What are you listening 2 now?

[Todd]

[JBS]

Second round with this CD.

[Lisztianwagner]

Franz Liszt
Via Crucis, S.53

Reinbert de Leeuw (piano)
Collegium Vocale Gent

[Karl Henning]

First-Listen Friday! Brought to us by @Luke

[Roasted Swan]

First-Listen Friday! Brought to us by @Luke

Excellent version although I really like Eric Fenby's performance with the RPO on Unicorn too.  One of Delius' genuine masterpieces.  This Davis recording is very good in part due to the coupling of Appalachia which is another genuinely great work.....  Rohzdestvensky gave a great performance preserved on the BBC Radio Classics label too (along with another very fine Appalachia from Groves)

[vers la flamme]

Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartet No.8 in C minor, op.110. Fitzwilliam Quartet

[vers la flamme]

Richard Wagner: Parsifal, WWV 111. Herbert von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker, Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin

Somehow I've gotten myself into a rare Wagnerian mood. Usually when these occur I go for one of my recordings of orchestral excerpts, but I've decided to give it a shot with a complete opera—or however much of it I can take in one sitting, anyway So far so good. I've always loved the Parsifal prelude; it's my second favorite Wagner prelude after the Lohengrin.

[Lisztianwagner]

Richard Wagner: Parsifal, WWV 111. Herbert von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker, Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin

Somehow I've gotten myself into a rare Wagnerian mood. Usually when these occur I go for one of my recordings of orchestral excerpts, but I've decided to give it a shot with a complete opera—or however much of it I can take in one sitting, anyway So far so good. I've always loved the Parsifal prelude; it's my second favorite Wagner prelude after the Lohengrin.

Great choice! Gurnemanz's quote is perfect for the situation: "Das ist Karfreitagszauber, Herr!".

[Lisztianwagner]

Franz Schmidt
Symphony No.4

Zubin Mehta & Wiener Philharmoniker

[Todd]

[vers la flamme]

Great choice! Gurnemanz's quote is perfect for the situation: "Das ist Karfreitagszauber, Herr!".

I was hoping for your approval

I paused after act I, but decided I did want to hear a tiny bit more Wagner:



Richard Wagner: Tannhäuser: Overture & Venusberg Music. Gerard Schwarz, Seattle Symphony

[foxandpeng]

Alexander Glazunov
String Quintet
Five Novelettes
Fine Arts Quartet
Naxos

[Brahmsian]

Alexander Glazunov
String Quintet
Five Novelettes
Fine Arts Quartet
Naxos

A terrific disc!

[vers la flamme]

Johannes Brahms: Symphony No.4 in E minor, op.98. Eugen Jochum, London Philharmonic Orchestra

Finishing up my traversal of the Brahms symphonies with score, and my first time listening through Jochum's Brahms in order. It's a damn good Brahms cycle, and it was a pleasure reading along with the scores. There was a member on another forum who said that the 4th was let down by its finale; I'm not sure I agree, but I would say that it is kind of an austere piece of music that does not reveal its secrets easily.

Anyway, now playing the work that finale was based on:



Johann Sebastian Bach: Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150. Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan

Man, how I wish Suzuki's Bach cantatas were available in a boxed set, cheaply. They're soooo good, but way too expensive to ever consider collecting all of them. This is actually the only CD I have of the Suzuki Bach cantatas cycle.

[Karl Henning]

First-Listen Friday! Brought to you by @Mapman & @vandermolen

Arkady Mazaev
The Krasnodonians
Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra
Yevgeny Fyodorovich Svetlanov

Eerily topical, thanks to Putin (who had Svetlanov fired, incidentally) Krasnodon is a city in the Luhansk oblast (there's no proper English equivalent.  Call it "region") in Ukraine. And of course few of us had heard of Luhansk before the present conflict. The titular  Krasnodonians were ant-fascist guerrillas during the Nazi occupation.

[Karl Henning]

First-Listen Friday! Brought to you by @Mapman & @vandermolen

Arkady Mazaev
The Krasnodonians
Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra
Yevgeny Fyodorovich Svetlanov

Eerily topical, thanks to Putin (who had Svetlanov fired, incidentally) Krasnodon is a city in the Luhansk oblast (there's no proper English equivalent.  Call it "region") in Ukraine. And of course few of us had heard of Luhansk before the present conflict. The titular  Krasnodonians were ant-fascist guerrillas during the Nazi occupation.

That was a beauty, and deserved an immediate encore. And now, something lighter for First-Listen Friday:

Paging @VonStupp

[Symphonic Addict]

Paul Kletzki: Symphony No. 2 (Mariusz Godlewski, Thomas Rösner, Polish National Radio S.O.)

The renowned conductor was also a composer, and judging by this symphony, it seems he was a fine one. I could perceive some hints of Reger and Hindemith. The 4th mov. features a baritone singing a poem. I wasn't expecting this symphony to be that good.




Raff: Fantasie for piano quintet

Another very pleasant surprise today. This is Raff at his most inspired and tuneful.

[Symphonic Addict]

Franz Schmidt
Symphony No.4

Zubin Mehta & Wiener Philharmoniker

Good to see you keep enjoying this amazing work and recording.

[vers la flamme]

Paul Kletzki: Symphony No. 2 (Mariusz Godlewski, Thomas Rösner, Polish National Radio S.O.)

The renowned conductor was also a composer, and judging by this symphony, it seems he was a fine one. I could perceive some hints of Reger and Hindemith. The 4th mov. features a baritone singing a poem. I wasn't expecting this symphony to be that good.




Raff: Fantasie for piano quintet

Another very pleasant surprise today. This is Raff at his most inspired and tuneful.

Something I read that shook me somewhat was that Kletzki, after having lived through the Holocaust, was completely sapped of his will to compose. I haven't heard any of his compositions but you've got me curious to check them out.

[vers la flamme]

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No.14 in C-sharp minor, op.131. Guarneri Quartet



Robert Schumann: Manfred Overture, op.115. George Szell, Cleveland Orchestra

In one of those moods tonight, I guess, for all the serious, intense German composers; Wagner, Brahms, Bach, Beethoven, Schumann... sometimes I get sucked in and don't want to hear anything else.