Purchases Today

[Brian]

I know. That's why I'd take Schubert over Bruckner any time. 


Ughhh! Not my cup of tea in any way, sorry. I'd rather take a hundred Strauss waltzes and polkas than a single organ liturgy --- and I really do take them, actually. 

Maybe Bruckner just won't be your thing. No shame in that. Plenty of composers I never listen to, to make time for the ones I do.

[Wanderer]

I know. That's why I'd take Schubert over Bruckner any time. 


Ughhh! Not my cup of tea in any way, sorry. I'd rather take a hundred Strauss waltzes and polkas than a single organ liturgy --- and I really do take them, actually. 

I was trying to convey to you the image of a liturgy in the Orthodox manner. And I have found that the sound of the organ is a very good thing to have in mind when trying to make sense of Brucknerian sonorities, silence between notes and the way he constructs his argument. An "organ liturgy" taken together as a phrase might wrongly convey the image of a Vierne symphony, which is not what I meant by it. 

But yes, there's no way around the fact that when you're in the mood for Vienna's New Year Concert, Bruckner is not the right CD to reach for. 

[Florestan]

I was trying to convey to you the image of a liturgy in the Orthodox manner.

Yes, I got it alright, my dear friend. But to my ears the Orthodox liturgy* has more hummable tunes than all Bruckner's symphonies taken together. Cf. Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff.

*especially and paradoxically, the Liturgy for the Dead...

But yes, there's no way around the fact that when you're in the mood for Vienna's New Year Concert, Bruckner is not the right CD to reach for. 

As I said, Bruckner is probably my largest blind spot.

[Florestan]

Maybe Bruckner just won't be your thing. No shame in that.

Yep, I think that nails it.

[vers la flamme]

I never liked Bruckner, until I did. It was a glorious moment when it all started making sense to me. Since then, I've enjoyed each Bruckner symphony more and more with each successive listen, though I still struggle to fully appreciate the masses and other choral work. (Must admit there are times when I am not in the mood for his music, sometimes for months at a time.)

As for me I am partial to the Barenboim/Berlin Philharmonic set, which doesn't seem to get all that much love. I find it excellent.

[Brian]

Bruckner's definitely a "one at a time" guy for me - I fell in love with 7 first and easiest, then gradually 6, then 3 and the adagio of 8, and most recently I am finally starting to understand 4, but the first 65ish minutes of 5 are still interminably boring to me (last 5 minutes? ahhhmaaziiiiing), and the fast music in 8 is super repetitive and trancelike in a way that does not engage with me. There are not a lot of composers whose works only "click" with me one work at a time. Usually I either get someone or I don't.

[Brahmsian]

Bruckner's definitely a "one at a time" guy for me - I fell in love with 7 first and easiest, then gradually 6, then 3 and the adagio of 8, and most recently I am finally starting to understand 4, but the first 65ish minutes of 5 are still interminably boring to me (last 5 minutes? ahhhmaaziiiiing), and the fast music in 8 is super repetitive and trancelike in a way that does not engage with me. There are not a lot of composers whose works only "click" with me one work at a time. Usually I either get someone or I don't.

He kind of was a "one at a time" composer for me as well. He's been my most listened to composer for the past three or four years, by far.

[Madiel]

I've yet to hear a single Bruckner symphony.

It's on the to-do list. But then I remember I still have 2 Mahler symphonies to go. I'm only in the right mindset for such things 2-3 times a year.

[The new erato]

Bruckner's definitely a "one at a time" guy for me - I fell in love with 7 first and easiest, then gradually 6, then 3 and the adagio of 8, and most recently I am finally starting to understand 4, but the first 65ish minutes of 5 are still interminably boring to me (last 5 minutes? ahhhmaaziiiiing), and the fast music in 8 is super repetitive and trancelike in a way that does not engage with me. There are not a lot of composers whose works only "click" with me one work at a time. Usually I either get someone or I don't.

He was obsessive/compulsive, and despite a serious and heavy crush on Anton in my younger years, that fact have been increasingly obvious to me when listening in the last few years. And his use of "organ dynamics - as in weak, loud, very loud - also doesn't sit easily with me when listening. Glorius music in large parts, but then the limitations set in and become tiresome.

I'm sorry Anton, wherever you are.

[Mirror Image]

Just bought:



There's a recording on CPO that looked good, but I didn't know any of the performers, but Sawallisch is a conductor I certainly know with Lucia Popp, Fischer-Dieskau and Moll also being three vocalists I'm familiar with. Anyway, I was only familiar with this opera's symphonic suite, which is fantastic, so it'll be nice to get some context now.

[aligreto]

He was obsessive/compulsive, and despite a serious and heavy crush on Anton in my younger years, that fact have been increasingly obvious to me when listening in the last few years. And his use of "organ dynamics - as in weak, loud, very loud - also doesn't sit easily with me when listening. Glorius music in large parts, but then the limitations set in and become tiresome.

I'm sorry Anton, wherever you are.

He forgives you   

[The new erato]

Good to know.

[Mirror Image]

Just bought:



I thought this recording was going to be a part of the 3-CD Strauss Haitink set I received today from Japan (a Tower Records exclusive in conjunction with Decca), but it was not, so I had to right this wrong rather quickly.

[Daverz]

Just bought:



I thought this recording was going to be a part of the 3-CD Strauss Haitink set I received today from Japan (a Tower Records exclusive in conjunction with Decca), but it was not, so I had to right this wrong rather quickly.

It's not in the Philips Years box, either.   

[Mirror Image]

It's not in the Philips Years box, either.   

Whoah...really?!? That is rather surprising, Daverz. I do wonder what these labels are thinking sometimes, because I've read this is a great performance and I think Haitink's work with the Concertgebouw is still some of his best work.

[Traverso]

Just bought:



I thought this recording was going to be a part of the 3-CD Strauss Haitink set I received today from Japan (a Tower Records exclusive in conjunction with Decca), but it was not, so I had to right this wrong rather quickly.

It is a very fine recording.

[Mirror Image]

It is a very fine recording.

Great to read, Jan. Looking forward to hearing it.

[aligreto]

Batten down the hatches for the storm sequence on that one, John!

[Wanderer]

.

[aligreto]

This has arrived this morning: Vivaldi: Four Seasons [Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble]