Pieces that have blown you away recently

Started by arpeggio, September 09, 2016, 02:36:58 PM

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Todd




From the Mischa Maisky 10 Classic Albums box.  Here's one of those discs that I would never have thought to buy on its own.  A mixed rep, transcription job, with Maisky and Pavel Gililov making small cello and piano pieces out of some well known and not so well known songs and solo works, the disc is a fantabulous success.  Gililov's accompaniment, and here that's what it is, is sensitive and expressive and wholly satisfying.  It makes me want to here him in some solo rep, but like Enrico Pace, he's basically a chamber music guy.  This show is pretty much all Maisky's.  Sure, it's possible to think of some of the transcriptions and playing as too sentimental by half, and Schumann's Traumerei could even be thought of as oppressively treacly, or at least it could if Maisky didn't deliver it, and all the pieces, with such authority and conviction.  This dude appears to believe in each and every note he plays with his whole being, and his playing fully realizes everything he wants to do.  To drive home this point, when I saw the Chopin Prelude in B minor - called just Prelude here - I did a snooty sniff, thinking along the lines "Hah, no way!".  But as I listened to the piece, which is arguably the best on the disc, I then thought "Oh, shit, oops!"  That the pieces selected are intrinsically beautiful is obviously no accident, and they sound as beautiful here as they probably can.  I guess this disc might qualify as a guilty pleasure, but as the pleasure so vastly outweighs the guilt, I'm just fine with that.

Turns out this disc is available for free on YouTube.  I'll stick with the high grade physical recording instead.
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

pjme

https://www.youtube.com/v/sO6ih9ees2Q

A stormy, very windy day, here. Huge clouds & sun. Bursts of torrential rain.

Brahms "Ich schwing mein Horn..." - the text is really strange, the music overwhelmingly beautiful.

P.

aleazk

And yet another great piece combining solo instruments with electronics from Dai Fujikura.

Poison Mushroom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHrvumuC6yc


Jo498

Quote from: pjme on July 25, 2017, 12:44:42 PM
https://www.youtube.com/v/sO6ih9ees2Q

A stormy, very windy day, here. Huge clouds & sun. Bursts of torrential rain.

Brahms "Ich schwing mein Horn..." - the text is really strange, the music overwhelmingly beautiful.

The first line is really strange because usually one does not "swing" a (hunting) horn. It probably simply expresses the sadness of the hunter. (There is a still common saying in German "Trübsal blasen", literally "blowing sadness".) The rest of the anonymous poem (from the "Youth's Magic Horn", collected in the early 19th century, but probably at least a 100 years older or done in an archaic style on purpose) extensively uses the allegory of the hunting chase for the pursuit of a lover (who is the escaped game). Of course this is creepy in many ways for today's sensibilities, especially if done as thoroughly as here. Admittedly, I don't understand what "eating hare's meat" in the last stanza is supposed to mean. In the hunting context it obviously means that he has to contend with meagre fare. But I don't know if this had a corresponding meaning in the love context...
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

pjme

Thanks, Jo. For me this strange text adds to the beauty of this ravishing setting. I found very little explanation on the INternet.

This I found at : http://www.kellydeanhansen.com/opus41.html


"...., an utterly gorgeous setting of an old German poem in an archaic style that is infinitely superior to its arrangement for solo voice and piano in Op. 43.  The timbre of men's voices in harmony is exploited to its fullest in this fine piece, whose style is completely different from that of the other four and whose text is timeless rather than dated.  Despite the differing voices, its character is much closer to that of another  "old German" setting for mixed chorus, Op. 62, No. 7, than to the following four Lemcke songs."

Parsifal

Hindemith Konzertmusik for Brass and String Orchestra.

Listened to it because it was next up in my cpo set of Hindemith Orchestral Music. Had never sought it out before because the title was somehow off-putting to me. Gave me the impression that it would be some sort of concerto for various brass instruments.

But Wow! Not what I was expecting at all. The harmonies and he sonorities created are utterly captivating.

[asin]B000001RXO[/asin]

Performance is beautiful, audio engineering is perfect.

Karl Henning

Quote from: Scarpia on August 07, 2017, 07:57:22 AM
Hindemith Konzertmusik for Brass and String Orchestra.

Listened to it because it was next up in my cpo set of Hindemith Orchestral Music. Had never sought it out before because the title was somehow off-putting to me. Gave me the impression that it would be some sort of concerto for various brass instruments.

But Wow! Not what I was expecting at all. The harmonies and he sonorities created are utterly captivating.

[asin]B000001RXO[/asin]

Performance is beautiful, audio engineering is perfect.


Yes!  Possibly the second Hindemith piece I ever heard (after the Symphony in Bb which we played in a Region Band).
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

aleazk

Ravel - Sad Birds (from the suite Miroirs)

And in this particular interpretation by the master himself! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDIAnwjFVVA

Every time I listen to it... and the title... oh, so beautiful combination... birds... but sad. Can birds be sad? Yes, and this piece is an evidence of that.

Jaakko Keskinen

Debussy's La cathédrale engloutie, from préludes, a wonderfully evocative piece.
"Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him. Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the sense of duty, are things which may become hideous when wrongly directed; but which, even when hideous, remain grand."

- Victor Hugo

aleazk

I have been listening a lot to Cage lately. His sense of well being with the world, in some sort of child-like but also ecstatic way, gives me what I need.

My favorites are the Constructions, Sonatas and Interludes, Six Melodies, Number Pieces, In a Landscape, Dream, and so many more...

Omicron9

The past couple of weeks, I've been listening to the new Naxos disk of Fricker string quartets.  I was previously unfamiliar with his work.  In it, I hear an almost Bartokian density.  I suspect that if you like the Bartok quartets, you'd also enjoy the work of Mr. Fricker.

https://www.amazon.com/Fricker-String-Quartets-Villiers-Quartet/dp/B01NCVFY3W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502889288&sr=8-1&keywords=fricker+string+quartets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzoC3LigXc0

Is there a way to embed a YouTube video, other than the URL?   Sorry; new to the forum here.   ;)
"Signature-line free since 2017!"

Florestan

#292
Quote from: Omicron9 on August 16, 2017, 05:23:17 AM
Is there a way to embed a YouTube video, other than the URL?   Sorry; new to the forum here.   ;)

https://www.youtube.com/v/bzoC3LigXc0


1. Copy-paste the URL.

2. Delete "watch?" immediately in front of "v" and replace "=" immediately behind it with a /

2. Select the result and click on the Flash icon (red, second from the left, second row of icons)

4. Optional: adjust the width and height by modifying the corresponding dimensions in the flash tag; the default is 200,200.

5. Done!

Quote this post to see how it works.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Omicron9

Thank you, Florestan.  I will try that next time.
"Signature-line free since 2017!"

Spineur

In case you forget, locate a post with an embedded video and clic on "quote".  The syntax used will be apparent in the reply box.
0:)

Jaakko Keskinen

"Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him. Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the sense of duty, are things which may become hideous when wrongly directed; but which, even when hideous, remain grand."

- Victor Hugo

Todd




This disc mostly contains music new to me.  The Grieg Cello Sonata is not, but this version is much better, much more vibrant than the Lloyd Webber/Forsberg recording.  Somewhat like with Isserlis' Janacek Pohadka recordings, the music is drained of some of its characteristic Grieginess, but the trade-off here is playing of such perfectly judged intensity and controlled passion as to make this emerge a true chamber music masterpiece.  It's so good that I think I may have to hear the Isserlis/Hough remake on Hyperion, which comes paired with Mendelssohn.

The five short Liszt works are all excellent, and even if not his best efforts, they reveal Liszt to be more than a showman alone, in the event such evidence is still needed. 

The Anton Rubinstein Cello Sonata No 1 is large scaled, rich, and romantic, like bulked up Mendelssohn, with some Tchaikovsky tossed in.  The Allegretto has some absolutely breathtaking cello playing, with Isserlis frantically whispering out figurations, which Hough later repeats expertly, though the effect is not quite the same due to the instrument.  The piano music at the beginning of the Allegro molto sounds like nothing other than a Lied ohne Worte.  If I could be assured all performances of Rubinstein's music were this good, I'd dramatically expand my collection of his music.

RCA's best 90s sound caps off an unexpectedly great disc.
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Omicron9

Quote from: α | ì Æ ñ on August 20, 2017, 02:15:49 AM
Been listening to several works from Francois Bernard Mache and I can't help but feel a little saddened he isn't riding the rails with Ligeti and the rest of the crew. His work is really high quality, inventive and unpredictable. Giving me a real thrill ride  :D

Alien,
I'd not heard of this composer, but ran over to YouTube to investigate.  Thank you for the recommendation.
Currently listening to/enjoying his Synergies, Opus 8 1963:

https://www.youtube.com/v/0f3wSIugFSI
"Signature-line free since 2017!"

Omicron9

#298
I just posted this in the "current listening" thread, but because I think they need wider exposure and always achieve "blown away" status, I'll expose them in this thread.  Ginastera string quartets.  No matter how often I hear them, I'm left knocked out every time.

[asin]B0027DQHHS[/asin]

https://www.youtube.com/v/DQ-pRazXpc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DQ-pRazXpc
"Signature-line free since 2017!"

aleazk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwiAoKn1aGw

Dai Fujikura - Prism Spectra (for viola and live electronics)

Really cool to see a piece like this live... it's like if all of those colorful electronic sounds were coming directly from the strings and flying to the air like the smoke of a cigar!  :P :)