What are you listening to now?

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

I found this verbiage on arkivmusic.com

Recorded in performance, but one act at a time so that the principals could sing full-out, this is one of the most electrifying opera recordings of the stereo era. Nilsson blazes as Isolde, and Windgassen's Act-III evocation of the delusional Tristan is heart-wrenching. Böhm inspires transcendent playing from the Bayreuth forces, and the sound is stunning. – Ted Libbey, author of The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection

It doesn't make much sense to me. What does "in performance" mean? Does "in performance" imply an audience? They brought in audiences to hear one act at a time? Maybe I'll see if the CD booklet has some unambiguous information.

[Madiel]

I am no stranger to dark music, I just find myself not following the musical argument. Perhaps I should return to Karajan's DG recording, which was the first recording I listened to, and I seem to remember having a stronger attachment to the work then.

This may or may not be relevant, but the only recording I have is Ashkenazy and I do find myself following the musical argument. Moreso, I think, than in a couple of other Sibelius symphonies.

I've found in other contexts that it's possible for a different performer to suddenly make me sense the structure of a piece.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

This may or may not be relevant, but the only recording I have is Ashkenazy and I do find myself following the musical argument. Moreso, I think, than in a couple of other Sibelius symphonies.

I've found in other contexts that it's possible for a different performer to suddenly make me sense the structure of a piece.

I've no doubt it is there, and I am a great admirer of Sibelius (his 3rd, 5th and 6th symphonies, in particular, are works that I respond very strongly to). But recently I've been in a mode of exploring new performances rather than revisiting familiar ones, and maybe I've been exploring the wrong ones for the 4th.

Karajan is one for finding the long line in music, maybe he will do the trick for me.

[Draško]

I really like Rubsam's piano Bach but I have to be in the mood for it. If I'm not hesitations drive me mad.

[André]

I found this verbiage on arkivmusic.com

It doesn't make much sense to me. What does "in performance" mean? Does "in performance" imply an audience? They brought in audiences to hear one act at a time? Maybe I'll see if the CD booklet has some unambiguous information.

The plot thickens: I found this in a web site devoted to the Wagner discography:

(https://wagnerdisco.net/audio/tristan-und-isolde/1960-1969/1966-08-bohm-bayreuth/).

The dates for the DG/Philips set appear to be July 14-16 and August 4 and 16.

What's confusing is that the Frequenz back cover mentions August 13 (hence a different performance than any of those used for the DG recording), while one of the Amazon reviewers claims that the date of 08.13 is wrong, it really is 08.04, which is what that Wagner discography web site also claims it to be, while showing the Frequenz back cover with the « wrong » date of 08.13, but noting (at the bottom right of the page) that the Bavarian Radio recorded it on 08.04 

While this is of rather secondary interest, I'm surprised that the sources for one of the most famous items in the whole Wagner discography can't seem to agree on the exact date and type of recording (single or multiple performances, with or without audience).

[JBS]

I know the Furtwangler RIA cycle was recorded one act at a time with an invited studio audience. Perhaps a similar procedure was followed here?
TD

Currently  Suite pour cor anglais seul op 185 CD3
Koechlin's chamber music is unique and interesting but doesn't really grab me.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

The plot thickens: I found this in a web site devoted to the Wagner discography:

(https://wagnerdisco.net/audio/tristan-und-isolde/1960-1969/1966-08-bohm-bayreuth/).

The dates for the DG/Philips set appear to be July 14-16 and August 4 and 16.

What's confusing is that the Frequenz back cover mentions August 13 (hence a different performance than any of those used for the DG recording), while one of the Amazon reviewers claims that the date of 08.13 is wrong, it really is 08.04, which is what that Wagner discography web site also claims it to be, while showing the Frequenz back cover with the « wrong » date of 08.13, but noting (at the bottom right of the page) that the Bavarian Radio recorded it on 08.04 

While this is of rather secondary interest, I'm surprised that the sources for one of the most famous items in the whole Wagner discography can't seem to agree on the exact date and type of recording (single or multiple performances, with or without audience).

The booklet for my edition 419889-2 is marked "Mitschnitt Der Bayreuther Festspiele 1966" and "Live Recordings from the Bayreuth Festival 1966." The record producers and engineers are named, but no recording date is given. No date is given for the publication of this CD edition, but if memory serves I obtained my physical copy around 1990.

The English seems explicit. From what I gather, use of the term Mitschnitt rather than Aufnahme implies a live recording. Perhaps a German speaker here can clarify. I don't know where the "one act at a time" claim came from. It doesn't seem practical in live recordings. It is conceivable that for the recordings they arranged a series of performances where one act was sung by the principal cast and the remaining acts were sung by understudies.

[king ubu]

Arcadelt - have had this around for several weeks by now, but only playing it now ... just also read Jérôme Lejeunes very informative liners. Into disc two (Madrigals) by now, I guess I'll get to the final/third disc ("Chansons") tomorrow. Good!

Playing the Chansons now ... the Madrigals disc is wonderful, the Motetti has some stark, deep, intensely brooding music ... the Chansons are a bit too much umpapa and recorders with long hairs, but I guess eventually I'll get into this type of music, I've been trying every once in a while and it is getting somewhat familiar by now.

[ritter]

The booklet for my edition 419889-2 is marked "Mitschnitt Der Bayreuther Festspiele 1966" and "Live Recordings from the Bayreuth Festival 1966." The record producers and engineers are named, but no recording date is given. No date is given for the publication of this CD edition, but if memory serves I obtained my physical copy around 1990.

The English seems explicit. From what I gather, use of the term Mitschnitt rather than Aufnahme implies a live recording. Perhaps a German speaker here can clarify. I don't know where the "one act at a time" claim came from. It doesn't seem practical in live recordings. It is conceivable that for the recordings they arranged a series of performances where one act was sung by the principal cast and the remaining acts were sung by understudies.

I don't remember exactly now, but I think I read in Böhm's autobiography Ich erinnere  mich ganz genau (it was many years ago, and I no longer have the book to check) that what they did was perform each act on separate days, fully staged—hence the stage noise—, but not in public performances. The idea was to allow the singers to arrive fresh to the third act (which is particularly demanding for the male lead), while maintaining the frisson of a "real" (as opposed to studio) performance. Thus, it would be a "kinda live" recording.    I think these closed, fragmented performances were made in early or mid July, i.e. days before the festival proper starts on the 25th.

In later years, they'd use a similar procedure for the video recordings of many productions (starting with the Boulez/Chéreau Ring in 1979/1980. Nowadays, with the advanced technology, the video releases are from actual performances which are broadcast live on a specified day (usually the premiere), although I suspect there may be some touching up of the final product from other performances or rehearsals).

[Karl Henning]

I've no doubt it is there, and I am a great admirer of Sibelius (his 3rd, 5th and 6th symphonies, in particular, are works that I respond very strongly to). But recently I've been in a mode of exploring new performances rather than revisiting familiar ones, and maybe I've been exploring the wrong ones for the 4th.

Karajan is one for finding the long line in music, maybe he will do the trick for me.

It's funny how, even as a seasoned listener, even as (in fact) a practicing musician, I can "not get" a piece whose admiration is practically universal.  And then, one event (a specific recording, though that may be somewhat accidental, or attending a performance) will cause the scales to fall from my, erm, ears.

[Wakefield]

I really like Rubsam's piano Bach but I have to be in the mood for it. If I'm not hesitations drive me mad.

It's an interesting remark. 

A good deal of Rübsam's artistry is about the hesitations. So, he sometimes enlarges the moment to the limit of exhaustion.

P.S.: I also like his Bach on piano, and his lute-harpsichord disks (with the only exception of the Goldbergs).

[Mandryka]

I really like Rubsam's piano Bach but I have to be in the mood for it. If I'm not hesitations drive me mad.

Maybe he wants to make the music less predictable, the rhythms less predictable.

[Mandryka]

Symphony No. 4 is not for everyone. It is a very dark work for me which is full of despair and foreboding which may heavily reflect his health issues at the time.

We used to say 4 (and 7) for the winter, the rest for the spring.

[Wakefield]

Maybe he wants to make the music less predictable, the rhythms less predictable.

Yes, I don't have any doubt about it. Rübsam is a true artist and a gifted performer, who is genuinely interested in exploration (including both instruments and interpretation).

[Draško]

Maybe he wants to make the music less predictable, the rhythms less predictable.

Yes, absolutely. I'm perfectly aware of what is he trying to achieve, and succeeding. I was just saying that on some days I'm really delighted to follow him down the rabbit holes of his rhythmical escapades and on other days I feel the disruption of the flow of music viscerally annoying. It's all just about my mood and response.

[Biffo]

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 1 ( A Sea Symphony ) with Elizabeth Watts (soprano), Christopher Maltman (baritone), Edinburgh Festival Chorus and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins  - fine performance, splendidly sung. Now looking forward to receiving the Brabbins recording of the work.

[Mandryka]

Yes, absolutely. I'm perfectly aware of what is he trying to achieve, and succeeding. I was just saying that on some days I'm really delighted to follow him down the rabbit holes of his rhythmical escapades and on other days I feel the disruption of the flow of music viscerally annoying. It's all just about my mood and response.

It's a really interesting reply because it's set me thinking about the relations between flow, cantabile, and predictability. I suppose this is a feature of polyphonic music - that you can have the voices all singing fluidly, no jolting rubato, and yet when you put it together, the ensemble, it's rhythmically unpredictable because you can fix it so that they're not all singing together, as it were.

This is what you hear in the latest Rubsam maybe, the lautenwerk. But in the piano recordings he's introducing the unpredictability more through agogic hesitations.

viscerally annoying.

Harnoncourt once said, it's in his biography, that he wanted to make the audience annoyed, to disturb them as much as possible. He thought this is the job of music, early music is  essentially challenging, which is why it matters, why it's contemporary (more contemporary for Harnoncourt than contemporary music, which he hated and felt that audiences had the good sense to reject), why it's more than entertainment, and ultimately why it's a sort of lie to Bach to play the Bach cantatas like Richter or someone.

There's a good bit in the biography where there's a description of a rehearsal of some Vivaldi where he experiments with the voices with the aim of maximising jolt, maximising discord . . .

[André]

Biber: Mensa sonora and other violin works. I often get the impression of surgical atention to details, overbrightness, light bass and lack of hall ambience with recordings by Musica Antiqua Köln. IOW my ears quickly tire from the prevailing aural glare. That being said, it takes nothing away from the music, which is brilliantly inventive.

[Karl Henning]

First-Listen Fridays!

ДШ
Pf Sonata № 1, Op.12 (1926)
Lilya Zilberstein

[asin]B000FG4KBE[/asin]

Sharp, assured, muscular.  What a great little piece!

[king ubu]

one of Alpha's autumn releases ... first spin, not familiar with the singer nor the band, but I see Boncompagni is on one of the Ghislieri/Perez discs I bought a while ago, upon recommendation here (was it Que's?)