What are you listening to now?

[André]

A Gluck and Mozart arias recital. Good match. Ms. Graham is a talented singer. No unmusical noises emanate from her throat. Harry Bicket and his Age of Enlightenment PI band do their best to sound « informed ». They end up sounding pedantic and not very interesting. Most of the drama is wrung out and replaced by precious posturing. Ô malheureuse Iphigénie is the saddest casualty of this powdered wig and makeup approach. Gorr, Gencer and, especially Callas (past due-date greek yogurt voice and all) show how it should be done.

[SymphonicAddict]

Rubbra - Piano concerto, op. 85



Tippett - Symphony No. 1

[Daverz]

I've never heard a better recording of the concerto.  The Tone Pictures sound like great piano music here.  Gorgeous sonics.

[Mirror Image]

Yes I know that recording and let us not forget Faure ! The Wolf songs are very beautiful,surely recommendable !



and Ravel !



If you love French songs 

Thanks. I haven't quite connected with Fauré or, at least, to the same extent many members here have. I've listened to a good bit of his music through the years and he just doesn't tickle my earbuds. I know he's held in quite high regard, but this, of course, doesn't automatically mean I'm going to enjoy the music.

[anothername]

Primakov plays Chopin,  outstanding.

[Undersea]

NP:

[asin]B00002DEH3[/asin]

Schubert: String Quartet #7 In D, D 94
Schubert: String Quartet #8 In B Flat, D 112
Schubert: String Quartet #9 In G Minor, D 173

Melos Quartet

[Mirror Image]

Villa-Lobos
String Quartets Nos. 6, 1, & 17
Cuarteto Latinoamericano

[Mirror Image]

Takemitsu: Toward the Sea III for alto flute and harp
Patrick Gallois, Fabice Pierre
[asin]B00004SDNY[/asin]

I prefer the version for alto flute and guitar, but this one still beats II, which brings in a completely unnecessary string orchestra.

Yes, the two chamber versions of Toward the Sea are preferable to that string orchestra version. Finally something else we agree on!

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Prokofiev's first violin sonata, Samouil/Mangova. As usual, stunning sonics from the Cypres label, but more importantly, the performance comes off as punchy wrapped in melancholia wrapped in zig-zagging scaffolding. IOW, your standard Prokofievian stew.



[asin]B000H5VESU[/asin]

[kishnevi]

Tonight
Ogawa playing Satie on an 1890 Erard
... excellent performance, but I realized 75 minutes of Satie can become vexatious
Bruckner 3 Davies Bruckner Orchestra Linz
So far, starting with Die Nullte, an excellent set
Beethoven Op 130/133 Liepzig SQ
Maybe the best Grosse Fuge I have ever heard

[Mirror Image]

Tonight
Ogawa playing Satie on an 1890 Erard
... excellent performance, but I realized 75 minutes of Satie can become vexatious

Yes, it's best to take ol' Erik in doses and not in one setting. Ogawa sure does make a strong case for the music however.

[pi2000]

http://meloman.ru/concert/rno-pletnev-debargue/
Chopin 1

[RebLem]

On Thursday, 26 APR 2018, I listened to one CD.

CD 4 in the 5 CD Memories set of the Beethoven symphonies conducted by Pierre Monteux.  |Tr. 1.  Fidelio Overture (6'10)  |Tr. 2-6.  Symphony 6 in F Major, Op. 68 "Pastoral" (40'24)  |Tr. 7-10.  Symphony 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 (27'57)--Boston Symphony Orch.  Live rec. @ Tanglewood 8 AUG 1959.

This is the best CD in this box thus far, and I have listened to everything but the Ninth.  This is one of the best performances of the Pastoral Symphony I have ever heard.  It was a favorite of mine in the DECCA set with the London Symphony, too.  Monteux's way with this work emphasizes the lyrical rather than the rhythmic facets of the score, as Szell and Solti both do.  On feels one is taking a nice, leisurely walk through the Vienna woods with Monteux, agog at the wonders of nature.  Melodic, lush, wide-eyed and bushytailed, this reading is.  You'll feel like you're wrapped in velvet when you listen to this.  The Fifth is excellent, too, though not quite as spectacular as the Sixth.   I'd recommend this whole set just on the basis of this CD.

[Undersea]

NP:

[asin]B001QBXFSG[/asin]

Haydn: String Quartet #57 In C, Op. 74/1, H 3/72

Amadeus Quartet


[asin]B073625JNB[/asin]

Bruckner: String Quintet In F, WAB 112

Gil Sharon & Fine Arts Quartet

[Que]

Morning listening:

[asin]B00D8AIUQ0[/asin]
The Missa "Ave Maria" by Thomas Ashewell.

Q

[SurprisedByBeauty]

#morninglistening to #Prokofiev #PianoSonatas w/#VladimirOvchinnikov on @warnerclassics

: https://amzn.to/2I23qOm

Terrific performances from a pianist hitherto unknown to me.

[amw]

Solti Haydn seems to be not that different from Karajan Haydn, apart from that I prefer it, and that's probably mostly because of the Chicago wind players.

[Que]

Continued morning listening:



Pieter Dirksen plays a harpsichord after Johannes Rückers, 1638.

Q

[amw]

Solti Haydn seems to be not that different from Karajan Haydn, apart from that I prefer it, and that's probably mostly because of the Chicago wind players.

That said it is really weird hearing a harpsichord tuned to A=440 in the Symphony No.98. Not sure why Solti didn't substitute a solo violin for the one relevant passage where a continuo instrument is "required"—a practice sanctioned by Haydn himself as far as I know. Maybe I should check out Karajan's No.98 to see what he does.

(edit: Karajan also uses a harpsichord, but not as continuo instrument, so that it plays only for the 8 bars in question.)

[amw]

With a violin it's also easier to preserve the humour of the original, since the conductor could conceal it underneath the score and then produce it & play the relevant passage him or herself (assuming he or she knows how to play the violin, of course—I think Solti's instrument was piano).