What are you listening 2 now?

[Biffo]

Gustav Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Riccardo Chailly, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, w/ various singers: Matthias Goerne (baritone), Barbara Bonney (soprano), Sara Fulgoni (mezzosoprano), & Gösta Winbergh (tenor)

An eBay seller sent this to me by accident and told me to keep it. I'm very thankful for it as this recording wasn't even on my radar, but I'm enjoying it so much that I think I owe it to myself to hear more of Chailly's Mahler. It wouldn't be unfair to call him one of the preeminent Mahlerians of our time, I think. The singers are all phenomenal, but especially Goerne. This song cycle is one of my most neglected works in all of Mahler, I need to listen to it more.

An excellent album. You also get to hear Revelge sung by a tenor as Mahler intended - a rare occurrence.

[Madiel]

Using OperaVision to watch Mozart, Il sogno di Scipione.

[Que]

Q

[Que]

Switched performances:



Q

[MusicTurner]

Johan van Veen is a very knowledgeable reviewer! He tends to focus on the Baroque and Classical eras, favouring historically informed performances. Which is right up my alley.... 
He has also a personal website with reviews, definitely worth a (regular) visit.
His only weak spot is that sometimes the intellectual excitement triggered by the novelty factor of previously unavailable repertoire gets the better of him. Which I totally get BTW. 

I might revisit the WF set some time soon. 

Q

  I checked the website (Musica Dei Donum), and yes, it is good, with a lot of varied content, including a lot of various CDs, often with lesser known repertoire from that period. Btw, being Dutch, van Veen seems to have mainly reviewed concerts in Utrecht, so maybe he is based in the vicinity. Obviously, he is very knowledgeable regarding music of that period. I don't think we have that many specialists in my country also knowing so much about early music and the whole recording field as well.

[Papy Oli]

Good afternoon all,

First listen to Chausson.

Poème de l'Amour et de la mer 9 (V. Gens)
Symphonie Op.20

[Biffo]

Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915 - Eleanor Steber soprano with The Dumbarton Oaks Chamber Orchestra conducted by William Strickland. This comes from the Rudolf Firkusny box set, the original LP also had a piano work by Barber. It is new to me and I will have to find another recording to appreciate this evocative work. Steber is incomprehensible, another singer with hideous wide vibrato, she could be singing in almost any language.

[Madiel]

Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915 - Eleanor Steber soprano with The Dumbarton Oaks Chamber Orchestra conducted by William Strickland. This comes from the Rudolf Firkusny box set, the original LP also had a piano work by Barber. It is new to me and I will have to find another recording to appreciate this evocative work. Steber is incomprehensible, another singer with hideous wide vibrato, she could be singing in almost any language.

It's one of Barber's best works. There's a good recording with Dawn Upshaw, and also the one I have on Naxos (Karina Gauvin is the singer, Marin Alsop the conductor).

[ritter]

Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915 - Eleanor Steber soprano with The Dumbarton Oaks Chamber Orchestra conducted by William Strickland. This comes from the Rudolf Firkusny box set, the original LP also had a piano work by Barber. It is new to me and I will have to find another recording to appreciate this evocative work. Steber is incomprehensible, another singer with hideous wide vibrato, she could be singing in almost any language.

Well, the work was commissioned by Mrs. Steber, so one can think hers was the voice the composer had in mind. I find her an outstanding singer, but it's a matter of taste, of course.

An alternative which might suit you better (and IMO is equally valid) is Dawn Upshaw on Nonesuch:

[asin]B000005IZ3[/asin]

EDIT: I see Madiel beat me in recommending Upshaw by a couple of minutes 

[MusicTurner]

Viotti and Czerny - 3 Piano Concertos & Concerto for Piano & Violin - Boldrini / Brilliant 2CD

The Czerny works seem rather awful and outdated with their prolonged umpapa, at least for this listener. Whereas Viotti is more to my taste, somehow with a bit of slender, yet also at times ~Weberesque atmosphere.

The soloist is good & brings life to the solo parts; the orchestra seems rather small and provincial, but they are dedicated in their efforts, and the recording adds a lot of space / ~grandeur to the ongoings, perhaps intentionally, to drown any shortcomings (? ) ...

Not in any way essential - but, like it was the case with the Brilliant set of the Viotti string quartets, I do have a faible for some of Viotti's pieces; less so his violin concertos, however.

[Biffo]

Thanks to ritter and Madiel, I will try Dawn Upshaw.

From the same disc - Howard Hanson: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G major - Rudolf Firkusny piano with the Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer.

[Traverso]

Mahler

Symphony No.4

[vers la flamme]

Mahler

Symphony No.4

Thoughts? I have been enjoying a couple of Karajan's Mahler recordings lately (as we discussed yesterday )

Now playing:



Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.1 in D major. Michael Halász, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra

I don't know what it is but I like this recording. The sound is a little recessed, the playing is not as good as some of the greats, but somehow it all works. The Blumine is nice, this is my only recording of it.

[Biffo]

Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915 - Dawn Upshaw soprano with The Orchestra of St Luke's conducted by David Zinman - very enjoyable

[Mandryka]

What sort of crazy mofo would write this sort of stuff?

[Madiel]

Schoenberg, Theme and Variations for Band, op.43



Genesis Suite: Schoenberg, Shilkret, Tansman, Milhaud, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Toch, Stravinsky.

[Karl Henning]

CDs 1 & 3:

Respighi
Gli uccelli (1928)
Impressioni brasiliane (1928)
LSO
Doráti

Fontane di Roma (1916)
Pini di Roma (1924)
Minneapolis Symphony
Doráti

Bartók
Concerto for Orchestra (1942-3, rev. 1945)
LSO
Doráti

Táncszvit (1923)
Two Portraits for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 5 (1907, 1908)
Erwin Ramor, vn
Bourrée and "Diary of a Fly" from the "Mikrokosmos"
Philharminia Hungarica
Doráti

One benefit of spending the time with these boxes: This is the first I've listened properly to the Bartók Op. 5, the "Ideal" Portrait is exquisite!

[Mahlerian]

Mahler: Symphony No. 3 in D minor
Ortun Wenkel, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, cond. Tennstedt

[Traverso]

Thoughts? I have been enjoying a couple of Karajan's Mahler recordings lately (as we discussed yesterday )

Now playing:



Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.1 in D major. Michael Halász, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra

I don't know what it is but I like this recording. The sound is a little recessed, the playing is not as good as some of the greats, but somehow it all works. The Blumine is nice, this is my only recording of it.

Well,I think it is a fine recording but not my first choice wich is still the recording with Haitink/Ameling and the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
There are all kinds of stories why Karajan waited so long to record Mahler's music.
Was it because Mahler was a Jewish composer and the like.
I think this is nonsense, I never believed Karajan was a Nazi, these terms are used far too lightly by many people.
Let's stick to the music and note that Karajan was a great Mahler conductor.
His studio recording of the ninth is my first choice and not the live recording ( wich is very fine) of a few years later.
The Kindertoten and Rückert songs are a great tribute and indicates his love for Mahler.
You can argue about taste, but I'd rather hear Karajan than the emotionally overloaded Bernstein.
To come back to the fourth , this is highly recommended just because of the contribution of Edith Mathis.
Is this recording a must.....?, especially if you do not have a too conceptual sound presentation in mind.
Karajan is a worthy performer, not something he just added when he had a few hours off.
It is best to listen not knowing that it is Karajan who conducts, although some may hear it immediately.
In general I don't like to talk about music, the intention is to listen to it and possibly make a recommendation.
Exploring the world of sounds is fascinating.

[Mahlerian]

Well,I think it is a fine recording but not my first choice wich is still the recording with Haitink/Ameling and the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
There are all kinds of stories why Karajan waited so long to record Mahler's music.
Was it because Mahler was a Jewish composer and the like.
I think this is nonsense, I never believed Karajan was a Nazi, these terms are used far too lightly by many people.
Let's stick to the music and note that Karajan was a great Mahler conductor.
His studio recording of the ninth is my first choice and not the live recording ( wich is very fine) of a few years later.
The Kindertoten and Rückert songs are a great tribute and indicates his love for Mahler.
You can argue about taste, but I'd rather hear Karajan than the emotionally overloaded Bernstein.
To come back to the fourth , this is highly recommended just because of the contribution of Edith Mathis.
Is this recording a must.....?, especially if you do not have a too conceptual sound presentation in mind.
Karajan is a worthy performer, not something he just added when he had a few hours off.
It is best to listen not knowing that it is Karajan who conducts, although some may hear it immediately.
In general I don't like to talk about music, the intention is to listen to it and possibly make a recommendation.
Exploring the world of sounds is fascinating.

Karajan only came to Mahler after everyone else was doing it, and was more "selective" about which works he performed. I can't say whether he did or didn't love Mahler's music, but he didn't love even the works he did touch enough to perform the scores accurately.

To my ears, Karajan's Mahler performances drain the music of emotion, of drama, and of color. It's pretty much all of the things that some others accuse Boulez's Mahler performances of doing, and I don't know why I hear things so differently, but I will say that Boulez's performances are accurate to Mahler's instructions and Karajan's are not.