What are you listening to now?

[Florestan]

Boccherini: Cello Concertos Nos. 7 & 8 [played by Bronzi]....

Have them in the big Boccherini box. Lovely music (Haydn-quality most of the time, I'd dare say) and performance.

[aligreto]

Im intrigued, aligreto. Rautavaara is a composer I've been exploring the past year, and I've really grown appreciative of his compositional style. I was just listening to his 2nd Cello Concerto: Towards The Horizon yesterday, wonderfully atmospheric as well.

Yes, a relatively short work at just under 15 minutes but well worth a listen if you can get one 

[aligreto]

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 "Pathetique"
Rozhdestvensky/London Symphony Orchestra

Time to fall in love with this piece, which it seems I've actually grown away from caring about. I'm a big admirer of Bernstein's slooooooooowwwwww performance with NYP on DG, but never really explored much outside of it. Tchaikovsky is a composer who's music I never had an urge for, but starting to feel as if I'm missing out on something.
This recording of Rozhdestvensky/LSO might not be the one to help me turn the corner, but it was sent to me by accident by an Amazon MP seller, so I'm starting with it. Where should I go next??? 

Two personal favourites for Tchaikovsky 6 for me, if I may, are Ansermet and von Karajan.

[aligreto]

Have them in the big Boccherini box. Lovely music (Haydn-quality most of the time, I'd dare say) and performance.

Heartily agreed 

[Mahlerian]

Beethoven: String Quartet No. 9 in E minor Op. 59 No. 2
Alban Berg Quartet
[asin]B008DK3PJC[/asin]

[Florestan]

Heartily agreed 

I knew it! Our tastes seem to be quite similar, especially in Baroque and Classical. 

[TheGSMoeller]

Two personal favourites for Tchaikovsky 6 for me, if I may, are Ansermet and von Karajan.

I will search them out tonight for a listen. Thanks, aligreto!

[SonicMan46]

Boccherini: Cello Concertos Nos. 7 & 8 [played by Bronzi]....

 

Hi Aligreto - being a Luigi B. fan from way back, your posting piqued my interest - I have the 2 Naxos CDs w/ Tim Hugh doing a portion of these works and also the 7-disc box inserted above; 3 CDs are of the Boccherini Cello Concertos w/ Julius Berger on the cello - so, do I need yet another set - found a review of the Bronzi and Berger performances (PDF attached for those interested - a link is give to the larger box on MusicWeb) - Dave

[SymphonicAddict]

So, a first listen to this work for me tonight.
I both agree and disagree with you 
I agree that the Sinfonia per archi was a beautiful. It was a very interesting work with an interesting musical language. The movements are varied and contain wonderful, appealing and contrasting moods and tones.
I respectfully disagree with the 'Cinderella' comment simply because I was quite taken with his symphonies [with the exception of his last one] 

Me too. I like each piece of him. Anyway, I'm glad you have enjoyed it 

BTW, which is your favorite symphony of him?

[Todd]

Barenboim's First.  A tremendous performance, easily the best of the four new sets sampled this year.  This is no small scale Bruckner; this is fully Brucknerian.  And it wears its Wagnerian influence on its sleeve.  One can almost imagine Brünnhilde (in Birgit Nilsson form) belting out some newly discovered, discarded excerpt from the Ring a few times in the outer movements.  The whole thing is almost all energy and excitement.  The sound is a bit unusual.  It's modern and has modern dynamics, but the sound is often times a bit blobby - as in there is a blob of strings over there, a blob a brass over there, etc.  Nothing goes missing, it's just not very detailed.  It is comparatively string heavy and very weighty.  I hope the rest of the cycle is this good.

[SimonNZ]

I like that piece 

As do I! (couldn't see what was posted originally - embedded videos aren't showing up for me right now)

Is that TC's Huilunsoittaja performing?

and now:



Messiaen's La Nativité du Seigneur - Willem Tanke, organ

[Todd]

After more than a year since last trying any of France Clidat's Liszt, I decided to try disc eleven, with the Sonata, the Three Nocturnes, and three miscellany.  I hoped some extended time away might make me appreciate her playing some more.  No such luck.  The Nocturnes are not so good, though if someone wants an unsentimental take on the famous Liebestraum, this might do it, though probably not for the right reasons.  The Sonata is played fast, but the sonics make it a mess.  Compressed, overloaded, with high frequencies reduced and bass bloated, it's unpleasant to listen to.  Throw in an at times brazen lack of subtlety, and this has the makings of the worst recording of the Sonata that I've heard.  The three other works are best forgotten.  I have two more discs left.  Maybe I can finish the set by 2020.

[kishnevi]

After more than a year since last trying any of France Clidat's Liszt, I decided to try disc eleven, with the Sonata, the Three Nocturnes, and three miscellany.  I hoped some extended time away might make me appreciate her playing some more.  No such luck.  The Nocturnes are not so good, though if someone wants an unsentimental take on the famous Liebestraum, this might do it, though probably not for the right reasons.  The Sonata is played fast, but the sonics make it a mess.  Compressed, overloaded, with high frequencies reduced and bass bloated, it's unpleasant to listen to.  Throw in an at times brazen lack of subtlety, and this has the makings of the worst recording of the Sonata that I've heard.  The three other works are best forgotten.  I have two more discs left.  Maybe I can finish the set by 2020.

Alternate:. Play both tomorrow,  get the nastiness over with, and, capitalist running dog that you are, sell it on EBay to some unsuspecting buyer.
TD

In the form of CD 4 of Warner's Reger Centenary Collection, which fills out the CD by adding the Improvisation on Strauss's Blue Danube Waltz played by Konstantin Scherbakov.
Interesting enough that I ...
But for the sequel you'll need to wait for a post in another thread.

[Mirror Image]

Now:





Listening to Ritmica Ostinata. Certainly one of my favorite works for piano and orchestra from a Japanese composer. Not that there are that many of them or that I know too many of them.

[Todd]

After the Clidat assault on my ears, I needed something nice and clean and pleasant to listen to, in fully modern sound.  K309.  Not the best, but very nice.

[Mirror Image]

Now playing A Severn Rhapsody, Op. 3 from this recording:



Because sometimes there's just nothing like some Finzi. A gorgeous, unchallenging musical treat for the ears.

[Christo]

Now playing A Severn Rhapsody, Op. 3 from this recording:



Because sometimes there's just nothing like some Finzi. A gorgeous, unchallenging musical treat for the ears.

Long term favourite; only equalled by the utter 'sincerity' of some of the music by Armstrong Gibbs.

[Que]

It is absolutely wonderful! A peach and a winner! I didn't quite expect to be able to listen to 3-CD worth of solo recorder music in a row, but after listening to the first 2 CD I can hardly wait to finish the set tomorrow. And I also can hardly wait to listen to the complete, 9-CD set  by Dan Laurin, which I also have:



(Already did a comparison for Engels Nachtegaeltje --- a mindblowing piece --- and found Bosgraaf better by a slight margin.)

If only I could play the recorder a tenth as well as these guys --- I actually own two soprano recorders and every now and then I play one and my 4-year son the other: uneducated improvisations all along, of course, but not unpleasant to the ear; how much more interesting and fun it'd be if played properly... sigh.

I'm impressed... I didn't know the Laurin set, let alone that there was a complete recording on the market!
Given the nature of the music - variations, transcriptions, many of folksongs - a lot depends on the performer.
Bosgraaf is expressive and engaging, and uses a variety of recorders.

I've been into music for recorders for a while now, encountered the genre through the Loeki Stardust Quartet.
Now exploring more repertoire. When I recently looked into Telemann's significant output, the choice is often between Bosgraaf and Dan Laurin....

Q

[Todd]

Late night dueling Op 28s.  A much closer run thing than the Oppitz-Levinas competition, but ultimately Levinas comes out on top.  More legato, more lyricism, but more intensity in spots.  Lipkin doesn't give in easily, though.  About what I'd expect from two second tier competitors going at it.

[Que]

Morning listening:

[asin]B00004GLLR[/asin]
Q