What are you listening to now?

Started by Dungeon Master, February 15, 2013, 09:13:11 PM

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listener

CASELLA: Paganiniana, Suite from La Giara, Serenata
Svizzera Italiana Orch.,  Christian Benda, cond.
de FALLA: The Three-Cornered Hat, El Amor Brujo    both complete!
Montreal S.O.    Dutoit cond.
old favourites, worth an occasional repeat because I like them
"Keep your hand on the throttle and your eye on the rail as you walk through life's pathway."

Brian

Tonight begins a five-day jaunt through Seattle and the Pacific Northwest with a gang of my best friends, and while I'm bringing some jazz, there won't be any classical listening. So today, gotta hit up some of my favorites and make sure the itch is good and scratched.

Starting with Oberon:



Mostly I'm posting about this, despite listening to only one track, because (1) the cover painting is fantastic, and (2) so's the performance. I love Antoni Wit's Weber overture disc too (also with a misty, mysterious cover). Hmmmm...time for comparison listening!!


Brian

Quote from: Brian on March 11, 2016, 06:21:27 AM
Tonight begins a five-day jaunt through Seattle and the Pacific Northwest with a gang of my best friends, and while I'm bringing some jazz, there won't be any classical listening. So today, gotta hit up some of my favorites and make sure the itch is good and scratched.

Starting with Oberon:



Mostly I'm posting about this, despite listening to only one track, because (1) the cover painting is fantastic, and (2) so's the performance. I love Antoni Wit's Weber overture disc too (also with a misty, mysterious cover). Hmmmm...time for comparison listening!!


One track may not be enough for a solid comparison, but here are my notes:
- Griffiths has shrunk his WDR orchestra to chamber size, which pays off in the more intimate moments but, towards the end of the overture, exposes some less-than-gorgeous playing
- Wit's NZSO is at full size and while it's not as glorious as his Warsaw band, it's certainly very fine
- Griffiths's opening horn solo is perfect and uber-atmospheric, but the horn parts later on glare a bit, a sore thumb in the orchestral texture
- Wit's tendency to conduct things slowly is in evidence here (he has an extra minute) but it's not noticeably slow. The performance never drags; it has a total command of the work's structure
- CPO's sound is a bit better

Edge: Wit

Brian

Now on to another masterpiece that opens with a horn solo. Serkin/Cleveland/Szell


Karl Henning

Quote from: Brian on March 11, 2016, 06:36:31 AM
One track may not be enough for a solid comparison, but here are my notes:
- Griffiths has shrunk his WDR orchestra to chamber size, which pays off in the more intimate moments but, towards the end of the overture, exposes some less-than-gorgeous playing
- Wit's NZSO is at full size and while it's not as glorious as his Warsaw band, it's certainly very fine
- Griffiths's opening horn solo is perfect and uber-atmospheric, but the horn parts later on glare a bit, a sore thumb in the orchestral texture
- Wit's tendency to conduct things slowly is in evidence here (he has an extra minute) but it's not noticeably slow. The performance never drags; it has a total command of the work's structure
- CPO's sound is a bit better

Edge: Wit

Tangentially, the EnnZedd band sound great in the Copland Third Symphony.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Todd




A-list recordings only today. 
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: Brian on March 11, 2016, 06:21:27 AM
Starting with Oberon:

Good idea; I'll join you...Szell with the Cleveland in Tokyo




Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Karl Henning

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on March 11, 2016, 06:48:04 AM
Good idea; I'll join you...Szell with the Cleveland in Tokyo



Did you photoshop in that Interview with Boulez, Sarge? Tell the truth, and shame the devil . . . .
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Mirror Image

Now:





Listening to Kikimora. Such an enchanting work.

(poco) Sforzando

Quote from: Brian on March 11, 2016, 06:39:18 AM
Now on to another masterpiece that opens with a horn solo. Serkin/Cleveland/Szell



Yes, I especially like the horn solo in op. 117/2. And much fancier cover art than the CBS copy I have of that performance. But I have to laugh at "the art of interpretation." When is the art of interpretation absent from any performance?

Bon voyage for your second trip in so many months, but before you depart I hope you will share your reactions to the German Requiem.
"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."

Sergeant Rock

#63030
Quote from: karlhenning on March 11, 2016, 06:52:04 AM
Did you photoshop in that Interview with Boulez, Sarge? Tell the truth, and shame the devil . . . .

;D :D ;D

Boulez conducted some of the concerts during that Asian tour. In the interview he reminisces about Szell and the tour.

Listening to the Mozart G minor now. A fabulous performance. Intensely dramatic first and fourth movements.




Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Brian

Quote from: karlhenning on March 11, 2016, 06:52:04 AM
Did you photoshop in that Interview with Boulez, Sarge? Tell the truth, and shame the devil . . . .
Dang does that box look like necessary listening, Boulez or no Boulez.

Quote from: (poco) Sforzando on March 11, 2016, 06:57:47 AM
When is the art of interpretation absent from any performance?
When it's HJ Lim playing Beethoven sonatas ;)

Quote from: (poco) Sforzando on March 11, 2016, 06:57:47 AM
Bon voyage for your second trip in so many months, but before you depart I hope you will share your reactions to the German Requiem.
So much of it is achingly beautiful - and while I don't know the individual Bach cantatas, when you posted that mini-discussion about the similarities yesterday, it didn't altogether shock me. Certainly, this is a more conservative and calm Requiem than Dvorak's dramatic and ultra-romantic interpretation (to say nothing of a certain Italian). Brahms keeps his grief a little more buttoned-up. I do look forward to hearing it again soon, probably right after returning, but it is quite a time investment, especially since much of the music is pretty similar in tempo/dynamics.

I see it's kind of earlyish - to the extent that you can call the 1860s early for Brahms; he found his voice very quickly, which was the point I was going to make with this sentence before the structure fell apart.

Brian

First-ever listen to this Pulitzer Prize winner: Caroline Shaw's Partita for 8 Singers.


NikF

Landowski: Symphony No. 2 - Martinon/ORTF.

My second time of listening and it's now revealing itself to be a piece of music that I find increasingly interesting.
"You overestimate my power of attraction," he told her. "No, I don't," she replied sharply, "and neither do you".

Todd

The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

(poco) Sforzando

Quote from: Brian on March 11, 2016, 07:20:25 AM
When it's HJ Lim playing Beethoven sonatas ;)

Touché, though I haven't yet had the honor and hope never to change that situation.

Quote from: Brian on March 11, 2016, 07:20:25 AM
So much of it is achingly beautiful - and while I don't know the individual Bach cantatas, when you posted that mini-discussion about the similarities yesterday, it didn't altogether shock me. Certainly, this is a more conservative and calm Requiem than Dvorak's dramatic and ultra-romantic interpretation (to say nothing of a certain Italian). Brahms keeps his grief a little more buttoned-up. I do look forward to hearing it again soon, probably right after returning, but it is quite a time investment, especially since much of the music is pretty similar in tempo/dynamics.

I see it's kind of earlyish - to the extent that you can call the 1860s early for Brahms; he found his voice very quickly, which was the point I was going to make with this sentence before the structure fell apart.

I agree with that latter point, though the very early opus numbers tend to exhibit somewhat more diffuse and prolix writing than you find already in works like the first string sextet of op. 18 and the orchestral serenades. But you seem to be overlooking the fact that Brahms drew his German texts from the Lutheran Bible rather than the Roman Catholic requiem as used by Mozart, Cherubini, Berlioz, Dvorak, Britten, Stravinsky, and that certain Italian. (Even so, all those works interpret the more-or-less same Latin text very differently, including the quite gentle version by the quite gentle Fauré.)
"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."

Que

Trying to make a dent in this:

[asin]B00DT2322E[/asin]

CD 19:
Bizet: Symphonie in C major; Jeux d'enfants Op. 22; La jolie fille de Perth, suite.
Offenbach: overtures Orphee aux enfers; La Belle Helene.

Q

Brian

Quote from: (poco) Sforzando on March 11, 2016, 07:40:50 AM
But you seem to be overlooking the fact that Brahms drew his German texts from the Lutheran Bible rather than the Roman Catholic requiem as used by Mozart, Cherubini, Berlioz, Dvorak, Britten, Stravinsky, and that certain Italian. (Even so, all those works interpret the more-or-less same Latin text very differently, including the quite gentle version by the quite gentle Fauré.)
You're right, I am overlooking that fact, because (1) I embarrassingly thought it was just in German, (2) I don't know how it translates into the musical language/identity being different. If you have any comments on (2) they would be welcome. (Maybe we could take this to the Brahms thread? Lotta noise in here.)

Quote from: Brian on March 11, 2016, 07:31:30 AM
First-ever listen to this Pulitzer Prize winner: Caroline Shaw's Partita for 8 Singers.


WOW. I feel like a revolution just happened in my ears.

I mean, the Partita isn't exactly revolutionary. It uses a lot of techniques that have been pioneered and gimmickized elsewhere: nonsensical spoken-word text, bustling conversation alternating with vocalise, gasping, eerie vocal effects (in mvt. 2 the men become a didgeridoo). Except that here, after the prologue math lecture (!) ends, the next 24 minutes are sheer magic, a carpet ride through a sound-place that I didn't know could exist. It's joyous, exultant, unhinged, bewitching. Wow, did I love that listen. Might be the most exciting new thing I've heard this year. (Sorry, Brahms  :P .)

Searching GMG, it looks like Rinaldo, GSMoeller, and a couple other people are fans of this work. Ken B had the best description of all, one I can't top:

Quote from: Ken B on December 06, 2014, 08:06:40 PM
TD, Caroline Shaw, Partita for 8 Voices

Which I really like.  It's like Philip Glass and Virgil Thomson got together and rewrote Stimmung.

P.S. On the CD, the movements are separated and rearranged, which is a pain in the butt. Took some effort to get the listen right.

(poco) Sforzando

Quote from: Brian on March 11, 2016, 08:10:55 AM
You're right, I am overlooking that fact, because (1) I embarrassingly thought it was just in German, (2) I don't know how it translates into the musical language/identity being different. If you have any comments on (2) they would be welcome. (Maybe we could take this to the Brahms thread? Lotta noise in here.)

I would be happy to, but not today as that's not something I can do OTTOMH and I am trying to get some other work done. Check back when you return from Seattle. But perhaps I will order your Caroline Shaw in the meantime.
"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."

SonicMan46

Quote from: Mookalafalas on March 10, 2016, 07:55:29 PM
Someone was raving about this set here at GMG, and I decided to get them. Then I found out I already had them in the super cheapy Sony complete LvB box.  And then I forgot all about them.
  Finally actually playing them, and they are stellar.  The playing, the sound. It's like they are in the room.  Worth the price of the box on their own (and actually, everything in that box is really good--I've really fallen for Zinman's symph cycle as well).

[asin]B002XDE9GI[/asin]

EDIT: turns out I am NOT listening to this set, but an earlier cycle by the same musicians.

Yes, believe that I was one of the discussants of the set shown above which is their second recording of these Beethoven SQs done in 2008 and performed on the Ellen M. Egger quartet of instruments he built in San Francisco in 1987 - below is a PDF file of several reviews, one of their earlier recording in the 90s and the other of the above Foghorn Classics production.  Also, Robert Greenberg from the Great Courses uses these second performances by the Alexander SQ in his lecture series on the Beethoven String Quartets.  Dave :)