What are you listening to now?

[Baron Scarpia]

An excellent CD.

The same as this?



If so, superb, especially the slow movements.

[SymphonicAddict]

The same as this?



If so, superb, especially the slow movements.

Yes, it's the same disc but under another label. Very fine renditions indeed.

[Jamie]

Shostakovich Piano Quintet

[Ken B]

Shostakovich
Violin concertos
Mordkovitch, RNSO, Jarvi

[amw]

Ries Symphony No.2 in c minor, Op.80

I wasn't paying attention when this came on and was desperately trying to remember which of the early Schubert symphonies it was. Turns out none of them.

[Daverz]

An excellent CD.

Oh, I have that.  Got it in the bargain bin at Amoeba Hollywood IIRC. 

Currently, orchestral works by Geraldine Mucha:

[asin] B0757DSW7T[/asin]

Quite vivid (though conservative) music.  Found on Tidal with the search "macbeth orchestral".

[Todd]

Disc two, Opp 24, 30/1, and 30/2.  More dramatic playing.  The Spring sonata is superb, but in relative terms, the first two Op 30 sonatas are better yet.  The opening of 30/2 is a blockbuster brimming over with energy and drive. 

[André]

A very good production. Mackerras, a Donizetti specialist, conducts with vim and vigour, almost too much so. It would be nice to hear a slightly more spacious conception. As is often the case in Donizetti, the soprano heroine has good bits in the firt act, but owns the rest of the opera. Sills is excellent, proficient in the coloratura, dramatically involved, wonderfully attuned to the more fragile aspects of the Queen's character. Glossop and especially Ilosfalvy are also very good, avoiding cardboard characterization. Donizetti's male characters are often morally weak fellows of no great psychological complexity. Donizetti's affection and inspiration were obviously more in tune with the female personality.

I think that, ultimately, Sills  is not fully convincing as a dramatic soprano, the voice a bit light in the lower reaches. I will continue to look for an alternative (Gruberova or Gencer, probably). The opera is good enough to justify duplication.

[André]

An unusual pairing. These two piano quintets are wide apart from each other in many respects. Both works share great passion as their driving force. The Schumann is IMHO an unimpeachable masterpiece. It is dense, wonderfully concise, with every note given meaning, every phrase carrying immense musical force. This interpretation by Louis Lortie, James Ehnes and friends is absolutely spot on in its drive, passion and integrity. Fauré's quintet is a wonderful work, marrying force and sentiment, nobility and beauty. A Moritzburg Festival performance captured in 2003 in the Lukaskirche, Dresden. A wonderful disc.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

[Mirror Image]

Four Last Songs...ah....so gorgeous. How's this performance, Jessop? You've been listening to a good bit of Germanic repertoire lately.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Four Last Songs...ah....so gorgeous. How's this performance, Jessop? You've been listening to a good bit of Germanic repertoire lately.

Ah, I missed it actually because a few minutes after I put this on I ended up feeling very faint in the intense heat we are having in Melbourne and took a nap........

But I am listening from the start of this recording again. Nina Stemme is one of my top four or five favourite sopranos and probably my favourite in this repertoire. Pappano is alright I guess, based on what I am hearing.

[Mirror Image]

Ah, I missed it actually because a few minutes after I put this on I ended up feeling very faint in the intense heat we are having in Melbourne and took a nap........

But I am listening from the start of this recording again. Nina Stemme is one of my top four or five favourite sopranos and probably my favourite in this repertoire. Pappano is alright I guess, based on what I am hearing.

Cool off in some air-conditioning, Jessop. Glad you could share some of your thoughts. Do you know any other performances of Four Last Songs?

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Cool off in some air-conditioning, Jessop. Glad you could share some of your thoughts. Do you know any other performances of Four Last Songs?

I have heard a few, but Anja Harteros is definitely my favourite. Not yet on the Songs in the Stemme recording................

[anothername]

I have heard a few, but Anja Harteros is definitely my favourite. Not yet on the Songs in the Stemme recording................

Harteros above Lucia Popp, are you nor feeling well? 

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Harteros above Lucia Popp, are you nor feeling well? 

I actually felt rather faint and unwell this afternoon, as I wrote in the post just before. But thank you for your concern.

And yes I think Harteros is a terrific singer and her recording of the Four Last Songs is one of my personal favourites. I never warmed up to the recording I heard of Popp singing it, unfortunately for me!

And btw I am very much enjoying Nina Stemme's recording here.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Now on this fine recording from Munich. I think I prefer the overall musicality of this one to the other one.

[Que]

Morning listening:

[asin]B012UOD7E4[/asin]
Violin sonatas Op. 6 (part III) by Pietro Antonio Locatelli (1695 - 1764)
Igor Ruhadze (violin), Mark Dupere (cello) and Vaughan Schlepp (harpsichord)

Q

[GioCar]

I actually felt rather faint and unwell this afternoon, as I wrote in the post just before. But thank you for your concern.

And yes I think Harteros is a terrific singer and her recording of the Four Last Songs is one of my personal favourites. I never warmed up to the recording I heard of Popp singing it, unfortunately for me!

And btw I am very much enjoying Nina Stemme's recording here.

Hi Jessop, the Four Last Songs are on the top of my Strauss' favourite works list (with Salome, Metamorphosen and a few of his early Symphonic Poems) and my favourite recording is

[asin]B0000040VV[/asin]

I know the Popp/Tennstedt album, I've never heard the Harteros or the Stemme.


TD: earlier in the morning

Stravinsky's Pulcinella, LSO/Abbado

[Tsaraslondon]

A very good production. Mackerras, a Donizetti specialist, conducts with vim and vigour, almost too much so. It would be nice to hear a slightly more spacious conception. As is often the case in Donizetti, the soprano heroine has good bits in the firt act, but owns the rest of the opera. Sills is excellent, proficient in the coloratura, dramatically involved, wonderfully attuned to the more fragile aspects of the Queen's character. Glossop and especially Ilosfalvy are also very good, avoiding cardboard characterization. Donizetti's male characters are often morally weak fellows of no great psychological complexity. Donizetti's affection and inspiration were obviously more in tune with the female personality.

I think that, ultimately, Sills  is not fully convincing as a dramatic soprano, the voice a bit light in the lower reaches. I will continue to look for an alternative (Gruberova or Gencer, probably). The opera is good enough to justify duplication.

Caballe has the grandeur Sills lacks.

I have a live 1977 recording from Aix-en-Provence with Carreras as Devereux, which is well worth seeking out.