What are you listening 2 now?

[Linz]

Shostakovich Symphony No.2 in B major, op.14 'To October - a  symphonic dedication' and Symphony No.10 in E minor, op.93, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, Bernard Haitink

[AnotherSpin]

It is said that David, lovely man he was, insisted his son would play the violin part.

I had old LP with this recording many years ago, and it was stated there. Father played viola.

[Florestan]

Octet in F major Op. 17

Having started as a decidedly Nationalistic Romantic, with works such as Echoes from Ossian and Comala, Gade eventually adhered, under the direct influence of Mendelssohn (whom he studied with in Leipzig and whom he succeeded as conductor of the Gewandhaus orchestra) to a more cosmopolitan, Classicist Romantic idiom. The Octet is a splendid product of this shift in his musical esthetics.

The Sextet is not half bad either.

NP:



Symphony No. 1

This is an obvious Mendelssohn-in-Scottish-mood clone --- but none the worse for that.

[vers la flamme]

Anton Bruckner: Symphony No.4 in E-flat major, WAB 104, the "Romantic". Karl Böhm, Vienna Philharmonic

Good to revisit this stunning performance after almost a year.

[Florestan]

Symphony No. 1

This is an obvious Mendelssohn-in-Scottish-mood clone --- but none the worse for that.

Actually, this is a very enjoyable symphony, with (to my ears) echoes from Harold in Italy in the slow movement and even a Russian-flavoured tune in the finale.

[brewski]

Listening to Beethoven's "Ghost Trio," Op. 70, No. 1, the end of this excellent recital from May 11 at the Curtis Institute of Music. The rest of the program, with Dvorak and Hindemith (watchable later), looks very good, too.

Dindin Jingyi Wang, violin
Elliot Sloss, cello
CharmHee Han, piano

-Bruce

[vers la flamme]

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No.5 in E-flat major, op.67. Carlos Kleiber, Vienna Philharmonic

A classic recording; my favorite, I think. My one complaint is that the bassoons are too quiet.

Anyway, finished the Beethoven, and put on:



Helmut Lachenmann: String Quartet No.1, "Gran Torso". JACK Quartet

Certain effects sound REALLY cool. Others are rather grating, and I can't really make heads or tails of how these sounds are all pieced together. For that and other reasons I find this a challenging work, but overall aesthetically pleasing to my weird ears.

[Lisztianwagner]

Arnold Schönberg
Erwartung

Sara Jakubiak (soprano)
Edward Gardner & Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

[vers la flamme]

Arnold Schönberg
Erwartung

Sara Jakubiak (soprano)
Edward Gardner & Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

Thoughts? I need a recording of Pelleas, and another Erwartung would be a nice coupling...

[Mandryka]

Helmut Lachenmann: String Quartet No.1, "Gran Torso". JACK Quartet

Certain effects sound REALLY cool. Others are rather grating, and I can't really make heads or tails of how these sounds are all pieced together. For that and other reasons I find this a challenging work, but overall aesthetically pleasing to my weird ears.

Some of Lachenmann's music, possibly Gran Torso, was meant to me seen rather than heard on an audio recording. He is essentially provocative - he's saying to the audience, just look at what we can do with traditional instruments. Pression is like this IMO, as I say maybe Gran Torso too. It's like a circus act.

[vers la flamme]

Some of Lachenmann's music, possibly Gran Torso, was meant to me seen rather than heard on an audio recording. He is essentially provocative - he's saying to the audience, just look at what we can do with traditional instruments. Pression is like this IMO, as I say maybe Gran Torso too. It's like a circus act.

I've heard that before. Maybe you're right, it is a cool piece to see performed (I've seen videos, never in live performance). With that in mind, would you say that this piece does not fall under the umbrella of what Lachenmann refers to as "musique concrète instrumentale"? (Given that one does not typically "see" tape music.)

[vers la flamme]

Franz Schubert: 6 Moments musicaux, D 780. David Fray

This is a pianist who perfectly understands a character/essence of Schubert's music that I can only describe as "ephemeral sounds which last forever", or in even fewer words, "time stops". This is a character which is embodied particularly by these pieces, which are not insignificantly referred to as "moments".

[Lisztianwagner]

Thoughts? I need a recording of Pelleas, and another Erwartung would be a nice coupling...

It's a gorgeous disc, for both the performances; Gardner's Pelleas is sumptuous and beautifully intense, it has maybe a little fast rhythms, but that's not annoying as it makes the energy and the passion of the textures very overwhelming in my opinion; besides, the conductor keeps the orchestral control with accuracy and makes the colours and strong harmonic contrasts of the piece stand out clearly. The true gem is Erwartung anyway, absolutely haunting and thrilling, such nightmarish, surreal atmospheres it evokes!

But about Schönberg's Pelleas und Melisande I would recommend Karajan and Barbirolli as first options.

[Mandryka]

Cer

I've heard that before. Maybe you're right, it is a cool piece to see performed (I've seen videos, never in live performance). With that in mind, would you say that this piece does not fall under the umbrella of what Lachenmann refers to as "musique concrète instrumentale"? (Given that one does not typically "see" tape music.)

Basically the musique concrète people found a sound they liked -- a train say -- and put it on a tape and made a loop or something. IN exactly the same way Lachenmann finds a sound he likes made with a cello or another mainsteam traditional classical musical instrument, he doesn't need to put it on a tape because he can tell someone how to make it with a cello on one of his scores.  That's a bit hard if the sound you like is a train.

Lachenmann comes with a political agenda too. He wants to shake up the concert going bourgeoisie by showing them that they were totally closed minded, narrow minded -- they never realised the enormous potential of their precious violins and pianos and stuff.

You have to see it, for this political agenda to be effective. Otherwise you won't realise all those wacky noises are coming from your sacred and expensive Strads and Steinways. You won't realise how narrow minded you have been, until Lachenmann opened your eyes.

[Lisztianwagner]

On youtube, first listen to this recording:
Béla Bartók
Bluebeard's Castle

Kolos Kovats, Sylvia Sass
Georg Solti & London Philharmonic Orchestra



The more I listen to it, the more I grow fond of this opera....

[ritter]

Streaming while plotting to purchase. "Sinfonia india" probably belongs on my live performance bucket list.

Listening to those very same recordings, but on CD from the complete set (which I've neglected a bit since I bought it a couple of weeks ago).

The symphonies are among the few works by Carlos Chávez that I knew before buying the set (I have the recordings by Eduardo Mata on Vox). I recall liking the Sinfonía de Antígona (with its connection to Jean Cocteau), and this time around, the impression is just as favourable. The Sinfonía India (which, although being No. 2, precedes the Antigona on this CD) is a raucous, primitivist affair, which has its charm, but am not sure will retain interest in repeated hearing.

I must admit I have no recollection whatsoever of Symphony No. 3, which comes up next. Let's see...


CD 3

[Linz]

Kurt Sanderling Edition, Bruckner Symphony No. 4 in E-Flat Major, 1878/80 Version (1880 with Bruckner's 1886 revisions) - Ed. Leopold Nowak, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

[Karl Henning]

Pf Sonata № 9 in B, D. 575
Paul Badura-Skoda

[vers la flamme]

It's a gorgeous disc, for both the performances; Gardner's Pelleas is sumptuous and beautifully intense, it has maybe a little fast rhythms, but that's not annoying as it makes the energy and the passion of the textures very overwhelming in my opinion; besides, the conductor keeps the orchestral control with accuracy and makes the colours and strong harmonic contrasts of the piece stand out clearly. The true gem is Erwartung anyway, absolutely haunting and thrilling, such nightmarish, surreal atmospheres it evokes!

But about Schönberg's Pelleas und Melisande I would recommend Karajan and Barbirolli as first options.

Did not know Barbirolli recorded Pelleas, that's going on the wishlist.

Now playing:



Henryk Górecki: Symphony No.3, "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs". Antoni Wit, Polish National RSO with Zofia Kilanowicz, soprano

I think this recording is possibly a lot better than the once-famous Zinman/London Sinfonietta with Dawn Upshaw (which I do also love); however, I burned this piece out a bit by listening to it roughly 50,000 times before age 20. I think it may have been the first piece of classical music I ever got into. As much as I love Pierre Boulez, I will never forgive him for (the perhaps apocryphal story of) leading the audience in a chant of "merde" immediately after the end of this work at its premiere, seated next to the composer even.

Edit to add: Now the 3 Olden Style Pieces. I love them, especially the first one. I don't know what "olden style" this is intended to imitate, but what I'm reminded of is Erik Satie.

[Cato]

On youtube, first listen to this recording:
Béla Bartók
Bluebeard's Castle

Kolos Kovats, Sylvia Sass
Georg Solti & London Philharmonic Orchestra



The more I listen to it, the more I grow fond of this opera....

Arnold Schönberg
Erwartung

Sara Jakubiak (soprano)
Edward Gardner & Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

Your listening choices reminded me of a Metropolitan Opera television broadcast with James Levine conducting Jessye Norman in a double bill of Bluebeard's Castle followed - after an intermission - by Erwartung.

This morning, courtesy of Dayton Classical Radio: Haydn Symphony #13



The attraction in this work is Movement II, an Adagio with a marvelous solo for the cello.

Later in the day, I heard half of this incredible work: I heard only half of it...tomorrow I hope to finish!