know there is a strong sense of the lyrical and of the pastoral in Bax's music but there is also a sense of underlying menace and foreboding which Handley brings out very well I think. One is often fearfully watching over one's shoulder listening to Handley. It is an undercurrent that I enjoy.

Very cool. Thanks for your feedback. I believe I do remember enjoying Handley's set a lot.

[North Star]

Liszt
Années de pèlerinage II, Italy, S. 161: No. 6. Sonetto 123 del Petrarca
Julian Gorus
https://www.youtube.com/v/GD-DlxklxEI

Earlier:
Sibelius
Luonnotar*, Bard, Oceanides
Helena Juntunen*
Vänskä & Lahti

[ritter]

Listening to the first recording ever of Schoenberg's stunning opera:

[asin]B01MYTUC8W[/asin]

[Zeus]

I'm working my way through this 2-disc set.


So far it's good, maybe occasionally very good, but not great. To my ears anyway.

I must say I'm a little disappointed. But it may get better on subsequent listens. 

IMHO, FWIW, YMMV, etc.

[Mandryka]

Listening to the first recording ever of Schoenberg's stunning opera:

[asin]B01MYTUC8W[/asin]

This is a better transfer than the one I have, and I'd say that it's an essential experience for anyone who can tolerate the sound of old recordings.