What are you listening 2 now?

[Biffo]

Haydn: Symphony No 63 in C major La Roxelane; Symphony No 69 in C major Laudon - Academy of St. Martin in the Fields conducted by Sir Neville Marriner

[aligreto]

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 27 & 28 Op. 90 & Op. 101 [Brautigam]

[Operafreak]

[aligreto]

Gerald Barry: Hard D

[DavidW]

+ 1 

Jochum was always a favourite for me in Bruckner.

Yeah I intended just to listen to the 9th but the playing was so good that I found myself sitting through both symphonies!

[VonStupp]

One of my very favourite works in classical music.
I have not heard that version, though.

I have found this work easy to love as well. Vienna gives a decadent sound in Previn's recording, my favorite in his series of Strauss on Telarc.

Moving on to:

Richard Strauss
Festliches Praeludium, op. 61

Philadelphia Orchestra - Wolfgang Sawallisch

Tokyo's Suntory Hall pipe organ registrations sound odd to my ears, but Philadelphia sounds great. This live recording only yields applause at the end as far as extraneous noise is concerned.

VS

[Que]

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 27 & 28 Op. 90 & Op. 101 [Brautigam]

How are you getting along with this cycle? 

[Que]

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/oct05/bertali_mir9969.htm

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Saygun
String Quartet No. 3, Op. 43
Quatuor Danel

[Todd]

[aligreto]

How are you getting along with this cycle? 

Brautigam's playing is very fluid and easy to listen to, for me, Que. The instrument used is a robust but mellow sounding one and it is well recorded, to my ear at least. I also find that he infuses a balanced amount of emotion into his performances. The quality of his musicianship is never in doubt to my untrained ear.

[SonicMan46]

Below a post I left a few years ago in another thread - now spending part of the day on the chamber recordings below - still have the same 6 in my collection; however, a Vol. 2 of FE Fesca's SQs has been released w/ another quartet performing, i.e. the Amaryllis Qrt - contains 4 discs - curious about CPO's packaging, i.e. 4 discs nicely inside a 2 sized CD jewel box or all separate single CDs?  Thanks for any input.  Dave

Fesca, Friedrich Ernst (1789-1826) and his son, Alexander Ernst Fesca (1820-1849) - continuing to go through my collection and now up to this father-son duo, both tragically dying young from 'lung disease' (father had TB; less specific about the son - check links, if interested).  Friedrich Fesca belongs here basically bridging the deaths of Mozart & Beethoven; his son into the Romantic era.  Below are the recordings I own and not much else has appeared on Amazon nor is available on Spotify (there is one disc of Friedrich's Op. 1 SQs w/ the Authentic SQ).

But since not much has appeared in these pages on F. Fesca (and in a while), the father was a virtuoso violinist, serving as the concert master in a number of orchestras and royal courts. As a composer, he wrote both instrumental and vocal works, including 16 String Quartets, 4 String Quintets, and 4 Flute Quartets (List HERE).  Now listening to his Symphonies having completed the 3-CD CPO set of half of his String Quartets w/ the Diogenes Quartett; apparently, another 'box' of the remaining quartets was planned?....... Dave

   

   

[Mirror Image]

Before heading off to work (TGIMF - Thank God Its My Friday):

Walton
Portsmouth Point
LSO
Previn

[Mirror Image]

Walton
Symphony no. 1
London Symphony Orchestra
Andre Previn



An intense, thrilling Walton First; I can see why it's the performance of choice for many! The climaxes in the outer movements are absolutely volcanic, and the inner movements are quite well done. The performance is a bit "rough around the edges" - not the best-played or the tightest in ensemble, but that's a minor quibble when it's this exciting.

Mahler
Symphony no. 4
Judith Blegen, soprano
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
James Levine



An excellent Mahler 4 on the whole, with a ravishing slow movement (the gates of heaven really do feel like they're opening up in the E major outburst near the end!), and some exquisite singing and playing in the finale. A really good first movement too, and though I could use a little more eeriness in the Scherzo, the playing (great work from the solo violin, clarinet, and horn) is immaculate.

Previn's recording of Walton's 1st on RCA is a benchmark performance for me. It hasn't been bettered even though there are several fine performances of it out there. The visceral excitement is prevalent throughout the performance. Truly a "fire and brimstone" interpretation. Also, I like Levine's Mahler a lot. His performance of the 3rd was especially noteworthy for me.

[VonStupp]

Richard Strauss
Schlagobers Suite, op. 70
Munich - A Commemorative Waltz

Detroit SO - Neeme Järvi

It appears that Järvi provides a little extra music from the Schlagobers opera than is provided in the printed concert suite, at least from what I can see comparing to Nott and Rickenbacher.

VS

[aligreto]

Prokofiev: Scythian Suite [Weller]





This is a big, powerful sound world that is filled with great atmosphere and orchestral colour. There is also great excitement and drama throughout. The final movement is particularly interesting.

[Bachtoven]

I noticed that one yesterday at Presto. Any opinion you would like to give?

I like it very much. He plays beautifully, and the sound is excellent.

[Klavier1]

My favorite recording of these works.

[aligreto]

Glazunov: Violin Concerto [Pine/Serebrier]





I find this work to be a somewhat gentle, lyrical, questioning and ruminative affair. I like the tone of the work. I find the orchestral accompaniment to be wonderfully attractive and engaging. It is a beguiling piece of music. The tone does change somewhat in the final movement but even then it is not totally filled with ostentatious bravura, even though it does have its moments.

[VonStupp]

Richard Strauss
Burleske in d minor

Emanuel Ax, piano
Philadelphia Orchestra - Wolfgang Sawallisch

VS