What are you listening to now?

[springrite]

Currently, this.

I don't get it? What's so twisted about it? I like it so far more than any other Berg I've heard, except maybe the piano sonata.

NOT psychotic. It is just most interesting as there's so much deep lying psychological content that grabs me. It gives the "I'd like to get to know this fella" to me, knowing that it'd be an interesting journey that can last quite a long time. You also gets something different/more with each listening.

[NLK1971]

Bartok: String Quartet No.5 (1934) -- Parkanyi Quartet

[asin]B000FIGYB6[/asin]
Most enjoyable.

[Mirror Image]

NOT psychotic. It is just most interesting as there's so much deep lying psychological content that grabs me. It gives the "I'd like to get to know this fella" to me, knowing that it'd be an interesting journey that can last quite a long time. You also gets something different/more with each listening.

That's certainly Berg in a nutshell -

deep lying psychological content

[springrite]

That's certainly Berg in a nutshell -

Interesting choice of word... nut...shell... hummm...

[Mirror Image]

Interesting choice of word... nut...shell... hummm...

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

Hm. I had this disc

[asin]B008FR3MSM[/asin]
for quite some time but never cared much for it. And now it's playing out of sheer what-should-I-listen-to-oh-let's-give-this-a-spin and I'm enjoying it immensely. If there's a Suk fan club, count me in.

Thanks! ; you have inadvertently reminded me that every summer I listen to his Summer Tale and forgot this year.  There's still time! 

[asin]B00002MXNF[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

Thanks! ; you have inadvertently reminded me that every summer I listen to his Summer Tale and forgot this year.  There's still time! 

[asin]B00002MXNF[/asin]

Suk is certainly a good composer. I need to revisit this work A Summer's Tale as well, especially since this is the last day of summer.

[springrite]

I need to revisit this work A Summer's Tale as well, especially since this is the last day of summer.

Somehow that is so Delius...

[not edward]

I still find this an entirely mesmerizing work.  I've no idea how ol' Morty did that . . . .

I tend to think Gerard Grisey got as close to it as anything: the slight variations in the repetitions make you think the music's going to change, but it doesn't... then eventually you decide it isn't going to change, at which point it changes.

My own lisztening:



Fine performance, and I'm very much in favour of using the original, more enigmatic ending as the default choice.

[Mirror Image]

Somehow that is so Delius...

Sssshhhh...we must never speak of Delius again. Too many bad memories.

[springrite]

Sssshhhh...we must never speak of Delius again. Too many bad memories.

In my profession, it is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

[Mirror Image]

In my profession, it is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Symphony No. 5. In light of what's happening in Ukraine, this symphony is like a healing balm to sooth the pain and suffering.

Some images to accompany this beautiful symphony from Silvestrov:

[NorthNYMark]

Regarding questions about the Bartok quartets and the most accessible performances, I've been listening to these a lot over the past year or so (along with Beethoven, Schubert, and Shostakovich string quartets).  Since most of the well-known recordings (especially for Bartok) are on the Beats Music streaming service, I've been able to listen to most of them.  If we were to simplify (and I acknowledge the danger here) and position them on a scale from "folksy/accessible" at one end to "spikily modernist" on the other, I would arrange the cycles I've heard as such: Takacs (II), Hungarian, Alexander, Tokyo (DG), Novak, Emerson, Julliard ('60s), Belcea.  I frankly enjoy all of them, but the ones I have enjoyed the least are the ones at each end--the Takacs because I feel that their vigorous, muscular reading leaves out too much of the weirdness I enjoy in these works, and the Belcea because I find their emphasis on speed and razor-sharp detail becomes somewhat tiresome after a while.  Nevertheless, these are still wonderful performances that anyone who might enjoy either extreme is sure to love.

My favorites at this point are the Hungarian and Novak Quartets--the former combines some of the almost rustic warmth of the Takacs but feels a bit more relaxed and leaves in far more of the modernist edges, while the latter provides the most introspective, at times almost fragile, reading, somewhat melancholy but with an almost astringent seriousness that reminds me a bit of the Vegh Quartet in Beethoven (and I have unfortunately not yet heard the Vegh Quartet cycle in Bartok). 

The Tokyo, Emerson, and Julliard sets feel somewhat similar to one another in interpretation, which is on the coolly detailed modernist side, and I enjoy them all, though I'd probably choose the Emersons over the other two (but just barely) if pressed.  Alexander is a bit hard to describe--like many of their interpretations, they are a bit slower than most in tempo, very careful and nuanced (and in amazing sound), but perhaps a bit too "cautious" in feel for this particular music. 

I'm not a musician, and obviously these are just impressions rather than careful analyses, but I hope it helps those who might be trying to decide which Bartok quartet cycle would best fit their taste.  By the way, Mandryka's post last night about the Tatrai 5th quartet inspired me to sample that--I could only hear their earlier, mono version, but I absolutely loved it.  It was, by far, the most unabashedly beautiful performance I have ever heard of this quartet (for which the term "beautiful" might not normally be the first term to come to mind even among its devotees).  Unfortunately, the stereo set he recommends appears to be tragically out of print (much like the Vegh set). 

[EigenUser]

The first recommended Desprez album I found on Spotify. I like it very much. It isn't as dense as Ockeghem (not a bad thing, just an observation).

[asin]B002OHQNUI[/asin]

I tend to think Gerard Grisey got as close to it as anything: the slight variations in the repetitions make you think the music's going to change, but it doesn't... then eventually you decide it isn't going to change, at which point it changes.

That perfectly describes Piano and String Quartet.

Sssshhhh...we must never speak of Delius again. Too many bad memories.

Were you a Delius fan? I heard his PC once. It was nice, but I didn't feel the need to rush back to hear more. I'm sure I will hear him again in the future.

By the way, your Berg avatar looks like Chopin!

[Karl Henning]

Incidentally, that sign in the bottom right corner reads "Sandwich" in Cyrillic.

[André]

Akio Yashiro: Piano Concerto; Symphony (1958). Ulster Orchestra, Takuo Yuasa (Naxos). Quite good, better than I expected actually.

Beethoven: Piano concerto no. 2. Artur Rubinstein and the LPO under Barenboim. Good, but then again this is a minor work, so no miracles (listen to Glenn Gould or Pletnev for an inkling of what might be). This is part of the box Arthur Rubinstein  plays Great Piano Concertos. The 5 LvB concertos are there, taped when the veteran pianist was 88 and almost blind. Better memories would have arisen from one of the earlier incarnations (Leinsdorf or Krips).

[Mirror Image]

Were you a Delius fan? I heard his PC once. It was nice, but I didn't feel the need to rush back to hear more. I'm sure I will hear him again in the future.

By the way, your Berg avatar looks like Chopin!

I was once upon a time but his music isn't important to me anymore much like I don't think much of Bruckner or even Mahler any more.

Edit: I should say that I still enjoy works from Bruckner and Mahler for example, but I seldom listen to them these days as my tastes have definitely evolved since I was into their music.

[Moonfish]

Happy Fall Equinox Everybody!   

[Pat B]

Incidentally, that sign in the bottom right corner reads "Sandwich" in Cyrillic.

That's Mister Sandwich to you.