What are you listening 2 now?

[Mapman]

Parsifal: Act 3
Karajan

(An obvious choice for today, as several other members noted.)

[JBS]

At various times today

Celibidache had some home runs in Bruckner (the 8th in particular) but also several misses: this 6th comes closer to the latter category, although it's not as bad as the 4th.

And now


That is in addition to the Vine Piano Sonatas CD I posted earlier, which I enjoyed a great deal.

[Daverz]

At various times today

Celibidache had some home runs in Bruckner (the 8th in particular) but also several misses: this 6th comes closer to the latter category, although it's not as bad as the 4th.

This is one of my favorite recordings of the 6th.

[JBS]

This is one of my favorite recordings of the 6th.

As I like to say, Chaconne a son gout.

[Bachtoven]

[vandermolen]

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

Paging @VonStupp

Very nice Karl. Glad you enjoyed it. I thought that the set was worth having for that alone.

[Que]

Morning listening:

[vandermolen]

New arrival
Ilkka Kuusisto (born 1933)
Symphony No.1 (1998)
This is enjoyable, written in a kind-of post-modern tonal idiom. I didn't really know what to make of it but I did know that I immediately wanted to hear it again. I have now listened to it several times. It is quite episodic with martial and lyrical sections briefly reminding me of Einar Englund, Kinsella and Havergal Brian. The opening reminds me of Delius. Apparently this interesting Finnish composer has mainly written operas.  There are odd fanfare like sections. The cover of the CD is quite fun. It features the composer struggling to get a boat into a lake while his two sons (the conductor and the violinist on this release) stand around doing nothing. On the back of the booklet it states: 'Cover Image: 'BOYS! Please, help me!' (taken on the island Loparo east of Helsinki in 2000, this photograph features a previous collaborative effort by the Kuusisto clan).
I was very sad to read that the conductor Jaako Kuusisto died, aged 48 in 2022.
Well worth exploring:

[Que]

[Papy Oli]

Bernstein - "Fancy Free" Ballet

[vandermolen]

Patrick Hadley: The Trees So High
A masterpiece IMO (as is 'Nadir' by Philip Sainton)

[Lisztianwagner]

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

It's a marvelous recording as a matter of fact, very compelling; I've recently listened to all Schmidt's symphonies, but the 4th remains my favourite.

[Lisztianwagner]

Arnold Schönberg
Moses und Aron

Hans Rosbaud & NDR Sinfonieorchester uns Chor

[Todd]

[Traverso]

Mozart

piano concertos 1-2-3 & 4

Philharmonia Orchestra

[DavidW]

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.

Well they were, you just missed it.  It was a limited edition.  I bought it for $220 from Arkivmusic.

[vers la flamme]

Well they were, you just missed it.  It was a limited edition.  I bought it for $220 from Arkivmusic.

Key word in my post, cheaply 

[DavidW]

Key word in my post, cheaply 

That is $4 per cd.

[DavidW]

Bach's St. Matthew Passion part 1:



Suzuki I (i.e. the one in the box set, not the newer recording)  I love the more spiritual approach he brings.  Too many recordings are just too swift and bouncy for such a monumental work.

[vers la flamme]

That is $4 per cd.

OK fine, I guess I can't expect much better than that. I usually see the Leonhardt/Harnoncourt going for around $100, but it's probably the only one that is that cheap—and probably the one I will end up getting, eventually, for that reason 

Picking up where I left off this morning:



Richard Wagner: Parsifal, WWV 111, end of Act I. Herbert von Karajan, BPO, etc

This is further than I've ever made it in Parsifal, but I have to admit I'm listening to it as "pure" music, and not following along with the words or the plot whatsoever. I guess, let me go look up a summary and see what has happened so far 

Here are some hyperbolic words bestowed upon Parsifal by some people who were a pretty big deal at the time:

Parsifal is without doubt by far the most beautiful and sublime work in the whole field of Art.

I can hardly describe my present state to you. When I came out of the Festspielhaus, completely spellbound, I understood that the greatest and most painful revelation had just been made to me, and that I would carry it unspoiled for the rest of my life.

When I first heard Parsifal at Bayreuth I was fifteen. I cried for two weeks and then became a musician.

Nothing in the world has made so overwhelming an impression on me. All my innermost heart-strings throbbed... I cannot begin to tell you how Parsifal has transported me. Everything I do seems so cold and feeble by its side. That is really something.

Incomparable and bewildering, splendid and strong. Parsifal is one of the loveliest monuments of sound ever raised to the serene glory of music.