What are you listening 2 now?

[Florestan]

First listening in 2025



KV 417



Acide e Galatea



D89 & D86



Krakowiak

[Traverso]

Webern

CD 5

Works for string quartet & string trio

[Spotted Horses]

Haydn Piano Sonata No 5, Jando, Brautigam, Bavouzet



A small scale piece, not included in the Pienaar set which I have usually included in my Haydn survey, so I suppose it is of dubious provenance.

A small scale piece in three movements, the second of which is the most substantial. Jando (first listen to anything from this set, is quite nice. Brautigam also satisfying, Bavouzet a bit too light in touch for my taste.

[ChamberNut]

First listen to the Symphony in C, and first listen to this disc. A real beauty! 

[Number Six]

New Year's Concert in Vienna, 1987
Karajan, Wiener Philharmonic

[André]

From the 1957 Salzburg Festival orchestral concerts compilation, Disc 4, with the Berliner Philharmoniker:

- Theodor Berger (1905-2992). Sinfonia parabolica (1956). World premiere.
- Gottfried von Einem (1918-1996): piano concerto (1956), with Gerty Herzog, piano.
- Arthur Honegger: symphony no 3 'Liturgique' (1946).

1957 was the first year the full schedule of the Festival's orchestral concerts were entrusted to 2 orchestras. Usually the WP did them all, with an occasional invited orchestra performance. Karajan who was General Manager of the Festival plus MD of the Berlin orchestra made sure not to offend the WP's sensibilities by giving them the most prestigious events.

Thus, the first (and only) time where a concert was devoted entirely to works by contemporary composers, the Berliners were on duty. While the recordings are all mono, the sound is very good and allows us to hear plenty of detail.

Berger's name was new to me but on the evidence of his Sinfonia parabolica he was a superb composer. A student of Franz Schmidt and Korngold, his music is much more pointillistic and neo-classical than that of his two arch-romantic teachers. Dynamics are for the most part under f, so we are never assaulted by mere noise. 'Mysterious', 'expectant', 'enigmatic' are adjectives that come to mind. An oboe drone is heard throughout the slow movement, giving it a feeling of anxiety, of being on alert throughout. Why is this not recorded commercially ?

Von Einem's concerto is definitely not an attention-grabbing piece. He sometimes treats the piano more as an obbligato than a solo instrument. Whether the piano is heard in quiet, reflective passages or in scurrying, insouciant romps, it is always with, and not against the orchestra. Very pleasant, but not very substantial stuff and not as original as Berger's symphony.

Karajan was a great fan of Honegger's Symphony liturgique. Everyone knows the commercial account on DGG, one of the classics of the gramophone. During the symphony's first decade on concert stages Karajan programmed it multiple times. There is a 1955 performance from the Lucerne Festival and then this 1957 Salzburg one with the BP. The latter is also available on Andante and EMI. It is more energetic and driven, more searing and raging than the stereo remake, but it yields to that famous account in terms of crushing weight and beauty of tone (tonal beauty is not an enemy of desperate, desolate music).

Karajan mostly stayed away from music written after 1940, so his occasional forays into Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Honegger, Orff, however timid, are worthy of attention.

[Cato]

- Theodor Berger (1905-1992). Sinfonia parabolica (1956). World premiere.

Berger's name was new to me but on the evidence of his Sinfonia parabolica he was a superb composer. A student of Franz Schmidt and Korngold, his music is much more pointillistic and neo-classical than that of his two arch-romantic teachers. Dynamics are for the most part under f, so we are never assaulted by mere noise. 'Mysterious', 'expectant', 'enigmatic' are adjectives that come to mind. An oboe drone is heard throughout the slow movement, giving it a feeling of anxiety, of being on alert throughout. Why is this not recorded commercially ?


Karajan mostly stayed away from music written after 1940, so his occasional forays into Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Honegger, Orff, however timid, are worthy of attention.

Another composer to investigate!

I found the Homeric Symphony on YouTube.  The opening is attention-grabbing!

[Linz]

Mozart  Haffner-Serenade & Mozart 'Bella mia fiamma, addio - Resta, o cara' Recitative and Aria for SopranoWand  Bavarian Radio Syymphony Orchestra, Edith Wiens, Günter Wand

[Rinaldo]

Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 9
Mackerras, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment



I have a tradition of blasting the Ninth on New Year's Day. Haven't heard this live recording in a while, lots of rightful energy, love the woodwinds, alas – the disc started skipping on track four so I'm on hour three of trying to rip it via EAC with the hope of burning a working copy. Perseverance! And happy new year y'all.

[André]

Another composer to investigate!

I found the Homeric Symphony on YouTube.  The opening is attention-grabbing!

This is a job for CPO ! 🏋🏻

[ritter]

Villancicos and dances from the Spanish Golden Age (Jordi Savall leads Hespèrion XX & XXI).


CD1.

[Karl Henning]

[Cato]

The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) did not do well at the box office and was disliked by most critics.

I have not seen it in years, but know that it was - to a degree - the model for Ridley Scott's Gladiator, in that the "fall" deals not with events in the later A.D. 300's into the 400's, but with the beginning of the end, i.e. the problem of succession to the throne, as exemplified by Marcus Aurelius allowing his mentally ill son Commodus to succeed him.*

The movie bankrupted its producer (Samuel Bronston).

However, the score by Dmitri Tiomkin has been a favorite of mine, and recently an impulse (possibly because of reading about the unnecessary creation of a sequel to Gladiator) came to me to revisit the score:

* The plot of Gladiator uses an idea around since the time of Marcus Aurelius himself to explain how the philosopher-emperor could ever let Commodus be in line for the throne, i.e. Commodus secretly murdered his father with poison, before Marcus Aurelius could prevent his ascension to power.

[Linz]

Benjamin Britten 4 Sea Interludes
Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A major, op. 92, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein

[Karl Henning]

[Karl Henning]

"Papa"
Symphony № 38 in C "Echo"
Academy of Ancient Music
Christopher Hogwood

[Karl Henning]

From the 1957 Salzburg Festival orchestral concerts compilation, Disc 4, with the Berliner Philharmoniker:

- Theodor Berger (1905-2992). Sinfonia parabolica (1956). World premiere.
- Gottfried von Einem (1918-1996): piano concerto (1956), with Gerty Herzog, piano.
- Arthur Honegger: symphony no 3 'Liturgique' (1946).

1957 was the first year the full schedule of the Festival's orchestral concerts were entrusted to 2 orchestras. Usually the WP did them all, with an occasional invited orchestra performance. Karajan who was General Manager of the Festival plus MD of the Berlin orchestra made sure not to offend the WP's sensibilities by giving them the most prestigious events.

Thus, the first (and only) time where a concert was devoted entirely to works by contemporary composers, the Berliners were on duty. While the recordings are all mono, the sound is very good and allows us to hear plenty of detail.

Berger's name was new to me but on the evidence of his Sinfonia parabolica he was a superb composer. A student of Franz Schmidt and Korngold, his music is much more pointillistic and neo-classical than that of his two arch-romantic teachers. Dynamics are for the most part under f, so we are never assaulted by mere noise. 'Mysterious', 'expectant', 'enigmatic' are adjectives that come to mind. An oboe drone is heard throughout the slow movement, giving it a feeling of anxiety, of being on alert throughout. Why is this not recorded commercially ?

Von Einem's concerto is definitely not an attention-grabbing piece. He sometimes treats the piano more as an obbligato than a solo instrument. Whether the piano is heard in quiet, reflective passages or in scurrying, insouciant romps, it is always with, and not against the orchestra. Very pleasant, but not very substantial stuff and not as original as Berger's symphony.

Karajan was a great fan of Honegger's Symphony liturgique. Everyone knows the commercial account on DGG, one of the classics of the gramophone. During the symphony's first decade on concert stages Karajan programmed it multiple times. There is a 1955 performance from the Lucerne Festival and then this 1957 Salzburg one with the BP. The latter is also available on Andante and EMI. It is more energetic and driven, more searing and raging than the stereo remake, but it yields to that famous account in terms of crushing weight and beauty of tone (tonal beauty is not an enemy of desperate, desolate music).

Karajan mostly stayed away from music written after 1940, so his occasional forays into Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Honegger, Orff, however timid, are worthy of attention.

[Karl Henning]

[Karl Henning]

[JBS]

From the 1957 Salzburg Festival orchestral concerts compilation, Disc 4, with the Berliner Philharmoniker:

- Theodor Berger (1905-2992). Sinfonia parabolica (1956). World premiere.
- Gottfried von Einem (1918-1996): piano concerto (1956), with Gerty Herzog, piano.
- Arthur Honegger: symphony no 3 'Liturgique' (1946).

1957 was the first year the full schedule of the Festival's orchestral concerts were entrusted to 2 orchestras. Usually the WP did them all, with an occasional invited orchestra performance. Karajan who was General Manager of the Festival plus MD of the Berlin orchestra made sure not to offend the WP's sensibilities by giving them the most prestigious events.

Thus, the first (and only) time where a concert was devoted entirely to works by contemporary composers, the Berliners were on duty. While the recordings are all mono, the sound is very good and allows us to hear plenty of detail.

Berger's name was new to me but on the evidence of his Sinfonia parabolica he was a superb composer. A student of Franz Schmidt and Korngold, his music is much more pointillistic and neo-classical than that of his two arch-romantic teachers. Dynamics are for the most part under f, so we are never assaulted by mere noise. 'Mysterious', 'expectant', 'enigmatic' are adjectives that come to mind. An oboe drone is heard throughout the slow movement, giving it a feeling of anxiety, of being on alert throughout. Why is this not recorded commercially ?

Von Einem's concerto is definitely not an attention-grabbing piece. He sometimes treats the piano more as an obbligato than a solo instrument. Whether the piano is heard in quiet, reflective passages or in scurrying, insouciant romps, it is always with, and not against the orchestra. Very pleasant, but not very substantial stuff and not as original as Berger's symphony.

Karajan was a great fan of Honegger's Symphony liturgique. Everyone knows the commercial account on DGG, one of the classics of the gramophone. During the symphony's first decade on concert stages Karajan programmed it multiple times. There is a 1955 performance from the Lucerne Festival and then this 1957 Salzburg one with the BP. The latter is also available on Andante and EMI. It is more energetic and driven, more searing and raging than the stereo remake, but it yields to that famous account in terms of crushing weight and beauty of tone (tonal beauty is not an enemy of desperate, desolate music).

Karajan mostly stayed away from music written after 1940, so his occasional forays into Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Honegger, Orff, however timid, are worthy of attention.

The Lucerne Honegger was released on Audite a couple of months ago as part of this

TD