What are you listening 2 now?

[Karl Henning]

There is something to be said for old favorites. After listening to Vanska's Minnesota recording of Sibelius 4, I returned to Karajan, the Berlin recording from the 1960's on DG. This was the first recording of the piece I had heard.

Not to detract from Vanska, Karajan is magnificent in the way he manages the sonority of this music to draw a line through it and hold it together through the many abrupt shifts in mood.

The recording has been available in several releases from DG, and I ended up purchasing it more than once, seeking a better master. The most recent is in the Karajan 60's box, but I still fondly remember the first.



This was in the early days of the CD, and I remember being perplexed. It was a full price new release, but then I noticed there was no mention of "digital" on the cover and I was not expecting a 1967 recording on CD.

I bought that disc used in a shop on Mt Hope Avenue in Rochester. I fell for the Sixth right away, but somehow Herb didn't sell me on the Fourth. Not sure why, now, as after coming to love the Fourth as well, I think his recording perfectly fine. Listening again now.

[Traverso]

Saariaho

I have been hanging in old curtains for too long, so time for the colorful sounds of Saariaho.

[Le Buisson Ardent]

NP:

Prokofiev
Chout, Op. 21
USSR Ministry of Culture SO
Rozhdestvensky

From this OOP set -

[Karl Henning]

Myaskovsky
Symphony № 5 in D, Op. 18 (1919)

[Karl Henning]

JSB
BWV 99 « Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan »

[Spotted Horses]

I bought that disc used in a shop on Mt Hope Avenue in Rochester. I fell for the Sixth right away, but somehow Herb didn't sell me on the Fourth. Not sure why, now, as after coming to love the Fourth as well, I think his recording perfectly fine. Listening again now.

Despite feeling a deep affinity for the music of Sibelius, the Forth Symphony is something I have had difficulty connecting to. (Ironically, the third symphony, which seems to give people the most trouble, is one of my favorites.) This Karajan recording is the one that works best for me. Perhaps I should revisit the 4th with some of my favorite Sibelius interpreters, Barbirolli, Maazel (the Pittsburgh recording, not the more famous WPO) and the Karajan recording with the Philharmonia (1953). And I still have the old Jarvi/Gothenburg on BIS, which was my other early exposure to Sibelius.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

KAPRÁLOVÁ, V.: Piano Concerto. Amy I-Lin Cheng, University of Michigan Symphony, Kiesler.

[Le Buisson Ardent]

NP:

Stravinsky
Duo concertant
Ilya Gringolts, Peter Laul



Exquisite piece and performance.

[Symphonic Addict]

Very compelling piece, I extremely enjoyed it! It is expressive, highly colourful with powerful contrasts and exasperated climaxes as well as beautifully evocative for the matter and strongly dissonant in the style remembering Schönberg and Berg. It is interesting that, although it can't be considered a typical symphony, it may be divided into four movements more or less: the first part (the love between Camilla and Curiatius) is calm, but also somber and mesmerizingly intense after the furious beginning and it counterpoints to a more martial section (the enter of the Horatii) and an energetic and haunting crescendo that leads to the second part (the preparation of the fighting), definitely more angular, restless and fragmented, with a brief reminiscence of the tenuous and sinister first part; the third part (the fighting) is violent, anguishing and strident, with abrupt changes and ending with a tragic climax; the final part (Camilla's mourning and her death) is harsh and powerfully thrilling. Very striking.

Fabulous description, Ilaria. A powerful work that leaves a strong impression indeed.

[Mandryka]

  The disc closes with Wilhelm Killmayer's An John Field: Nocturnes - No. 5.  In a sort of stylistic pastiche reminiscent of some of Berio's compositions, Killmayer, through Cascioli, delivers music that alternatively sounds unabashedly harsh and modern and breathtakingly gorgeous. 

True also of his Brahms Bildnis, which I've been enjoying today (not this youtube but one with Siegfried Mauser on Spotify)


@Luke - Killmayer another composer who is stimulated by existing musics.

[Luke]

Yes! I've played a few pieces by him over the years. Interesting composer.

[Brian]

A little light music to make Monday feel nicer.

[Le Buisson Ardent]

NP:

Vaughan Williams
Sinfonia antartica (Symphony No. 7)
Elizabeth Watts, soprano
BBC Scottish SO & Chorus
Brabbins



For me, Brabbins' RVW cycle on Hyperion is one of the great ones. I wouldn't quite put him up there with Boult (II), Previn or Thomson, but he would be next in line. I've also really come around to Handley's cycle over the years.

[Mandryka]

Yes! I've played a few pieces by him over the years. Interesting composer.

Lieder -- he was good at lieder with piano.

[Bachtoven]

This is quite a wild piano concerto. Not credited on the cover is pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard.

[foxandpeng]

Matthew Taylor
Symphony 6
Clarinet Concertino
Violin Concertino
Oboe Concerto
Matthew Taylor
BBC NO
Toccata Classics

Immense quality. Matthew Taylor is immense. And quality.

[Henk]

[Le Buisson Ardent]

Now playing Mahler's 1st with Vänskä leading the Minnesota Orchestra --- from this set:



Sounds excellent so far. Really excited to go through this cycle. I wish Vänskä had also recorded some of the orchestral songs and Das Lied von der Erde. He did an excellent Das Lied earlier, but it was the chamber orchestra arrangement by Schoenberg. I want to hear a beefy Minnesota account of this work.

A note about the packaging --- well, it's not all that great or imaginative, but it has the individual booklets for each release and the sleeves are those usual atrocious Microsoft Windows 95 specials. Also, each sleeve is sealed with an inferior adhesive. I quickly replaced all of these sleeves with those clear, non-static sleeves that you find in Japan mini-LP style imports.

[Linz]

Bruckner Symphony No. 8 In C Minor, 1890 Version. Ed. Leopold Nowak, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Donald Runnicles

[lordlance]

From my little FiiO player... Mahler 9 Abbado/BPO live.  The SQ is exceptional.  You can hear the creaking of the chairs, the muffled coughs of the audience, the turning of the sheets... and at the very end you can hear Abbado place the baton down on the podium.

And the performance is excellent with those amazing strings that Berlin does so well.  I think most Abbado fans prefer his earlier recordings with the VPO and CSO... but I love these Lucerne recordings.  Especially the third and seventh.

The image is of the BPO live performance and not the LFO BD. Did you link the wrong image or that you like both of the latter recordings more?