What are you listening to now?

Started by Dungeon Master, February 15, 2013, 09:13:11 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 9 Guests are viewing this topic.

Kontrapunctus

#133800
In honor of this horrifying event, Symphony No.3. I'm glad I visited it in 1978--quite breathtaking.




Ghost of Baron Scarpia

Quote from: Toccata&Fugue on April 15, 2019, 12:00:42 PM
In honor of this horrifying event, Symphony No.3. I'm glad I visited it in 1978--quite breathtaking.

I was there in 2004.


listener

A couple of discs with varied programs on them
-  one from the Harmonia Mundi box from a few years ago
CHOPIN: the 4 Ballades           Cédric Tiberghian, piano
LISZT: La Lugubre Gondole     Emmanuelle  Bertrand, cello  Pascal Amoyal, piano
SHOSTAKOVICH: String Quartet 8, op.110     The Jerusalem Quartet
and some French music
CHAUSSON: Chanson perpetuelle, op. 37    LEKEU: Nocturne 3   FAURÉ: La Bonne Chanson
Verena Rein, soprano    Ciurlionis Quartet,   Sergei Okrusko, piano
RAVEL: String Quartet   (quartet alone)
both discs first listens
"Keep your hand on the throttle and your eye on the rail as you walk through life's pathway."

SonicMan46

Quote from: Que on April 15, 2019, 11:44:39 AM
I love Schütz' music, love it.  :)

Q

Thumbs up!  Just the first paragraph of Schütz Wiki bio (born exactly 100 years before JS Bach) for those not familiar w/ this composer - he went to Venice in his mid-20s and studied w/ Giovanni Gabrieli, hence the wonderful Italian influence in his style - will be listening to my modest collection over the next few days.  Dave :)

QuoteHeinrich Schütz (1585 – 1672) was a German composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He is credited with bringing the Italian style to Germany and continuing its evolution from the Renaissance into the Early Baroque. Most of his music we have today was written for the Lutheran church, primarily for the Electoral Chapel in Dresden. (Source)

SonicMan46

#133804
Quote from: Toccata&Fugue on April 15, 2019, 12:00:42 PM
In honor of this horrifying event, Symphony No.3. I'm glad I visited it in 1978--quite breathtaking.

 

This afternoon, I've been watching this tragic event on CNN - have been to Paris three times and went to Notre Dame on two of those visits - just a shocker - in the process in the last few weeks of reviewing to my Medieval/Renaissance music collection - probably a week ago, listened to the handful of discs that I own of the music of Léonin & Pérotin (see beginning Wiki bios below), both flourishing when the cathedral was under construction (much done in the 100 years or so between the mid-12 & mid-13 centuries) - the stain glass windows are (were?) so beautiful, especially the 'Rose Window' shown below.  Dave :)

QuoteLéonin (also Leoninus, Leonius, Leo) (fl. 1150s — d. ? 1201) was the first known significant composer of polyphonic organum. He was probably French, probably lived and worked in Paris at the Notre Dame Cathedral and was the earliest member of the Notre Dame school of polyphony and the ars antiqua style who is known by name. The name Léonin is derived from "Leoninus," which is the Latin diminutive of the name Leo; therefore it is likely that Léonin's given French name was Léo. (Source)

QuotePerotinus Magnus (fl. c. 1200), (Pérotin the Great, Magister Perotinus) was a composer from around the late 12th century, associated with the Notre Dame school of polyphony in Paris and the ars antiqua musical style. The title Magister Perotinus, means that he was licensed to teach. The only information on his life with any degree of certainty comes from an anonymous English student at Notre Dame known as Anonymous IV. It is assumed that he was French and named Pérotin, a diminutive of Peter, but attempts to match him with persons in other documents remain speculative. (Source)

 

vandermolen

Quote from: SonicMan46 on April 15, 2019, 01:50:46 PM
This afternoon, I've been watching this tragic event on CNN - have been to Paris three times and went to Notre Dame on two of those visits - just a shocker - in the process in the last few weeks of reviewing to my Medieval/Renaissance music collection - probably a week ago, listened to the handful of discs that I own of the music of Léonin & Pérotin (see beginning Wiki bios below), both flourishing when the cathedral was under construction (much done in the 100 years or so between the mid-12 & mid-13 centuries) - the stain glass windows are (were?) so beautiful, especially the 'Rose Window' shown below.  Dave :)

 
I've been following this terribly sad story on the TV News for the past couple of hours. Bed-time now but will certainly be playing this tomorrow as a consequence:
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Kontrapunctus

No, this isn't a transcription of Bach's work for two guitars: it's an original worked by Joachim Schneider modeled after Bach's masterpiece (aria, 30 variations, da capo aria--use of canons, fugues, etc.). The structure is where the similarity ends. Whew--this is a rough listen. Parts sound hair-raisingly difficult to play, while others had me scratching my head wondering how they produced those sounds. Very well recorded. Not for the faint of heart.


Traverso

#133807
Quote from: aligreto on April 15, 2019, 11:15:49 AM
WAGNER - DER FLIEGENDE HOLLANDER [BOHM]




Welkome back,I have missed you,sad news from Paris.
I listened recently to the Klemperer recording of this opera. :)

André

Quote from: vandermolen on April 15, 2019, 12:27:17 AM


This looks very interesting Andre. I like the idea of a symphony based on Lao-Tse's writings.

I've listened to the second symphony 3 more times, and 3 times to the 5th symphony. I just can't get over how impressive and original the second symphony is. It is a perfectly symmetrical 5 movement structure, its kernel being an incredibly moving slow movement. In its intensity and role as the work's emotional pivot it reminds me of the adagio of Elgar's second symphony.

The fifth was written some 20 years later, so both works bookend the beginning and end of WWII by some 7 years. It's a totally different work, much more modern, acerbic, with atonality used to surprisingly emotional effect. This performance is a mono studio recording (excellent 1960 sound but perforce older-sounding than the sumptuous 2007 recording given the other work on the disc). However, I hasten to say it's given a crackerjack performance under Schmidt-Isserstedt. Orchestra and conductor are on fire. Schmidt-Isserstedt is usually considered a solid conductor, but not an emotional one. Here, he and the NDR Hamburg orchestra leave the listener breathless.

I look forward to hearing the rest after my vacation. The other performances are a 1950 Titania Palast performance of the 4th symphony under Celibidache, a 2003 MDR Leipzig performance of the 5th and finally a 1965 BRSO performance of the choral symphony under Michael Gielen. The set (3 discs) sells under 10€ at JPC.

SymphonicAddict



Violin sonatas (H 3, H 17 and H 24)

This great set brings together all (?) the chamber music of Honegger. Currently listening to the sonatas for violin and piano. The H 3 sounds late-romantic in places, a bit impressionistic too, not very distinctive of his style. The most tasteful one is the H 17, there are some quite good ideas throughout, and it's instantly engaging. Works like this have the correct dose of dissonance I like, without being too astringent.

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Ken B

Henschel, various chamber pieces.
Florestan would like this.

Mirror Image

Quote from: SymphonicAddict on April 15, 2019, 05:23:46 PM


Violin sonatas (H 3, H 17 and H 24)

This great set brings together all (?) the chamber music of Honegger. Currently listening to the sonatas for violin and piano. The H 3 sounds late-romantic in places, a bit impressionistic too, not very distinctive of his style. The most tasteful one is the H 17, there are some quite good ideas throughout, and it's instantly engaging. Works like this have the correct dose of dissonance I like, without being too astringent.

Cool, I have this set somewhere (with somewhere being the operative word). ;) I think I'll play some Honegger as well:

Symphony No. 2 for strings and trumpet
HvK
Berliners




A brooding, eerie work that, IMHO, depicts the horror and tragedy of WWII. The premiere of this symphony took place in 1942 in Zürich, Switzerland.

Daverz

#133813
Riisager

[asin] B07L5VCR2D[/asin]

Another great Riisager disc from Dacapo.  The Etudes for orchestra are based on Czerny etudes.  Great fun.  Review:

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Apr/Riisager_VC_8226145.htm


...and now... serenades!

Stenhammar:

[asin] B07J35GDB1[/asin]

Brahms No. 2:

[asin] B0000035AE[/asin]

Wonderful recording of the Brahms Serenades.


SymphonicAddict

Quote from: Mirror Image on April 15, 2019, 06:48:16 PM
Cool, I have this set somewhere (with somewhere being the operative word). ;) I think I'll play some Honegger as well:

Symphony No. 2 for strings and trumpet
HvK
Berliners




A brooding, eerie work that, IMHO, depicts the horror and tragedy of WWII. The premiere of this symphony took place in 1942 in Zürich, Switzerland.

Excellent! I think that CD will never get old-fashioned. It's the benchmark for those symphonies IMHO, above all for the 3rd.

Mirror Image

Quote from: SymphonicAddict on April 15, 2019, 08:07:04 PM
Excellent! I think that CD will never get old-fashioned. It's the benchmark for those symphonies IMHO, above all for the 3rd.

I couldn't agree more, although Baudo's traversal of Honegger is also noteworthy.

Que

Morning listening:



Sonatas in "Galant style" played José Carlos Araújo on a  harpsichord built in Lisbon by Joaquin José Antunes, 1758.

Q

vandermolen

Quote from: SymphonicAddict on April 15, 2019, 08:07:04 PM
Excellent! I think that CD will never get old-fashioned. It's the benchmark for those symphonies IMHO, above all for the 3rd.
+1 - that performance had never been rivalled, especially the bird song at the end.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

The new erato

Yes. The one Karajan disc that is mandatory.

vandermolen

#133819
Symphony 1 'Expiatoire'

One of the great unsung French symphonies and I'm aware that my use of 'great' and 'unsung' may not be shared here but I stick by them.

Seemed appropriate listening for this morning following the sad events at Notre Dame yesterday.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).