What are you listening 2 now?

[Florestan]

Of course you're right...

The Great War my a$$, if you'll excuse my Walloon. What is so great about a senseless butchery in which the rank and file of each side thought (or rather, were conditioned to think) that they fight for the good and their country and that the enemy was a barbarian? Not that any other war was any better, mind you, but whenever I hear about the Great War is feel like puking. Far from having anything to do with greatness, war is the lowest, basest level humankind ever attained. The fact that it is a constant of history and not likely to disappear until Judgment Day is all the more cringe-inducing.

[Florestan]

Haydn Op 50 "cd 1" Festetics Q:


From my little FiiO player.  Festetics Q is my favorite, but I was looking forward to playing Kodaly Q which I really thought was loaded on my little player.  Must have ran out of room!

You keep mentioning it, so please send my best to your little giant! I have one too and it's been a source of constant delight and endless pleasure ever since I bought it a few years ago. 

[Mandryka]

Just gorgeous. Someone gave it to me, and it's like a ray of sunshine (on a lovely, cold and bright, Boxing day in London. Buds appearing (just) on trees. )

Part of it is that Grumiaux is so distinctive, and old fashioned. But part of it is the warm (and old fashioned) sound. The whole thing is a formula for the warm fuzzies.  It's musical apple strudel.

[DavidW]

You keep mentioning it, so please send my best to your little giant! I have one too and it's been a source of constant delight and endless pleasure ever since I bought it a few years ago. 

I'm still surprised it works after all these years!

[Florestan]

I'm still surprised it works after all these years!

How many years of service?

Mine is different:



and it's 5 years old, I think --- the battery operates like when it was brand new.

[Traverso]

The Great War my a$$, if you'll excuse my Walloon. What is so great about a senseless butchery in which the rank and file of each side thought (or rather, were conditioned to think) that they fight for the good and their country and that the enemy was a barbarian? Not that any other war was any better, mind you, but whenever I hear about the Great War is feel like puking. Far from having anything to do with greatness, war is the lowest, basest level humankind ever attained. The fact that it is a constant of history and not likely to disappear until Judgment Day is all the more cringe-inducing.

Yesterday I saw on the news a father kissing his deceased child who had just been recovered from the rubble. It broke my heart, I think you are right that wars are here to stay.So many people who look away  and do not want to take responsibility. Mothers and  wives are now begging for the return of their children/husbands but not an expression of compassion for the so-called enemy.

[ritter]

I kindly ask posters to remain on-topic in this thread. Further deviations to tangential issues should be avoided, and most particularly if they deal with current geopolitical events (as we all know how those discussions usually end). Thanks!

[Traverso]

I kindly ask posters to remain on-topic in this thread. Further deviations to tangential issues should be avoided, and most particularly if they deal with current geopolitical events (as we all know how those discussions usually end). Thanks!

 I´m aware of that and for that reason no names countries and so fort. Just a cry from the heart.

[Spotted Horses]

Bacewicz, Symphony No 2, Violin Concerto No 3.





I must say I enjoyed the violin concerto more than the symphony. The sound on the cpo release of the second symphony sounds oddly recessed to me, and the bass drum, when it is employed, too loud. The recording of the orchestra in the Chandos recording of the third violin concerto is much more vibrant, and the music has moments of arresting sonority, harmony and melody.

I'll be looking forward to the Chandos recording of the second symphony, when it appears.

[Traverso]

Beethoven

Symphony No.9

My favorite Beethoven conductor is Hans Schmidt Isserstedt

[Karl Henning]

A Christmas tradition for me - Finzi's incomparably beautiful In terra pax:



Truly heart-warming stuff by a composer whose music never fails to move me...

Having listened anew to, and enjoyed all over again:

I'm in!

[ando]

J.S. Bach: Sonatas & Partitas For Solo Violin BWV 1001-1006 Dmitry Sitkovetsky (2004, Hänssler, Bach Complete Works)
I'm spinning the CD from the box set but I see that some industrious soul put the whole thing up on The Archive (CD 161). Nice balance on the recordings. Not familiar with Sitkovetsky though apparently he's something of a musical dynamo. Naxos Music Library has the album streaming. Yet the same set recorded for the Orfeo label sounds far superior. It's not clear if the '85 recording was simply reappropriated by Hänssler or if it is indeed a different date. Amazon Music has the album streaming, too, but Hurwitz was certainly right when it said the site is a mess. And it's older than Apple Music so you'd think the predecessor would have something up on them. None of the other major platforms has the lp streaming but AM clearly dropped the ball altogether in terms of user interface. 

[Maestro267]

2023 Year in Review, Programme 1

Brahms: String Quintet No. 1
Brandis Quartett w/ Brett Dean (viola)

Dvorak: Piano Trio No. 3
Solomon Trio

Schubert: String Quintet
Emerson SQ w/ Rostropovich (cello)

[SimonNZ]

on the radio: Nocturnes

[Bachtoven]

[AnotherSpin]

Brahms, Piano Concerto No.2

[Henk]

How many years of service?

Mine is different:



and it's 5 years old, I think --- the battery operates like when it was brand new.

My sony is also still working like it never wears out after about +/-12 years and I use it every day. Battery is working as good as ever.

[Linz]

Bruckner Symphony no. 7 in E Major, 1885 Version. Ed.Leopold Nowak, Ferdinand Leitner, The Hague Residentie Orcheestra

[DavidW]

How many years of service?

Mine is different:



and it's 5 years old, I think --- the battery operates like when it was brand new.

I thought eight years but then I checked... only six years.  I had an earlier model purchased in 2015 and something must have happened because I replaced it in 2017 with the one I have now but I didn't sell or hold on to the older one, so I'm guessing it broke or I lost it.  My memory is terrible on the matter!

[Lisztianwagner]

Ludwig van Beethoven
Missa Solemnis

Gundula Janowitz (soprano), Christa Ludwig (contralto), Fritz Wunderlich (tenor), Walter Berry (bass-baritone)
Herbert von Karajan & Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Singverein