What are you listening to now?

[Madiel]

Mendelssohn, Cello Sonata No.1

[Traverso]

Bach

CD 11

O Ewigkeit du Donnerwort BWV 20
Meine Seel erhebt den Herrn BWV 10

[milk]

Bach

CD 11

O Ewigkeit du Donnerwort BWV 20
Meine Seel erhebt den Herrn BWV 10

This is the only one I really like. But, I'm not into big choral music. I like it as another aspect of Bach and especially of an expression of Bach's use of timbre/color.

[milk]

Now that I have a streaming service, I'm looking for a wider variety of stuff to check out. With this, I'm trying to reconcile two things: 1."...it is a fundamentally honest, utterly Bachian Bach, strong both in structural outline and inner spirit." by the Sunday Times and 2. Kempf "almost a fossil from the nineteenth century, or at least the early twentieth. He plays these works as Chopin probably played them..." by musicweb. These seem like contradictory sentiments. I'm sort of going with Music Web so far but I'm not totally sure.

Read more: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2006/Apr06/Bach_Kempf_BISCD1330.htm#ixzz5VyVptt7e

[Florestan]

2. Kempf "almost a fossil from the nineteenth century, or at least the early twentieth. He plays these works as Chopin probably played them..." by musicweb.

That may look like damning but the full quote reads thus:

Freddy Kempf is a singularly expressive and emotional pianist, almost a fossil from the nineteenth century, or at least the early twentieth. He plays these works as Chopin probably played them, perhaps as the early Liszt played them. There is not the merest nodding acknowledgment of "original performance practice"; these are romantic performances full of deep sentiment, but I do not mean sentimentality. This is particularly effective in the astonishing movement No. 2, allemande, of Partita No. 4, one of Bach's most eloquent and most personal statements. Yet during the rapid, more formally structured passages, such as the Toccata to No. 6, or the final Gigues in both, Kempf plays with complete transparency and rich drama. Rather than play the ornaments before the beat, as the Romantics did, or on the beat as the reconstructions do, he manages somehow to do both as once and it is particularly effective. It must be remarked that Kempf's piano is the sweetest sounding Steinway D piano I've ever heard

This is actually praise. This CD looks right up my alley, thanks for posting. 

[vandermolen]

A magnificent symphony in my view:
[asin]B000000AS5[/asin]
'Modern music' at its best.

[cilgwyn]

What a lovely,tuneful opera! Full of colourful orchestration and imaginative touches. The performance is excellent! As many will know here,already; Mignon,was even more popular than Faust or Carmen for a while!! I also enjoyed the Decca recording of his,Hamlet,recently,with Joan Sutherland. His,La Cour de Célimène,beautifully performed,on the Opera Rara label,was also another lovely surprise! A wonderful composer,imho! Hopefully,we will get to hear some more of his,unrecorded,operas,eventually?! This set has the libretto;and the story is colourful,so it's useful to dip in,or refer,to.

[vandermolen]

Walton: Belshazzar's Feast [Loughran]





This is the only version of this work that I own so I have no other listening reference points for comparison. However, I find it to be a strong, dramatic work which is well sung and performed here in a powerful, spirited, exciting and intense presentation; operatic/theatrical almost.

Loughran's was one of the best versions (his 'Planets Suite' was also excellent) I'm sorry that he did not record more.

[vandermolen]

Very nice. The second concerto is a work of real substance. In between the concertos the orchestra plays the Derby Overture, a fun work with an arnoldian touch (a « lounge » tune in the middle section).

I must give the second concerto another spin. Do you know the Violin Concerto Andre? It's neglect is mystifying to me as I consider it one of the finest 20th Century British violin concertos.

[Florestan]

Piano Quintets Opp. 28 & 81



Disc 1.

[Madiel]

Bach, Partita No.4



I apparently haven't listened to a partita for over 5 years.

[milk]

That may look like damning but the full quote reads thus:

Freddy Kempf is a singularly expressive and emotional pianist, almost a fossil from the nineteenth century, or at least the early twentieth. He plays these works as Chopin probably played them, perhaps as the early Liszt played them. There is not the merest nodding acknowledgment of "original performance practice"; these are romantic performances full of deep sentiment, but I do not mean sentimentality. This is particularly effective in the astonishing movement No. 2, allemande, of Partita No. 4, one of Bach's most eloquent and most personal statements. Yet during the rapid, more formally structured passages, such as the Toccata to No. 6, or the final Gigues in both, Kempf plays with complete transparency and rich drama. Rather than play the ornaments before the beat, as the Romantics did, or on the beat as the reconstructions do, he manages somehow to do both as once and it is particularly effective. It must be remarked that Kempf's piano is the sweetest sounding Steinway D piano I've ever heard

This is actually praise. This CD looks right up my alley, thanks for posting. 

Yes and I was also attracted to the "romantic" description because sometimes it works well as long as there's not too much fussing with dynamics. It is high praise and it kind of calls into question the first quote for me. But, maybe I need to read it in context which I unfairly didn't do. Anyway, I've still got this on...going for a second listen to see how it grows on me. I can never get enough of the partitas and the WTC and I'm open to all experiments (even though Batagov went too far and off the cliff for me). 

[vandermolen]

2 versions of Ernest Bloch's America, An Epic Rhapsody for Orchestra.




Composed as an entry for a musical concours sponsored by Musical America in 1927 on the theme « best symphonic work on an american theme by an american composer », Bloch's offering was the winning work among the 92 that were anonymously submitted. Bloch had emigrated to the States a mere 10 years earlier, and the irony of the situation was not lost on the critic from the New York Herald Tribune. To say that the critic was pissed big time would not be an exaggeration.

America is a musical time travelogue, going from the 1400s to the present (1927). Throughout the score Bloch placed written superscriptions - 59 in all - to serve as musical markers. The Delos booklet includes them, with their exact location as per the track timings, which is really helpful to follow the « story ». Both versions do the work justice. Stokowski does it in 50 minutes, Schwarz in 39. Timings point to some of the obvious differences: more time spent on the pastoral, folk or soulful episodes with Stokowski, as well as a more expansive view of the grandiose moments (fortunately they are not bombastic). Schwarz is a tighter, more bracing and jolly raconteur. Both recordings are technically excellent, the 1960 Vanguard almost as good as the 1993 Delos. The « Symphony of the Air » is really Toscanini's NBC Symphony. It was disbanded after the maestro's death and some players left for other orchestras, but the core of its players reassembled and reorganized under the new name.

To conclude the disc, the Vanguard producers have unearthed a short speech by Bloch who tells in heavily accented but fluent and animated English the genesis of the work. The Delos offers the beautiful Concerto grosso no 1 for strings and piano. I'm glad I have both discs.

I have them both! He is one of my favourite composers. I listed to the 'Sacred Service' after my elderly auntie died recently - music of compassion and consolation. Oh, and that Ormandy Rachmaninov symphony set is fabulous notwithstanding one of the symphonies being spread over two CDs.

[Que]

.[asin]B000EXDQ8Q[/asin]
Q

[milk]

Bach, Partita No.4



I apparently haven't listened to a partita for over 5 years.

OMG! (I just like typing that) How do you find Schiff?

[vandermolen]

Piano Concerto 4 'Aurora Borealis'.
Best thing I've heard by Tveitt so far.
A poetic and captivating work.
I'm having a bit of a Scandinavian morning here.
[asin]B00006GO45[/asin]

[Madiel]

OMG! (I just like typing that) How do you find Schiff?

I walk into my spare room and he's where I left him.

Look, I don't have any point of comparison, but... I find a lot of the music that I have Schiff playing (Bach and Schubert) 'nice' without being terribly memorable, and I'm beginning to wonder how much of that is the music and how much of that is Schiff.

So I'm creating a point of comparison right now, streaming Murray Perahia performing the same Partita. And I think I get more out of Perahia.

[cilgwyn]

I have them both! He is one of my favourite composers. I listed to the 'Sacred Service' after my elderly auntie died recently - music of compassion and consolation. Oh, and that Ormandy Rachmaninov symphony set is fabulous notwithstanding one of the symphonies being spread over two CDs.

I got around that. Well,sort of;by buying both of the available Ormandy sets. One set has the First Symphony spread over two cds and the Second Symphony without interruption. The other has the Second symphony spread over two cd's,and the First Symphony without interruption! One set is a slimline release,so it doesn't take much extra room! Ormandy's recordings of the symphonies are my favourite recording,I should point out!

[steve ridgway]

A magnificent symphony in my view:
[asin]B000000AS5[/asin]
'Modern music' at its best.

Cool, I've checked out the Amazon 30 second samples and made a note of this .

[Karl Henning]

For what it's worth, I find the orchestral and piano versions of Les Heures Persanes very different experiences. The latter seems far more solitary, existential even (and it's not just instrumental numbers, it's timbre, note decay and a qualitative atmospheric difference), whereas the orchestral version feels a far more sensory/heady/intoxicating affair. Personally I have a preference the latter.

I agree that the two versions are curiously distinct in character.  I prefer the piano solo, but we cannot agree on everything