What are you listening 2 now?

[kyjo]

If you've ever said there's a choice to be made between high speed excitement and an abundance of detail, listen to Ozawa's Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra. A white-knuckle terror ride, grimy and sleazy and angry and ferocious and deranged - it would pair perfectly with Ozawa's Miraculous Mandarin suite with the BSO. But at the same time, so many incredible details popping up throughout. When have the double basses ever been this audible, especially in the second movement, the quiet ending of which turned out to have a half-dozen instrumental lines I had never heard before. And I've seen the piece live! Creepy harps, creepy pianos, creepy basses, creepy bassoons, there's a whole world of dark underbelly creatures popping out of this recording. Too bad the bass drum is poorly captured on the very last chord, because otherwise this is pure, spectacular insanity.

Woah, you're making me want to hear this recording!

[kyjo]

Elgar, Edward (1857-1934) - Violin Sonata, String Quartet, & Piano Quintet w/ the performers on the cover art, plus several works from other English composers on the sonata disc w/ Daniel Hope - these are works from later in Elgar's life, i.e. 1917 & 1919 (Source) - reviews attached for those interested.  Dave

 

Pounds the table! I love Elgar's three major chamber works, especially the Piano Quintet. There's music of great beauty, depth, and character in all three of these works.

[Mirror Image]

Trying Glazunov again after your unsuccessful first attempt, I see? Well, I gotta say my enthusiasm for his music has recently waned somewhat, and I can now understand the criticisms that some harbor towards it. It's very pretty on the surface and is nothing if not skillfully written, but often just lacks that extra amount of depth and dramatic tension to make it truly engaging to me. That said, one work of his I still love unreservedly is The Seasons. It's his best-known work for a reason.

Ah, this is interesting, but I've got to play the contrarian here, Kyle. I wasn't much of a Glazunov fan until I heard the Svetlanov performances. I believe this music does have plenty of depth and dramatic tension, it's just that so often conductors don't dig deep enough or simply don't understand the musical language all that much. Now, I love this composer's music, but I'm not onboard with everything the man has written of course. I still don't think much of the Violin Concerto and there's several orchestral works that just are duds to me. The Seasons is a nice ballet for sure, but I also like Raymonda.

[Karl Henning]

First Gál I've ever listened to:

https://www.youtube.com/v/VqJU22NLgtY

[kyjo]

Ah, this is interesting, but I've got to play the contrarian here, Kyle. I wasn't much of a Glazunov fan until I heard the Svetlanov performances. I believe this music does have plenty of depth and dramatic tension, it's just that so often conductors don't dig deep enough or simply don't understand the musical language all that much. Now, I love this composer's music, but I'm not onboard with everything the man has written of course. I still don't think much of the Violin Concerto and there's several orchestral works that just are duds to me. The Seasons is a nice ballet for sure, but I also like Raymonda.

I suspected you would! I ought to give Svetlanov's recordings another chance, but I have an issue with the sound of the old Soviet orchestras in these recordings. I find them too brass-heavy, often to the point of obscuring important orchestral detail. My loss, I'm sure. I won't doubt that his recordings are authentic and often quite exciting.

Edit: I've got Svetlanov's recording of the 6th Symphony (one I haven't listened to in a while) queued up for later today. I'll report back in due course.

[Mirror Image]

Woah, you're making me want to hear this recording!

It's f****** great, Kyle!

[Mirror Image]

I suspected you would! I ought to give Svetlanov's recordings another chance, but I have an issue with the sound of the old Soviet orchestras in these recordings. I find them too brass-heavy, often to the point of obscuring important orchestral detail. My loss, I'm sure. I won't doubt that his recordings are authentic and often quite exciting.

Edit: I've got Svetlanov's recording of the 6th Symphony (one I haven't listened to in a while) queued up for later today. I'll report back in due course.

Very nice, Kyle. I certainly understand the ambivalence some listeners have for Soviet Era recordings, but I think they have a special atmosphere to them that you just don't hear today.

[foxandpeng]

Kalevi Aho
Oboe Concerto
Lahti SO
BIS

[Sergeant Rock]

Elgar, Edward (1857-1934) - Cello & Violin Concertos w/ the performers shown below; there are SO many recordings, many that I've culled over the years, but these duplicates are what remains in my collection - all well done; I've attached just one review of each but I'm sure other ones are available!  Dave

Gasp! You don't own the legendary Barbirolli/Du Pré performance?

Sarge

[Spotted Horses]

While you wouldn't have heard what I was referring to, listening to anything by Haydn is never a waste of time 

Sarge

I wouldn't contradict you there, except that I used up all the time I had available for listening looking for the files on my hard disc.

[SonicMan46]

The Hilary Hahn recording is ruined by Sir Grunts-a-lot. It's a lovely recording, but so difficult to tune Davis out. I never listen to it because of him. The same goes for his later Sibelius on LSO Live, although I've never been a big fan of his Sibelius anyway (yes, even the famed BSO cycle on Decca). I do, however, like his earlier Berlioz recordings a lot.

Hi John - did not seem to bother me, i.e. grunts from the conductor; maybe I need to listen on headphones?  But I looked at 4 reviews (attached) and not one complained about grunting noises - in terms of rating, 2 TOPS, 1 GOOD, and 1 a 'raking across the coals' (by Marc Bridle on MusicWeb - maybe she turned him down for a date?  ) - Dave

[Karl Henning]

I wouldn't contradict you there, except that I used up all the time I had available for listening looking for the files on my hard disc.

I feel ya!

[SonicMan46]

Gasp! You don't own the legendary Barbirolli/Du Pré performance?

Sarge

Hey Sarge - well, I had at least 4 versions of that work at one time, and must have culled two out (including the Du Pré, sorry) -    Dave

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Nice!

Yes, nice performance. The album below is even better!

[Karl Henning]

Yes, nice performance. The album below is even better!

So it is!

[SonicMan46]

Eberl, Anton (1765-1807) - Chamber Works quoted below on period instruments, as described.  Performers part of the trios on the cover art, plus others for the larger pieces.  Reviews attached - the second recording (Ramee 1103), both composer, music, and the performers horribly reviewed by Jerry Dubins (the guy who apparently uses period instruments for fire wood!), but the MusicWeb reviewer stating 'this is already sure to be one of the best releases of 2012'.  To my period instrument ears, quite acceptable recordings, especially coming from BRO @ $7 USD each - BTW, the Consortium Classicum CD has two of the three works on the Grande Sonate recording, of course on modern instruments.  Dave    

Grande Sonate (Ramee 0601)
Trio, Op. 36 (FP*, Cello, Violin or Clarinet+)
Sonata, Op. 10/2 (FP, Bass, Violin or Clarinet)
Quintet, Op. 41 (FP, Clarinet, 2 Violas, Cello)
   *Fortepiano - Michael Rosenberger, Vienna, 1802
   +Clarinet - Agnes Gueroult, 2003 after Staudinger, Dresden, c. 1790

Grand Sextetto (Ramee 1103)
Trio, Op. 8/2 (FP*, Violin, Cello)
Trio, Op. 44 (FP, Clarinet+, Cello)
Grand Sextetto, Op. 47 (FP, Violin, Viola, Cello, Clarinet, Horn^)
   *Fortepiano - Mathias Muller, Vienna, c. 1810
   +Clarinet - Agnes Gueroult 2003 after Theodor Lotz, Vienna, c. 1790
   ^Horn - Cor-Solo by Jahn, Paris, 1818

   

[Karl Henning]

Beth Levin playing the LvB Op. 111

[Florestan]

Oh dear, I almost wasted my time listening to two different Haydn trios that weren't the one.

Haydn is wasted time??? You are a barbarian...   

[Mirror Image]

Hi John - did not seem to bother me, i.e. grunts from the conductor; maybe I need to listen on headphones?  But I looked at 4 reviews (attached) and not one complained about grunting noises - in terms of rating, 2 TOPS, 1 GOOD, and 1 a 'raking across the coals' (by Marc Bridle on MusicWeb - maybe she turned him down for a date?  ) - Dave

You should definitely try the recording on headphones, Dave. I'm predominantly a headphone listener, so maybe if I listened on my stereo system, it would be a different tune I'm whistling.

[Florestan]

Trying Glazunov again after your unsuccessful first attempt, I see? Well, I gotta say my enthusiasm for his music has recently waned somewhat, and I can now understand the criticisms that some harbor towards it. It's very pretty on the surface and is nothing if not skillfully written, but often just lacks that extra amount of depth and dramatic tension to make it truly engaging to me. That said, one work of his I still love unreservedly is The Seasons. It's his best-known work for a reason.

Yes and I'm so glad reading your post! My thoughts exactly after hearing the first three symphonies: Balakirev without Russianness, Tchaikovsky without  tunes and both of them without emotional intensity.

I agree about The Seasons, too. Raymonda is not bad, either.

I also listened to this:



and I must confess I loved it much more than the symphonies, particularly the Orientale from the suite and the Scherzo from the Quintet.

I also loved pretty much everything I heard from the Steven Coombs' set of complete piano music.

Bottom line, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff are still my favorite Russian composers hands down, not going to be replaced by any others any time soon, probably ever.