What are you listening to now?

[Mirror Image]

Now:





A new acquisition. Listening to Variaciones Concertantes, Op. 23. Great stuff.

[Marsch MacFiercesome]

As was mentioned, a favourite of Alan's. He knows Teresa Cahill. She provides something very special in the Spirit of England. I think it is the favourite of the discs that I was involved in, within the chorus. Gibson was very hit or miss, but he usually produced something special for Elgar, Sibelius and Berlioz. The setting was Paisley Abbey near Glasgow and it provides a good spacious acoustic for each work, enabling them to breathe.

Mike

That's so awesome that you were there with Gibson in the music making of the Elgar. . .

Yeah, Gibson does some really fantastic Sibelius as well: his Lemminkainen Legends has some fire to the outer movements; his En Saga has, hands-down, the most powerful and noble sounding brass that I've ever heard to the section of the tone poem where the drama really takes off (although the tempo is a little too slow for my dramatic inclinations); and his Luonnotar with Phyllis Bryn-Julson has an atmospheric un-earthiness about it that only Bernard Herrmann could equal.

[NikF]

Milhaud: Le train bleu - Reimer/Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrucken Kaiserslauten.

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[Que]

Continuation:

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Great stuff! 

Q

[North Star]

Ravel
Violin Sonata
Renaud Capuçon
Frank Braley
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[ritter]

Milhaud: Le train bleu - Reimer/Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrucken Kaiserslauten.

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Ah, Le Train bleu!...As roaring twenties as it gets: Cocteau, Milhaud, Nijinska, Picasso, Chanel...

https://www.youtube.com/v/rEHbAscVByI
Delightful!

Pity the train itself no longer runs (but you can still dine at the restaurant    )

[bhodges]

Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 (Klaus Tennstedt/London Philharmonic Orchestra, live recording, April 1991, on YouTube) - What a terrific performance! Tender in the slower sections, propulsive in the fast ones, wonderful playing, great sound - what more could you want?

--Bruce

[NikF]

Ah, Le Train bleu!...As roaring twenties as it gets: Cocteau, Milhaud, Nijinska, Picasso, Chanel...

https://www.youtube.com/v/rEHbAscVByI
Delightful!

Yeah, it has a wonderfully quaint charm.

Pity the train itself no longer runs (but you can still dine at the restaurant    )

I didn't know that. How cool.

[Marsch MacFiercesome]

I remember seeing Teresa Cahill as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier with Scottish Opera in Newcastle. There too she floated and soared in Sophie's high-lying phrases.

It was a memorable night, with Dernesch quite special as the Marschallin and Anne Howells a dramatically superb Octavian. It was the first time I'd heard or seen the opera, and I was so overwhelmed that I went back to see it for its next and last performance in Newcastle.

Dernesch as the Marschallin? Teresa Cahill as Sophie? I really am happy for you Greg that you got to see them, truly. . . 'and I didn't.' 

Hey, why is my skin turning green?

Green really isn't my color.

[Marsch MacFiercesome]

Yeah, it has a wonderfully quaint charm.

I didn't know that. How cool.

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

^Cute as a button- music, costume, and choreography.

I'll have to remember that tennis move from 01:23-01:25- but to really turn heads, you have to do it at work, when its completely unexpected. Ha.  Ha.   Ha. 

I love the Louise-Brooks-type of tennis outfit too.

[Marsch MacFiercesome]

Minkus' Don Quixote and La Bayadere definitely influenced Tchaikovsky in his ballets- although with less charm and imagination.

I find the music almost pleasantly boring for the most part- although it makes perfect reading music.

The "Czardas" and the "Gypsy Dance" cuts on Don Quixote are unexpectedly animating and fun though.

[Marsch MacFiercesome]

Now:





Medea's Dance of Vengeance
Adagio for Strings
Overture to The School for Scandal
Second Essay for Orchestra
Intermezzo from Vanessa
Andromache's Farewell

The best all Barber recording I've heard. Stunning performances.

Cheers.

The best Barber performances 'I've' heard as well of the Second Essay for Orchestra and the Overture to the School for Scandal.

The upsweep of the strings on the Schippers is high-voltage- but the sound quality and sonic impact of the Zinman is undeniably great as well.

[Marsch MacFiercesome]

I haven't heard Barenboim performance of Saint-Saens' 3rd, but, and this is a massive BUT, I have doubts that it would top Levine's performance. Would be interesting to do some comparisons, though.

I like the dramatic sweep of the Barenboim, especially for the first movement; but the Levine exceeds it in majesty- especially in the last movement.

The Organ Symphony I like the most, funnily enough, is the Tortelier/Ulster on Chandos. It has the most powerful-sounding organ I've ever heard; the best engineering balances I've experienced; and overall is the most majestic and poised of every one I've heard.

[Mirror Image]

Cheers.

The best Barber performances 'I've' heard as well of the Second Essay for Orchestra and the Overture to the School for Scandal.

The upsweep of the strings on the Schippers is high-voltage- but the sound quality and sonic impact of the Zinman is undeniably great as well.

I can't say I'm fond of Zinman's Barber, TBH. I think there's nothing wrong with the audio quality in Schippers' performances and, in fact, their impact is much more deeply felt to me than Zinman's more modern-sounding recording. Schippers knew this music like the back of his hand.

[knight66]

That's so awesome that you were there with Gibson in the music making of the Elgar. . .

Yeah, Gibson does some really fantastic Sibelius as well: his Lemminkainen Legends has some fire to the outer movements; his En Saga has, hands-down, the most powerful and noble sounding brass that I've ever heard to the section of the tone poem where the drama really takes off (although the tempo is a little too slow for my dramatic inclinations); and his Luonnotar with Phyllis Bryn-Julson has an atmospheric un-earthiness about it that only Bernard Herrmann could equal.

Gibson was awarded The Sibelius medal, possibly the only Scott to receive it. The first time I heard the Sibelius 5th was with him conducting. It seemed a terrific ride to me at the time; the audience almost sabotaged the end when some started to clap at the notorious false end. I had been so involved that I had not moved a muscle. His Bruckner was also spectacular.

I hope you get the goose bumps from the Elgar; do report back.

Mike

[Marsch MacFiercesome]

Nocturnes

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Love that Haitink/Concertgebouw Nuage and Fetes. Stellar Philips sound too.

[knight66]

Dernesch as the Marschallin? Teresa Cahill as Sophie? I really am happy for you Greg that you got to see them, truly. . . 'and I didn't.' 

Hey, why is my skin turning green?

Green really isn't my color.

Dernesch, Cahill and Janet Baker, Gibson again. I have discs of the live relay the night I was there in Glasgow. It was in English; imagine Dernsch being so generous as to learn it in English! The discs have fillers of another Scottish Opera production with Dernsch and Baker; Ariadne.

Mike

[Marsch MacFiercesome]

I can't say I'm fond of Zinman's Barber, TBH. I think there's nothing wrong with the audio quality in Schippers' performances and, in fact, their impact is much more deeply felt to me than Zinman's more modern-sounding recording. Schippers knew this music like the back of his hand.

Both performances blow doors- though Schippers is my first choice as well.

Believe me, I know 'fierce' when I hear it.

[Marsch MacFiercesome]

Gibson was awarded The Sibelius medal, possibly the only Scott to receive it. The first time I heard the Sibelius 5th was with him conducting. It seemed a terrific ride to me at the time; the audience almost sabotaged the end when some started to clap at the notorious false end. I had been so involved that I had not moved a muscle. His Bruckner was also spectacular.

I hope you get the goose bumps from the Elgar; do report back.

Mike

Thanks so much for the courteous regard, Mike- I definitely will. . . and if I really like it, I will, no doubt, collapse into an ecstasy of appreciation. . .

How did Gibson build up those Alps-like Bruckner climaxes? Which symphonies did you hear him do?


P

[Marsch MacFiercesome]

Dernesch, Cahill and Janet Baker, Gibson again. I have discs of the live relay the night I was there in Glasgow. It was in English; imagine Dernsch being so generous as to learn it in English! The discs have fillers of another Scottish Opera production with Dernsch and Baker; Ariadne.

Mike

So absolutely tantalizing. . . what label is this on? How's the sound? (not that that matters; if it did, I'd have to consign my treasure trove of live Callas recordings to the dust bin of history).