What are you listening to now?

[Karl Henning]

Good morning, Ray!

[Harry]

Staunchly going through the Haydn Symphonies, disc 25 & 26.

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2014/09/haydn-joseph-almost-complete-symphonies.html?spref=tw

[Madiel]

From here:

[asin]B00000417P[/asin]

Listening to Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune repeatedly, as this is the first time I've owned a recording of it. Found a very helpful analysis online which is making the form in Debussy's allegedly 'formless' work very apparent.

[Karl Henning]

Staunchly going through the Haydn Symphonies, disc 25 & 26.

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2014/09/haydn-joseph-almost-complete-symphonies.html?spref=tw

Cheers, Harry!  I need to re-confirm my purpose, and get back onto those Haydn symphonies.  The joy of there being so many, is even as one goes back to them, they sound marvelously fresh.

[Harry]

Some Pluhar to balance some unevenness that penetrated my musical senses after Haydn.

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2014/09/all-improvviso-ciaccone-bergamasche-un.html?spref=tw

[Harry]

Cheers, Harry!  I need to re-confirm my purpose, and get back onto those Haydn symphonies.  The joy of there being so many, is even as one goes back to them, they sound marvelously fresh.

Good day to you Karl. You are right, there are many of them, and all excellent. I know this to be true, for Antal Dorati, Pinnock and Fischer let me hear the beauty of them. Hogwood does on occasion.
And that rather puzzled me, for I find his Mozart and Beethoven superb.

[Brahmsian]

Good morning, Ray!

Good morning, Karl! 

[Madiel]

Today has been my introduction to Dvorak's 7th symphony, apparently thought by many to be his finest work in the genre and one of his finest in general.

Conducted by Harnoncourt.

[asin]B00021T5TO[/asin]

[kishnevi]

Does that last bit mean you don't find it a memorable disc? I ask because I've been curious about that one, as it seems to be the only recording about of Ravel's shorter pieces for the Prix de Rome (including the years where he didn't make the final).

Stepping in: based on the three included in the DG "Complete" box (Plasson//Toulouse), you are not missing much.  The texts for these pieces do not help.
TD
Bizet Carmen Suites Pearlfishers prelude Patrie
OF de Mexico/Batiz
CD 1 of the Brilliant triple decker Complete Orchestral Music.

[Madiel]

Stepping in: based on the three included in the DG "Complete" box (Plasson//Toulouse), you are not missing much.  The texts for these pieces do not help.

Hmm. Yes. The Plasson recordings are actually different pieces - from the 3 times that Ravel made the final. But I suspect none of it counts as top-notch Ravel. The Caplet is actually likely to be a better piece.

This is probably one of those things for which I should give Spotify a whirl.

[Mirror Image]

From here:

[asin]B00000417P[/asin]

Listening to Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune repeatedly, as this is the first time I've owned a recording of it. Found a very helpful analysis online which is making the form in Debussy's allegedly 'formless' work very apparent.

The first time you've owned a recording of Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune? Oh dear....  Anyway, it's a masterpiece and there's absolutely a structure to the work unlike what those early anti-everything knucklehead critics thought.

[PaulR]

I have had this set for too long without actually listening to a lot of it...

[asin]B000CGYO9U[/asin]
Symphony #2

[Karl Henning]

Today has been my introduction to Dvorak's 7th symphony, apparently thought by many to be his finest work in the genre and one of his finest in general.

Conducted by Harnoncourt.

[asin]B00021T5TO[/asin]

Dvořák
Symphony № 6 in D, Op.60 (B.112, 1880)
The Cleveland Orchestra
Dohnányi



I'm enjoying this, but . . . is Amazon selling this for $29, really?  It's a good disc, but not (IMO) a $30 disc.

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Dance Suite. I blame Nate (EigenUser) here. But, seriously, this a great piece from one my favorite composers.

[Madiel]

The first time you've owned a recording of Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune? Oh dear.... 

Amazingly enough, I somehow wasn't born with it in my possession. Terrible oversight in the maternity ward.

EDIT: And reading a recent post of yours regarding Ligeti leads me to add, I only own things when I have a realistic chance of listening to them fairly soon after purchase. This tends to mean that I own less than a lot of people on this forum, but that I choose with care. I bought about 35 discs last month and it's fairly unlikely that I'll buy anything else until those have been heard, which - interleaved with everything else I listen to - may well take 6 to 9 months.

If you want to collect boxes like a pack rat, then go for it, but leave the commentary about my quite different collecting habits out of it.

[PaulR]

Dvořák
Symphony № 6 in D, Op.60 (B.112, 1880)
The Cleveland Orchestra
Dohnányi



I'm enjoying this, but . . . is Amazon selling this for $29, really?  It's a good disc, but not (IMO) a $30 disc.

Gotta love marketplace sellers overvaluing their stuff......or maybe they think the buyer won't notice the cheaper prices.

[EigenUser]

The first time you've owned a recording of Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune? Oh dear....  Anyway, it's a masterpiece and there's absolutely a structure to the work unlike what those early anti-everything knucklehead critics thought.

Yes, it is a beautiful piece. I used to love it more than I do now, but I got bored with it. I personally find Jeux far more interesting, but the harmonies in the Prelude... are revolutionary. To appreciate them the most, I try and listen to the piece as if I'm listening from the reference frame of the 1890s, not the 2010s. Boulez claimed once that modern music started with the Faune.

Now:



Listening to Dance Suite. I blame Nate (EigenUser) here. But, seriously, this a great piece from one my favorite composers.

YES! Please appreciate the musicians who put together such a difficult work. As our conductor said (to convince us that we could do it) "It is difficult, but it's short!" I still have my 1st violin part. I should get it out sometime and play with a recording, just for fun. I've arranged the 3rd movement for violin and piano.

[Karl Henning]

Most days, the Táncszvit is my very favorite piece of Bartók's.

[Mirror Image]

Yes, it is a beautiful piece. I used to love it more than I do now, but I got bored with it. I personally find Jeux far more interesting, but the harmonies in the Prelude... are revolutionary. To appreciate them the most, I try and listen to the piece as if I'm listening from the reference frame of the 1890s, not the 2010s. Boulez claimed once that modern music started with the Faune.

I had the opposite problem from yours. I used to find Prelude rather boring, but, now after many years listening to it and absorbing it, I find it an absolute masterwork. Personally, I don't see how anyone with a good pair of ears could get bored with this music. Even I can't believe my own dismissive opinion I held of the work initially. How foolish was I! I think Jeux is an interesting work, but it's never really clicked with me. Personally, I prefer Debussy's chamber works to his orchestral music, although he does have many gems in the orchestral genre.

[EigenUser]

I had the opposite problem from yours. I used to find Prelude rather boring, but, now after many years listening to it and absorbing it, I find it an absolute masterwork. Personally, I don't see how anyone with a good pair of ears could get bored with this music. Even I can't believe my own dismissive opinion I held of the work initially. How foolish was I! I think Jeux is an interesting work, but it's never really clicked with me. Personally, I prefer Debussy's chamber works to his orchestral music, although he does have many gems in the orchestral genre.

That's interesting. I don't know what it is about Jeux. I know it so well, but each time I listen it sounds like I'm hearing it for the first time. It is certainly a strange piece. There is much lyricism, but it is highly fragmented.

Personally, I don't see how anyone with a good pair of ears could get bored with this music.

I assure you, it is possible.

I certainly like it, but it just isn't my favorite Debussy. Besides Jeux, I think that would be Sirenes from Trois Nocturnes. Then La Mer. The quartet is awesome, but I prefer Ravel's. The late Sonata for violin and piano is outstanding, too.