What are you listening 2 now?

[aligreto]

Trumpet Concertos [Steele-Perkins/Halstead]





Jiri Neruda: Concerto in E flat
John Humphries: Concerto in D

[Que]

Hi Que - last year, I put up the post below in the listening thread - transcriptions by Azzolini - wonderfully played and recorded - assume that you're listening on Spotify?  Good luck in finding the CDs - Dave

Yep. Knew you got it - lucky you! 

Q

[SonicMan46]

Mendelssohn - today will be a 'Felix Marathon' - continuing on w/ some Piano Chamber music w/ the Atlantis Trio et al - Dave

 

[Karl Henning]

Mahler
Symphony # 6 in a minor
LSO
Levine

[pjme]

Hope this recordings is fine, as I don't know it yet. I do know this to be the finest Stabat Mater I'm aware of, an absolute favourite, the darker tones the better (& more 'Polish'). 

yes, indeed one of the finest Stabat maters! It is one of a few works I have multiple recordings of (Rattle/HMV, Wit/Dux) - but the 1961 performance by Stefania Woytowicz, Krystyna Szczepanska, Andrzej Hiolski / Warsaw PhO / Witold Rowick / MUZA Polskie Nagrania remains my favorite. I'll give it a spin tonight.

[Carlo Gesualdo]

I,m listening to Philippe Rogier, and guess what I order another album of Rogier another Missa, since I was so impress by his work so far.

[Christo]

yes, indeed one of the finest Stabat maters! It is one of a few works I have multiple recordings of (Rattle/HMV, Wit/Dux) - but the 1961 performance by Stefania Woytowicz, Krystyna Szczepanska, Andrzej Hiolski / Warsaw PhO / Witold Rowick / MUZA Polskie Nagrania remains my favorite. I'll give it a spin tonight.

Great to learn! I found no more than three recordings on my shelves: Stryja/Naxos 1988, Rattle/EMI 1994, Wit/Naxos 2007 and remember a friend of mine playing another Polish version, who knows your 1961 favorite. As always, Antoni Wit is a reliable choice too and I like the whole Rattle disc (one of his finest IMHO). 

[j winter]

Prokofiev piano concertos 2 & 5, Kun Woo Paik   Every time I listen to Prokofiev, I think, ya know I should listen to Prokofiev more often...

[André]

Concertos 4-6, plus an extra spin of the slow movements.

[Mahlerian]

Yes and no. Haitink's Mahler has always been about the orchestra, not the conductor. In this, Mahler's most 'public' work, that approach (and the recording, which is slightly recessed) makes the work sound almost timid. Like, « Hey, are you trying to hide something? ». In the end what remains is the fabulous playing and a solid, stalwart presentation. The Solti version has the thousand players and singers almost in your lap. With Haitink, if you boost the volume the tension and emotion of the reading  emerge well enough. I still count this recording as very successful in its own way.

I think that Mahler's Eighth Symphony is absolutely not supposed to be a "public spectacle" work. Its heart is in the inner, subjective experience of transfiguration, and it should never be played for bombast. The unfortunate moniker that one clueless concert promoter saddled it with has led to far too much misinterpretation of its character.

Britten: String Quartet No. 2
Brodsky Quartet


Britten: String Quartet No. 3
Emerson String Quartet

[Symphonic Addict]

Symphonies 4 & 5

The 4th is indeed a powerful conception of entrancing passion. How deliberately colourful, atmospheric and dramatic it sounds! It's easy to get an association with the Strauss's idiom, related to that lush and voluptuous orchestral canvas. My kind of music, nothing less. Truly superb.

The 5th is not far behind in greatness, another fierce work with trepidant and poetic parts. The timpani in the 1st movement sound like thunders and I loved it. The 3rd movement has a sardonic part for xylophone and muted trumpet, something rather unusual in his style. The 4th movement has a celebratory character in several parts. Another striking piece.

This Naxos series has impressed me a lot. As a whole cycle has all the elements to categorize it as more than succesful and convincing.

Having listened to these enthralling works, I would nominate Nos. 2 and 4 like my favorites, albeit all of them are not less than arresting and some are the finest late-Romantic Scandinavian symphonies out there IMO.

I will continue my traversal on Scandinavian symphonies these days.

[SonicMan46]

Felix Mendelssohn - just an abundance of his piano chamber works in my collection - more below for late afternoon and dinner listening - again, the Atlantis Trio/Ensemble on Watchorn's label, a period instrument performance vs. several MI recordings that I also enjoy, especially the Golub-Kaplan-Carr Trio which I've owned for a LONG time - attached are just a couple of reviews that I could find (I'm sure others exist) - Dave
.
   

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Hi PD - both the Suk single-disc Violin Concertos and the 4-disc box w/ Matoušek & Petr Adamec are excellent - now, the music is quite varied from beautiful melodies to jazzy rhythms and into occasional dissonance (which is less enjoyable to me) - for those interested, I've attached a couple of 'thumbs up' reviews that should pique one's interest.  Dave

Thanks Dave!  Glad that you are enjoying the music.   

[vers la flamme]

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.8 in E-flat major, the "Symphony of a Thousand". Bernard Haitink, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, too many choirs & soloists to name.

Somehow, it's taken me until now to realize this, but hey, I don't hate this symphony. I don't have much of a problem enjoying it at all, actually. Turns out I really like Mahler's 8th! And this, to my ears, is a damn good recording of it—not worthy of all its bad rap. Part 1 is a pulverizing testament of spirit, like a church organ pounding out a massive, ultra-complex, yet jubilant fugue in fortissimo. It ends in as magnificent a brass-and-choral climax as you're likely to find anywhere in Mahler.

Enter the introduction to Part 2, and we have the kind of stark contrast that we love Mahler for. The orchestral interlude into the Final Scene of Faust II is powerful. And that's as far as I am into the music at the moment, so being that I have the bulk of the music still ahead of me, I won't comment with any further praise. My one complaint is that the booklet has none of the words! Alas. But what can I say, I paid about two dollars for it, and the music is great.

[vers la flamme]

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.8 in E-flat major, the "Symphony of a Thousand". Bernard Haitink, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, too many choirs & soloists to name.

Somehow, it's taken me until now to realize this, but hey, I don't hate this symphony. I don't have much of a problem enjoying it at all, actually. Turns out I really like Mahler's 8th! And this, to my ears, is a damn good recording of it—not worthy of all its bad rap. Part 1 is a pulverizing testament of spirit, like a church organ pounding out a massive, ultra-complex, yet jubilant fugue in fortissimo. It ends in as magnificent a brass-and-choral climax as you're likely to find anywhere in Mahler.

Enter the introduction to Part 2, and we have the kind of stark contrast that we love Mahler for. The orchestral interlude into the Final Scene of Faust II is powerful. And that's as far as I am into the music at the moment, so being that I have the bulk of the music still ahead of me, I won't comment with any further praise. My one complaint is that the booklet has none of the words! Alas. But what can I say, I paid about two dollars for it, and the music is great.

I finished it. Yeahh!!! That was a phenomenal work of art. I've heard Mahler's 8th about 5 times but have never enjoyed it nearly so much. And now I'm kicking myself for missing the chance to have seen it live last winter. Damn it! Next time the opportunity arises to catch this masterpiece in concert, I'm jumping on it.

[Madiel]

Over the last couple of days.



This one hasn't really had anything to grab me, just listening without any libretto (which for me is not an ideal listening experience anyway). It seems to have quite a lot of recitative.

EDIT: And of course, after I write this while Act 3 is still playing, Act 3 turns out to have a particularly appealing aria.

[Symphonic Addict]

Piano Concerto

This CPO orchestral series about Hindemith is something to trove.

[SimonNZ]

[MusicTurner]

Piano Concerto

This CPO orchestral series about Hindemith is something to trove.

Nice, and not so well-known.

[MusicTurner]

Symphonies 4 & 5

The 4th is indeed a powerful conception of entrancing passion. How deliberately colourful, atmospheric and dramatic it sounds! It's easy to get an association with the Strauss's idiom, related to that lush and voluptuous orchestral canvas. My kind of music, nothing less. Truly superb.

The 5th is not far behind in greatness, another fierce work with trepidant and poetic parts. The timpani in the 1st movement sound like thunders and I loved it. The 3rd movement has a sardonic part for xylophone and muted trumpet, something rather unusual in his style. The 4th movement has a celebratory character in several parts. Another striking piece.

This Naxos series has impressed me a lot. As a whole cycle has all the elements to categorize it as more than succesful and convincing.

Having listened to these enthralling works, I would nominate Nos. 2 and 4 like my favorites, albeit all of them are not less than arresting and some are the finest late-Romantic Scandinavian symphonies out there IMO.

I will continue my traversal on Scandinavian symphonies these days.

Agree, good stuff, probably time for a re-visit this morning ...