What are you listening 2 now?

[Symphonic Addict]

Ah, the BBB! (Bedazzling Bovine Borodin) set.

It's my first time listening to anything of that set and sounds great.

[JBS]

The Warner Ballets Russes set
CD 11
Saison 1914
R. Strauss: La Legende de Joseph Op 63
Stravinsky: Le Rossignol





This Conlon recording btw was also used in Warner's Igor Stravinsky Edition.

[Mapman]

Yost: Clarinet Concerto #13
Susanne Heilig, et al.

An unremarkable Classical concerto.

[vers la flamme]

Rochberg: Symphony No. 1

I'll be listening to his symphonies over these days, and this is already a promising beginning. It seems incorporating twelve-tone technique or serialism, it sounds really arresting and forbidding at times. The climaxes are tremendous where the tam-tam has a notable presence. The only quibble is that it's a tad long (1h 4min).

Super interested to check out his symphonies.

[Symphonic Addict]

Super interested to check out his symphonies.

There are only three of them in good recordings (1, 2 and 5). The other three can be found on YouTube (6 symphonies in total).

[vers la flamme]

Richard Strauss: Horn Concerto No.1 in E-flat major, op.11. Peter Damm, Rudolf Kempe, Staatskapelle Dresden

[Spotted Horses]

I've spent an inordinate amount of time with the Peter Maxwell Davies symphonies. I hated every single one of them at first 😁. Not any more. I can't begin to understand what his structures are, but the unpredictability and seeming chaos of the seascapes in particular, are great. I often listen in the darkness and just let them do their thing.

Fascinated to hear what you make of them.

I did have time to sample five minutes of one and it struck me as sort of Pettersson-ish. I'm thinking of snapping up the Davies string quartets while the sale is still on.

[brewski]

Ravel: Rapsodie espagnole (Haitink / Concertgebouw) - A classic. Lately have been listening to more recent versions—and there are many good ones—but this one remains a big "wow."

-Bruce

[JBS]

Moving on to CD 12, a sort of wartime miscellany with six composers

Saison 1916

R Strauss: Till Eulenspiels lustige Streiche
Philharmonia Orchestra/Lorin Maazel
Premiered New York 23 October 1916. The track listing notes
Ce ballet, derniere creation de Nijinsky, ne fut jemais represente en dehors des Etats-Unis. [This ballet, Nijinsky's last creation, was not later presented outside the United States.].

Faure: Pavane in F Sharp Minor Op 50
Orchestre de chambre de Lausanne/Armin Jordan
Premiered as the ballet Las Meninas 21 August 1916 Teatro Eugenia Victoria
San Sebastian [Spain, I presume]

Saison. 1917

V. Tommasini after D. Scarlatti: Le donne di boun umore
Philharmonia Orchestra/Igor Markevitch
Premiered as the ballet Les Femmes de bonne humeur 12 April 1917 Teatro Constanzi Rome

Igor Stravinsky: Feu d'artifice Op 4
Philharmonia Orchestra/Eliahu Inbal
Premiered on the same program as the Tommasini/Scarlatti work

Liadov: Kikimora Op 63/Baba Yaga Op 53
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Dmitri Kitajenko
Premiered as the ballet Contes Russes 11 May 1917 Theatre du Chatelet Paris

Satie: Parade
Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse/Michel Plasson
Premiered May 18 1917 Theatre du Chatelet Paris

[Symphonic Addict]

Braga Santos: Symphonic Overture No. 2 'Lisboa'
Respighi: Belfagor Overture

[foxandpeng]

I did have time to sample five minutes of one and it struck me as sort of Pettersson-ish. I'm thinking of snapping up the Davies string quartets while the sale is still on.

Great idea. Again, immensely worthwhile!

NP:

Arvo Pärt
Tabula Rasa
Orchestre de chambre de Lausanne
Renaud Capuçon


Intended as night music for the small hours, but far more interactive and attention-grabbing than it is soporific. Superb, really, but now I'm wide awake.

[Madiel]

Dvorak, Symphony no.5 (Suitner again)

Somehow, he writes symphonies that sound like they could be used as ballets.

[Madiel]

Dvorak Symphony no.4. Yes, that conductor.

[Que]

Morning listening:



The Magnificat is a masterpiece and an iconic CPE piece IMO. The approach by Rademann is remarkably similar to that of my 1st 1966 recording by the Collegium Alureum and Tölzer Knabenchor. Only in that recording Elly Ameling shines.

[Florestan]

What a wonderful verse! Worthy of Leopardi! 

Leopardi? An amateur. 

[Tsaraslondon]

Not so much a recital as a compilation of excerpts from various complete opera recordings Caballé made for Decca over a twelve year period between 1972 and 1984. As we get duets and trios, with Caballé joined by Pavarotti, Milnes and Baltsa, this makes for quite an enjoyably varied disc. The voice is always beautiful, but by 1984, when she was over 50, it has acquired a bit of a beat when she exerts pressure on it, though not as bad as some of today's sopranos. It is more pronounced on the excerpts from Andrea Chénier with Pavarotti than in the excerpts from the Sutherland Norma (Pavarotti again her partner) where she puts less pressure on the voice. Also included are excerpts from Luisa Miller, Mefistofele (as Helen of Troy), Turandot (Liu) and La Gioconda. Though Caballé would probably not be my first choice for any of the roles she sings here, this is nonetheless a rewarding collection.

[vandermolen]

Miaskovsky: Symphony No.24 'To the memory of Vladimir Derzhanovsky' (Japanese Premiere)
Osaka SO, Cond. Hiroshi Kodama - excellent, deeply-felt performance.

[Papy Oli]

Good morning all,

Saw his name mentioned in the Hovhaness thread as one of the greatest American symphonists, thought I'd give him a go:

Howard Hanson - Symphony No.6

[Papy Oli]

Good morning all,

Saw his name mentioned in the Hovhaness thread as one of the greatest American symphonists, thought I'd give him a go:

Howard Hanson - Symphony No.6

Well, that was short but entertaining.

Symphony No.2 now.

[Tsaraslondon]

Recorded in 1967 and 1969, these two discs are a conflation of three superb LPs of Rarities made by Montserrat Caballé, when her voice was at its absolute peak. When she was singing like this, she was unbeatable in this repertoire and, though she may not illuminate a phrase the way Callas was apt to do, she is nonetheless a dramatically involved singer, or at least she was at this stage of her career. If anyone ever doubts what all the fuss was about when Caballé first burst onto the scene, they should listen to this. There is nobody singing this repertoire today with such beauty and technical proficiency. I have a feeling these three LPs might just be the best thing Caballé ever did.

Original covers below.