What are you listening 2 now?

[AnotherSpin]

Nocturnes.

[Todd]

Disc three.

[Karl Henning]

Stravinksy: Berceuses du Chat



Interesting lightly orchestrated short songs .

A brilliany set!

[Karl Henning]

Webern: Six Pieces For Large Orchestra, Op. 6



Atmospheric and dramatic .

They certainly punch above their weight.

TD, since it's somehow the whipping boy du jour:

Brahms
c minor Symphony, Op. 68
Chas Munch conducting

[Karl Henning]

Stravinksy: Symphony In Three Movements



Good dramatic work .

Heard this live outside Cleveland!

[Karl Henning]

Stravinsky: Cantata For 5 Instruments, Female Chorus, Mezzo-Soprano And Tenor



Nicely instrumented songs .

Exquisite!

[Karl Henning]

Brahms
c minor Symphony, Op. 68
Chas Munch conducting

I'm suppressing several snarky remarks, and will only observe: I wish I could write so bad a First Symphony.

[Linz]

Mendelssohn Complete Piano Quartets, Quartetto Klimt, CD2

[Karl Henning]

Prokofiev
Symphony № 1 in D, « Classical » Op. 25
Cz Phil
Zdeněk Košler

[foxandpeng]

Good idea!

Niiiice

[Karl Henning]

Shostakovich
b minor Symphony, Op. 54
Berlin Symphony
Kurt Sanderling

[Daverz]

Shostakovich
d minor Symphony, Op. 54
Berlin Symphony
Kurt Sanderling

AI tells me

  There is no "D minor Symphony, Op. 54" by Robert Schumann or any other prominent composer.

Not sure where it came up with Schumann.

[Baxcalibur]

Schubert: Symphony No. 9
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Franz Konwitschny



After hearing their Sibelius 5th, I wondered if there was a recording of the Czech Philharmonic playing Schubert's 9th, something that would showcase this orchestra at its best. Well there is, and it's wonderful.

This isn't the cover art on the Youtube playlist, but it's much more appealing than a large letter "S" in the background.

[Karl Henning]

AI tells me

  There is no "D minor Symphony, Op. 54" by Robert Schumann or any other prominent composer.

Not sure where it came up with Schumann.

Sorry. typo. b minor! Fun AI result, though.

[André]

Schubert: Symphony No. 9
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Franz Konwitschny



After hearing their Sibelius 5th, I wondered if there was a recording of the Czech Philharmonic playing Schubert's 9th, something that would showcase this orchestra at its best. Well there is, and it's wonderful.

This isn't the cover art on the Youtube playlist, but it's much more appealing than a large letter "S" in the background.

That's a terrific performance of the 9th.

[André]

I'd forgotten how good Godfried Devreese's First Symphony ('Gothic') is. Like Sternefeld's First Symphony it combines an epic defiance with a redemptive ending. Some reviews are v negative about the playing of the Moscow SO but that did not stop me enjoying the Symphony No.1 or the rather moving 'In Memoriam'
+ nice cover painting by the Anglo-Belgian James Ensor - one of my favourite painters.

I thought I had that disc, but it seems I don't. Luckily there was a used copy on Amazon, so I snatched it (along with another Devreese disc and some Poot).

Magritte is out, Ensor is in. He has become Belgium's favourite modern painter. 2024 is a big year (75th anniversary of his death). There are exhibitions throughout Belgium. A few years ago I saw his works in Ghent, Brussels and even tiny local museums. He continues to amaze.

[Karl Henning]

One of the wildest pieces you'll listen to today:

[André]

Walter Braunfels. Two remarkable scores by a composer whose name was practically unknown 20 years ago. Fantastical Apparitions (1917) exhausts the possibilities of transforming a them and coating it in ever more original colours. A tour de force. It was premiered by Bruno Walter, a huge fan of the composer. The late (1948) Sinfonia Brevis is anything but a light work. It was premiered by Günter Wand, another strong champion of the composer's music. It's actually quite substantial (4 movements, 31 minutes) and deep both in feeling and in musical complexity. Excellent booklet note by our own Jens F. Laurson.

[JBS]

I'm suppressing several snarky remarks, and will only observe: I wish I could write so bad a First Symphony.

Well he did seem to feel he was competing with Beethoven.

Speaking of whom


CD 6
Sonatas 19-23
Op 49/1 in g minor
Op 49/2 in G major
Op 53 in C major "Forest-stone"
Op 54 in F major
Op 57 in f minor "Passionate"

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner; Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra; Gintaras Rinkevicius