What are you listening 2 now?

[Brahmsian]

TD: on YouTube

Þorvaldsdóttir
Enigma
Spektral Quartet

Oh, I've been meaning to sample that one. Cesar posted about it earlier, I believe.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

TD: on YouTube

Þorvaldsdóttir
Enigma
Spektral Quartet

I had missed (earlier) that you had listened to these.  I'll have to check them out!

What did you think of them Karl?

PD

[classicalgeek]

They haven't been bettered!

I know! It's too bad Karajan didn't do a complete set of Honegger Symphonies and other orchestral works. But I think, for whatever reason (whether it was pressure from DG, the public, or Karajan's own wishes) he wanted to (or felt he had to) specialize in the core German repertoire: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms etc. But he did the non-German stuff equally as well, if not better!

[MusicTurner]

I know! It's too bad Karajan didn't do a complete set of Honegger Symphonies and other orchestral works. But I think, for whatever reason (whether it was pressure from DG, the public, or Karajan's own wishes) he wanted to (or felt he had to) specialize in the core German repertoire: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms etc. But he did the non-German stuff equally as well, if not better!

There is Baudo in Honegger symphonies too ... Plasson and Dutoit are at times disappointing, IMHO.


Mozart  - Opera Arias /Popp, Slatkin /emi CD

Popp (and Gruberova) usually know their business in these beautiful works ...

[Mirror Image]

I know! It's too bad Karajan didn't do a complete set of Honegger Symphonies and other orchestral works. But I think, for whatever reason (whether it was pressure from DG, the public, or Karajan's own wishes) he wanted to (or felt he had to) specialize in the core German repertoire: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms etc. But he did the non-German stuff equally as well, if not better!

He was an outstanding conductor in so much of what he wanted to record, IMHO. I always wished he had done a complete Sibelius cycle and recorded more of the tone poems as he was in his element in this music.

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Sibelius
Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 105
Berliners
HvK

From this set -

[aligreto]

Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras [Shermerhorn]





No. 8 for Orchestra
No. 9 for String Orchestra

[aligreto]

Can't be bad!

Rather good, actually.

[aligreto]

He was an outstanding conductor in so much of what he wanted to record, IMHO. I always wished he had done a complete Sibelius cycle and recorded more of the tone poems as he was in his element in this music.

A big +1

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Sibelius
Night Ride & Sunrise, Op. 55
Scottish National Orchestra
Gibson



An outstanding performance. For the life of me, I don't know why Chandos doesn't remaster the Gibson set of symphonies and release it? It seems they've been rather negligent of their back catalog, which, for this listener, contains their best recordings.

[ritter]

Just listened to the Halffter - fascinating piece. Thank you for sharing!

Wow that sounds fabulous! Thank you for this link.

Glad you've both found this interesting. 

IMHO, Cristóbal Halffter is a major composer, and a very worthy heir to his uncles Ernesto and Rodolfo. His very personal Spätstil, in which his very intricate post-serial orchestral writing is amalgamated with quotations from older music, is very attractive to me.

Another piece you might enjoy is his reinterpretation, for chorus and orchestra, of Antonio Soler's famous Fandango, as Preludio para Madrid '92 (it was a commission of the Madrid regional government on the occasion of the city becoming "European cultural capital" in 1992, and there's a full-length version concert version —posted below-  and an abridged one for TV use). Soler's original was in itself a great fusion of the "popular" and the "cultured" (Halffter said that's what drew him to it), and the reworking in its turn combines the "ancient" with the "modern".

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

Don't worry about the sung text, it's just "Pacem, Iustitiam, Libertatem"

[André]

I know! It's too bad Karajan didn't do a complete set of Honegger Symphonies and other orchestral works. But I think, for whatever reason (whether it was pressure from DG, the public, or Karajan's own wishes) he wanted to (or felt he had to) specialize in the core German repertoire: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms etc. But he did the non-German stuff equally as well, if not better!

The Honegger 3rd was a work Karajan held in high esteem. He performed it a few times it before, notably at the 1957 Salzburg Festival (BP again). I happen to prefer that performance to the DGG remake, superb as that one is. In concert he would shave a couple of minutes and make the work sound tighter, more urgent. David Hurwitz has written that he often was better conducting non-germanic repertoire, such as french or russian, and I agree with his opinion.

For a very different take, try Munch or Mravinsky in this work: a molten lava flow vs Karajan's tragic, tremendous monument.

[Spotted Horses]

There is Baudo in Honegger symphonies too ... Plasson and Dutoit are at times disappointing, IMHO.

Baudo's Honegger cycles is one for the ages. I've come to appreciate Plasson as well.

[Karl Henning]

CD 15:

LvB

Sonata № 8 in c minor, Op. 13 « Pathétique »
Sonata № 9 in E, Op. 14 № 1
Sonata № 10 in G, Op. 14 № 2
Sonata № 11 in B^b, Op. 22

[ritter]

CD 15:

LvB

Sonata № 8 in c minor, Op. 13 « Pathétique »
Sonata № 9 in E, Op. 14 № 1
Sonata № 10 in G, Op. 14 № 2
Sonata № 11 in B^b, Op. 22

I really should  listen to Heidsieck's Beethoven cycle. I was very favourably impressed by his Hindemith sonatas (which were new to me) and his Fauré when I bought that set.

Good evening, Karl! 

[Karl Henning]

I really should  listen to Heidsieck's Beethoven cycle. I was very favourably impressed by his Hindemith sonatas (which were new to me) and his Fauré when I bought that set.

Good evening, Karl! 

Cheers, Rafael!

[ritter]

Luis de Pablo (Bilbao, Jan. 28th, 1930 - Madrid, Oct. 10th 2021) in memoriam....



Luis de Pablo (who died only three days ago aged 91 here in Madrid) was, along with Cristóbal Halffter (who died earlier this year), the most prominent and internationally acclaimed member of the "Generation of '51", which strove to rid Spanish music of the nationalistic / new-classical style that had been the norm up to (and even beyond) the Spanish Civil War and the WW2 years. He was very influential in presenting the music of the Second Viennese School and of the Darmstadt avant-garde in Spain from the 50s through the 70s.

I must admit I'm much less familiar with de Pablo's music than with that of his contemporary C. Halffter (a favourite of mine), and this CD is the only one in my collection of his music. It includes the large-scale, religious themed oratorio Los Novísimos, and the purely orchestral Vendaval ("Gale"), both from his mature years, conducted by the indefatigable José Ramón Encinar. The composer's final opera, El abrecartas —"The Letter Opener"—, to a libretto by the distinguished Spanish author Vicente Molina Foix, will receive its —now sadly posthumous— world première at the Teatro Real next year. I'll try to attend.

The Wikipedia biography can be read here.

R.I.P, maestro....

[MusicTurner]

Luis de Pablo (Bilbao, Jan. 28th, 1930 - Madrid, Oct. 20th 2021) in memoriam....



Luis de Pablo (who died only three days ago aged 91 here in Madrid) was, along with Cristóbal Halffter (who died earlier this year), the most prominent and internationally acclaimed member of the "Generation of '51", which strove to rid Spanish music of the nationalistic / new-classical style that had been the norm up to (and even beyond) the Spanish Civil War and the WW2 years. He was very influential in presenting the music of the Second Viennese School and of the Darmstadt avant-garde in Spain from the 50s through the 70s.

I must admit I'm much less familiar with de Pablo's music than with that of his contemporary C. Halffter (a favourite of mine), and this CD is the only one in my collection of his music. It includes the large-scale, religious themed oratorio Los Novísimos, and the purely orchestral Vendaval ("Gale"), both from his mature years, conducted by the indefatigable José Ramón Encinar. The composer's final opera, El abrecartas —"The Letter Opener"—, to a libretto by the distinguished Spanish author Vicente Molina Foix, will receive its —now sadly posthumous— world première at the Teatro Real next year. I'll try to attend.

The Wikipedia biography can be read here.

R.I.P, maestro....

I haven't heard much by him, but recently, the piano trio on this disc (together with trios by Ives and Solbiati) was attractive to listen to, it sounded fresh; one will hardly ever see any CDs or LPs with his music up here, so you'll have to explore via buying abroad, or internet sources ... (I understand that he died on the 10th of October)

https://www.discogs.com/de/release/6660180-Trio-Matisse-Charles-Ives-Luis-de-Pablo-Alessandro-Solbiati-Trio

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Shchedrin
Carmen-Suite
Russian National Orchestra
Pletnev



Ridiculous, outrageous but so much fun!

[classicalgeek]

He was an outstanding conductor in so much of what he wanted to record, IMHO. I always wished he had done a complete Sibelius cycle and recorded more of the tone poems as he was in his element in this music.

I never much warmed up to Karajan's Beethoven (or Haydn or Mozart), but he did some great Bruckner, especially toward the end of his life. He was great in opera (I especially like his Puccini opera recordings). He was also great in the Second Viennese School. So there's a lot to admire - he did make a LOT of recordings!

There is Baudo in Honegger symphonies too ... Plasson and Dutoit are at times disappointing, IMHO.

The general consensus is Baudo is the Honegger cycle to own! It's on my (admittedly very long) wish list!

The Honegger 3rd was a work Karajan held in high esteem. He performed it a few times it before, notably at the 1957 Salzburg Festival (BP again). I happen to prefer that performance to the DGG remake, superb as that one is. In concert he would shave a couple of minutes and make the work sound tighter, more urgent. David Hurwitz has written that he often was better conducting non-germanic repertoire, such as french or russian, and I agree with his opinion.

For a very different take, try Munch or Mravinsky in this work: a molten lava flow vs Karajan's tragic, tremendous monument.

I'll look for those other recordings of Honegger 3. Thank you!