What are you listening to now?

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Listening to the 9th. Fantastic performance.

[Todd]

[andolink]

Stefan Wolpe: Quintet with Voice (1957) for bass-baritone, clarinet, horn, harp, piano and cello

[kishnevi]

Oh, excellent! Thanks! I will have to look for this one. I saw Morlot conduct the Curtis Institute Orchestra in Philadelphia last January (in Berio's Sinfonia and I thought he was outstanding).

Speak of the devil

From the Erato Boulez box, which fills it out with
Xenakis Jalons for 15 instrumentalists performed by Ensemble Intercontemporain
First listen to all three works, possibly first listen to anything by these composers.
Can not say I am impressed by either of the Berio works. The Xenakis has features of interest, but does not draw me in.

[North Star]

Fresh from the mail
Stravinsky
Concerto for two pianos
Sonata for two pianos
Benjamin Frith & Peter Hill, pf
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[ritter]

How do you like it, Todd? It's been a while since I listened to that CD.  But I do very much admire Levinas...seeing him live playing Beethoven (op. 27 No. 2 & op. 111), Murail (Territoires de l'oubli) and his own Trois études was quite something.

Cheers,

[Todd]

How do you like it, Todd?

It's excellent.  Probably not top tier, because Levinas, though an excellent pianist, doesn't display the wizardry that people like Beroff or Michelangeli or Kocsis or other world class virtuosos do.  But his playing is filled with ideas, and he brings out little details, and plays with an appreciation of structure that I believe is rooted in his full time profession as a composer.  His LvB sonatas and Diabellis share similar traits.  I've been contemplating paying inflated prices for his Ligeti, because I'd like to hear how one living composer interprets one (comparatively) recently departed one's music. 

[mc ukrneal]

Now listening to some Romberg Symphonies. I like the music, but the performances are totally under-powered...
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[Mirror Image]

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Listening to In the South. Excellent performance.

[Harry]

Now listening to some Romberg Symphonies. I like the music, but the performances are totally under-powered...
[asin]B000UEN2OM[/asin]

Yes I agree totally with you, somehow the combination does not work, and after two listenings I put it away in my collection.

*My end conclusion of this CD.

But a warning should be in place! The tempi are really to slow in most movements, and this goes as far as losing coherence in the musical structure. And another problem is, never listen all three symphonies at the same time, for than boredom sneaks in. One symphony at the time and my review is correct, listen to all three and it gets invalid. The sound is good but not ideal.

[ritter]

It's excellent.  Probably not top tier, because Levinas, though an excellent pianist, doesn't display the wizardry that people like Beroff or Michelangeli or Kocsis or other world class virtuosos do.  But his playing is filled with ideas, and he brings out little details, and plays with an appreciation of structure that I believe is rooted in his full time profession as a composer.  His LvB sonatas and Diabellis share similar traits.  I've been contemplating paying inflated prices for his Ligeti, because I'd like to hear how one living composer interprets one (comparatively) recently departed one's music.

Thanks! I'll revisit that Debussy disc sometime soon.

The Ligeti I have in this set (but still haven't listened to it  ):

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Cheers,

[Todd]

Thanks! I'll revisit that Debussy disc sometime soon.

The Ligeti I have in this set (but still haven't listened to it  ):

[asin]B004IAD730[/asin]

Cheers,

I believe part of his WTC is as well.  Have you had a chance to listen to that?

[Mirror Image]

Mahler's Symphony No.3 - Riccardo Chailly, cond.

One of my favorite Mahler 3rd performances.

[ritter]

I believe part of his WTC is as well.  Have you had a chance to listen to that?

Not yet  ...Should do so soon (but I was slightly annoyed it only inlcludes Book 1, when he had recorded both books  )....

[aligreto]

Brahms: Violin Concerto [played by Szeryng + London Symphony Orchestra/Dorati]....





A beautifully lyrical performance that is full of pathos from Szeryng. The first and second movements are slow, deliberate and sometimes a bit ponderous performances. It is as if Szeryng is contemplating the music as he is playing it. The orchestral accompaniment is sensitive throughout both movements. The tone and tempo both change appropriately in the final movement with a robust performance from all concerned.

[aligreto]

Kurt Atterberg's sumptuous, tempestuous 3rd symphony. I find this interpretation more dramatic than Rasilaïnen's CPO version. Ehrling' pacing is tauter and the balances are more forward. The 1983 sound is excellent.

Duly noted. The Rasilaïnen version is on my schedule for this evening 

[aligreto]

Bach, Cantata 105 "Actus Tragicus"
CMW, Harnoncourt

This is my favourite cantata, and possibly my favourite Bach, along with the Goldberg Variations.

"Actus Tragicus" is BWV 106 
I do agree with you that it is JS Bach at his simplest and most beautiful 

[aligreto]

Yes a fine recording. I have also heard Oistrakh play this concert in the "real" life. He certainly mastered it.

Oh, you lucky person; I envy you that 

[Mirror Image]

Duly noted. The Rasilaïnen version is on my schedule for this evening 

And what a performance that Rasilainen is! I'd go so far to call Atterberg's 3rd a masterpiece.

[aligreto]

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Listening to Barber's Cello Concerto. The best performance I know of this work, although Poltera's on BIS is also very good.

Good to read as it is the only version of that concerto that I own