What are you listening to now?

[SonicMan46]

Mozart, WA - String Quartets w/ Quartetto Italiano (recordings from 1966-73) - first 3 CDs contain the 13 'early' works composed when Wolfie was a teenager (1770-1773; K173 for the 13th one); then the 'Haydn' Quartets start on disc 4 (K387 for the first of the 'mature' works) ending on disc 8 w/ No. 23 (K590) - interesting dichotomy - Dave

[The new erato]

This is a very fine disc of orchestral songs. Lovers of french music in the Faure to Ravel period should visit. Sumptuos orchestral writing,

[asin]B002VCAC76[/asin]

[The new erato]

A classic disc. Elisabeth Søderstrøm sings Tchaikovsky:



I much prefer Tchaikovsky in smaller doses and smaller formats.

[ritter]

CD 6 from this set:



Luigi Dallapiccola: Liriche Greche (Lucy Shelton, sop. & Reinbert de Leeuw, cond.)...
to be followed shortly by Olivier Messiaen: Trois petites Liturgies de la Présence Divine (Charles Dutoit, cond.).

(I skipped the first piece, Bartók's Third piano concerto with Argerich & Claus Peter Flor, as I listened to it not too long ago in the Barenboim & Boulez version)...

[North Star]

CD 6 from this set:

Luigi Dallapiccola: Liriche Greche (Lucy Shelton, sop. & Reinbert de Leeuw, cond.)...
to be followed shortly by Olivier Messiaen: Trois petites Liturgies de la Présence Divine (Charles Dutoit, cond.).

Damn, two pieces very high on my list. Now, if only this box was reasonably priced. 

[ritter]

This is a very fine disc of orchestral songs. Lovers of french music in the Faure to Ravel period should visit. Sumptuos orchestral writing,

[asin]B002VCAC76[/asin]

This looks interesting! His opera Polyphème is quite enjoyable (a sort of overblown  Daphnis et Chloé  )...

Edit: After the Messiaen Liturgies, this just happened to find it's way into my CD player  :

[asin]B0000VV4PY[/asin]

[The new erato]

Damn, two pieces very high on my list. Now, if only this box was reasonably priced. 

It was. I bought it for around 14 Euros.......

[The new erato]

This looks interesting! His opera Polyphème is quite enjoyable (a sort of overblown  Daphnis et Chloé  )...

Edit: After the Messiaen Liturgies, this just happened to find it's way into my CD player  :

[asin]B0000VV4PY[/asin]

I know it. It was my first encounter with Cras, and I find it very fine.

[North Star]

It was. I bought it for around 14 Euros.......

I know.. 

[André]

Is that from the Brilliant set (or on Berlin Classics)? There's apparently a Weitblick set with different performances but I can't even find it on amazon.

(re: the Bruckner 8th with the BRSO under Rögner) Yes, it's the Brilliant (ex-Berlin Classics). Can't be beat at the price, except *maybe* by Wand and the Cologne  RSO (RCA). But since the two are vastly different, I would recommend both sets equally !

[André]

Just did a comparison of three recordings of Mozart's Symphony No. 25 in G minor from Bernstein/VPO, Norrington/Stuttgart and Harnoncourt/RCO. Didn't really set out to pick a winner, but Harnoncourt is psychological, Norrington is polished and Bernstein is passionate, although Hanssler wins hands down for sound quality. All three very good, and highly recommended. And all three are live recordings.

Some of the meanest, fastest, g-minorest versions I've heard are by... Klemperer Philharmonia and Walter NYPO. That being said, the Norrington is the only Mozart of his I can suffer, so I guess it's a recommendation of sorts. I'm not overly fond of Bernstein's cushioned Mozart, and Harnoncourt's quirky WAM takes some getting used to. I heard him play the Concertgebouw like a young boxer chewing a toy many years ago. That was quite something.

[André]

Bruckner. Symphonies 8 and 9. Cologne RSO, Günter Wand. Recorded (in the Philharmonie?) in 1979. Both are crucially dramatic and filled with power and dark magnificence. I venture to say they are the best performances of that cheap RCA box, one of the best ever issued, indeed one of the very few that can be recommended as a set (the others being Rögner's uniquely dramatic vision on Brilliant and Haitink on Philips - for those with a weaker constitution).

[Sergeant Rock]

Some of the meanest, fastest, g-minorest versions I've heard are by... Klemperer Philharmonia....

Oh yeah, Klemp's 25 is the Sturmiest and Drangiest I've ever heard   

Sarge

[Mookalafalas]

Was playing this from the Mozart 111 box
[asin]B002JJ149Q[/asin]

   And liked it so much I had to get this (which I'm now playing)
[asin] B000BQV52A[/asin]
   
  I don't know what it is about his playing that seems so warm and inviting. It's like he takes you by the hand and pulls you up next to the piano.  There is a clip in a "Great pianists" DVD where Cortot is playing the piano while gently explaining directly to the audience (the camera is up very close) that when you play you stop thinking and just begin to channel the music and then his eyes go out of focus and either through showmanship or artistry, you suddenly get the impression that Cortot has disappeared and the spirit of the music is just coming through him and out of the piano.  I get the same feeling from this Gulda.  I have no idea how he ranks as an "authentic" Beethoven interpreter, but I've never heard Beethoven sound this human and approachable. 

[kishnevi]

[crosspost from Purchases Today thread]

I'm enjoying the first CD now from the Ligeti set, but this is one will not be the challenging part of the set for me:  it has the sonata for solo cello, the pieces for wind quintet, and the string quartets.  The string quartets have been a favorite since I first heard them on the Naxos recording, and the wind pieces are not such favorites of mine, but still I can follow them more or less intelligently.  For some strange reason,  I have no memory of the cello sonata from the Sony/Warner sets,  but in the performance here the Bach-ich feel is very overt (Matt Haimovitz).   It is the other three CDs of this set I might have problems with, since they are loaded with some of the orchestral works--Atmospheres, Lontano,  the violin concerto and Nate's current favorite, the cello concerto   --and it was with the large scale Ligeti that I seemed to have problems.

[Official record of pieces on CD 1]
[asin]B000HWZALK[/asin]
CD 1
Sonata for solo cello  Matt Haimovitz, cello  recorded 1990
6 Bagatelles for Wind Quintet   various musicians assembled together in 1996
String Quartet No. 1  Hagen Quartett  recorded 1990
10 Pieces for Wind Quintet   Wiener Blasersolisten recorded 1976
String Quartet No. 2  Lasalle Quartet   recorded 1969


It does seem odd that DG could only scrabble up four CDs worth of Ligeti from its vaults.  You think someone would have at least attacked the Concerto Romanesc.

[Mirror Image]

.[asin]B000SNUMFC[/asin]

I really like the Lindberg Violin Concerto and who better to perform than Batiashvili? One of my favorite violinists for sure.

Thread duty -

Now:





Listening to Lemminkäinen Suite. Exquisite work and performance from Segerstam/Helsinki PO.

[HIPster]

Handel: Music for Flute
[asin]B000FTW8GA[/asin]

Gorgeous music and excellent sound quality.

Wonderful listening during the post-thuderstorm sunset.


H/T - Gordo

[Brian]

I know it. It was my first encounter with Cras, and I find it very fine.

My favorite Cras album is the one with flute quintet and amazing string trio.

[Mirror Image]

CD 6 from this set:



Luigi Dallapiccola: Liriche Greche (Lucy Shelton, sop. & Reinbert de Leeuw, cond.)...
to be followed shortly by Olivier Messiaen: Trois petites Liturgies de la Présence Divine (Charles Dutoit, cond.).

(I skipped the first piece, Bartók's Third piano concerto with Argerich & Claus Peter Flor, as I listened to it not too long ago in the Barenboim & Boulez version)...

This reminds me I have yet to listen to any performances from Volumes 5-7. I bought these whenever they were dirt cheap on Amazon.de I believe.

[PaulR]

.[asin]B00365QSFM[/asin]
Sonata for Solo Viola #3