What are you listening 2 now?

[JBS]

New arrival

Numbers 1 and 2 Opp 10 and 19
Soloists :
Vineta Sareika and Hrachya Avenesyan, respectively.  Each concerto in the set has a different soloist.

[T. D.]

The string quartet discs (1, 2, 5)

[springrite]

The VC by Alwyn is one of my favourite works by him and, personally, I find it both memorable and, in places, moving. I like both the Naxos and Chandos recordings.
Now playing:
Shostakovich Symphony No.4, Ormandy, Philadelphia - a magnificent pioneering recording:

Oh I love the Alwyn Violin Concerto!

Now listening:
Alwyn Symphony #2 + #3 + Violin Concerto (All CHANDOS)

[Todd]

Yet another reminder of why I keep collecting recordings of warhorses.  I bought this expressly to hear Wyn Morris' accompaniment, and make no mistake, it is extremely fine.  What I was not expecting was David Golub's pianism.  Familiar with him from radio broadcasts with the Golub-Kaplan-Carr Trio, as soloist he just rips through the pieces.  His style eschews syrupy romanticism, and rather dazzles with some of the cleanest, clearest Rach playing I've heard, where inner voices come to the fore and harmonies never get bogged down.  Morris floats the perfect support.  I had slightly more than middling expectations, but rather like with Morris' LvB, the results are way, way beyond that, with both pieces comparable to the greats.

As one neat bonus, this closeout disc appears to be a 1980s vintage pressing, with a withered, stiffened booklet, and the disc is slightly thicker than every other one I've purchased in years.

I really do need to get me some of Morris' Mahler.  As in all of it.  Probably need to reconsider Mr Golub a bit, too.

[amw]

Sonatas 3 and 29 'Hammerklavier'.

Becker's rendition of the Hammerklavier's particular sound world is stunning. The first movement is positively electrifying. The finale's fugue is played with the utmost clarity. What sounds like a breakneck speed is consistent with other versions' timings. It takes the breath away by virtue of its X-ray lucidity, immaculate articulation and diamond-like tone.

The 3rd sonata, played after the 29th, reveals how much Beethoven's particular kind of piano sound was there from the outset: the sonata's Allegro con brio has an urgency that borders on belligerence. Lest that sound too caffeine-laden for comfort, I should add that Becker's fine Steinway D shows how a good modern instrument perfectly accommodates Beethoven's music. Playing of that kind on a fortepiano might have sounded messy and aggressive.

A stunning disc.

It's interesting hearing these kinds of responses when for me, listening to the same performance of the Hammerklavier, I found it too slow, too safe and too focused on surface beauty. In particular the adagio is much too slow but the outer movements are not much better.

Increasingly I'm starting to feel that for all the virtues of present-day pianists, and the fact that some of them are technically better than almost any past performers, present-day performance styles (including "historically informed performance") are fundamentally and temperamentally incompatible with the vast majority of the classical canon. Unfortunately this problem doesn't seem like it will ever be solved: to be proficient as a classical musician you have to start learning your instrument before the age of seven, whereas to understand the character and style of classical music you have to be an adult with a well developed musicological education. By the time a piano student reaches the age to actually understand the Hammerklavier Sonata they have already had up to fifteen years of music education from teachers who have very confidently informed them that the correct way to play it is to reduce all of Beethoven's tempo marks by twenty percent, smooth over all the dissonances, and apply continuous but discreet use of the sustain pedal, and thus are now incapable of understanding the Hammerklavier Sonata.

As such we're in a situation where practically all of the great recordings of piano music were made between 1920 and 1940 and usually by pianists who were already well past their prime, so that we can only imagine what they might have sounded like with greater speed and security in 1900 or 1910, but the only people who care about this sort of thing are the people who will never be able to play the piano at all because they didn't start practicing six hours a day in kindergarten.

[Todd]

As such we're in a situation where practically all of the great recordings of piano music were made between 1920 and 1940

I cannot agree with that assessment.  We live in the Golden Age of Prokofiev recordings, for instance.  (I exclude Prokofiev's own recordings in making that assessment.)  And looking at Becker's timings, they strike me as entirely conventional.  If he completes the cycle, I will buy, otherwise I will pass.

[Mirror Image]

The string quartet discs (1, 2, 5)

Very nice. How are you enjoying that set so far?

[Symphonic Addict]

Aus Italien

[T. D.]

Very nice. How are you enjoying that set so far?

This is the first spin.
Frankly, it's not a good evening to judge. Extremely cold night, expected low near zero F, "wind chill advisory" in effect, so the wood stove is going. The stove has a rather loud fan which inhibits appreciation of classical music.
The playing seems excellent, but I'll have to listen during daylight hours to say more.

BTW, I listened to the 4-CD RIAS Second Viennese School Project box (recommended by ritter iirc) yesterday and loved it.

[Mirror Image]

This is the first spin.
Frankly, it's not a good evening to judge. Extremely cold night, expected low near zero F, "wind chill advisory" in effect, so the wood stove is going. The stove has a rather loud fan which inhibits appreciation of classical music.
The playing seems excellent, but I'll have to listen during daylight hours to say more.

BTW, I listened to the 4-CD RIAS Second Viennese School Project box (recommended by ritter iirc) yesterday and loved it.

Very nice. It's rather warm here and Spring has sprung. Stay warm, my friend.

Thread duty -

Debussy Sonata for Flute, Viola & Harp (The Nash Ensemble)



Magical, otherworldly music. One of my favorites and I have yet to hear a better performance than this one from The Nash Ensemble.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Yes, wonderfully atmospheric and excellent playing. Thank you again.

You are very welcome. Thank you for checking it out !

[steve ridgway]

Stockhausen - Klavierstück VI.

[Mandryka]

It's interesting hearing these kinds of responses when for me, listening to the same performance of the Hammerklavier, I found it too slow, too safe and too focused on surface beauty. In particular the adagio is much too slow but the outer movements are not much better.

Increasingly I'm starting to feel that for all the virtues of present-day pianists, and the fact that some of them are technically better than almost any past performers, present-day performance styles (including "historically informed performance") are fundamentally and temperamentally incompatible with the vast majority of the classical canon. Unfortunately this problem doesn't seem like it will ever be solved: to be proficient as a classical musician you have to start learning your instrument before the age of seven, whereas to understand the character and style of classical music you have to be an adult with a well developed musicological education. By the time a piano student reaches the age to actually understand the Hammerklavier Sonata they have already had up to fifteen years of music education from teachers who have very confidently informed them that the correct way to play it is to reduce all of Beethoven's tempo marks by twenty percent, smooth over all the dissonances, and apply continuous but discreet use of the sustain pedal, and thus are now incapable of understanding the Hammerklavier Sonata.

As such we're in a situation where practically all of the great recordings of piano music were made between 1920 and 1940 and usually by pianists who were already well past their prime, so that we can only imagine what they might have sounded like with greater speed and security in 1900 or 1910, but the only people who care about this sort of thing are the people who will never be able to play the piano at all because they didn't start practicing six hours a day in kindergarten.

The only pianist I can think of who recorded op 106 before 1940 is Schnabel! Is there one from Gieseking? the earliest I have is 1949.

It is a particularly hard sonata to pull off IMO, and for that reason what you say is not implausible when you think about it. I'm not sure it would be so plausible for, e.g., op 109.

[vandermolen]

I concur that is a very good work, and both recordings are exemplary.

For me, its neglect is extraordinary - it is one of my favourite VCs.
Now playing (again) - Daniel Jones's 3rd Symphony:

[Harry]

New arrival

Numbers 1 and 2 Opp 10 and 19
Soloists :
Vineta Sareika and Hrachya Avenesyan, respectively.  Each concerto in the set has a different soloist.

That's a favourite of mine, love this set to bits.

[Que]

That's a favourite of mine, love this set to bits.

I've been planning to look into it for quite a while. Will line it up on my Spotify playlist! 

Morning listening - 2nd disc of the De la Rue masses by Beauty Farm:

[vandermolen]

Moroi: Symphony No.3

[Florestan]

Moroi: Symphony No.3

Every time I see this name I chuckle. In Romanian moroi means revenant / ghost / werewolf. 

[Harry]

J.S. Bach.
Complete Organ works, Volume XV.

Miscellaneous works.

Gerhard Gnann, plays on a Johann Andreas Silbermann Organ, 1741, Strasbourg, Eglise Saint-Thomas.

Gnann is definitively more to my liking as Ute Gremmel Geuchen, him being more forward and clearer in his expression.

[Stürmisch Bewegt]

That's a favourite of mine, love this set to bits.

Wonderful music and music-making.  A good idea do you think, Harry, to portion-out the VCs to individual violinists, or not?  It works is all I can say!