What are you listening 2 now?

Started by Gurn Blanston, September 23, 2019, 05:45:22 AM

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classicalgeek

Quote from: Mirror Image on October 13, 2021, 10:02:32 AM
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!

Quote from: MusicTurner on October 13, 2021, 09:44:38 AM
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!

Quote from: André on October 13, 2021, 11:19:21 AM
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!
So much great music, so little time...

Original compositions and orchestrations: https://www.youtube.com/@jmbrannigan

Mirror Image

Quote from: classicalgeek on October 13, 2021, 02:05:13 PM
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!

I actually like Karajan's Beethoven. In particular his early cycle for DG. Don't forget that he was an excellent Strauss conductor as well. I agree about his Second Viennese School recordings. I wish he had done Berg's Wozzeck and the Violin Concerto. I imagine him being quite good in Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder, too. Oh well, that's just wishful thinking.

vers la flamme



Franz Schubert, transcribed by Franz Liszt for solo piano: Lieder. Oxana Yablonskaya

Madiel

Quote from: Mirror Image on October 13, 2021, 06:26:35 AM
NP:

Glass
Violin Concerto No. 2, "The American Four Seasons"
Robert McDuffie, violin
LPO
Alsop




I'm going to be honest here and say that all of the Philip Glass I've heard so far hasn't done much for me. I liked his Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 pretty well, but I think that overall his later work is dull. I'm going to keep trying and I don't regret buying recordings of his music, but so far there hasn't been any musical rewards.

...and this is why online services can be helpful (and other methods of listening). I've been able to to determine I get no musical rewards from Glass without spending any money.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Mirror Image

#51564
Quote from: Madiel on October 13, 2021, 02:16:05 PM
...and this is why online services can be helpful (and other methods of listening). I've been able to to determine I get no musical rewards from Glass without spending any money.

This is where our opinions diverge. I'm a believer in having an extensive music collection, especially when it comes to the 19th and 20th Centuries. If I don't like Glass, this doesn't mean that I'm not open to the possibility of liking his music later on. I did like his 2nd and 3rd symphonies for example. I haven't and will not close that door. The same with someone like Messiaen for example who I have little love for. So this is why having his music in my collection is important to me. Tastes change and opinions can change if you're open-minded. I even have some Bach and Mozart in my collection and they're not even in my "Top 100". :)

Mirror Image

NP:

Shostakovich
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor. Op. 35
Mikhail Rudy, piano
Ole Edvard Antonsen, trumpet
Berliners
Jansons



Madiel

#51566
Quote from: Mirror Image on October 13, 2021, 02:22:03 PM
This is where our opinions diverge. I'm a believer in having an extensive music collection, especially when it comes to the 19th and 20th Centuries. If I don't like Glass, this doesn't mean that I'm not open to the possibility of liking his music later on. I did like his 2nd and 3rd symphonies for example. I haven't and will not close that door. The same with someone like Messiaen for example who I have little love for. So this is why having his music in my collection is important to me. Tastes change and opinions can change if you're open-minded. I even have some Bach and Mozart in my collection and they're not even in my "Top 100". :)

Yes, well, I haven't lost any access to Glass. He's right there on the internet if I decide I want to try him for a 6th or 7th time.

It's not that I don't explore. It's that exploring comes before adding things to my collection, not by adding things to my collection.

EDIT: To me, the ability to explore more readily is precisely the benefit the internet has brought. I listen to a far wider variety of music these days than I used to when purchases were necessary.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Karl Henning

Quote from: Madiel on October 13, 2021, 02:16:05 PM
...and this is why online services can be helpful (and other methods of listening). I've been able to to determine I get no musical rewards from Glass without spending any money.

I've not enjoyed much Glass, myself, so this sounds ideal.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

TD: I may or may not have listened to Jn Adams's Chamber Symphony before. Listened to it today, and didn't think much of it.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Madiel

I have decided it needs to be a Haydn day. One of my purchases from early in the year not yet listened to.

I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

classicalgeek

Sampling von Karajan in 20th-century music - listened to two version's of Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta (both on Spotify):

Bartok
Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
Philharmonia Orchestra
Herbert von Karajan




The Philharmonia sounds kind of scrappy, and the recording is in Mono. Not a great recording - but I found a later version with the Berlin Phil.

Bartok
Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
Berlin Philharmonic
Herbert von Karajan




It's definitely better all round, both in the quality of the playing and the recording. I think I prefer Bartok with more of a bite, a harder edge - but I can see where Karajan is coming from.
So much great music, so little time...

Original compositions and orchestrations: https://www.youtube.com/@jmbrannigan

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Madiel

Quote from: Madiel on October 13, 2021, 03:07:26 PM
I have decided it needs to be a Haydn day. One of my purchases from early in the year not yet listened to.



I had heard op.54/1 as a work before, but now I've listened to op.54/2 for the first time. Gosh there are some interesting and unusual things in there. A slow movement that leads straight into the minuet, and a finale that starts and ends with an Adagio.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Mirror Image

Quote from: Madiel on October 13, 2021, 02:56:13 PM
Yes, well, I haven't lost any access to Glass. He's right there on the internet if I decide I want to try him for a 6th or 7th time.

It's not that I don't explore. It's that exploring comes before adding things to my collection, not by adding things to my collection.

EDIT: To me, the ability to explore more readily is precisely the benefit the internet has brought. I listen to a far wider variety of music these days than I used to when purchases were necessary.

I guess I'm old school in that I prefer having physical copies of music that I'm interested in and want in my collection. If you don't want Glass in your collection that's your own prerogative. I felt that I needed some of his music represented in my collection. I even have other Minimalists like Reich and Riley in my collection and I'm not a great fan of either of these composers, but the music is there when I want to listen to it. The most important point I want to make here is that I value ownership over a digital download or streaming online.

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

#51574
Quote from: Mirror Image on October 13, 2021, 02:30:39 PM
NP:

Shostakovich
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor. Op. 35
Mikhail Rudy, piano
Ole Edvard Antonsen, trumpet
Berliners
Jansons





Cool cover art!

Mirror Image

Quote from: Dry Brett Kavanaugh on October 13, 2021, 04:50:16 PM
Cool cover art!

Yeah, all of Jansons' Shostakovich series has cool covers. 8)

Mirror Image

NP:

Copland
Dance Panels
Detroit SO
Slatkin



classicalgeek

#51577
More Karajan:

Prokofiev
Symphony no. 5
Berlin Philharmonic
Herbert von Karajan

(on Spotify)



Not my first choice in Prokofiev 5s, but it has its strong points. The first movement, crushing climax aside, kind of left me underwhelmed, but it picked up after that. I particularly like the way Karajan does the finale - it really lets loose at the end, almost in a menacing way! And there's a trombone glissando (in the score, it's three bars after #111) which really comes through - it doesn't in many performances! I think my first choices remain Järvi/Scottish National Orchestra and Slatkin/St. Louis Symphony, but I think Karajan has a lot to say.
So much great music, so little time...

Original compositions and orchestrations: https://www.youtube.com/@jmbrannigan

Mirror Image

NP:

Stravinsky
Agon
LA Festival SO
Stravinsky



Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot