What are you listening to now?

[Karl Henning]

Dude, this music is super awesome! And I like it way better than Lemminkainen.

+ 1

[Tsaraslondon]

When it comes to Luonnotar, the Gibson/SNO with Phyllis Bryn-Julson on Chandos is still my standard.

A disc you put me onto, if I remember correctly and I live it immensely. My standard too, whilst I acknowledge that there may be other ways of doing it. Flagstad recorded it, and there is also a very interesting version on youtube, sung by Schwarzkopf, which is so utterly different, it could almost be a different work. Initially I thought her dramatic take on the music all wrong, but I've come round to thinking that both the Bryn-Julson and the Schwarzkopf versions have their own validity. Incidentyally, though a severely self-critical artist, Schwarzkopf herself was reportedly rather pleased with this performance. Great music can of course withstand more than one interpretation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FyTAGwyRCM

[Tsaraslondon]

Beautiful talking points for this Tristan, Greg. . . . . . 'sold.'

I really do appreciate all of your opera breakdowns- and I can't tell you how much I learn from them; and how much joy and excitement I've had in listening to so much of what you run up the flagpole. 

I would not be going out on a limb in saying that you're the 'Anna Wintour' (founder and Editor Supreme- praise be her name- of Vogue) of the operatic world- you really do separate the 'Supremely-and-Sublimely-Gorgeous' from the merely 'beautiful-and-distinguished.' Only the best of the best makes it on to your editing table.

The famed 'September issue' of Vogue really should have your opera breakdowns for the year. Ha.  Ha.  Ha. 

Anyway, I can't wait to hear Linda Ester Gray's Isolde and to luxuriate in the gorgeously engineered Decca sound.

Great news. I so look forward to the discovery of what she brings to the table in Act II. 

Thank you. And I feel sure you will really enjoy this set.

[Que]

Making further inroads into this set: 

[asin]B008CWQYU8[/asin]

Q

[Brian]

Moving on to Sibelius' First Symphony, in by FAR my favorite performance:

[North Star]

So little Sibelius in my collection makes me feel sad, so sad I will have to expand the collections. 101 Sibelius recommendations?

This is an excellent set to get a good portion of the best known Sibelius works, the biggest omission is probably the tone poem Nightride and Sunrise.

[asin]B000KC849W[/asin]

[Sadko]

Honestly, I find nothing wrong with that cover.

+2

-1 

Cheap, IMO.

[Sadko]

Verdi

La forza del destino

Callas et al.
Serafin

These remasters are really impressive.

[asin]B00KTQD8FY[/asin]

And since it's finished I'm going on with Tosca (De Sabata), my favourite full opera studio recording with Callas:

[asin]B00KTQD7ZK[/asin]

[Brian]

BIRTHDAY PARTY

I think an overview, like:
10:30 - Kullervo (1892)*
11:30 - Symphony No. 1 (1899)
12:15 - Swanwhite (1908)*
12:45 - Night Ride and Sunrise (1909)
1:15 - Voces intimae (1909)
1:45 - Luonnotar (1913)
2:00 - Symphony No. 5 (1915-19)
2:45 - Andante festivo, quartet version (1922)*
3:00 - Symphony No. 6 (1923)
3:30 - Symphony No. 7 (1924)
encore - Andante festivo, orchestra version (1938)
*will be first-ever listens for me, and Voces intimae will be a first-listen-since-college

BIRTHDAY PARTY
(and the last of three Segerstam picks for today)



First-ever listen to the complete "Swanwhite".

Will follow this with "Night Ride and Sunrise" (Lahti/Vanska), Voces intimae (Tetzlaff Quartet/cAvi UNLESS someone has an all-time favorite to recommend that's on NML), and Luonnotar (trying Marsch's rec of Scottish/Gibson, even though my heart is with Soile Isokoski).

[not edward]

Sometimes I love Richter, sometimes not so much.

Here also. Though my reaction doesn't tend to be tepid either way (I find some of his late Schubert infuriating, some of it wondrous, and much of it both at once).

I've been spending quite a lot of time with Kurtag recently. I don't think everything he does comes off equally well, but he's got that difficult knack of achieving profundity through simplicity. A piece like Stele does very little with a very large orchestra (much of it just subtly varied repetitions of short cells) and it just works.

[asin]B004HZL8NC[/asin]
[asin]B004ZH34Y8[/asin]
[asin]B000V3SXFU[/asin]

[SonicMan46]

Agreed.

Guess that I feel the same and had to look up some more pics of Buniatishvili - quite pleasant on these ole eyes -    Dave

 

[North Star]

Sibelius
Rakastava (The Lover) Op. 14 for strings, timpani and triangle
Sinfonia Lahti
Vänskä

[Tsaraslondon]

Verdi

La forza del destino

Callas et al.
Serafin

These remasters are really impressive.

[asin]B00KTQD8FY[/asin]

And since it's finished I'm going on with Tosca (De Sabata), my favourite full opera studio recording with Callas:

[asin]B00KTQD7ZK[/asin]

I've just finished uploading my reviews of all the operas and recitals in the Warner box set to my blog. No real duds amongst them, with even the late recitals showing flashes of genius to offset the evident vocal decline.

The Tosca recording is of course well known, and undisputedly one of the greatest recordings ever made, but it was the recording of La Forza del Destino which absolutely floored me. To my mind, Callas reveals her greatest genius in the music of Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, Cherubini and of course Verdi.

[GuybrushThreepwood]

This is an excellent set to get a good portion of the best known Sibelius works, the biggest omission is probably the tone poem Nightride and Sunrise.

[asin]B000KC849W[/asin]

Thank you very much North Star! Added to the wish list.

[Sadko]

To my mind, Callas reveals her greatest genius in the music of Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, Cherubini ...

I agree, but whole operas of these composers are too much for me, some raisins out of these cakes are enough for my taste :-)

[king ubu]

just picked from the mailbox:

[asin]B000024U9K[/asin]

[Brian]

BIRTHDAY PARTY

I think an overview, like:
10:30 - Kullervo (1892)*
11:30 - Symphony No. 1 (1899)
12:15 - Swanwhite (1908)*
12:45 - Night Ride and Sunrise (1909)
1:15 - Voces intimae (1909)
1:45 - Luonnotar (1913)
2:00 - Symphony No. 5 (1915-19)
2:45 - Andante festivo, quartet version (1922)*
3:00 - Symphony No. 6 (1923)
3:30 - Symphony No. 7 (1924)
encore - Andante festivo, orchestra version (1938)
*will be first-ever listens for me, and Voces intimae will be a first-listen-since-college

BIRTHDAY PARTY

"Voces intimae"

First listen to this in probably 6-7 years.

[Lisztianwagner]

Jean Sibelius
Piano Sonata

https://www.youtube.com/v/YsDYvoyFJdE

[Maestro267]

I've chosen my favourite Sibelius symphonies to enjoy this evening. The Fifth in particular must be a priority, as it's exactly a century since its premiere today.

Symphony No. 1 in E minor
Lahti SO/Vänskä

Symphony No. 2 in D major
Philharmonia Orchestra/Ashkenazy

Symphony No. 5 in E flat major
Berlin SO/Sanderling

Symphony No. 7 in C major
London SO/C. Davis

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

Day Two of my VW-athon.  Vaughan Williams was the 'victim' of one of my favorite bits of musical invective:  Arnold Bax pointing out to VW that he didn't even write his 'greatest hit,' Fantasia on Greensleeves .

[asin]B000005GJK[/asin]