What are you listening 2 now?

[Symphonic Addict]

For those that missed this box set and are Britten fans, you truly missed one of most amazing box sets released by Decca, IMHO.

I don't doubt it.

[Symphonic Addict]

Romantic, elegant, tuneful music. Andrei (Florestan) might like this music, unless he already knows it.

[Symphonic Addict]

And Honegger's 3rd Symphony under Jansons:

https://www.youtube.com/v/jK9mGN7KZg4

[vers la flamme]

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, op.18. Van Cliburn, Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony Orchestra. First of all, I want to apologize for having underestimated this great recording in a recent post. I still think the piano is underpowered in the mix. But the playing is deeply lyrical and beautiful, and as much as Reiner masterfully navigates these textures (honestly, the orchestra slightly steals the show), Cliburn pulls his own as well. A very good recording of an amazing piece.

[vers la flamme]

^I was really blown away by that recording. Why it has never clicked with me in the past is beyond me...

... still in a Russian late Romantic mood, so continuing with this:



Alexander Scriabin: Prometheus, the Poem of Fire, op.60. Igor Golovschin, Moscow Symphony Orchestra, w/ piano soloist Konstantin Scherbakov.

[André]

Sibelius: symphonies 2 and 7.

Better than I had remembered. The Boston Symphony still had a european flavour to the winds and brass in the mid-seventies. Listen to the tangy vibrato in the bassoon lament and solo trumpet interjections in the second movement of 2. Very nice.

[Symphonic Addict]

Some of the most down-watered, most tepid, flattest, and eventually least interesting classical symphonies I've ever heard. Disappointing.




Schönberg - The complete string quartets

The evolution of these works is quite interesting. The very early String Quartet in D major has a classical structure and development, sounding rather amiable, with no challenges for the listener. The 1st SQ is an important step forward, the density of its writing is incredible, of Regerian proportions if a comparison is possible and still firmly tonal. Then the 2nd SQ has more dissonances than the previous one but not totally demanding, sounds quite tolerable. Nos. 3 & 4 are into the real Schönberg field, the composer at the height of his powers. To identify a theme or something to follow the musical discourse is rather complicated. These two last works didn't offer me properly pleasure or enjoyment, but rather a brain workout.

It's incredible how reluctant I was with these quartets. Now my tolerance has grown significantly. I think the 1st SQ was the work that impressed me the most, it's really massive and highly rigurous. Excellent.

[j winter]

Beethoven Pastorale, Hogwood AAM.  I like it, particularly the clarity of the textures in the opening movement, but I don't love it.  I freely admit I'm fairly old fashioned when it comes to this symphony.... my desert island picks would be Bruno Walter or Karl Bohm.



Followed it up with some of John Barry's James Bond music, of all things.  I've loved his soundtracks ever since I was a kid, particularly his way with the strings.  This one is particularly good, with a pseudo-Japanese flair throughout.  Nothing helps a commute along like pretending to deploy the ole headlight machine guns on the Astin Martin..... 

[André]

Some of the most down-watered, most tepid, flattest, and eventually least interesting classical symphonies I've ever heard. Disappointing.




Schönberg - The complete string quartets

The evolution of these works is quite interesting. The very early String Quartet in D major has a classical structure and development, sounding rather amiable, with no challenges for the listener. The 1st SQ is an important step forward, the density of its writing is incredible, of Regerian proportions if a comparison is possible and still firmly tonal. Then the 2nd SQ has more dissonances than the previous one but not totally demanding, sounds quite tolerable. Nos. 3 & 4 are into the real Schönberg field, the composer at the height of his powers. To identify a theme or something to follow the musical discourse is rather complicated. These two last works didn't offer me properly pleasure or enjoyment, but rather a brain workout.

It's incredible how reluctant I was with these quartets. Now my tolerance has grown significantly. I think the 1st SQ was the work that impressed me the most, it's really massive and highly rigurous. Excellent.

Thanks for your insight into the Schönberg SQ, Symphonic Addict! The only one I know (barely) is the second  .

[André]

TD: Sibelius, symphonies 5 and 6. Davis, Boston Symphony. This version of the 5th is magnificent.

[Mirror Image]

Britten
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 15
English Chamber Orchestra
Benjamin Britten
Mark Lubotsky (violin)

[Mirror Image]

A set of 7 orchestral works by Sculthorpe. It centers around the series of four Sun pieces composed in the period 1965-1969. Although not forming an entity they were eventually heard together (with a fifth, unrelated work) in a ballet production. This is sometimes harsh, pendereckian stuff (Sun Music I) but there are many moments of original (aboriginal?) sounds and rythms (Sun Music III), sometimes showing the influence of Colin McPhee. Altogether a very good compilation. Recommended.

Good to see you jumping aboard the Sculthorpe train, Andre. What do you think of his SQs?

[Mirror Image]

Britten
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 15
Haendel
Berglund
Bournemouth SO



I actually prefer this performance to the 'classic' Lubotsky/Britten performance on Decca. I think Haendel is more of a compelling soloist than Lubotsky. I feel this performance much more. Britten was a great conductor of course, but he wasn't always the only authority on his own music. I say this as Britten the man himself was full of self-doubt and many times he was quite unsure of where he wanted a work to go when he conducted it. It also doesn't help that he was a nervous wreck before a performance and drank a lot of alcohol to calm his nerves. Peter Pears often had to tell him to snap out of it and pull himself together before they went on to perform.

[Mirror Image]

One more work before bed:

Pärt
Te Deum
Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Munich Radio Orchestra
Peter Dijkstra
Max Hanft (piano)

[ChopinBroccoli]

^I was really blown away by that recording. Why it has never clicked with me in the past is beyond me...

Glad you enjoyed it!

[SimonNZ]

this 2cd set actually plays better than the 5cd Yepes set I used to own

[Irons]

Britten
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 15
Haendel
Berglund
Bournemouth SO



I actually prefer this performance to the 'classic' Lubotsky/Britten performance on Decca. I think Haendel is more of a compelling soloist than Lubotsky. I feel this performance much more. Britten was a great conductor of course, but he wasn't always the only authority on his own music. I say this as Britten the man himself was full of self-doubt and many times he was quite unsure of where he wanted a work to go when he conducted it. It also doesn't help that he was a nervous wreck before a performance and drank a lot of alcohol to calm his nerves. Peter Pears often had to tell him to snap out of it and pull himself together before they went on to perform.

I do not think it an accident that the two recordings of the Britten concerto that I listen to are both performed by female soloists, Haendel and Grumlikova.

[vandermolen]

Beethoven Pastorale, Hogwood AAM.  I like it, particularly the clarity of the textures in the opening movement, but I don't love it.  I freely admit I'm fairly old fashioned when it comes to this symphony.... my desert island picks would be Bruno Walter or Karl Bohm.



Followed it up with some of John Barry's James Bond music, of all things.  I've loved his soundtracks ever since I was a kid, particularly his way with the strings.  This one is particularly good, with a pseudo-Japanese flair throughout.  Nothing helps a commute along like pretending to deploy the ole headlight machine guns on the Astin Martin..... 

Oddly enough I bought that Bond soundtrack a couple of years ago. It has my favourite title song (Nancy Sinatra) of any Bond film.

[vandermolen]

John Kinsella: Symphony No. 11 [RTE National Symphony Orchestra/Deroyer]





On Friday 29th November I had the privilege to be present at the world premier of Kinsella's Symphony No. 11. I know that there are one or two Kinsella fans here and I can report to them that it was a very memorable night.  John Kinsella himself was present. After the performance he was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award 2019. Kinsella gave a speech at the end of the ceremony on stage which merely reaffirmed how unassuming a man he is.

Kinsella's Symphony No. 11 is a standard three movement work [fast, slow, fast] and it is scored for a medium sized orchestra. This work is something of an homage to Kinsella's musical idol, Sibelius, and in particular the projected Eight Symphony. To quote Kinsella himself, "I freely constructed motifs from the sketches and built the work from them". One can hear clear echoes of Sibelius in Kinsella's Symphony No. 11 but it is a work which has a clear and distinctive voice of its own. The music is powerful, dramatic, thrilling and noble. The performance was also dramatic, thrilling and very exciting from a very committed orchestra who gave their heart and soul to the performance.

How exciting! I'm very jealous Fergus. Some years ago he sent an absolutely charming reply to my letter to him (c/o RTE Dublin) telling him how much I'd enjoyed the Marco Polo CD featuring his Third and Fourth symphonies, which is still my favourite CD of his music, much as I enjoyed the others as well. He also very kindly arranged to me be sent a couple of CDs of music by Irish composers. It didn't surprise me to read of your favourable impression of the man himself. Thanks for posting this.

[vandermolen]

Karajan's performance of Sibelius' 4th (the early DG, the one you're listening, NOT the EMI/Warner recording) is one of my favorite recordings of anything. In this symphony, Karajan captures the bleakness, uncertainty, and austere beauty better than any other conductor I've heard.

Totally agree John. I remember thinking highly of Kamu's recording of the Third Symphony as well.