What are you listening to now?

[vandermolen]

Seagull Suite:
[asin]B00004YU8R[/asin]
Hauntingly atmospheric music.

[Traverso]

Lutoslawski

Symphonic variations
Symphony No. 1
Musique Funèbre
Symphony No. 2

[71 dB]

User originated images (usually found on OOP items) and images for downloaded items don't show on the ASIN link (the link itself still works)--as here, a CD Amazon itself is not selling.

That makes sense, thanks! My own CD is part of an 8 CD set I bought some years ago from JPC.DE for a very low price.

[Kontrapunctus]

A wonderful recording in every aspect.

[ritter]

[Ernest Bour]... seems to have been one of those prominent conductors no one has heard of
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Bour

It says he gave the European premiere of Berio's Sinfonia besides those.
....

Bour IMHO is a very interesting conductor, who never made it to (or never sought) stardom. Apart from that set of French/Russian music, there's also a superb 4 CD set of music of the Secind Viennese School, also on Montaigne (long OOP).

He also was the first to record Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges, a performance available on a Testament CD:

[asin]B000003XIQ[/asin]

As for Berio's Sinfonia, apparently what Bour did was to give the first performance anywhere of the 5 movement final version. The 4 movement original had already been performed in Eurooe under Bruno Maderna (in April 1969, at Royan).

[Florestan]

CD 1

Goyescas plus El pelele

I know our friend ritter will probably disagree but I can't help feeling that Granados achieved in these works a more subtle and sublimated expression of Spanishness than Albeniz did in his Iberia. The former is more Unamunian in conception, methinks.

[ritter]

CD 1

Goyescas plus El pelele

I know our friend ritter will probably disagree but I can't help feeling that Granados achieved in these works a more subtle and sublimated expression of Spanishness than Albeniz did in his Iberia. The former is more Unamunian in conception, methinks.

Your friend ritter does indeed disagree... . Albéniz IMHO does something miraculous in Iberia (which I was listening to just yesterday) , delving deeper into Spanish folk music and flamenco (for instance, the fascinating Rondeña uses rhythms of the petenera alternating with an habanera—and all this at a point in history when flamenco still hadn't been academically "institutionalised"). But Albéniz not only does that, he elevates everything (even in a descriptive piece like El Corpus Christi en Sevilla) to pure music, and to pianism of the highest calibre. Granados is much more romantic, sentimental and imbued with a salon spirit (all good things in your book, I know). I still enjoy him, though...

[Daverz]

Bour IMHO is a very interesting conductor, who never made it to (or never sought) stardom.

I was being a bit cute in my original post.  I was already somewhat familiar with Bour's career, and specifically his recording of the Stravinsky Violin Concerto with Grumiaux, a live Bruckner First, and, of course, his Ligeti recordings as used in Kubrick's 2001, and have previously praised his recording of the Berg Violin Concerto with Accardo.  It sounds like there are many treasures in those radio archives.

[asin] B0000033WB[/asin]

[André]

I was being a bit cute in my original post.  I was already somewhat familiar with Bour's career, and specifically his recording of the Stravinsky Violin Concerto with Grumiaux, a live Bruckner First, and, of course, his Ligeti recordings as used in Kubrick's 2001, and have previously praised his recording of the Berg Violin Concerto with Accardo.  It sounds like there are many treasures in those radio archives.

[asin] B0000033WB[/asin]

I have that Stravinsky concerto with Grumiaux (originally coupled with the Berg on Philips) as well as the Bruckner 1.

I also have him in a 4disc set of...Mozart symphonies with the SWF orchestra. Excellent recordings. As mentioned before, Bour did not seek fame. Born in Lorraine (then a german province), studied in Strasbourg with Fritz Munch (Charles Munch's brother) and Hermann Scherchen. Fluently bilingual, he was very happy with the SWF which he helped steer toward the modern repertoire following Hans Rosbaud's tenure.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Been gravitating towards the French side of things. After d'Indy orchestral and chamber music have listened Vierne Piano Quintet, recordings on Timpani and Hyperion.





I find the recording on the Timpani label to be more successful. The work is intense. I especially like the other-worldly slow central movement.

[Cato]

Been gravitating towards the French side of things. After d'Indy orchestral and chamber music have listened Vierne Piano Quintet, recordings on Timpani and Hyperion.





I find the recording on the Timpani label to be more successful. The work is intense. I especially like the other-worldly slow central movement.

Those sentences describe much of Vierne's output!  A GREAT composer!

Today I discovered that I had access to  0:)  Eugen   0:)   Jochum's   0:)  last performance of Bruckner's Fifth Symphony, a 1986 performance with the Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Better than the DGG recording with the BRSO and the 1970's Staatskapelle Dresden performances!   Incredible intensity, everything is just perfect! 

[NikF]

Prokofiev: Op. 75 - Boris Berman.

[asin]B000000AKS[/asin]

[JBS]

Second listen to this

Tentative ranking of the Kinsella symphonies I have heard
7
10
6
4
3
5
With a big gap in front of 5 to signify how much less I liked it.

That leaves 1,2,8, and 9 unheard. Are there any recordings of them?

[NikF]

Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances - Mariss Jansons/St Petersburg Philharmonic.

[asin]B000UZ4EY8[/asin]

[SymphonicAddict]

Second listen to this

Tentative ranking of the Kinsella symphonies I have heard
7
10
6
4
3
5
With a big gap in front of 5 to signify how much less I liked it.

That leaves 1,2,8, and 9 unheard. Are there any recordings of them?

Yes, on YouTube (except the No. 8 ). The No. 9 is for strings and it's a dense and terrific work. Nos. 1 & 2 have a quite regrettable sound quality (I have checked them but not heard yet), but you can get an idea of them.

[SymphonicAddict]

Those sentences describe much of Vierne's output!  A GREAT composer!

+1, and his Piano Quintet is a masterpiece in my view.

[JBS]

Yes, on YouTube (except the No. 8 ). The No. 9 is for strings and it's a dense and terrific work. Nos. 1 & 2 have a quite regrettable sound quality (I have checked them but not heard yet), but you can get an idea of them.

Thanks. I shall try them out in the next few days.

[San Antone]

Le Damoiselle elue

[André]

I was thinking I never heard a Brahms symphony recording where there wasn't something to enjoy, but now you've reminded me of this one.

Particularly the 3rd symphony. I remember seeing Bernstein on TV doing an interview in conjunction with this recording and I seem to remember him saying that he had the insight that the temp indication, allegro con brio, didn't apply to the main melody so much as to the accompanying voices. The result is that it is veeery sloooow. Just dreadful, IMO

I agree that Giulini's Brahms 2 with LAPO is a great example of using a slow tempo to illuminate a score. It is a terrific recording.

It is slow. Very slow. I thought Giulini/WP loved the music to death with his 40 minutes timing, but Bernstein adds 2 minutes, making this the slowest version of the 3rd symphony I have come across (both take the first movement exposition repeat). BUT: it is also quite energetic in the first movement development and especially in the finale, which has real fire in the belly. The orchestra sounds very involved, with big, biting attacks and strong accents. The comparison with Giulini, who conducts the same orchestra and was recorded in the same hall (identical tonal makeup and hall ambience) is revealing: the italian conductor makes the orchestra sing, while Bernstein makes them bellow.

Although misguided from the start, I found the results imposing and true to the character of the work. For the real ticket in the 3rd, my number one recommendation has always been Walter with the Columbia Symphony: as gorgeous as can be and yet always on the move, inhabited with a simmering inner life that eludes Bernstein.

[André]

+1, and his Piano Quintet is a masterpiece in my view.

+ 1.

The story has been told before, but it bears repeating: Vierne composed the quintet as a cri du coeur after the death of his son in WWI (aged 17, so Vierne had to give him a special permission to enlist).