What are you listening to now?

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

Really enjoying these Schubert Quartets intégral.  Sound is trebly and a bit distanced for my taste, but enjoying them nonetheless.

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[Moonfish]

R Strauss:
Vier Letzte Lieder
Cappricio (excerpt)
Arabella (excerpt)

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf/Philharmonia O/Ackermann

Mesmerizing!

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[Moonfish]

Franck: Symphony
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No 3

NBC SO/Toscanini



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[jfdrex]

When the chill winds of late November herald the approach of winter, it's time for some Sibelius.

Symphony No. 1 in E minor, op. 39.  Okko Kamu, Helsinki Radio Symphony Orchestra.

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Needless to say, the same recording of Nos. 1 & 3, as well as Kamu's recording of No. 3, along with Karajan's DG versions of Nos. 4-7, in this set:

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[Gurn Blanston]

A showdown between Leclair & Locatelli! Outstanding disk. I haven't seen this band (Rare Fruits Council) in quite some time, does anyone know if they are still playing together?

[Moonfish]

Chopin: Nocturnes       Arrau

Delightful and utterly poetic in Arrau's skilled hands. Tranquility and beauty in an eternal dance. My top choice for the nocturnes. 

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[Todd]

[Mookalafalas]

I've been playing different versions obsessively.  This is very good, but it's a field crowded with very good:

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[Mirror Image]

Lou Harrison Seven Pastorales
DRD / Brooklyn PO

Slightly ashamed to admit that I hadn't been aware of this recording of Riley's June Buddhas.  But Harrison's Seven Pastorales deserve the headline.  Particularly enjoying the slower pieces.  III seems just about perfect in its brevity.

That Harrison work is the highlight of that recording. The last movement of For My Brother is particularly moving.

[Ken B]

That Harrison work is the highlight of that recording. The last movement of For My Brother is particularly moving.

That disc as I mentioned is available now as part if a 4 cd Harrsion box from Nimbus. Some great stuff there.

TD, Partch, Delusion of yhe Fury

[Mirror Image]

Now:





A new acquisition. Listening to Songbirdsongs. Quite a mediative work with some wonderful sonorities. The movement Mourning Dove, in particular, is beautiful in such an understated way.

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Hafis. Great stuff.

[RebLem]

In recent days, I have been listening to the following:

Complete RCA Toscanini recordings, Volume 40.  NBC Symphony recordings.
Waldteufel: Skaters Waltz, Op. 183 (6:44), rec CH (Carnegie Hall) 1945   |  Leopold Mozart: Kindersymphonie, aka Toy Symphony (9;31), rec. 1941, Studio 8H   |   Johann Strauss II: Trisch-Trasch Polka, rec. CH 1941; Blue Danube, Op. 314, rec. Studio 8H, 1941-2   |   Franz von Suppe: Poet and Peasant Overture (9:13), rec. 8H, 1943   |   Ponchielli: La Gioconda: Dance of the Hours (9:35), rec. CH, 1952   |   Paganini: Moto perpetuo, Op. 11 (4:38), arr. by AT, rec. 8H, 1939   |   J.S. Bach: Orch. Suite 3, S. 1068: Air on the G String (4:53), rec. CH, 1946   |   Weber: Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65 (7:50), rec. CH, 1951   |   Glinka: Spanish Over. 1: Jota aragonesa (7:49), rec. 8H, 1959)



The Toscanini CD is a mostly delightful collection of encores, bon bons, and pops concert pieces.  Nothing very profound here.  Some folk of a certain age will recognize the Dance of the Hours as the tune in the comedy song, "Hello, Muddah, Hello Faddah!"  The crude little  Leopold Mozart piece will demonstrate why the author was so in awe of his son, who was an infinitely better composer than his father.

I'm not quite sure what to say about the Shostakovich.  The first movement of the 5th sounds pretty MOR.  One hears, through both pieces, flashes of insight here and there, but I do not detect any consistent view expressed for either piece, despite that fact that Casetani studied with Kondrashin at the Moscow Conservatory, who did, in my opinion, the best recordings of these two works.  Also excellent are the Maxim Shostakovich recordings.  One recording of the Fifth Symphony I admire greatly which no but me knows about is one by Klaus Tennstedt conducting the Munich Phil., coupled with  Janacek's Four Lachnian Dances on a label called Weitblick.

[Mookalafalas]

listening to this
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From this:
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[Moonfish]

Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos 23 & 27        Curzon/Wiener Philharmoniker/Szell

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos 1 & 6           Wiener Philharmoniker/Monteux

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[amw]

Really enjoying these Schubert Quartets intégral.  Sound is trebly and a bit distanced for my taste, but enjoying them nonetheless.

[asin]B000UVUL8U[/asin]

I'll check this out!



On a scale of one to Michelangeli, this is about a Gieseking.5. Highly recommended, might be my choice for best modern Debussy intégrale actually. (Though Jean-Efflam wouldn't be far behind, and he records Khamma and Jeux as well, which Noriko doesn't.)

[The new erato]

JS Bach: Cantatas BWV 56 & 82    Egmond/Baroque Orchestra/Brüggen

The Seon journey!



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Played that disc a few days ago, and very fine it is.

Now: Richter plays the English suites from this box:
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[ritter]

Act 1 yesterday, and now into Act 2:



First impressions:

The overture already sets the tone for what this recording will be. It is extremely quick, and with very acute attacks and phrasing (but very well executed, I must say). The sense in general is of great theatrical flair, even if the voices are a bit receded compared to the orchestra. Simone Kermes's rather languid Fiordiligi takes some getting used to, but the singing is beautiful, the coloratura in Come scoglio wonderful, and in the end her portrayal is quite convincing. The rest of the cast is also very good, and there is a sense of ensemble that is admirable. I'm enjoying Kenneth Tarver (a singer I had previously only encountered in the Boulez Roméo et Juliette and Les Nuits d'été on DG, no OOP) immensely as Ferrando.

As with Currentzis's Figaro, this seems to me a fresh and invigorating approach to a timeless masterpiece...

[AnthonyAthletic]

Cds 6-8
Schubert (3, 5 & 6)
Strauss (Quixote, Gentilhomme, Heldenleben, Feueresnot, Intermezzo & Salome)

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Lively for this Sunday morning.

[North Star]

Ligeti
Etudes
Musica ricercata
Aimard
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