What are you listening 2 now?

[Karl Henning]

Sibelius
Symphony # 1 in e minor, Op. 39
PGH
Maazel

[Traverso]

Orpheus with his Lute

[aligreto]

Vaughan Williams: Oboe Concerto [Williams/Berglund]





The first movement performance is lyrical, pastoral, haunting and very evocative. The middle movement is buoyant and beguiling. I like the conversational aspect of the movement. The final movement is jaunty for the most part but there is an element of the wistful and of the poignant, but not in a melodramatic way. This is a very fine performance and is actually my first time to hear this work.

[aligreto]

Magnificent!

Definitely. The Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1 always intrigues and beguiles me due to its musical language and scoring.

[Traverso]

I would go so far as to say a treasure trove

The Mozart violin concertos are for me the highlights.There is also a DG set wich is not as attractive as this one I think.I heard some real negative complaints concerning the poor recording quality.There are also Russian recordings in this box wich might be the reason.

[aligreto]

The Mozart violin concertos are for me the highlights.There is also a DG set wich is not as attractive as this one I think.I heard some real negative complaints concerning the poor recording quality.There are also russian recordings in this box wich might be the reason.

I cannot remember seeing that set before. I probably have one or two of those Russian recordings on my LP shelf 

[Maestro267]

Bax: Winter Legends
Fingerhut (piano)/London PO/Thomson

Respighi: Sinfonia Drammatica
Slovak PO/Nazareth

[Mandryka]

https://www.youtube.com/v/Pqc5E6y7Zoc

That's François-René Duchable playing Chopin Etudes. Someone recommended this to me, I'm not normally much interested in Chopin Etudes so it's not music I listen to often. Two things strike me about the performance. One is how Duchable's sound is percussive, with no sounds or phrases  melting or blending. The second is that there's a sense of narrative logic, I mean that as listener I never stop and think "oh there's a great effect, a great bit of virtuosity" because he has a way of stressing the start, middle and end of the etude, so you're always carried along by the logic.

A good little discovery, with a bit of character through the pianism, I mean the way Duchable is interacting with the piano.

[Karl Henning]

Sibelius
Symphony # 7 in C, Op. 105
PGH
Maazel

[aligreto]

Rachmaninov: Cello Sonata Op. 19 [Shafran/Flier]





The bywords here, for me, are ardent, passionate and exciting. This wonderful work is given a fine and absorbing presentation here with the Andante and the final movement both coming out as heartfelt, almost anguished songs.

[j winter]

I think, basically, the Martinů symphony set that gets a universal recommendation is from Bělohlávek with the BBC Symphony Orchestra on the Onyx label. I'm still not 100% onboard with the audio quality, but the performances I believe save the day here. As a second choice, I'd highly recommend Järvi's cycle on BIS with the Bamberg Symphoniker. You really can't go wrong with either of cycles, so, really, I'd flip a coin to decide or go for whatever set is the cheapest. As I stated earlier, I don't like Thomson's Martinů at all as I believe he drives the music way too hard. Of course, there's a huge world of music to explore outside of the symphonies and string quartets, so if you need any other pointers about where to go next or just feel like asking some more questions, please feel free to ask. Martinů is one of my favorite composers and, through the years, I've amassed a rather large collection of his music. It's crazy how things just pile up and accumulate over time.

Thanks!  Much obliged

[San Antone]

Vladimir Feltsman : The Bach Collection

[aukhawk]

Just pre-listened to a couple of tracks from this up-coming release.  Sounds lush, silky.  Will probably walk straight into my 'releases of 2019' shortlist.


Bach Orchestral Suites : Alessandrini, Concerto Italiano

[staxomega]

Beethoven's Op. 132 and 135 from the first Lindsays cycle

[Introverted]

NP:

[asin]B000YCLR6K[/asin]

Puccini: La Bohème

[Karl Henning]

Schumann
Adagio & Allegro, Op. 70
Gautier Capuçon, vc
Martha Argerich, pf

[Karl Henning]

And, again:
Sibelius
Symphony # 2 in D, Op. 43
PGH
Maazel

[San Antone]

Britten : Cello Suites
Truls Mørk

[aligreto]

Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2 [Oistrakh/Galliera]





This is a wonderful work and it is given a wonderful performance from all concerned. I particularly like the slow movement of this work.

[André]

Koppel's 5th symphony was composed in 1946 and shows a level of assuagement after the difficult war years (being Jewish, he and his family fled Denmark precipitously and lived in a displaced persons camp in Sweden until the War was over). In 3 movements, it builds from strength as it proceeds, culminating in a powerful and wholly memorable symphonic edifice. The finale's theme heard first in the horns remains obstinately in the memory.

The piano concerto was the composer's calling card as a concert pianist (he played in public until a very advanced age). It is quite a good piece, full of vitality, very much of its time - 1948, the same year as Poulenc's and Martinu's 3rd pc. There's some of the fantasy, soulfulness and relish for life of these two composers in Koppel's concerto, although the language is distinctly his own. Recommended.