What are you listening 2 now?

[classicalgeek]

The Record Collector Who Must Not be Named said that this might be Herbie's best ever recording, so I had to listen and see.



It surely is amazingly exciting and virtuosic and clear. The orchestra is definitely at its best and most alive.

I picked this up at a record store a couple of weeks ago - I confess I hadn't listened to much Honegger. I was very impressed by this recording - 'virtuosic' is indeed a great word to describe it. I especially liked the Third Symphony - grim and tragic music, but with an ethereal and transfigured coda. Great stuff!

[Brian]

Funny, made me laugh.

hah, oops, that is a good typo! I'll leave it for other people to laugh at. 

[André]

Rozhdestvensky and Bruckner!  That seems like an excellent pairing!


In recent days I have come across Fields of Sorrow by Harrison Birtwistle: based upon a translation of part of a Latin poem by Ausonius (The Moselle)


https://www.youtube.com/v/h2xhmUCqcsE


And a symphony for 4 pianos (supposedly evoking Also Sprach Zarathustra ! 

By Ivan Wyschnegradsky!


The Scherzo at 9:30 or so is not to be missed!


https://www.youtube.com/v/eAS5hWrZBjE


(Yes, Mrs. Cato is occupied elsewhere, thus may Wyschnegradsky be played!)   

Have you heard La journée de l'existence (The Day of the Existence) by Wyschnegradsky, Leo ? Terrific stuff.

[André]

Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie and Till Eulenspiegel. With the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne.

A resplendent performance of the symphony, with an earth-shaking Gewitter und Sturm sequence. Those german radio sound engineers achieve fabulous results, whether they are from Cologne, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, etc. For once in a rare while the organ is accorded fine sonic presence and it makes a big difference. What an amazing work !

[Karl Henning]

Rozhdestvensky and Bruckner!  That seems like an excellent pairing!


In recent days I have come across Fields of Sorrow by Harrison Birtwistle: based upon a translation of part of a Latin poem by Ausonius (The Moselle)


https://www.youtube.com/v/h2xhmUCqcsE


And a symphony for 4 pianos (supposedly evoking Also Sprach Zarathustra ! 

By Ivan Wyschnegradsky!


The Scherzo at 9:30 or so is not to be missed!


https://www.youtube.com/v/eAS5hWrZBjE


(Yes, Mrs. Cato is occupied elsewhere, thus may Wyschnegradsky be played!)   

Nice!

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Falla
El amor brujo
Victoria de los Ángeles, soprano
Philharmonia
Giulini

[André]

Feltsman in Bach is a natural, my go-to modern version on the piano. Lucid yet never brainy, with a beautiful touch.

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Tansman
Suite for Two Pianos
Andrzej Pikul (piano), Ewa Wolak-Moszynska (piano)
Lublin Philharmonic Orchestra
Piotr Wijatkowski

[André]

NP:

Tansman
Suite for Two Pianos
Andrzej Pikul (piano), Ewa Wolak-Moszynska (piano)
Lublin Philharmonic Orchestra
Piotr Wijatkowski

That's an excellent disc, John !

[Mirror Image]

That's an excellent disc, John !

Indeed it is, Andre. I dug this one out of a storage box as I was seeing what of Tansman I owned at the moment and this was one of the recordings. The other one was the 1st and 2nd PCs on Dux and Naive.

[Karl Henning]

Mendelssohn
Quartet in f minor, Op. 80
Carducci Quartet

[listener]

Edita Gruberova "The Art of Coloratura
with the Stuttgart Radio S.O.    Kurt Eichhorn, cond.
incudes GLIÈRE: Concerto for coloratura soprano and orch. and songs by DELIBES, ARDITI, ADAM, ALABIEFF, DELL'ACQUA, RACHMANINOFF (Chanson géorgienne) and J. STRAUSS
selected for listening before I saw the news https://operawire.com/obituary-legendary-soprano-edita-gruberova-dies-at-74/ 

MARTUCCI: Symphony no.1 and 3 short pieces
The Philharmonia conducted by Francesco d'Avalos

[Cato]

Have you heard La journée de l'existence (The Day of the Existence) by Wyschnegradsky, Leo ? Terrific stuff.

Oh yes!  It is shame that more people do not give the man's music more of a chance! The work in question is available here, and shows an affinity with Scriabin:

https://www.youtube.com/v/VuJ69_DBnSU


Unlike some other quarter-tone (microtonal) composers, Wyschnegradsky uses the extra notes in a harmonic fashion, as an extension of chromatic harmony rather than a hammer for destroying it.

Nice!

Yes, I have not heard the Wyschnegradsky in years, and the Birtwistle was a wonderful discovery!

Yes!  Terrific stuff indeed!

[Karl Henning]

Mendelssohn
Sinfonia № 1 in C
Amsterdam Sinfonietta

[Mirror Image]

First-Listen Tuesday

Tansman
Piano Concerto No. 2
David Greilsammer, piano
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
Sloane

[Brahmsian]

Mendelssohn
Sinfonia № 1 in C
Amsterdam Sinfonietta

The Mendelssohn string symphonies are really high quality works!

[Karl Henning]

Ginastera
Pf Cto № 1, Op. 28
Barbara Nissman

[Symphonic Addict]

Thalaba the Destroyer

I recall being quite thrilled by this work on previous occasions, but today I didn't find it as engaging as other times. I did enjoy the lyrical parts much better.

It's rather clear the influence of Tchaikovsky.

[Karl Henning]

The Mendelssohn string symphonies are really high quality works!

Love 'em, Ray!

Thus:

Mendelssohn
Sinfonia № 2 in D
Amsterdam Sinfonietta

[Mirror Image]

Ginastera
Pf Cto № 1, Op. 28
Barbara Nissman

Sweet!