What are you listening to now?

[Harry]

Good afternoon all.
Recent acquisition, first listen.
I am getting more and more involved with this composer.

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2015/07/recent-acquisition-boccherini-luigi_25.html?spref=tw

[aligreto]

Seán Ó Riada: Mise Éire....

[Sergeant Rock]

Haydn String Quartet F major op.77/2 played by L'Archibudelli




Sarge

[Que]

Not really. It turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. The recording seems to be well regarded so I had high expectations.  Somehow the soundscape did not quite click with me. In terms of Markevitch I definitely prefer his earlier version (below) with the Berliner Philharmoniker even though it is a mono recording. It has much more magic within the performance! 

I quite agree!

Q

[Que]

Thread duty:



Q

[Camphy]

Nielsen, Maskarade: Overture, Cockerel's Dance/Sir Oluf He Rides/Rhapsody Overture: An imaginary journey to the Faroe Islands/Pan and Syrinx/Helios Overture

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

Hey, I can listen to these with the Sarge, maybe he'll offer me a cool drink :

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Haydn String Quartet F major op.77/2 played by L'Archibudelli




Sarge

'
A great quartet. My favorite one is probably "Sunrise" quartet. Among Papa's greatest achievements.

[ritter]

In the height of scorching summer in Madrid, first listen to Springtime in Funen  . The title of the piece had always seemed very appealing, but Nielsen is only a recent discovery for me (thanks mainly to his keen proselitizers here on GMG  ) . I enjoyed the symphonies (the Inextiguishable and the Expansiva), I liked the Clarinet concerto very much, and found Maskerade rather cute. In this case, though, I must admit that even if I recognize a master composer's touch, I don't really like these pieces  (I've listened to Hymnus amoris as well). Purely a matter of personal taste, I suppose.... 

[asin]B000000AKU[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to the Violin Concerto, Op. 33. A fine work and performance.

[Wakefield]

There are many fine recordings of this work. My actual favorite is - as I have written before - Alice Pierot on Alpha. But I fully agree that Susanne Lautenbacher' s version, HIP or not, is mandatory for musical reasons.

Yes, there are many excellent recordings. As favourites, currently I would mention Reiter/Cordaria; Goebel/MAK and Kaakinen-Pilch/Battalia. Three very different versions covering different aspects of this work: richness of the continuo, virtuosity, deep introspection...

[Harry]

Another Boccherini, but from a totally different provenance. New acquisition.

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2015/07/new-acquisition-boccherini-luigi.html?spref=tw

[Drasko]

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[RebLem]

Since my last report, I have been listening to the following:

7 CD Sony set of all of Bruno Walter's Columbia Mahler recordings:

CD 7--
Tr. 1-4......Sym. 1 in D Major "Titan" (50'30)--NYPO, rec. Carnegie Hall 25 Jan 1954.

Bruno Walter.  NYPO.  Carnegie Hall.  Mahler.  That's a pretty heady mixture of conductor, orchestra, and venue full of promise, and Bruno Walter does not, I am pleased to say, disappoint here.  This is a vital, energetic, sure-footed performance, esp. in the last movement, where he shows us what it means to build to a climax.  Wonderful, amazing, glorious monaural sound from one of the greatest of Mahler's acolytes.

Tr. 5-12....Lieder und Gesange aus der Jugendzeit (Songs and songs from the time of youth)--excerpts from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (tr 6-9 & 12, by Richard Leander (tr 5 & 11, & Gustav Mahler (tr 10) (20'02)--Desi Halban, soprano | Bruno Walter, piano--rec Los Angeles, CA, 16 Dec 1947.

I found the following information on Desi Halban at discogs: Real Name: Désirée Louise Anna Ernestine von Halban, Austrian soprano, born 10 April 1912 in Vienna, Austria and died 12 February 1996 in Bilthoven, The Netherlands. She's the daughter of Selma Kurz.  The notes on the disc jacket (no booklet accompanies this box) seem to say Ms. Halban was accomanied by the NYPO, but it is very clearly not an orchestra, but a piano which accompanies her in these songs.  Discogs says Bruno Walter himself was the pianist, and that seems reasonable.  Of course, we don't get as wonderful sound from this 1947 recording as we do from the 1954 recording of the Titan Symphony.  Different year, and the American Legion Hall in Hollywood, CA is definitely not Carnegie Hall.  But Ms. Halban was, from this evidence, a fine soprano and she aquits herself well.

I looked up Ms. Halban's mother, Selma Kurz, and found a Wikipedia article on her; she came from an impoverished Jewish family in Biala, Austria, which is now in Polish Silesia.  Anyway, she was an important coloratura soprano, born 1874, and died in 1933, before the world fell apart for the rest of her family.  That's why Desi died in The Netherlands, not where she was born.


CD 1--Tr 1-4.......Sym. 1 in D Major "Titan" (52'00)--Columbia Sym Orch.--rec 14/21 Jan & 4/6 Feb 1961, American Legion Hall, Hollywood, CA.

For a long time, Bruno Walter's two recordings of the Titan were pretty much universal collectors' choices for this work.  He was a student of Mahler's and gained a reputation as something of the keeper of the Mahler flame.  This was, in the case of the 1st Symphony, helped somewhat by the fact that the other great flame keeper well known to most Americans interested in classical music, Otto Klemperer, never recorded it.  I started getting interested in classical music in the late 1950's, coincident with Van Cliburn's victory in the Moscow competition, and started collecting.  But I never heard a bar of Mahler until after I had graduated from college and was living on my own in Chicago.  My first Mahler recording, dating from about 1969 or 1970, was a 2 LP set of the Karel Ancerl, Czech Phil recording of the 9th symphony on the old Crossroads budget label.  I didn't hear the Titan until quite some time later; my first complete Mahler Symphonies set was the Columbia Leonard Bernstein NYPO set, and although I immediately fell in love with the Resurrection--still my favorite Mahler symphony--it took me a while to warm up to the Titan. 

For a long time, the Levine/LSO recording was my favorite Titan.  I never particularly cared for Bernstein's, but I found Walter engaging.  But since then, with the multiplication of sets in my collection, he has been retired to the second rank, at least in this work, although in this new incarnation, it has never sounded better.  My favorites now are Segerstam and Kubelik.  Abbado is wonderful, too, and the Boulez 1st is one of the better symphonies in his set.  For superb sound, however, and a good interpretation as well, you should get the Manfred Honeck/Pittsburgh SO SACD.


CD 1 & 2, 5 tracks.......Sym 2 in C Minor "Resurrection" (79'42)--NYPO, Westminster Choir, Emilia Cundari, soprano, Maureen Forrester, contralto--rec Carnegie  Hall, 17/18/21 Feb 1958.

During that early period of Mahler exploration in my life, Klemperer and Bernstein represented interpretive extremes.  For Klemperer, the central problem in performing this work was keeping such a long and varied work together so that it seemed like a cohesive whole, and so he chose to temper tempo differences and dynamic shifts to that end.   For Bernstein, the problem was just the opposite--maintaining the listener's interest in such a long work.  He tended to exaggerate tempo differences and dynamic shifts to that end.  Meanwhile, the Bruno Walter recording was there to serve as the representative of the MOR, golden mean school of thought.

Bruno Walter was a fine Mahler conductor, no doubt about it.  I particularly like his choice of Maureen Forrester as one of the soloists.  But, as with the Titan, my favorites are Segerstam and Kubelik.  Segerstam seems to have been inspired by Kubelik, and his recordings are quite similar to Kubelik's, but in more up to date sound.  Unfortunately, Chandos has deleted the Segerstam from its catalogue and it is no longer available, so my recommendation now would be for the Kubelik as a first Resurrection for new collectors.  I hear so many good things about Zubin Mehta's recording a while back that I got it, too, and, despite the fact that he is a conductor I do not gernerally warm to, his version is surprisingly good, and pretty much an MOR recording.  And Bernstein's best recording of it was one that it not in either his Sony or his DGG sets (his DGG performance is, to be kind, eminently forgettable), but the one he did for Columbia only about two years after the NYPO recording, this time with the London Symphony, and more importantly, better soloists in Sheila Armstrong and the incomparable Janet Baker.

CD 2, Tr. 5-8....Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) selections (14'66)--Columbia Sym Orch, Mildred Miller, mezzo-soprano--rec 30 June 1960 American Legion Hall, Hollywood, CA.

These are strong recordings of a few numbers from Wayfarer.  Mildred Miller is in top form, but it suffers from the fact that it is woefully incomplete, and added here merely as a filler.


CD 3, Tr. 1-4......Sym 4 in G Major  (50'04)--NYPO, Desi Halban, soprano--rec  Carnegie Hall, 10 May 1945.

I continue to be amazed by what modern sound engineers are able to do to resurrect older sound recordings and make them sound more modern.  This recording from 1945 now sounds like it could have been recorded ten or even a few more years later.  I found the third movement here especially effective, and Desi Halban had a beautiful, high soprano voice.  But this is not among my favorites, of which I have 4.  In no particular order, Klemperer/Schwazkopf, Szell/Raskin/Cleveland, Tabakov/Hadhieva/Sofia Phil, and the DGG  Bernstein//Wittek/Concertgebouw.  Helmut Wittek is a boy soprano; Bernstein decided to employ him, returning to Mahler's original intention for this work.

CD 3, Tr. 5 & CD 4, Tr. 1-3 (ALL).....Sym 9 in D Major (81'06)--rec 16 Jan 1961 American Legion Hall, Hollywood, CA.

I started listening to this 9th coincidentally with watching the Women's FIFA Final with the sound off.  At one point, I had to take a couple minutes out to answer the call of nature, and missed the first two points! And by the end of the first movement, the score was 4-0 USA. Japan scored one in the second movement, and then a second point just before the end of the last movement.  But then the US, after the work was over, scored yet a fifth point, and the match ended sometime later with a 5-2 US victory.

This performance is one of the glories of the catalouge.  I used to think Walter's January, 1938 VPO recording was even better, and perhaps it is, but I haven't the desire at the moment to do an A/B comparison. But I am certain that no other conductor has done this work quite as well as Bruno Walter in one or the other recording.  A few come close--especially Giulini/CSO and Ancerl/Czech Phil.  And few works give the feeling of peaceful death quite as well as this. The Shostokovich 15th symphony and 15th string quartet come to mind, as does a certain type of interpretation of Strauss's Metamorphosen as exemplified by Klemperer, Marriner, and Stamp.  But this recording is a performance to treasure and to come back to again and again.  An absolute must for any Mahler or Bruno Walter collector.


CD 5, Tr. 1-5 (ALL).....Sym 5 in C# Minor (60'46)--NYPO, rec 10 Feb 1947 Carnegie Hall.

I have heard all the other works in this box in one or another Walter performance over the years.  This is the only work in this box that is new to me in a Walter performance.

1947?  Sounds more like it could well be 1987, the sound is that good.  It starts with a striking trumpet solo, and after that, booming but accurate bass.  Several of the reviews at Amazon comment on this recording of the 5th being perhaps the most striking recording in the set; I am not alone in this feeling.  Highly recommended.


CD 6, Tr. 1-5..9ALL0.....Das Lied von der Erde (62'34) (text: Hans Bethge, The Chinese Flute)--NYPO, Mildred Miller, mezzo-soprano, Ernst Haefliger, tenor--rec 18 Aor 1960, Manhattan Center, NYC.

This recording is, IMO, the least of the three Bruno Walter recordings of Das Lied that I have  in my collection.  It seems to have been recorded at a low level, with the singers' voices often drowned out by the sound of the orchestra, and Mildred Miller lacks the low, throaty tones needed for this work.  I think the classic 1952 Patzak/Ferrier/VPO is the best, but I actually listened to a third recording I own in preparation for this review which I also think is better than the Das Lied in this box.  That is a recording made at a public performance in Carnegie Hall a scant two days before the recording in the box was made, but with different soloists--English tenor Richard Lewis, and the great Canadian contralto Maureen Forrester.  It is almost infinitely better than the boxed performance, especially in the Abschied.  I have it on a Music and Arts CD (# 4206)  TT, including audience applause at the end is 64'40, in the same ballpark as the performance in the box. 

The cover art leaves much to be desired, however.  It shows Bruno Walter with Maureen Forrester sitting beside him, but Walter has his hands coving his face!  All you see of him is his hair, his forehead, his right ear and some of his eyebrows.  He looks distressed, and Maureen Forrester has a look of worried concern on her face, her hands folded in a prayer-like position, but not covering her face--all this in a red-tinged sepia toned print.  Really weird.

[aligreto]

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, London Symphony Orch. / Svetlanov....

[SonicMan46]

Scheidemann, Heinrich (1596-1663) - Organ Works w/ Leo van Doeselaar performing on the Van Hagerbeer organ in Pieterskerk Leiden, and built in 1634; multiple restorations done on the instrument (excellent discussion HERE) - my first disc of this composer's works; he apparently wrote predominantly for the organ and harpsichord - other recommendations?  Dave

   

[Wakefield]

Wilhelm Backhaus: The 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas

[asin]B000E0LB7C[/asin]

CD5: Sonatas No. 17-20 (March 1968)

Although the label decided that the performer's name is more important than the composer's; fortunately, Backhaus disagree, and Beethoven and his music are placed in a wonderful first place. 

[SonicMan46]

Bertali, Antonio (1605-1669) - Baroque Chamber Sonatas w/ Gunar Letzbor & the Ars Antiqua Austria - I enjoy this group and probably own three or four other recordings - six musicians are listed in the opening booklet notes (2 violins, 1 viola da gamba, 1 violone de Bohème?, organ or harpsichord, & archlute) - the music is varied, melodic, and pleasant - Letzbor is quite expressive and the recorded sound superb - 5* review from AllMusic (HERE) - highly recommended if a fan of this music and these instruments.  Dave

 

[ritter]

Listening live on Spanish National Radio to the premiere of Katharina Wagner's production of  Tristan und Isolde from Bayreuth. Christian Thielemann (of whom I've never been particularly a fan) is doing an outstanding job with the orchestra as far as dynamics and phrasing are concerned. Masterful! Evelyn Herlitzius and Stephen Gould also very convincing as the leads.



Ilaria, I think you're up for something special on your first visit to the Green Hill!

[prémont]

Some of the listening today was:

Frescobaldi: Fiori Musicali played by the Czech organist Michal Novenko and released by Supraphon.

http://www.amazon.de/gp/offer-listing/B000023YXO/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1_olp?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1437845740&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=michel+novenko&condition=used

Three different historical Czech organs are used, one for each of the three masses which constitute the Fiori Musicali. The recording is not complete, as Novenko has left out some of the Kyrie´s and Crriste`s. There is some alternatim singing, executed by the organist himself, and he also sings the obligato part of the Ricercare con obligo di cantare while playing.

The three organs are rather similar in disposition, and their sound world is a typical South German / Austrian late Baroque sound, which we use to associate with e.g. Georg Muffat or even Pachelbel. So this is a modernised Frescobaldi, stressed by the fact, that the organs as far as I can hear, are tuned equally, making much of the dissonant chromatic writing kind of tame. The smooth articulation of the organist adds to this impression. He plays however with authority and conviction, and the partplaying is beautifully realized, and the interpretation is from a musical point of view very rewarding.

Maybe not a CD for the fanatic HIPster, but never-the-less nice listening. Thanks to Mandryka for the recommendation.