What are you listening 2 now?

[ritter]

I need to wade into that set. Good evening, Rafael!

Yes, you definitely should. It'll be worth your while! 

Buenas tardes, Karl!

[Mirror Image]

Now playing Mahler 4th with Popp/Tennstedt/London PO from this superb set:



This set, the LPO Live set (on this orchestra's house label) and the recording of the 3rd with the LPO live on ICA Classics are essential Mahler acquisitions. Tennstedt is one of the most compelling Mahlerians I've ever heard.

[ritter]

Now playing K. A. Hartmann Symphony No. 2, 'Adagio' with James Gaffigan/Netherlands Radio PO from this marvelous set:



Smoldering performance. Hartmann's symphony cycle is one of the greatest of the 20th Century, IMHO. Right up there with all the big names: Mahler, Sibelius, Shostakovich, Vaughan Williams, Nielsen et. al.

And good evening to you too, John!

I'll join you with some Hartmann as well:



I rarely listen to Hartmann, and haven't revisited the Gesangsszene in ages (even if the texts are by Jean Giraudoux, an author I greatly admire). The work is making a very strong impression this time around. Will then finish tonight's listening session with Luigi Dallapiccola's Canti di liberazione (a work I'm very fond of, and the only recording of which on CD is this one by Ingo Metzmacher).

[vandermolen]

I think Boult does incredibly well in this symphony, Jeffrey. Of the Boult EMI cycle, I really liked the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th and 9th. I still got the 8th and 9th to go in revisitation of his cycle.

No.9 is a profoundly reflective performance I think John - quite in contrast to his 1958 (Everest/Decca) performance, recorded a few hours after the composer's death (he had been due to attend the recording session), which, understandably, has great urgency and is v moving in a different way (the orchestra had been clearly affected by the sad news, which had been broken to them just before the recording)

[vandermolen]

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No.5 with Koussevitzky conducting the Boston SO (one for Karl I think  )
- a fine, urgent and Sibelian performance - very moving:

Review:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/oct07/Koussevitzky_GHCD2324.htm

[Mirror Image]

And good evening to you too, John!

I'll join you with some Hartmann as well:



I rarely listen to Hartmann, and haven't revisited the Gesangsszene in ages (even if the texts are by Jean Giraudoux, an author I greatly admire). The work is making a very strong impression this time around. Will then finish tonight's listening session with Luigi Dallapiccola's Canti di liberazione (a work I'm very fond of, and the only recording of which on CD is this one by Ingo Metzmacher).

Very good to read, Rafael. Hartmann is a great. Gesangsszene is a fine work. I should revisit at some juncture. And a fine evening to you as well.

[Mirror Image]

No.9 is a profoundly reflective performance I think John - quite in contrast to his 1958 (Everest/Decca) performance, recorded a few hours after the composer's death (he had been due to attend the recording session), which, understandably, has great urgency and is v moving in a different way (the orchestra had been clearly affected by the sad news, which had been broken to them just before the recording)

I can certainly understand how the composer's passing would have affected that particular Boult performance of the 9th. Boult was always a reliable conductor of RVW.

[vandermolen]

I can certainly understand how the composer's passing would have affected that particular Boult performance of the 9th. Boult was always a reliable conductor of RVW.

Indeed John. Boult made a speech 'To our American Friends' at the start of the Everest disc.

[classicalgeek]

My recommendation is for either the Wergo or Challenge Classics sets, but sonically the Challenge Classics set can't beat (the performances are also excellent). The Wergo set has FM sound quality as these were radio broadcasts, but it's more than acceptable and the performances are off-the-chain great.

Honestly, and I don't know how much money you're willing to spend, but for $54 from a Dutch seller on Discogs, this Challenge Classics set can be yours:

https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/15906270?ev=rb

My suggestion would be to jump on it as this is an incredibly hard-to-find set (even more difficult to find than the Wergo set). I haven't found this set on Amazon in quite some time and it's nowhere to be found on eBay.

The Metzmacher set is horrible. Lifeless performances in dull sound quality. Metzmacher recorded some Hartmann in the Challenge Classics set (Symphony No. 8), but the performance is so damn good that you would've thought this was a completely different conductor on the podium altogether.

Thanks for the recommendations! And thanks for the link to the Discogs listing; I at least put the Challenge Classics set on my Discogs wishlist. I'm glad I avoided the Metzmacher set. I still want to place a good-size order from Europadisc (including the new Koechlin release on Capriccio ), and I'm trying to space my purchases out.

TD:
Andrei Eshpai
Concerto for trumpet, piano, vibraphone, and double bass
Piano concerto no. 2
Symphony no. 7
USSR State Large Symphony Orchestra
Yevgeny Svetlanov
(on Spotify)



A highly variable disc for me - I quite enjoyed the concerto for various instruments; a fun piece, with elements of neoclassicism and jazz. I was much less impressed by the other two selections; the iffy sound (typical of many Soviet-era recordings) didn't help.

[Todd]

Denis Zhadnov's set stands apart from all the others in the Naxos cycle by not really sounding like Soler at all.  It sounds more like CPE Bach.  That's no bad thing.  In terms of sheer execution, Zhdanov is up there with the best of the series so far, and if he takes fewer pianistic liberties than Čolić, the stylistic difference makes the music sound more different.  Overall, there's much pep and oodles of rhythmic swagger and the recording is very fun.  Nice.

[SonicMan46]

Satie, Erik (1866-1925) - Piano Music w/ Jean-Yves Thibaudet (5-disc set in a convenient 2-CD jewel box) - don't have much else, another 2-CD set in the middle below and a 2-disc set from the late 60s w/ Satie's works orchestrated - some reviews attached for those interested.  Dave

   

[Linz]

Mozart Clarinet Concerto with Alfred Prinz playing Clarinet, and the Flute and Harp Concerto with Werner Tripp at the Flute and Hubert Jellinek at the Harp conducted by Karl Münchinger and Herbert von Karajan conducting Mozart Symphony No. 40

[classicalgeek]

Matthew Taylor
Symphony no. 1 'Sinfonia Brevis'
*Horn Concerto
Symphony no. 3
*Richard Watkins, horn
Royal Ballet Sinfonia
Matthew Taylor
(on Spotify)

[Mapman]

Since Mirror Image mentioned it a few days ago,
Khachaturian: Piano Concerto
de Larrocha; Frühbeck de Burgos: London Philharmonic

I enjoyed it; it is very dramatic. The opening melody felt familiar, it reminds me of Dvořák's Slavonic Dance Op. 46/7. I didn't like the flexatone, the rattling in this recording was distracting.

[Mirror Image]

Continuing on with the Stravinsky ballets with Orpheus conducted by the composer with the Chicago SO from this monumental set:



The disc in question -

[Mirror Image]

Since Mirror Image mentioned it a few days ago,
Khachaturian: Piano Concerto
de Larrocha; Frühbeck de Burgos: London Philharmonic

I enjoyed it; it is very dramatic. The opening melody felt familiar, it reminds me of Dvořák's Slavonic Dance Op. 46/7. I didn't like the flexatone, the rattling in this recording was distracting.

Yeah, Khachaturian's Piano Concerto is an impressive work.

[André]

After a short hiatus, I continue with this set. It's now the turn for the Fourth Concerto.



This traversal by Arturo Tamayo of Petrassi's magnificent cycle is turning out to be even better than I expected (hat tip to André).

De nada. Es un placer ! 

[André]

Finishing the day with CD 4, an assortment of polkas and overtures by Johann II. Boskovsky could no wrong in this repertoire.

[Mirror Image]

Now playing Berg Lulu-Suite with Juliane Banse/Abbado/Wiener Philharmoniker from this set:



Abbado was always in his element in Berg.

[Mirror Image]

Now playing Berlioz Nuits d'été, Op. 7 with Brigitte Balleys/Herreweghe/Orchestre des Champs Elysées:



Exceptional performance.