What are you listening to now?

[Todd]

Had I not bought Alessio Bax's awesome Brahms disc earlier this year, I'd be tempted to say that Nicholas Angelich's recording is the best modern set of the Op 10 Ballades out there.  (Of course, I've not heard them all, so any claim would probably be wrong.)  To be sure, Angelich is more personal than Bax, tending toward a slightly slow overall approach peppered with titanic climaxes and characterized by a big, rich sonority - more so than Bax.  Since Bax's contains that little extra bit of magic, he still remains preferable, but a shoot-out may be needed.  Angelich delivers in both the Op 79 Rhapsodies, likewise large-scaled, and he dispatches the Paganini Variations with an even greater sense of ease than Bax, which is saying a lot. 

The disc is not quite Volodosian qualitatively, but it is outstanding Brahms if one like Angelich's approach. 

[nodogen]

Takemitsu
Orchestral Works

[asin]B0000029WL[/asin]

[Mandryka]

Had I not bought Alessio Bax's awesome Brahms disc earlier this year, I'd be tempted to say that Nicholas Angelich's recording is the best modern set of the Op 10 Ballades out there.  (Of course, I've not heard them all, so any claim would probably be wrong.)  To be sure, Angelich is more personal than Bax, tending toward a slightly slow overall approach peppered with titanic climaxes and characterized by a big, rich sonority - more so than Bax.  Since Bax's contains that little extra bit of magic, he still remains preferable, but a shoot-out may be needed.  Angelich delivers in both the Op 79 Rhapsodies, likewise large-scaled, and he dispatches the Paganini Variations with an even greater sense of ease than Bax, which is saying a lot. 

The disc is not quite Volodosian qualitatively, but it is outstanding Brahms if one like Angelich's approach.

In the variations, Angelich is like Arrau, prominent bass, slow and poetic. Bax is a bit like a Michelangeli - faster. I saw Angelich play them years ago and bought the CD on the strength of it. I haven't heard either sets of Ballades.

[Mister Sharpe]

First of the newly-received Daedalus order : 

[Kontrapunctus]

[Mandryka]

Wiersma BWV 767, somewhere in Holland,  spacious, spiritual, serious. I also listened to Leonhardt playing it on a harpsichord - or a claviorganum rather, but he doesn't use the organ in this performance. ) Both very impressive.

[Autumn Leaves]

Recent listening:



Tchaikovsky: Symphony #3 In D, Op. 29, "Polish" - Karajan/BPO



Sibelius: Symphony #1 In E Minor, Op. 39 - Berglund/Bournemouth SO
Sibelius: Symphony #4 In A Minor, Op. 64 - Berglund/Bournemouth SO



Shostakovich: String Quartet #2 In A, Op. 68 - Emerson Quartet
Shostakovich: String Quartet #3 In F, Op. 73 - Emerson Quartet

[Autumn Leaves]

Recent listening:



Mahler: Symphony #5 In C Sharp Minor - Rattle/BPO



Mahler: Symphony #5 In C Sharp Minor - Tennstedt/LPO

2 versions of M5..

[eljr]

Capella de la Torre
Isabella: Music for a Queen

Genre
Classical

Released
November 11, 2014

[eljr]

Neeme Järvi / Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker

Release Date November 3, 2014
Genre
Classical
Styles
Ballet

[aligreto]

Grieg: Holberg Suite [von Karajan]....

[aligreto]

De Falla: Harpsichord Concerto....





This is a wonderfully intriguing, energetic and exciting work with wonderful textures throughout.

[aligreto]

O'Connell: North [Maloney]....





This is a somewhat dark and smouldering work with extensive and varied orchestral textures and a work which is always intriguing and engaging.

[eljr]

Lella Cuberli / Herbert von Karajan / Leon Spierer
Ludwig van Beethoven: Missa Solemnis

Genre
Classical

[North Star]

Haydn
Arie per un'amante
Nuria Rial, Margot Oitzinger
L'Orfeo Barockorchester
Michi Gaigg
[asin]B001NW8DCG[/asin]

[aligreto]

JS Bach: Twenty Little Preludes [played on harpsichord by Isolde Ahlgrimm]....

[eljr]

Harald Vogel
Bach: Organ Works

Duration01:11:51
Genre
Classical
Styles
Keyboard

[André]

Dipping into that box set, not all at once, but as the mood requires. Symphonies 96, 97, Theresienmesse. All three performances are excellent, actually better than some others in the box. Bernstein obviously loved Haydn, but the performances are uneven, some more involved than others. The Mass was good enough to prompt me to purchase another version.

[Madiel]

Sibelius, 6 Lieder, op.50

[asin]B00YQIFXWW[/asin]

German-language Sibelius is ever so slightly odd.  And song no.2, Sehnsucht is particularly odd. The piano carries on this odd bass growl full of syncopation.

These are interesting songs, I'm just not quite sure on a first hearing how much I like them.

[aligreto]

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 [Serkin]....


   


This magnificent work is wonderfully played by Serkin and the New York Philharmonic/Bernstein.