What are you listening 2 now?

[aligreto]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, it does seem that Ashkenazy's Sibelius is highly regarded. Anyone else here a fan of his Sibelius?

I am a big fan of Ashkenazy's Sibelius but this came as a surprise to me when I first heard and enjoyed it. Normally I like my Sibelius to be on the ice cold, craggy side but I find Ashkenazy's Sibelius to be on the warmer side of the spectrum. I think that his emphasis on the dramatic won me over.

[Que]

Maybe too big for Böhm's rather small scaled music.

Quite true.
Perhaps/probably the organ at Böhm's later post,  the St.Johannis at Lüneburg, would be the better option....

Q

[André]

[vandermolen]

Bax Symphony No.6 LPO Thomson:

[Mandryka]

Of all the Bohm recordings I know, including those on fine organs and those by well regarded organists -- Fuchs at Lausanne is the one which is consistently satisfying, for its self effacing, humble,  approach and for the tones of the organ, which though new seems to me to suit the music really well.

Perhaps/probably the organ at Böhm's later post,  the St.Johannis at Lüneburg, would be the better option....

Q

Here you are

https://www.youtube.com/v/xZStobNScro

Hans Heintz has a disc of Lubeck and Bruhns which has been transferred by Bibliotheque Nationale de France -- not bad at all.

[Mandryka]

I have to make choices,there is so much that I like to explore but my time is limited.If you only listen to the Bach cantatas and their different recordings to name just one example.I'm often astonished by the knowledge of some members here,they must surely listen in a higher speed than me and swallow it almost without chewing it properly.

This reminded me of something Louis Thiry says in his recording of Auauxo

s, I would like to reflect on how we listen to
this music in today's world. We are in an age of abundance: one can listen to music everywhere,
all the time. The quantity is clearly there, but what about the quality? I am referring to not
just the quality of the music, but also the quality of the listening itself. There are multiple
ways to listen: one can listen all day long, with music in the background. A certain absorption
takes place, but if there is a great diversity of music, the individual works and styles slip away
without leaving a trace. One can listen while driving a car; the acoustic conditions are such
that only certain elements penetrate above over the general hum of noise. One can listen with
the score in hand; even if one is not a very good reader, this can provide reference points. In
any case, the choice of approach is a personal one.
However to approach the qualitative rather than the quantitative I suggest a way of
listening which suits this particular recording. If one listens to all of the tientos in succession,
they may be perceived as monotonous. Each piece needs the space to deliver its own
personality. Memory must do its work. That is why rather than listening to the ten tientos
one after the other, I suggest that you choose one, listen and re-listen in order that that particular tiento takes its place in your memory. As when one takes a walk, different scenery
is discovered and revisited, and the multiple past experiences color each subsequent one.
This approach is appropriate even for those who have no special musical knowledge.

[Todd]

Valery Afanassiev playing three of ol' Ludwig van's most famous sonatas.  Afanassiev's main thing here is playing the music slower than slow.  Op 13 is dreadful.  Heavy, plodding, ugly, lacking energy, and including a lot of banging, it's almost as bad as Gould's worst.  Somehow, though, the even more ridiculously slow 27/2 (9:58/3:25/9:14!) comes off reasonably well, if one takes it as a serious attempt at musical absurdism.  Afanassiev achieves musical stasis in the opening movement and a strange sense of scale in the closer.  Op 57 comes in at over a half-hour, and much of it sounds stiff, ugly, and ponderous, but in some passages he lets rip to exciting effect.  He whizzes right by Pogorelich and straight into Barto territory in terms of self-indulgence, but he lacks the American's tonal finesse and fluidity.  Afanassiev's discs usually sell at a premium, but I picked this up for an old school Naxos price (ie, $6), so it was worth it.

[aligreto]

Brahms: Cello Sonata No. 1 [Sellheim/Sellheim]





A fine, energetic and enthusiastic performance in a very good recording.

[Irons]

That Bax/Boult story rings a bell Lol but I'm not sure myself if is true. Boult's old Decca performance of 'Tintagel' is a favourite of mine and he went on to record it again so he must have liked it. You are quite right about the Bax symphonies as it was Barbirolli, Handley and Downes who made the earliest recordings of them.

Yes, just as likely Boult didn't record a Bax symphony is he wasn't asked.

I loved "The Happy Forest" from the Handley CD. One of my favourite tone poems.

[André]

This stretches the concept of Schönberg's chamber performances for the Association for Private Musical Performances. Schönberg did start the work and called for an ensemble of string quintet, wind quartet, horn, piano, harmonium and 2 percussionists - a total of 14 players. He got halfway through the first movement before leaving it off in mid air. The Association folded very shortly after and Schönberg didn't return to the work. It was left to german composer Rainer Riehn (1941-2015) to finish the task along the lines of Schönberg's instrumental specifications.

There's another such arrangement that picks up on the Schönberg/Riehn concoction and twitches it to a different end, increasing the number of players (24) and singers (soprano, alto, tenor and baritone). It has been recorded by conductor/arranger Hansjörg Albrecht. I was very impressed by it. The 'pure' Schönberg/Riehn score has been recorded a few times and is no doubt played with some regularity. Whatever validity one is prepared to confer on that type of endeavour, in the end it's the musical results that justifies (or sinks) it.

Among the many emotions and feelings the original (Mahler) generates, the only one I miss here is the sensation of wallowing in a sea of beauty, with massed strings and triple/quadruple winds and brass. Mahler scored very transparently most of the time, with individual voices like contrabassoon, mandolin, harps given plenty of exposure. Obviously the huge orchestral textures cannot be replicated in an orchestral reduction, therefore expectations will not be the same. Within that entirely different perspective one hears the interplay of voice and instruments with startling clarity - much more immediate, with the feeling that everything is exposed, with no place to hide - musical hypervigilance, somto speak.

On this recording both voices are exceptionally well chosen (not always the case, marketing considerations often imposing less than ideal choices). As a matter of fact, I'd return to this recording just for the pleasure of hearing two healthy, easily produced voices singing with feeling and intelligence. A very valid alternative.

[vandermolen]

Yes, just as likely Boult didn't record a Bax symphony is he wasn't asked.

I loved "The Happy Forest" from the Handley CD. One of my favourite tone poems.

I just did a bit of research into the Bax/Boult conundrum Lol by looking at my copy of Boult's biography by Michael Kennedy. It seems that Boult had a clear preference for the tone poems and there are a number of references to him conducting November Woods, the Garden of Fand and Tintagel (the works he recorded for Lyrita). However he also conducted the Symphonic Variations and Winter Legends as well as symphonies 1,4 and 7 (Premiere performance in the USA). Boult wrote an autobiography 'Blowing My Own Trumpet' and it would be interesting to see if he has anything to say about Bax but I don't have a copy of the book. Somewhere I have a copy of a book of letters to Boult but not too sure where it is.

[Papy Oli]

Patrick Hadley - Trees so high

[asin]B0007ZEBYO[/asin]

[André]

Patrick Hadley - Trees so high

[asin]B0007ZEBYO[/asin]

Someone will be very happy...

[Papy Oli]

Someone will be very happy...

Autant se faire plaisir   0:)

[vandermolen]

Someone will be very happy...

Delighted actually 

[Papy Oli]

Delighted actually 

some people here have a costly influence....is all i'm saying...   

[vandermolen]

some people here have a costly influence....is all i'm saying...   

Yes indeed and I know that to my own (literal and metaphorical) cost. However, I think that double CD Hadley/Sainton set is desert island material. So, I've done you a great favour really.

[Karl Henning]

Must be in the air:

Sibelius
Symphonies # 4 & 6
CBSO
Rattle

[ritter]

Stéphane Degout sings mélodies by Debussy, Duparc, Saint-Saëns, Chabrier, Hahn and Ravel, with Hélène Lucas at the piano.

[asin]B0044U6KNS[/asin]

From this wonderful collection:



Degout, whom I was lucky enough to see live as Pelléas in Debussy's opera in Brussels some years ago, perhaps doesn't have the most beautiful of voices, but uses it with utmost intelligence and musicality. A mélodie singer of the highest order, whose name can be mentioned along those of some of the giants of the past.

[The new erato]

I've been bacl to the basics recently; listening to Brendels latest set of Beethoven sonatas, various Suzuki, Leonhardt and Gardiner Bach cantatas, Olavsson and Schiff Bach, and currently Karajan's Metamorphosen. And Arabella Steinbachers Milhaud disc (really splendid), and some Parry Chamber Music. And a concert with Bruch violin concerto no 1 and Tchaikovsky no 5 With Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic with my wife and daughter. Cannot get more basic than that!