What are you listening to now?

[Ken B]

Symphony No 2 in F Major, op 29
by Josef Bohuslav Foerster
1. Allegro moderato
2. Andante sostenuto
3. Allegro
4. Allegro con brio
Prague Radio Orchestra
Ondrej Kukal, conductor
1996

[North Star]

Nørgård
Symphony 3
Danish National Radio Symphony & Chorus
Segerstam
[asin]B000000B01[/asin]

[Ken B]

Foerster feathers flying.

  So disappointed but, frankly, I don't know precisely why - .... New Grove implies that Foerster - much enamored of poetry and literature - was a better composer of songs and choral works (a prodigious number of them, more than 650) than anything else.  Perhaps he needed the guiding direction that a text provides, as I believe I am hearing a master orchestrator whose moments of sheer beauty add up to less than the sum of their parts.   

With muddled I meant that the melodic connections were not always clear ... the weight this music needs, plus the rhythmic drive was missing .... My distinct feeling was that the orchestra was simply not good enough, and a conductor that was not familiar with the Czech idiom. ...His orchestral writing is lyrical and full of passion. It simply needs a motivated orchestra and conductor.

So I listened to this

Symphony No 2 in F Major, op 29
by Josef Bohuslav Foerster
Prague Radio Orchestra
Ondrej Kukal, conductor
1996
Youtube

This is a fine orchestra, and it's a committed Czech conductor. It sounds well performed to me.

Harry is right about being lyrical and passionate.  I think I end up closer to the Ghost here anyway. I did like it, but. But but.
There are lots of lovely moments here. The end of the 3rd movement for instance.
Forward motion is a bit scarce overall. A tad too much Reger. (Or a few too many hours studying La Mer).
But I will listen to at least one more symphony. And maybe this one again. Maybe it just takes a bit of getting used to.

I do recommend it to Ghost and to Brian for obvious reasons.

A disappointed thumbs up? 

[Spineur]

Very nice Brahms piano playing

[asin]B071LSSXG7[/asin]

It is difficult to compare CDs but I would say that Freire sounds more lyrical and less introverted than Volodos.  I would give Volodos a slightly higher hand on the piano sound for all the shades he achieves.   Freire piano is still quite beautiful, but more direct and immediate. 

[aligreto]

Leoncavallo: I Pagliacci, Act I [von Matacic]....

[Mahlerian]

Reger: Variations on a Theme by Beethoven Op. 86
Staatskapelle Berlin, cond. Suske


Ligeti: Musica Ricercata, arr. for barrel organ(?)
Pierre Charial

[millionrainbows]

[Ghost Sonata]

With muddled I meant that the melodic connections were not always clear due to the somewhat diffused recording, and the weight this music needs, plus the rhythmic drive was missing in this as you say rather thin interpretation...

Ah, yes, that is precisely the problem, I think.  Thanks!

[Ghost Sonata]

Foerster feathers flying.

So I listened to this

Symphony No 2 in F Major, op 29
by Josef Bohuslav Foerster
Prague Radio Orchestra
Ondrej Kukal, conductor
1996
Youtube

This is a fine orchestra, and it's a committed Czech conductor. It sounds well performed to me.

Harry is right about being lyrical and passionate.  I think I end up closer to the Ghost here anyway. I did like it, but. But but.
There are lots of lovely moments here. The end of the 3rd movement for instance.
Forward motion is a bit scarce overall. A tad too much Reger. (Or a few too many hours studying La Mer).
But I will listen to at least one more symphony. And maybe this one again. Maybe it just takes a bit of getting used to.

I do recommend it to Ghost and to Brian for obvious reasons.

A disappointed thumbs up? 

Thanks, Ken, I'm headed in that direction now.  BTW, I may have resolved your Mer problem - are you sure you haven't mistaken this for the Debussy for all those years?

[Todd]

Inspired by recent listening to Pascal Devoyon and Jerzy Maksymiuk in their capacities as accompanists, I determined to find something new for my collection from both.  It turns out they made a recording together, in the form of the tried and true pairing of the Schumann and Grieg Piano Concertos.  As the disc is cheap, I figured one more version of each couldn't hurt.  Here's a case of B-listers delivering A-list work.  It's not really fair to label them B-listers, but neither artist seems to be among anyone's oft cited favorites.  That's slightly more perplexing in the case of Devoyon, whose touch is nuanced, whose playing is expressive yet always eminently tasteful, whose chops are world-class.  Maksymiuk offers spot-on conducting that perfectly supports the soloist.  The recordings do not present the most passionate or fiery take of either work, but when considering both works together on one disc, the only one that pops into mind as being better overall, and then not by much, is the Lupu/Previn set, which also offers a different approach.  And there's no lopsidedness favoring one concerto that multiple discs pairing the two works display - eg, Andsnes/Jansons, so breathtakingly great in the Grieg, so not in the Schumann.

Excellent sound, with some vocalizing from Devoyon audible here and there, most notably in the first movement cadenza in the Schumann, and some presumably from Maksymiuk in the orchestral-only sections of the finale of the Grieg.

[André]

A Youtube download of Cornelis Dopper's 1st symphony from 1896. The Northern Netherlands Orchestra is conducted by Jürgen Kussmaul. One youtuber's comment is: "smooth, rich, flowing". Precisely.

[North Star]

Haydn
Symphony No. 21 in A major (1764)
Symphony No. 22 in E flat major 'Der Philosoph' (1764)
The Academy of Ancient Music
Hogwood
[asin]B01BHFPU3S[/asin]

[aligreto]

Harpsichord Concertos by Paisiello and Durante....


   

[Ghost Sonata]

Foerster feathers flying.

So I listened to this

Symphony No 2 in F Major, op 29
by Josef Bohuslav Foerster
Prague Radio Orchestra
Ondrej Kukal, conductor
1996
Youtube

This is a fine orchestra, and it's a committed Czech conductor. It sounds well performed to me.

Harry is right about being lyrical and passionate.  I think I end up closer to the Ghost here anyway. I did like it, but. But but.
There are lots of lovely moments here. The end of the 3rd movement for instance.
Forward motion is a bit scarce overall. A tad too much Reger. (Or a few too many hours studying La Mer).
But I will listen to at least one more symphony. And maybe this one again. Maybe it just takes a bit of getting used to.

I do recommend it to Ghost and to Brian for obvious reasons.

A disappointed thumbs up? 

Foerster Reforested - the MDG recordings are curiously without affect - this is a much more satisfying, dynamic and nuanced reading, surely closer to what the composer intended.  I think Ken correct - it will reward repeated listens. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3xqwmkwxk4

And as an added bonus, I see Heino Eller's symphony numero uno on Youtube which is up next. 

[Karl Henning]

Foerster Gump?

[Ghost Sonata]

Stupid is as stupid does, I think....

[Cato]

Foerster feathers flying.

So I listened to this

Symphony No 2 in F Major, op 29
by Josef Bohuslav Foerster
Prague Radio Orchestra
Ondrej Kukal, conductor
1996
Youtube

This is a fine orchestra, and it's a committed Czech conductor. It sounds well performed to me.

Harry is right about being lyrical and passionate.  I think I end up closer to the Ghost here anyway. I did like it, but. But but.
There are lots of lovely moments here. The end of the 3rd movement for instance.
Forward motion is a bit scarce overall. A tad too much Reger. (Or a few too many hours studying La Mer).
But I will listen to at least one more symphony. And maybe this one again. Maybe it just takes a bit of getting used to.

I do recommend it to Ghost and to Brian for obvious reasons.

A disappointed thumbs up? 

There are some composers who have a certain subtlety in their compositions, and this subtlety may be unnoticed in a first hearing, or even a few subsequent hearings.  I do not know this specific work, but have heard works by Foerster in earlier years.  There may be more waiting for you in a second listening session.

Not many works of Nikolai Tcherepnin have been recorded unfortunately, but I think he suffers from the same syndrome: the compositions have certain riches, but they are not obvious.  And then upon a third hearing or so, one notices all sorts of things, and finds them marvelous! 

Jan Kalliwoda could also fit into this category.

Recently heard:

Hans Werner Henze Symphony #5.



A better work than the Sixth Symphony, which I commented upon a few days ago here and in the Henze topic.  Episodic, with hints of Berg and even Prokofiev's Second Symphony (the latter I suspect are coincidental), and some nice moments, but sounding like too many other 15-20 minute "Wonder Symphonies" of the late 1940's-1950's.

[Ken B]

Thanks, Ken, I'm headed in that direction now.  BTW, I may have resolved your Mer problem - are you sure you haven't mistaken this for the Debussy for all those years?

QOTD
GhostSonata in a discussion involving La Mer:

Perhaps he needed the guiding direction ... I believe I am hearing a master orchestrator whose moments of sheer beauty add up to less than the sum of their parts.

La Mer to a T! Merci mon ami!



TD
Symphony No 1 in D minor, op 9
by Josef Bohuslav Foerster
Prague Radio Orchestra
Ondrej Kukal, conductor
1996

I think I like this one more, so far.

[aligreto]

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 [Brendel]....

[aligreto]

JS Bach: Prelude & Fugue BWV 536, Trio in d minor BWV 583 & Prelude & Fugue BWV 547 played by Lionel Rogg on the Pedal-Harpsichord....