Purchases Today

[Mirror Image]

Just bought:

[T. D.]

I just don't connect with him. His music doesn't move me. The only real exception is Bluebeard's Castle. And possibly the Sonata for 2 pianos and percussion.  At any rate, his piano music is something I have not yet explored.

I'm pretty much in the same boat; enjoy the 2 pieces you mentioned, but I happen to love the solo piano box performed by Kocsis. I listen to a lot of string quartets and feel a bit guilty admitting that I've never connected with Bartok's. Any deficiencies are of course mine rather than the composer's.

[vers la flamme]

Going to jump on the "admire more than love Bartók" bandwagon. I keep trying with his music, frequently, but outside of a few works, his music seldom truly speaks to me. That being said, it's obvious to me and anyone that he is a great composer, so I will continue listening. There is one major exception: the string quartets. I really love all 6 of these. I like what I've heard of the piano music, too, but haven't heard much. I have one of the Mikrokosmos books and work through some of the little pieces sometimes.

Anyway, in the spirit of the thread, and a propos to current discussion:



I've just ordered this. Looking forward to spending time with these concerti.

[Mirror Image]

Going to jump on the "admire more than love Bartók" bandwagon. I keep trying with his music, frequently, but outside of a few works, his music seldom truly speaks to me. That being said, it's obvious to me and anyone that he is a great composer, so I will continue listening. There is one major exception: the string quartets. I really love all 6 of these. I like what I've heard of the piano music, too, but haven't heard much. I have one of the Mikrokosmos books and work through some of the little pieces sometimes.

Anyway, in the spirit of the thread, and a propos to current discussion:



I've just ordered this. Looking forward to spending time with these concerti.

For me, Bartók represents a composer that is more on the cerebral, colder side of the musical coin. This isn't to say that his music lacks passion and warmth, because there's plenty of this in his music. But the way he operates seems to be with a certain element of detachment and, yes, even austerity at times, but this a part of why I found the music so attractive. His music is like someone who throws a bloody carcass into a pool of pirañas. It gets directly to the point and doesn't make any bones about whether you like how he got there --- there's a truthfulness within the music. I think his late period works show him in a more vulnerable state and this, of course, was because of his illness, but the works from the 1910s up to the 1930s show a tremendous range in terms of emotional content, but also sheer versatility. The earthiness and eeriness of this music haunts me and has touched me deeply. I felt an immediate attraction to his music and he was one of the first composers I got into. For this, his music will always be close to my heart. Even though I go through phases where I don't listen to any of his works, he's still with me.

[San Antone]

His music is like someone who throws a bloody carcass into a pool of pirañas.

That is quite a visual image; I have never thought of any composer in that way.  Where do you get this stuff?

[springrite]

I found the music so attractive. His music is like someone who throws a bloody carcass into a pool of pirañas.

Interesting description, and not entirely inappropriate.
I prefer throwing live healthy wholesome animals into a pool of pirañas as well. 

[Mirror Image]

That is quite a visual image; I have never thought of any composer in that way.  Where do you get this stuff?

I'm not sure where it comes from, but it's just that Bartók's music has this viciousness to it that reminds me of pirañas. I suppose my visual imagery was a bit over-the-top. I was more or less trying to make a point with an absurd analogy.

[Mirror Image]

Interesting description, and not entirely inappropriate.
I prefer throwing live healthy wholesome animals into a pool of pirañas as well. 

Yikes! Remind me to never go swimming with you, Paul.

[Jo498]

For me there are some Bartok works I found appealing almost immediately, even as a fairly inexperienced teenager (e.g. Divertimento, Concerto for Orchestra), others that took some experience but became huge favorites (like the first two piano concertos), and others I find rather tough, even after 20 years of listening to them (probably not listened enough, though), like the 3rd quartet, violin sonatas. I don't much care for the very early almost romantic pieces (like Kossuth) and I never warmed for most of the solo piano music, admittedly.

[San Antone]

For me there are some Bartok works I found appealing almost immediately, even as a fairly inexperienced teenager (e.g. Divertimento, Concerto for Orchestra), others that took some experience but became huge favorites (like the first two piano concertos), and others I find rather tough, even after 20 years of listening to them (probably not listened enough, though), like the 3rd quartet, violin sonatas. I don't much care for the very early almost romantic pieces (like Kossuth) and I never warmed for most of the solo piano music, admittedly.

Oh, wow, I completely forgot about the string quartets.  So, there IS more Bartok that I like.      I used to listen to the piano concertos and liked them, but these days it is rare for me to listen to ANY concertos by any composer.

Hmm ... might have to rethink my response to Bartok and listen to more music. I may have jumped the gun on my "doesn't connect" remark.

[Mirror Image]

Just bought:

Added some more Bernstein to this existing order:

[André]

I don't expect to listen to this often but for 12$, new, 6 discs containing 4 complete works, I figured I couldn't pass it over. The Bretón work in particular has quite a reputation. I have become fond of german/viennese operetta lately, so why not try the spanish kind? 

[André]

Jeffrey's tireless advocacy carried the day!

[springrite]

Jeffrey's tireless advocacy carried the day!

I love this disc! (The symphonies 1 through 4, less so)

[Christo]

Jeffrey's tireless advocacy carried the day!

He even went as far as letting me drive all the way to Sussex to be able to solemnly hand me a copy. #May2018 

[Sergeant Rock]

Arrived today: a Walton twofer, bought primarily for Haitink's First Symphony.




Sarge

[steve ridgway]

16.10 pounds from the Chandos Naxos January Sale for some Crumb, Varese and Penderecki .

[asin] B000JVSVD8[/asin]

[asin] B00005MFGX[/asin]

[asin] B001716J0Q[/asin]

[asin] B00V872HMS[/asin]

[asin] B003Y3O1TG[/asin]

[asin] B007WB5D0C[/asin]

[asin] B000U7V9EY[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

16.10 pounds from the Chandos Naxos January Sale for some Crumb, Varese and Penderecki .

[asin] B000JVSVD8[/asin]

[asin] B00005MFGX[/asin]

[asin] B001716J0Q[/asin]

[asin] B00V872HMS[/asin]

[asin] B003Y3O1TG[/asin]

[asin] B007WB5D0C[/asin]

[asin] B000U7V9EY[/asin]

I hope you enjoy Penderecki more than I did. He's another composers I've tried to enjoy, but I could never develop a taste for his music. A lot of it has to do with his musical language more than it just being incredibly austere. I do like early Penderecki much more than his turn to more conventional writing. I guess one could call his mature music 'Neo-Romantic'.

[steve ridgway]

I hope you enjoy Penderecki more than I did. He's another composers I've tried to enjoy, but I could never develop a taste for his music. A lot of it has to do with his musical language more than it just being incredibly austere. I do like early Penderecki much more than his turn to more conventional writing. I guess one could call his mature music 'Neo-Romantic'.

The early experimental works have lured me in initially but he's quite varied and I'm willing to give Neo-Romantic a chance. The samples of music for just one or two instruments haven't grabbed me but I'm going to give these a listen first then go back and check out what else I might like. The downloads are certainly very convenient, the ALACs imported straight into iTunes and just needed some tidying up. Much quicker than copying CDs.

[vandermolen]

He even went as far as letting me drive all the way to Sussex to be able to solemnly hand me a copy. #May2018