What are you listening to now?

[kyjo]

Well, Peter . . . I was going to ask if it dwarfs that Wild Ride™ which is the Schnittke First

It's not nearly as wild of a ride as the Schnittke First, but it is IMO a better work and more cogent than that behemoth!

[jlaurson]

Hi Jens - so what are your thoughts on Brautigam in these concertos?  I own him doing Wolfie's sonatas and enjoy - checking Amazon USA there seems to be 4 individual discs available of the piano concertos - curious another one that I inserted above shows a guy splitting a gigantic tree - maybe the start of building a fortepiano?    Dave

I think yes, that is actually Paul McNulty on his Fortepiano-farm near Prague.

I think they're super lovely... I think they (I only have Nos. 19 & 23 + 20 & 27 so far) make me bemoan even more the missed opportunity (well, there WASN'T an opportunity, which is rather the point) to do the Beethoven concertos for BIS on McNulty instruments (using modern ones, instead)... but they're also not "holy-cow-I-must-have-these" releases, either. I wait with further judge/assessment until I get my copies of Kristian Bezuidenhout's Mozart PCs.

[The new erato]

This weekend I put on this disc again, after having been pretty disappointed with it a year ago, just after purchase. I found I like it pretty well this time:



I need more time to digest (and to replay); but there obviously is hope for me after all.

[Mirror Image]

This weekend I put on this disc again, after having been pretty disappointed with it a year ago, just after purchase. I found I like it pretty well this time:



I need more time to digest (and to replay); but there obviously is hope for me after all.

Havergal Brian is a composer I continuously have difficulty with. His music escapes me and has failed to leave much of an impression of me. I really enjoy The Gothic but little else.

[The new erato]

The same here. Which made my replay of this disc surprise me.

[Mirror Image]

The same here. Which made my replay of this disc surprise me.

I might have to listen to this disc again myself.

[Peregrine]

[TheGSMoeller]

Michael Danna is a fantastic score composer. His credits include The Ice Storm, The Sweet Hereafter, Little Miss Sunshine and most recently Life of Pi. My favorite score from Danna is without a doubt from Ang Lee's masterful film, The Ice Storm. Through perfect instrumentation and darkly hued melodies and harmonies, Danna conjures up the images of a tragic story told against the chilly backdrop of winter. Here is the hauntingly beautiful 9 minute piece that accompanies the final moments of the film. Highly recommended....

http://www.youtube.com/v/jUNXYVC_yWY

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915. Such a gorgeous performance. Upshaw's voice just soars above the orchestral textures and Zinman's accompaniment is exquisite.

[Todd]

[Wakefield]

Britten: A Ceremony of Carols; Rejoice in the Lamb; A Boy Was Born
King's College Choir
Stephen Cleobury



My knowledge of Britten's music is near to zero. But, prompted by all the Britten agitation of these days, I have listened to with true pleasure this disc of serene (but fervent) Christmas beauty.

These boys really do a great job.

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Polyptyque. Such an incredible piece of music.

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Three Impressions for Orchestra for the first time. Very nice so far.

[kishnevi]

In recent days:  comparing the last 5 Sonatas here...

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...with these...

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Michael Ponti's performances of Scriabin's sonatas were highly controversial c. 40 years ago. 

And judging from the Amazon commentariat, they still are!

e.g.

On the other hand...

I must agree with the last comment, although I love the Maria Lettberg performances as well, and they certainly do NOT lack "muscle" by any means!

Ponti's "manic" performance of Sonata #9 remains startling and chilling!

I'll chime in to say that I much prefer Ponti's recording to Lettberg.  It is actually also slightly more complete, despite being one CD less overall..  Be aware, if you go looking for it, that Vox issued it in two parts--a 5CD set and the duo Cato shows.

Duty of the thread:

J.C.W.T.Mozart
String Quartets 18 and 19 ("Dissonant") KV 464/465
Quartetto Italiano

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Three Impressions for Orchestra for the first time. Very nice so far.

I listened to this work all the way through and got nothing out of it. Far from top-drawer RVW. In fact, I turned the whole recording off.

Anyway, listening to this again:



Listening to Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915. Simply marvelous.

[The new erato]

No 47 & 51 from this set:

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Damn. This is good!

[Mandryka]

Chopn's 3rd Piano Sonata, Pollini live in Salzburg in 1981.

Interpretively very similar to the DG studio recording he made in 1984, just better in every way, especially tone. The concert is on symphonyshare, or was.

What  it lacks is an original imaginative  poetic idea which marks out the most stimulating performances of this music (indeed of all music IMO) - the sort of thing you hear in Pletnev or Ogdon or Sokolov. But by piano teachers' standards, this is pretty good.

[The new erato]

Stunning disc in reference sound of one of my favorite piano composers.

[jlaurson]

J. Haydn,  Le Matin, Le Midi, Le Soir
Freiburger Barockorchester
Harmonia Mundi
German link - UK link

[Fafner]

Richard Wagner - Götterdämmerung
Staatskapelle Dresden, Marek Janowski

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