What are you listening to now?

[Karl Henning]

Thread Duty:

“Papa”
String Quartet in A, Op.55 № 1 (H.III/60)
Amadeus Quartet

[North Star]

Liszt
Années de pèlerinage
Grimwood
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[Wanderer]

.[asin]B004MKND6C[/asin]

Mahler Sym 8 in E Flat Major

Try Segerstam (if you can find it).

Agreed with vehemence.

Medtner: Skazki ('Fairy Tales'), op.51, as played by Geoffrey Tozer split across these 2 discs.

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Seriously good music. I've been listening online to Medtner's opuses in fits and starts, and the Skazki seem to be getting more and more substantial.

Tozer was a great Medtner interpreter and his loss was tragically untimely.
By saying "getting more substantial", do you mean in your appreciation as you listen to them more or as the opus numbers increase? As a genre, the Skazki (best translated as Tales or Legends, not the quaintly incorrect Fairy Tales) do span the entirety of his career.

[listener]

Music from the Courts of Philip II and Elizabeth I
(BYRD, PARSONS, CABEZÓN, etc.)   performed by Fretwork   Michael Chance, c-tenor  Paul Nicholson, harpsichord
and vocal duets by BRAHMS, CORNELIUS, SCHUMANN, MENDELSSOHN, LISZT and RUBINSTEIN
Brigitte Fassbaender, Hidenori Komatsu, Kurt Moll   ms/bar/b   Cord Garben, piano

[Karl Henning]

No surprise!:

"Papa"
String Quartet in f minor, Op.55 № 2 « Rasiermesserquartett » (H.III/61)
String Quartet in B^b, Op.55 № 3 (H.III/62)
Amadeus Quartet



I was going to omit the nickname, but then I thought to check my copy of Haydn: His Life and Music ...

Haydn's letter to John Bland of 12 April 1790 was rediscovered in 1982 and, amongst other things, contains proof that Haydn did sell music to the publisher in return for some razors (the quartet op. 55 no. 2 is known as the 'Razor'): Bland also supplied a watch ....

[Mirror Image]

Revisiting some Koechlin after a hiatus from his music:



Listening to Le buisson ardent Parts I & II. Completely magical.

[Brian]

Getting better-acquainted with one of the most thoughtful, distinctive, idiosyncratic pianists of the last few decades.

[Karl Henning]

Face it!  Blizzard or no, who can just listen to three Haydn quartets?

"Papa"
String Quartet in B^b, Op.71 № 1 (H.III/69)
String Quartet in D, Op.71 № 2 (H.III/70)
String Quartet in E^b, Op.71 № 3 (H.III/71)
Amadeus Quartet

[SonicMan46]

Beethoven - String Trios w/ the Lendvai String Trio, yet in different outfits - posted earlier on my initial experience w/ these gals in the Röntgen string trios - completely different clothes - probably would be fun to see them live!  A short but outstanding review (5*/5* for performance and sound) from BBC Music Magazine - Dave

 

[Brian]

The non-variation stuff from this:

[Madiel]

Tozer was a great Medtner interpreter and his loss was tragically untimely.
By saying "getting more substantial", do you mean in your appreciation as you listen to them more or as the opus numbers increase? As a genre, the Skazki (best translated as Tales or Legends, not the quaintly incorrect Fairy Tales) do span the entirety of his career.

I mean as the opus numbers increase. Not that the early ones are slight things by any means, but it feels like in the late sets every Skazka is a powerful piece. Of course, it's entirely possible that this is just because I've been paying more attention as I go through this survey, but I did already have a few encounters with Medtner before trying this chronological approach.

[aligreto]

Yes, I think I just needed to get into Strauss' sound-world a bit more. I remember I started off listening to classical with Strauss very much at the forefront of composers I listened to pretty regularly, but I'm not sure exactly where I lost my way with his music, but I started to listen to the naysayers and I began to take on their opinions instead and thinking these naysayers had a point about calling his music 'bombastic garbage' or whatever other negatives they spewed out of their mouths. Never again will I listen to a critic, because a critic is only giving an opinion and there's a saying "opinions are like assholes, everyone has one." Stepping off my soapbox now, I'm really enjoying Kempe's Strauss more now than I ever did.

If I may be so bold as to offer some advice; there are only two critics that you need to listen to and they are your ears. Consequently your own opinion is as valid as anyone else's 
Enjoy your Kempe odyssey.

[Mirror Image]

If I may be so bold as to offer some advice; there are only two critics that you need to listen to and they are your ears. Consequently your own opinion is as valid as anyone else's 
Enjoy your Kempe odyssey.

Thanks, aligreto. That's some great advice.

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Sea Drift. A marvelous performance with John Shirley-Quirk singing wonderfully. I prefer this performance to Hickox's later recording on Chandos with Bryn Terfel, but I do like Hickox's performance with Thomas Hampson a lot (a BBC Music Magazine exclusive CD).

[André]

Gilbert and Sullivan: Overtures to the operettas. Naxos

Berg: Lulu. Teresa Stratas, Pierre Boulez. My first ever listening to the complete opera (I know the Suite well from long acquaintance). First impresssion: atonal, but very melodic, even consonant. Nothing abrasive to these delicate ears 

[Todd]

Charles Rosen.  Disc 16.  The Goldbergs.  The one Rosen disc I knew, it's more or less like his AoF.  Excellent, yes, but the field here is much more crowded with great performances.  It's certainly worth hearing multiple times, though.

[Walt Whitman]

Faure: Sonata For Violin And Piano N°.1 In A, Op.13

[Mirror Image]

Boy, it's a ghost town on here tonight....

Anyway, now playing:



Listening to Till Eulenspiegel's Lustige Streiche. Fantastic performance.

[Ken B]

Boy, it's a ghost town on here tonight....

Beethoven, violin sonatas
Caspar Immerseel
Clarence Schroder

[Moonfish]

Beethoven - String Trios w/ the Lendvai String Trio, yet in different outfits - posted earlier on my initial experience w/ these gals in the Röntgen string trios - completely different clothes - probably would be fun to see them live!  A short but outstanding review (5*/5* for performance and sound) from BBC Music Magazine - Dave

 

Dave,
I think you will enjoy this clip:
https://www.youtube.com/v/EcPPy7ul20E