What are you listening 2 now?

[Madiel]

Bartok, 2 Elegies.

[Traverso]

Messiaen

I have read a rather remarkable article about the influence Messiaen had on the organist Willem Tanke, which has been quite far-reaching.
Here's a  fragment:
The passion with which I played Messiaen's music for nearly four decades led me to believe at one point that his demons had entered my body and soul. It drove me mad and almost to death. " However, as "by a miracle" he succeeded in "controlling the demons and transforming the bad into good energy, using creativity, spiritual strength and imagination." Tanke now says he has the power to "transfer this positive energy to listeners and younger musicians."
Many artists, according to Tanke, find themselves in "the endless gray area" between God and evil. For himself, performing Bach's music leads directly to God. "Playing Bach is about the purest path I can imagine to reach God. The energy that comes from there is one hundred percent good. "
Playing Messiaen's music is different, according to the organist. "The message he gives in all his compositions must be taken very literally: as a struggle between good and evil or between life and death. That's why, for example, I play a piece like "Dieu parmi nous" (God with us) from "La Nativité du Seigneur" as Saint Michael fighting the dragon. "
Having reached "this level of reflection and execution," Tanke said he was finally able to free himself from Messiaen's "ego-evil energy" that he had previously absorbed. "Because I filter out the bad vibrations, I am now able to receive and transmit Messiaen's music with the same purity and transparency that I find in Bach."

I myself have never felt any negative vibrations in Messiaen's music or had the idea that I was possessed in any way.


Le Banquet Céleste
Diptique
Apparetion de L'Eglise Éternelle
L'Ascention

[prémont]

Constructing music largely a note at a time on a cello is a beautiful and powerful and expressive thing. Constructing music largely a note at a time on a piano sounds trite, and pretty much like a schoolkid is doing their practice before they get around to adding the other hand.

It's just completely misconceived as an idea.

What do you think of Gustav Leonhardt's and Lutger Remy's arrangements fpr harpsichord?

[Madiel]

What do you think of Gustav Leonhardt's and Lutger Remy's arrangements fpr harpsichord?

I don't know them. I mean, I'm not particularly wild about harpsichord in general, though maybe texturally that would make more sense. But if they're actually arrangements, who knows? And then of course I know there's the Busoni arrangements of Bach on piano, the chaconne for violin. But Busoni does huge things to the texture of the piece to make it pianistic.

The little bits of Eleanor Bindman I just listened to, it wasn't an arrangement it was a transcription. Maybe somewhere else I would have found something more imaginative, but the couple of movements I sampled, all I heard was someone playing the exact same one-line music you'd get on a cello, with no attempt to think about how a piano could actually play chords instead of just imply them. And the piano actually implies the chords less than a cello would, because on a cello you have more resonant strings.  It was far from Busoni as you could imagine.

EDIT: I just found one of Leonhardt's arrangments - the E flat prelude -  and yes, clearly that's an arrangement playing way more notes than the cello does. It makes sense as a keyboard piece.  I'll go find the same movement by Bindman... well, that's about her best effort so far because she uses the piano pedal. But that's it. That's the most imaginative thing she's managed.

[Harry]

Salmenhaara: Symphony No.4
Definitely one of my most uplifting and inspiriting discoveries of this difficult year:

+1.

[vandermolen]

+1.

[Traverso]

I don't know them. I mean, I'm not particularly wild about harpsichord in general, though maybe texturally that would make more sense. But if they're actually arrangements, who knows? And then of course I know there's the Busoni arrangements of Bach on piano, the chaconne for violin. But Busoni does huge things to the texture of the piece to make it pianistic.

The little bits of Eleanor Bindman I just listened to, it wasn't an arrangement it was a transcription. Maybe somewhere else I would have found something more imaginative, but the couple of movements I sampled, all I heard was someone playing the exact same one-line music you'd get on a cello, with no attempt to think about how a piano could actually play chords instead of just imply them. And the piano actually implies the chords less than a cello would, because on a cello you have more resonant strings.  It was far from Busoni as you could imagine.

EDIT: I just found one of Leonhardt's arrangments - the E flat prelude -  and yes, clearly that's an arrangement playing way more notes than the cello does. It makes sense as a keyboard piece.  I'll go find the same movement by Bindman... well, that's about her best effort so far because she uses the piano pedal. But that's it. That's the most imaginative thing she's managed.

I really like this arrangement and the performance.

[Madiel]

Bartok, For Children (Zoltan Kocsis again).

Not really the kind of thing you're likely to want to listen to repeatedly the whole way through (it fills an entire CD). More the kind of thing you'd sprinkle a few samples from. Or of course appreciate for the pedagogical value as well as their musical value.

[Madiel]

I really like this arrangement and the performance.

I admit that in the circumstances I wasn't listening that closely to the Leonhardt, but it sounded perfectly agreeable.

[Maestro267]

Varèse: Déserts
Orchestre National de France/Nagano

[Todd]

I saw the quintet live with Alessio Bax + the Eschers. Love the piece.

Don't know the Escher Quartet, but Bax as the anchor would seem to guarantee fine results.  Now I want to hear the Escher Quartet.

TD:



Some later works.  Op 76 to start.  A nice set thus far, but not the set I've been looking for.  I'll probably have to break down and buy the Rosel set.

[Daverz]

Thank you. Yes, I never had any interest in Liszt's music, but when I sampled some on the Golovanov set (which I bought for the Glazunov recording) I enjoyed it more than expected, especially 'Festklange'.

You should try the Faust Symphony, particularly the Bernstein/Boston Symphony recording (the NYP recording is very good, too).

[Traverso]

Messiaen

Cataloque d'oiseaux  CD1

[Papy Oli]

Koechlin
Ballade Op.50
Preludes Op.209

[vandermolen]

You should try the Faust Symphony, particularly the Bernstein/Boston Symphony recording (the NYP recording is very good, too).

Thanks very much for the recommendation.

[Florestan]

I sampled some of the Taneyev string trios and they didn't sound too promising. They might deserve the label "academic", which has unjustly been sometimes placed on the entirety of Taneyev's output. The Piano Trio is a nice work, if not reaching the exalted heights of his Piano Quartet and Quintet IMO.

Well, I find "academic" to be a very apt description for all Taneyev's music I've heard so far, the Piano Trio, Piano Quartet and Piano Quintet included (give me the similar works of Raff, Saint-Saens or Lalo* over his any time of the day and of the night). But at least the string trios are melodic, albeit nothing memorable. 

*not to mention Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms or Dvorak.

I know, I know, as of late I've become very hard to please but I can't help it. 

[Biffo]

Schumann: Symphony No 1 in B flat major Spring - Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Rafael Kubelik

[prémont]

The little bits of Eleanor Bindman I just listened to, it wasn't an arrangement it was a transcription. Maybe somewhere else I would have found something more imaginative, but the couple of movements I sampled, all I heard was someone playing the exact same one-line music you'd get on a cello, with no attempt to think about how a piano could actually play chords instead of just imply them. And the piano actually implies the chords less than a cello would, because on a cello you have more resonant strings. It was far from Busoni as you could imagine.

Very true, and another factor is the piano's relative lack of high partials, I think.

There are also Wolfgang Rübsam's transcriptions for lute-harpsichord.

https://www.wolfgangrubsam.com/cello-tramscription

[Traverso]

Schönberg

[Roasted Swan]

Some time ago on either the Korngold or Walton threads (or perhaps both!) people were singing the praises of the Orquestra Filarmonica de Gran Canaria in both those composer's very tricky symphonies.  The Walton is conducted by Adrian Leaper and it is excellent.  Which made me consciously dig out more recordings I have with Leaper.  And guess what.... they are consistently good.  A couple of his early Naxos discs are a bit 'read-record' but goodness me a lot of the rest are better than just good.  His Symphony cycles of Sibelius and especially Nielsen (both for Naxos) are well played but more to point cogent, intelligent and effective interpretations.  Back in Gran Canaria his Mahler Symphonies prove to be equally fine.  A bit like the Walton - unfussy and clear-sighted, sensitive and effective.  I'm genuinely impressed and enjoying rediscovering these readings.  Which makes me think how reputations are all too often just down to who has the biggest marketing budget.  I'm not saying Leaper is the "best", but he is certainly more impressive than quite a few young/photogenic/publicity-savvy conductors I can think of.  Also it has to be said that the old Arte Nova CD's LOOK so dull!  I know BMG used that as their budget label but it would have helped if the discs themselves looked more appealing.  The upside is that most of these performances can still be picked up 2nd hand very reasonably and I would recommend any of the following;