What are you listening 2 now?

[Karl Henning]

Thank you for the link.  Busy here today cooking and am a bit beat. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

PD

Have a lovely Th'giving, PD!

[JBS]

Winding down from work by listening first to the Seventh (the Creatures of Prometheus takes up a full CD on its own) from this

And the first CD of the Mozart PC cycle in this set

Piano Concertos 11/12/14/2 in F/A/E Flat/B Flat Major K 413/414/449/39

[Mandryka]

Disc twenty-six, a recital with twenty-five tracks of works by nineteen composers, most of whom I do not associate with Cziffra.  The Scarlatti sonatas are quite fine, and Cziffra plays with an appealing lightness of touch not evident in more virtuosic fare.  And of course when he needs to turn it on, as with Islamey, he does.

It'll be interesting to hear what you make of the studio Appassionata and Waldstein.

I don't know if it's in the box, but one of the Cziffra CD I like the most was Vol 4 of the EMI edition, with Daquin, Lully, Rameau, Couperin and Ravel. Generally he made a handful of recordings for EMI at the Hungaroton studios in Paris which were outstanding I think.

The live CDs from Senlis too, also EMI, are interesting - Brahms waltzes. But I see that box is just studio material, so probably not there.

Chopin sonatas too.

[SimonNZ]

[Mandryka]

Either it's just that I'm in the mood, or this is MUCH better than I'd remembered. Making me want to dance!

[kyjo]

Czerny: Symphony no. 1 in C minor



All too often, I come across rather derivative, not terribly memorable lesser-known music from the early Romantic period - I've realized that the majority of unjustly neglected music comes from the late-19th and 20th centuries. Happily, this invigorating and dramatic symphony by the incredibly prolific Czerny proves an exception to the rule. Original? Not particularly. A bit predictable? Perhaps. But it's quite exciting stuff and is given a splendid performance here.


Linde: Cello Concerto



My estimation of this concerto has risen even higher since the last time I listened. A passionate and lyrical work, which, in the last movement sounds almost like the bittersweet melancholy of Finzi but with an added harmonic "tang".


Brahms: String Quintet no. 1



A pastoral first movement, a grave slow movement with contrasting scherzo-like sections, and a "playfully academic" finale characterize this work. The Boston Symphony Chamber Players play with such style and passion.


Palmgren: Piano Concerti nos. 1-3



I'd known the magical Piano Concerto no. 2 The River before, and nos. 1 and 3 proved to be nearly as wonderful. Folksy, tuneful, and characterized by particularly colorful use of percussion, these compact works are sure to appeal to anyone who loves their late-romantic PCs.


Weinberg: Symphony no. 14



I found myself eating my words that I generally don't find Weinberg's later works to be very engaging. This haunting and atmospheric symphony, though certainly dark in tone, avoids being depressing or "grey" and there's even some judiciously-chosen moments of color along the way. I'll quote from Amazon reviewer G.D.'s typically accurate description of the work:

"No. 14 is relatively similar [to No. 16] in general atmosphere and layout, but far more striking. And not even Messiaen or Rimsky-Korsakov, in their very different ways, composed birdsong music like this - the birds of the second movement of Vainberg's 14th are threatening, blood-curdling and intense creatures, cold as ice, chirping, squealing, shrieking through one of the most intensely effective symphonic movements I have ever heard. But the symphony is overall riveting - bitter and mocking and dark, true, but gripping from the first bar to the last, expertly constructed and gloriously scored. Yes, the spirit of Shostakovich is omnipresent, but so is - perhaps surprisingly - Bartók, and neither manages to overshadow the individuality of this music."

[vers la flamme]

Johann Sebastian Bach: Concerto for 4 Harpsichords in A minor, BWV 1065; Concerto for 3 Harpsichords in C major, BWV 1064. Kenneth Gilbert, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Nicholas Kraemer, Trevor Pinnock, The English Concert

Bach was a crazy bastard for writing a concerto for no fewer than four harpsichords, but we love him for it. Excellent disc.

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Martinů
Oboe Concerto, H. 353
Ivan Séquardt, oboe
CzPO
Neumann



Absolutely exquisite. Like returning to an old friend. Lyrical and by turns playful.

[vers la flamme]

Heinrich Schütz: Symphoniae Sacrae. Matteo Messori, Cappella Augustana

Hey, this is way better than I was expecting! Sounds excellent. My first listen to anything by Schütz, I think. It was a random bookstore find.

[kyjo]

Kabeláč: Cello Sonata



The first movement (a Passacaglia - he was an master of those!) manages to be so intensely gripping and powerful that the following movements, fine as they are, sound somewhat anticlimactic in comparison. The ending of the first movement needs to be heard to be believed!!


Svendsen: Symphony no. 1



It's always a pleasure to revisit Svendsen's two delightful symphonies. The highlight of both works might even be their scherzi - they're as catchy, folksy, and trippingly infectious and anything in the repertoire!


Emmanuel: Symphony no. 1



It's quite easy to overlook this relatively unprolific composer, but this symphony proved to be a fine discovery. What it perhaps lacks in outright memorability it makes up for in color and variety of incident.


Harty: Piano Concerto and An Irish Symphony



I enjoyed the Piano Concerto immensely - "Rachmaninoff goes to Ireland" would be a crude way of describing it. The nocturnal slow movement possesses genuine depth with its distant bell sounds, and the finale is a whirlwind, tuneful romp. An Irish Symphony isn't quite as successful IMO but is still enjoyable, especially the witty scherzo The Fair-Day.


Veress: Hommage à Paul Klee for 2 pianos and string orchestra



Having heard nothing by Veress before, I had no idea what to expect here. I think I'd read that he adopted 12-tone techniques in some of his compositions, so I was expecting something rather thorny. Instead, this turned out to be a wholly accessible, fascinating work! I'll quote from Amazon reviewer Bert vanC Bailey:

"Veress's 1951 Hommage à Paul Klee (27:05) is a seven-movement work that combines ethereal soundscapes with a frisky jazziness, presumably reflecting in music seven of Klee's paintings. Its frequent adaptations for ballet are a function of the musical suggestion of both celestial and playful moods. Not that it lacks fire. Not at all. The fifth, Allegretto movement is a no less than a rhythmic tour de force with plucked strings ratcheting up excitement for the rambunctious pianos. And the near-mystical, next-to-last movement, an Andante, is similarly chased away by a tumultuous Vivo that closes the Hommage."

[Mirror Image]

Continuing on a Czech jag:

Janáček
Violin Sonata, JW Vii/7
Augustin Hadelich, Charles Owen

[kyjo]

Excellent, Kyle. Enjoy ! Hope the performance goes well.

Thank you, Olivier!

[kyjo]

An excellent performance and recording. I'm currently reading Richard Powers' novel Orfeo, and this work plays a large part in it, so I was inspired to listen to it again.

Indeed, a stupendous recording!

[kyjo]

You might consider Zemlinsky's Orchestral Songs, especially the Sechs Maeterlinck-Lieder



https://www.youtube.com/v/DusZQm-7uLE

Oh yes, an intoxicating work!

[kyjo]

NP:

Langgaard
Symphony No. 2 'Vaarbrud' (Awakening of Spring), BVN 53A
Anu Komsi, soprano
Wiener Philharmoniker
Oramo

What do you think, John? I struggle to appreciate most of Langgaard's music outside of Symphonies 1, 4-6, and Music of the Spheres. He seems like exactly the type of composer whose music I would consistently love, but there's something "missing" in a lot of his works for me. I much prefer his bitter nemesis Carl Nielsen.

[Mirror Image]

What do you think, John? I struggle to appreciate most of Langgaard's music outside of Symphonies 1, 4-6, and Music of the Spheres. He seems like exactly the type of composer whose music I would consistently love, but there's something "missing" in a lot of his works for me. I much prefer his bitter nemesis Carl Nielsen.

I can certainly understand your sentiments, Kyle, but I have fallen for this composer and I've actually come to regard him as a favorite. This Oramo performance seemed quite fine to me as have the other performances I've heard. I would still say that Music of the Spheres is his crowning achievement in terms of orchestral music. There's nothing quite like it compared to the other works I've heard from him. I'm still in the midst of rediscovering a lot of his music, but one last work I want to mention is his opera Antikrist. This is one hell of a work! I LOVE it. It's Straussian fireworks laced with hallucinogenics. I was quite surprised when I first heard the music, because it was almost symphonic in scope in that the music doesn't take a backseat and felt like an important as the vocals. Do check it out if you haven't already.

[kyjo]

Wrapping Mendelssohn Day up with my favorite Mendelssohn symphony, in my favorite performance  :

Mendelssohn
Symphony no. 3
London Symphony Orchestra
Claudio Abbado
(on Spotify)



Abbado's is a sweeping, grand, romantic approach, and I really love it in this symphony. Tempos are on the slow side - with the exposition repeat in the first movement, the performance takes close to 42 minutes - but it never drags. I may be in the minority (or at least I think I am) - but I just adore the coda, especially if it's not taken too slow (admittedly it starts slow in Abbado's recording.) I've never been one to think that the symphony should end quietly and in the minor, and I think the coda really works as a sort of epilog and final grand gesture.

I've never understood the criticism of the coda of this symphony - I think it's thrilling and effective, in the right performance.

[Linz]

I am listening to this recording of Berlioz Symphony Fantastique

[Linz]

Now for Bruckner 5 with Hans Rosebaud From this set

[vandermolen]

Bax: Three Northern Ballads