What are you listening to now?

[Karl Henning]

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2017/04/casella-alfredo-1883-1947-orchestral.html?spref=tw

Very interesting, thanks, Harry.

[Maestro267]

Harty: An Irish Symphony
NSO Ireland/O Duinn

[SimonNZ]

Matthias Pintscher's Cello Concerto "Un Despertar" - Alisa Weilerstein, cello, François-Xavier Roth, cond.

Live: World Premiere (third performance), 25 March 2017, Symphony Hall, Boston

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl6u3DJeKiY

[Cato]

Thanks to my parish priest : Augusta Thomas Violin Concerto #3 (The Juggler in Paradise)

Lots of clicks, pops, and atonal honking!

https://www.youtube.com/v/EUvD0mjlEuA

[listener]

a box of RACHMANINOFF
The Bells, "Spring" Cantata, 3 Russian Songs
Caprice bohémien, "Youth" Symphony, Symphonic Dances, Isle of the Dead,
The Rock, Scherzo in F, Prince Rostislav
Saint Louis S.O. and Chorus     Leonard Slatkin cond.

[Karl Henning]

Courtesy of our Cato:

http://www.youtube.com/v/EUvD0mjlEuA

[springrite]

Today, per Kimi's request:

Liszt: William Tell Overture transcription
Grieg: In the Hall of the Mountain King
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody #2
Liszt: Transcendental Etudes

[Harry]

Today, per Kimi's request:

Liszt: William Tell Overture transcription
Grieg: In the Hall of the Mountain King
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody #2
Liszt: Transcendental Etudes

0:)

[Florestan]

First listen



Pleyel's string quartets impressed favorably Mozart himself and one can see why. In the latter's words: they are very well written, and most pleasing to listen to.

[Madiel]

Love it as much as I do? I think this is a PHENOM. album. http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2009/02/dip-your-ears-no-97.html

Well, I only just got it (no one reacted in the Purchases Today thread). But I did go hunting for reviews before purchasing and could see a heck of a lot of people liked it. And I think your review was one of the ones I spotted.

[Todd]

Re his piano, I prefer the sound of the Yamaha to Flier's symphonic sounding instrument. Neither are substitutes for performances on a proper Chopin piano of course.

There is no such thing as a proper Chopin piano, though you appear to prefer period instruments. 

[Harry]

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2017/04/sarasate-pablo-1844-1908-music-for.html?spref=tw

[Todd]

Disc eleven, twenty-two Scarlatti sonatas.  The first one is a bit slow and almost too elegant, but then the disc picks up the pace and is lively, vibrant, and elegant.  Meyer is certainly no slouch in the rhythm department, but she is more constrained than some more adventurous sorts (eg, Pletnev).  Still, Meyer seems very much at home in the baroque.

[mc ukrneal]

So I wanted to listen to some Mozart and I dug out my Ashkenazy set of piano concertos. These really are quite excellent. I started with #9 and hopped around to 16, 23, 13, and on and on. It was pure joy. I'm not sure why this excellent set doesn't get heard more. The only downside is that the recordings were done over quite a few years and thus the sound is not consistent (never bad, but not identical). Still, I enjoy these no less than my discs of Brendel, Larrocha, Perahia, etc.
[asin]B0000041KA[/asin]

[Tsaraslondon]

On balance, still probably the best recording of Verdi's magnificent, flawed masterpiece. Giulini has the full measure of the score and has a superb cast at his disposal.

I also have the Karajan and the Abbado, and plan to listen to them too over the next couple of days. It will be interesting to compare, as they are different in lots of ways apart from the personnel, all being recordings of different editions of the score.

[mc ukrneal]

On balance, still probably the best recording of Verdi's magnificent, flawed masterpiece. Giulini has the full measure of the score and has a superb cast at his disposal.

I also have the Karajan and the Abbado, and plan to listen to them too over the next couple of days. It will be interesting to compare, as they are different in lots of ways apart from the personnel, all being recordings of different editions of the score.

Looking forward to hearing about your exploration (or re-exploration)!

[ritter]

More Ernesto Halffter:

[asin]B000ETQSB2[/asin]
Got this CD recently for the late choral works, which are quite fantastic. Very noble, very serene and even stark at moments; Stravisnky's Symphony of Psalms--with its use of woodwinds--is never too far away from this music, but neither is the "castillian" Manuel de Falla (as opposed to the "Andalusian"), or the whole sound-world of that underrated magnum opus Atlántida. Only in the short Psalm CXVI do we get a more "typical" Spanish sound, but as is often the case with composers who rely on strong popular musical traditions, in Halffter's Spätstil these influences are sublimated (for lack of a better word), become less "in your face" and picturesque, and are ultimately much more effective. The Elegy in Memory of H.S.H. the Prince Pierre de Polignac is propbaly the strongest of the three pieces.

Almsot every time you want to get to know a new work by Ernesto Halffter in CD, you end up getting yet one more version of the early Sinfonietta, so I'm running the risk of getting tired of this (admittedly very nice) piece. But...this is the recording to have, in my opinion. Firstly, the textures of the compsoition are clarified, and the intricate contrapuctual writing is made transparent, thus sounding totally logical (on some other recordings, the feeling that some parts simply "don't hang together" inevitably arises). Also, conductor Víctor Pablo Pérez's phrasing is immaculate, and the work's oscillation (particularly in the first movement) between exuberant joy and tender melancholy (very much in the mold of Pulcinella) is very well managed. Quite an achievement, this Sinfonietta (even more so when one realizes the composer was only 25 years of age when he penned it).

Highty, highly recommended. 

Here's the first movement ("Pastorella") from the recording (the other three are available independently on YouTube):

https://www.youtube.com/v/NKXRWhthNXE

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Two Pieces for violin and orchestra, Op. 77. Gorgeous.

[Mandryka]

There is no such thing as a proper Chopin piano

Yes there is. A proper Chopin piano is one of the type he wrote the music for: a Pleyel, or a Broadwood or an Erard from the first half of the 19th century. I'm convinced that their less resounding, less long lasting sound suits the contrapuntal nature of the music better than many modern pianos, though I was impressed by the clarity of the voicing on the Yamaha.

[Karl Henning]

From the first Triad concert:

http://www.youtube.com/v/JRpoz1nHfxg