What are you listening to now?

[Sergeant Rock]

Schoenberg Five Pieces for Orchestra op.16, Dorati conducting the LSO




Sarge

[Baron Scarpia]

hmm,  I suppose a very staid Hapsburger might be flummoxed by this, but frankly almost any page from the score of Elektra or Salome is (on that scale) a worse offender than this.

Electra was 10 years later.

[Papy Oli]

Good evening all,

Horowitz playing the Waldstein. he is not hanging about....

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[Mirror Image]

I heard these women live last month in the Brahms clarinet quintet.  Their 1st violin is something.  I like this 2nd Koechlin quartet a lot...

I bet! They play incredibly well I must say. Yes, this is a Koechlin chamber work I finally enjoy (having previously only been enthralled with his orchestral and vocal/choral music). I need to get to know his piano music.

[Papy Oli]

Kodaly - Dances of Galanta (Dorati)

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[Mirror Image]

Miroirs:

[Mahlerian]

hmm,  I suppose a very staid Hapsburger might be flummoxed by this, but frankly almost any page from the score of Elektra or Salome is (on that scale) a worse offender than this.

Yeah, well, people said the same nonsense about Brahms or Debussy (to say nothing of Wagner himself) that they said about Schoenberg.

Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 in E-flat "Romantic" (1878/1880 version)
Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, cond. Herreweghe
[asin]B0743X369G[/asin]

The current Amazon review for this box set lists this recording as the set's weak link, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.  A very lyrical and fluid reading.

[Baron Scarpia]

Yeah, well, people said the same nonsense about Brahms or Debussy (to say nothing of Wagner himself) that they said about Schoenberg.

They said it about everyone that did something new.

[aligreto]

Handel: Esther, Scenes IV-VI [Christophers]....





There are two things that I like about this work. Firstly there is the work's musicality which is fluid and particularly lyrical throughout: secondly I like the scoring which is very sensitive to the vocals and is quite engaging. I also find the vocals in this performance to be very fine indeed, both choral and soloists.

[kishnevi]

Yeah, well, people said the same nonsense about Brahms or Debussy (to say nothing of Wagner himself) that they said about Schoenberg.

Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 in E-flat "Romantic" (1878/1880 version)
Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, cond. Herreweghe
[asin]B0743X369G[/asin]

The current Amazon review for this box set lists this recording as the set's weak link, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.  A very lyrical and fluid reading.

I see they left out his Bruckner 7 from that box, which is a shame, since I think it's a very good recording. The B4 otoh I have no memory of.
TD
[asin]B07895VGLV[/asin]

[André]

Rozhdestvensky and Shostakovich go famously together,  like capers and anchovies. I like the zip and zing he imparts to the music without sacrificing any of its darker shades. The 6th is hard to ruin, lending itself as it does to different interpretations. Rozh is perfectly balanced here, making the last two movements weightier, more bitter than usual but still very much the zany spoofs that are so unusual in his symphonies.

The 12th is one of Shostakovich's more problematic scores. In the liner notes the conductor calls it a masterpiece and recalls the care Shostakovich took over the rehearsals (for the Edinburgh Festival performances). Rozhdestvensky is one of the few conductors who took the piece seriously (i.e. as pure music), conducting it frequently both at home and abroad. His is a patient and powerful view of the work, less bombastic than usual. I was more than once reminded of the 7th symphony and at no time wished it would end ASAP. Quite a feat, actually.

The sound is very good. No mention anywhere of the date these recordings (early 80s ?).

[Mahlerian]

I see they left out his Bruckner 7 from that box, which is a shame, since I think it's a very good recording. The B4 otoh I have no memory of.

Noted.

[Kontrapunctus]

Beethoven, Piano Sonatas 30, 31. Uchida.

Liked 30 quite a bit, wasn't as pleased with 31.

Will have to give it another spin, or maybe Pollini.

[asin]B000EAV6BS[/asin]

I think I want to like Uchida more than I actually do.

What's with that picture? I think I posted it on the worst artwork thread at some point.

That image might be more appropriate on a Stockhausen piano works recording!

[kishnevi]

TD
[asin]B07895VGLV[/asin]

Now that I've listened to this, verdict is:
Recommended

[SymphonicAddict]

Kodaly - Dances of Galanta (Dorati)

[asin]B000004235[/asin]

I have that recording too. An essential couple of discs.

[Spineur]

Before bed 2nd spin for Martinu's bouquet of flowers.  Both feet in Bohemian land.  The sound engineering is actually quite nice.  I like the way the brass come through.

[SymphonicAddict]

Symphonies 5 and 6






So many fascinating, transcendent, magical, evocative, immaculate passages. My personal favorite parts are: Sunrise, On the Summit, Vision, Thunder and Tempest, Descent, Sunset, Quiet Settles and Night. This work has everything.

[Todd]

Disc eight.

[Mirror Image]

Como Cierva Sedienta:



One of those works within Pärt's oeuvre that seems to go unnoticed in favor of more popular works like Stabat Mater, Te Deum, Berliner Messe, among others. Make no mistake, this work belongs in the same pantheon as those others works.

[Baron Scarpia]

Beethoven, Piano Sonata No 30, Op 109

Maurizio Pollini.

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Technically, from this edition:

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Oh, my lord, this is good.

Yesterday I listened to some Uchida recording of this piece. Why? Why would I ever listen to any other recording. The conviction, the power, the sensitivity, the intelligence of these performances is astonishing.