What are you listening 2 now?

[Que]

Macolm Bilson on a fortepiano after Johhannes Schantz, c. 1800, with sonata no. 4.

[asin]B0000266YE[/asin]
Sofar my notes from three (!) years ago are spot-on:

Just finished disc 2 of this set:

Surprisingly, the way each sonata by a different pianist is recorded varies considerably.

Some impressions: no. 1 by Malcolm Bilson a bit colourless, rather unremarkable; Tom Beghin gives an interesting and expressive rendition of no. 2; David Breitman is heavy handed in no. 3; Malcolm Bilson's 2nd, strikingly Schubertian performance of no. 4 impresses; Bart van Oort is a bit literal, matter of fact in no. 5; Ursula Dütschler is attractively lively and energetic in no. 6.

Q

[Mirror Image]

By the way, Cesar, you've got to hear the Bacewicz Piano Concerto. It's a must!

[Symphonic Addict]

By the way, Cesar, you've got to hear the Bacewicz Piano Concerto. It's a must!

I was about to ask you that. Good to know, John. As a fan of Bacewicz is definitely a must for me!

[Mirror Image]

I was about to ask you that. Good to know, John. As a fan of Bacewicz is definitely a must for me!

Yep, you'll dig it. I know I certainly did.

[Todd]

[vers la flamme]

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No.7, "Sinfonia Antartica". André Previn, London Symphony Orchestra

Giving this work another chance after a rather less than favorable first impression.

[Karl Henning]

Very nice, Cesar. I should revisit this work. I recall liking her chamber works quite a bit.

Yes, the Beach chamber music I've heard is very good.

[Karl Henning]

Two first listens:




Torbjörn Iwan Lundquist - Symphony No. 1 Kammarsymfoni

A serious, rigurous, granitic and attractive symphony. Anyone who has affinity with, say Holmboe, Simpson or Nystroem could enjoy this work. I didn't expect a work of this quality. Fantastic stuff.




Alan Hovhaness - Cello Concerto

I perceive a strong sense of exoticism and solemnity in this concerto. Quite good to say the least, just that the dynamic range of the recording is not the best. The brass sound potent, whilst the soloist sounds low in comparison.

Love the Hovhaness disc!

[kyjo]

Her Piano Quintet is already on my radar.

A great bunch of great piano concertos by female composers there, Kyle. I've been very delighted by the ones I've listened to, and let's not forget the fantastic Concerto for piano and strings by Dorothee Carwithen which has been a revelation for me lately. I don't know the Bosmans, Jaëll, Kuzmenko, Tailleferre, Boulanger, Chaminade and Bacewicz. I'll be investigating those.

I'm sure you'll enjoy most if not all of those, Cesar. The Carwithen has gone straight to the top of my "need to listen" list!

[kyjo]

Rad. It's like . . . full of wrong notes. And it's brutal. And there's a fuck of a lot of it. Nice classical music pianoforte teachers will not approve.

Yikes! I won't be sleeping well tonight...

[kyjo]

By the way, Cesar, you've got to hear the Bacewicz Piano Concerto. It's a must!

I'll take that as an urgent recommendation to me as well.

[Todd]

[Mirror Image]

I'll take that as an urgent recommendation to me as well.

You know it!

Yes, the Beach chamber music I've heard is very good.

Good to hear, Kyle.

[Mirror Image]

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No.7, "Sinfonia Antartica". André Previn, London Symphony Orchestra

Giving this work another chance after a rather less than favorable first impression.

Good to see you continue trying with Vaughan Williams. I think he rewards the listener who is willing to listen. For me, it was love on first-listen. I think the first work I heard must have been the Tallis Fantasia. After this, I was hooked. I was quite surprised when I got to his Symphony No. 4. Such an angry piece --- it totally caught me off guard.

[listener]

going with a DVD - VERDI: Jerusalem
a production from Genova

[Mirror Image]

Symphony No. 2, "Motherland", Op. 39



I'm with Jeffrey in that I prefer this performance to the more recent one on Northern Flowers. I don't know...it just feels more heartfelt to me.

[André]

Two first listens:




Torbjörn Iwan Lundquist - Symphony No. 1 Kammarsymfoni

A serious, rigurous, granitic and attractive symphony. Anyone who has affinity with, say Holmboe, Simpson or Nystroem could enjoy this work. I didn't expect a work of this quality. Fantastic stuff.




Alan Hovhaness - Cello Concerto

I perceive a strong sense of exoticism and solemnity in this concerto. Quite good to say the least, just that the dynamic range of the recording is not the best. The brass sound potent, whilst the soloist sounds low in comparison.

Thanks for your comment, Cesar. I received the disc of symphonies 3 and 4 by Lundquist a few weeks ago - haven't listened to it yet. I look forward to it ! 

[Daverz]

Radecke: Symphony

[asin] B01C4HDPWG[/asin]

Very good Romantic symphony.

[André]

With a few friends we listened to different versions of the Ballade no 1 by Chopin. We heard Magaloff, Zimerman, François, de Maria and Ohlsson.

The most monumental in conception and with the best engineering by quite some margin is Ohlsson.

François swept the field in terms of passion and sheer abandon, but is sometimes messy and his piano is not well recorded (1954). His right hand runs up and down the keyboard toward the end display the most beautiful jeu perlé. In terms of tempo these two are the most contrasted. Ohlsso takes some 10 1/2 minutes to François' 7 1/2. All the others clock in around 9 1/2 minutes.

Zimerman is the most poetic, but there is a hint of hauteur to his aristocratic pianism. The sound is very clear but with a hint of the metallic. DGG has never been very good at recording pianos.

De Maria is the most exquisitely shaped, the most apollonian version, at the expense of some heroism in the middle section. He is the only one to really make the ostinato bass note before the coda tell with real force. Controlled abandon and beautiful tone are this pianist's cardinal values.

Magaloff has the most impressive left hand of the bunch, a real tower of strength. He builds up the ballad elements (two contrasted thematic groups) steadily and inexorably, making the recap and coda the true climax of the work, not the almost spent afterthought Zimerman and François offer us.

My favourite for its roller coaster emotional ride is François. Magaloff is my other favourite (a more 'reasonable' choice maybe) with his powerful tone, his old school virtuoso approach and perfect grasp of the work's architecture. The yin and the yang, each one balancing the other. My friends preferred Ohlsson, but I thought de Maria brought everything in good balance and was more poetic. Zimerman left us all a bit unsatisfied. His reluctance to let the listener fully into his communion with Chopin a tad frustrating.

[steve ridgway]

Xenakis - A Colone and other choral works.