What are you listening 2 now?

[vandermolen]

Prokofiev: 1st & 7th Symphonies.



The crowning achievement of this issue is the recording which is one of Decca's best. Highly enjoyable but Weller is not my first choice for either symphony. For me no one matches the elan of Ansermet in the Classical Symphony or the beguiling seriousness of Martinon in the unjustly underrated 7th.

I first discovered the Prokofiev symphonies through Martinon's Vox/Turnabout LPs and they remain favourites. His No.6 is unmatched IMO. I have never heard the abrupt ending so effectively realised in any other recording.

[Que]

Exploring some new Marais in Dave's (SonicMan) footsteps:



And oh, oh, it seems I took a dangerous path...  Because I really like this - state of the art HIP in state of the art recording quality. I'm impressed.

Q

[vandermolen]

Never liked it that much myself - it made Sibelius accessible to me and many others, at a bargain price - that was the best of it.  But after that subsequent listens to other interpretations were revelatory.

Yes I listened to it yesterday and liked what I heard - mighty 2nd movement, unstoppable 3rd.  To my shame, I'd never heard of Antonio Pappano - was was a bit surprised to learn, on looking his name up, that he is an Essex boy.  So that's his English music credentials secured then.

A whole lot easier said than done.  But the fact that the LSO Live sound is characteristic and hasn't changed much in the last 20 years suggests that somebody somewhere likes it this way - despite continuing adverse comment from pundits.  To quote from their own website, "the (LSO) musicians not only choose what should be recorded, but are also involved throughout the production process, ensuring only recordings they are happy with get released."
After all, from a production/engineering viewpoint, altering a recorded 'dry' or 'dead' acoustic to sound like, say, the Kingsway Hall, is trivially easy to do and has been so for all of those last 20 years - these days it is literally as easy as picking up a smileyface to put on a forum post.     But they don't.

Glad you liked the VW too. I hadn't heard of Pappano until recently either.

[aukhawk]

Exploring some new Marais in Dave's (SonicMan) footsteps:



And oh, oh, it seems I took a dangerous path...  Because I really like this - state of the art HIP in state of the art recording quality. I'm impressed.

Agreed about the gorgeous recording quality.  I find a little of this music goes a long way though.  Comparing with Hantai, this sounds a little bit plain - not that I like a lot of ornamentation, but I think something between these two would be my ideal.

[Mandryka]

Just delivered, and now playing:


So far (I've reached El Corpus Christi en Sevilla) this is first-rate. Olivier Chauzu avoids excesses, but brings out the polyphony of Albéniz's extraordinary piano writing in a very clear way, while maintaining the flow of the musical discourse in a very natural way. One of the great Iberia recordings I know (and I know quite a few).

Up next, what for me is the high point of the suite, Rondeña (but I already sampled that on YouTube—that's what led me to order the CDs  ).

Yes I remember that one as being good - he has some Schumann, Davidsbundlertanze and Humoreske, with a similar sounding piano tone and a great sense of contrast between Florestan and Eusebius. I think he's a really fine piano player.

[Papy Oli]

Good morning all,

Ravel - Shéhérazade (Boulez, Cleveland, von Otter) & Le Tombeau de Couperin.

A first listen to Shéhérazade, I think. 

[vandermolen]

Good morning all,

Ravel - Shéhérazade (Boulez, Cleveland, von Otter) & Le Tombeau de Couperin.

A first listen to Shéhérazade, I think. 

Good morning Olivier.
Wiren: Symphony No.3

[ritter]

A disc that's been in my collection since it was first released, and remains a favourite:


Víctor Pablo Pérez conducts the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife in wonderful performances of Roberto Gerhard's great Don Quixote ballet, Pedrelliana (the loving tribute to his teacher and "founder of modern Spanish music", Felipe Pedrell), and the Albada, interludi i dansa.

A great disc!

[aligreto]

JS Bach: Suite No. 3 for Solo Cello [Wispelwey]

[aligreto]

More Vivaldi with the superb voices of Margaret Marshall and Ann Murray!

A wonderful series that. Glad you are enjoying it.

[Madiel]

Haydn, Piano Trio no.11 in E (Hob. XV:34)

[pjme]

[quote author=Papy Oli link=topic=29166.msg1362356#msg1362356 date=16187398

Ravel - Shéhérazade (Boulez, Cleveland, von Otter)

A first listen to Shéhérazade, I think. 

[/quote]

Amazing and exiting. Do you really mean you never heard Shéhérazade before? 

[Biffo]

Mozart: Symphony No 19 in F major, K 459 - Daniel Barenboim soloist & conductor with the English Chamber Orchestra

[Papy Oli]

Amazing and exiting. Do you really mean you never heard Shéhérazade before? 

I had a "Shéhérazade Ouverture de féérie" (something different?) in my Martinon set but not the full work itself until I got that Boulez box, and since I was always struggling with Debussy and Ravel, it is not something I have looked up for either before, so yes, a first and very pleasant listen it is.

[Madiel]

I had a "Shéhérazade Ouverture de féérie" (something different?) in my Martinon set but not the full work itself until I got that Boulez box, and since I was always struggling with Debussy and Ravel, it is not something I have looked up for either before, so yes, a first and very pleasant listen it is.

That is indeed a totally different work. Apart from the name and the composer...

[Madiel]

TD: Schubert, Dalberto, D.894 in G major



Resorting to Youtube because surprisingly, despite having being re-released on Brilliant, the set doesn't seem to be readily available on streaming services. For some odd reason it's possible to find the last few of the individual releases (on Denon), but not the majority. One of those times that a record company woke up to the internet partway through a series and never went back to clean up? 

In Denon's case that might be because I think they're defunct now. But does Brilliant not put its stuff on streaming?

EDIT: As to the performance, well... the 1st movement is definitely on the slower end. I still think a molto moderato ought to vaguely sound moderato...

[pjme]

That is indeed a totally different work. Apart from the name and the composer...

The Wiki article explains it all well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C3%A9h%C3%A9razade_(Ravel)

I grew up with this classic 1963 recording: Régine Crespin / Ernest Ansermet. I agree with Hurwitz!
https://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-3012/

[André]

A disc that's been in my collection since it was first released, and remains a favourite:


Víctor Pablo Pérez conducts the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife in wonderful performances of Roberto Gerhard's great Don Quixote ballet, Pedrelliana (the loving tribute to his teacher and "founder of modern Spanish music", Felipe Pedrell), and the Albada, interludi i dansa.

A great disc!

+1

Buenos dias, Rafael !

[vers la flamme]

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.5 in C-sharp minor. Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic

Love this performance; really love this symphony. It's been a while since I've been in the mood for Mahler, but this is really making a lot of sense to me right now.

[aligreto]

Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 1 [Svetlanov]





I have no previous exposure to the music of Miaskovsky prior to the purchase of this set so I am a novice in terms of this man's music.
Wow, what a maiden symphony! Scoring, structure, orchestration, symphonic writing; he seems to have had it all from the very beginning. This is terrifically appealing, atmospheric, majestic and exciting music and it is very well presented by Svetlanov. Wonderful drama and tension prevail in the opening movement. The middle movement is an oasis of calm. It is thoughtful but troubled and I find that it strives to be optimistic but is somewhat poignant in tone. There is a wonderful build up of tension and drama in this movement. The final movement is wonderfully powerful and exciting and is well driven whilst the lyrical nature of the music is well upheld. The music is always interesting and exciting. What an introduction to an heretofore unknown composer for me.