What are you listening 2 now?

[Traverso]

Satie

[André]

A powerful, dramatic performance. Svetlanov get slashing attacks and releases from the strings - the opposite of what one hears from a german/austrian band. Conductors of the old school like Mengelberg, Koussevitsky, Toscanini, Munch, Rodzinski or Mitropoulos often did it, too, although not always and not to that degree. Trumpets, too, have that laser beam cutting quality that can be quite startling. The effect can sound brutal, but a work such as Manfred can take it. It is not a performance of extremes, but there is a level of electricity that is maintained throughout. All told, a superb performance. The sound is sometimes congested (1967 Melodiya recording).

[Papy Oli]

Reicha - Octet

[prémont]

Now streaming on Qobuz.

Listened to it on Rübsam's website some months ago. Haven't purchased it. Rübsam's playing is as usual interesting, but the music doesn't engage me much either on lute or lute harpsichord.

[Karl Henning]

LvB
Symphony № 9 in d minor, Op. 125
Martina Arroyo, soprano
Regina Sarfaty, mezzo
Nicholas Di Virgilio, tenor
Norman Scott, bass
The Juilliard Chorus
NY Phil
Lenny

[Papy Oli]

Schoenberg
Pieces for Chamber Ensemble (1910)
Serenade

[Mirror Image]

Schoenberg
Pieces for Chamber Ensemble (1910)
Serenade

Awesome!

[Papy Oli]

Awesome!

that's pushing it    

[Mirror Image]

that's pushing it    

Hmmm...are you actually enjoying what you're listening to, Olivier? Schoenberg was a bit of a difficult pill for me to swallow in the beginning, but as soon as I clicked with Berg, I have found Schoenberg more and more attractive. One of the reasons as to why I love Schoenberg is the sheer unpredictability of his music, but also I find it deeply compelling. This is a man who found himself at what must be considered one of the more difficult musical crossroads of any century: the idea of tonal vs. atonal. This video might be of some use for you as it offers a brief but informative summary of the composer:

https://www.youtube.com/v/bjV3PBIWO2I

[Papy Oli]

Hmmm...are you actually enjoying what you're listening to, Olivier? Schoenberg was a bit of a difficult pill for me to swallow in the beginning, but as soon as I clicked with Berg, I have found Schoenberg more and more attractive. One of the reasons as to why I love Schoenberg is the sheer unpredictability of his music, but also I find it deeply compelling. This is a man who found himself at what must be considered one of the more difficult musical crossroads of any century: the idea of tonal vs. atonal. This video might be of some use for you as it offers a brief but informative summary of the composer:

https://www.youtube.com/v/bjV3PBIWO2I

I am sure there was a smiley or two in my post to ensure it would be taken with a large dollop of tongue-in-cheek.

Am I enjoying it ? Not really at the moment, that is challenging but it remains of interest, so I'll carry on through that box to see what makes a first cut so to speak. I'll check the video later, thank you John.

[Symphonic Addict]

What an obsession to force people to like X or Y composer. Is not it better that they decide for themselves?

[Mirror Image]

I am sure there was a smiley or two in my post to ensure it would be taken with a large dollop of tongue-in-cheek.

Am I enjoying it ? Not really at the moment, that is challenging but it remains of interest, so I'll carry on through that box to see what makes a first cut so to speak. I'll check the video later, thank you John.

Schoenberg is challenging, but as soon as you have an understanding of the music or reach some kind of understanding, it's certainly easier to get ahold of and, yes, actually enjoy. I look at the Second Viennese School as walking into a room of funhouse mirrors. That kind of distorted reality is highly appealing to me.

[Mirror Image]

NP: Schoenberg Wind Quintet, Op. 26 (New York Woodwind Quintet)

[Maestro267]

I don't get what's so challenging about it. Gurrelieder is one of the great works of High Romanticism, of Mahlerism and Straussism.

[Mirror Image]

I don't get what's so challenging about it. Gurrelieder is one of the great works of High Romanticism, of Mahlerism and Straussism.

Of course, Gurrelieder for all its Romanticism and exuberance could hardly be called challenging but the challenge that I'm referring to is atonal/12 tone Arnie. This is where people start jumping off the ship and one would have to be pretty ignorant of the history of this composer and really the Second Viennese School in general to not understand the challenge of appreciating their music. My point being that it's rewarding music for those who want to understand it and take the plunge.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Ohki composed the 8-movement symphonic fantasy To the Hiroshima Panels in 1953. It was later renamed Symphony no 5 'Hiroshima'. Rather similar to Mussorgsky's Pictures, it is a musical portrayal of the Marukis' first 6 Panels, painted between 1950 and 1982. At the time Ohki composed the symphony, the Panels were still a work in progress. They now number 15 and are on display at the Maruki Museum for Pictures of Atomic Bomb, Higashimatsuyama-shi, Saitama, Japan. Here is one of them, Fire, painted in 1950. Ohki used it for the 3rd movement of his symphony:



One can sense the kind of connection between earth and heaven, humanity and metaphysical familiar from the paintings of William Blake. Or a japanese version of Guernica. Ohki's music is not descriptive of the bombing itself, rather the effects on the people in the aftermath, once the blinding flash and deafening roar had given way to fire, death and the procession of ghosts (title of the second movement).

It is a powerful work, very bleak of course, evocative in its very restraint.

Many Japanese people are grateful for Obama's visit to Hiroshima in 2016.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Saw the Albert de Rippe (c.1500-1551) recording w/ Hopkinson Smith lauded in some previous posts, so I headed over to Spotify and being a BIG H. Smith fan, put together the playlist shown below - 5+ hrs of music - will be listening the rest of the morning and half the afternoon!  Dave

P.S. on my den speakers using the Spotify app on my Apple TV (although the app is available on most of my HDTV connected devices) - a plethora of choices!

Love all the recordings.

[Brahmsian]

What an obsession to force people to like X or Y composer. Is not it better that they decide for themselves?

+1

[vandermolen]

Arrived today: Imants Kalnins, Symphony No.6 (2001)
Terrific opening! An hour long with choral sections - a most interesting work.

[Mirror Image]

What an obsession to force people to like X or Y composer. Is not it better that they decide for themselves?

What in the world are you talking about, Cesar? I'm just trying to get a conversation going about a composer that I admire with hopes that it rubs off. What's wrong with that? Olivier is free to like whoever he chooses. Next time, if you're making reference to something I posted, I'd appreciate it if you actually quote it instead of just passing through with a comment that anyone and their mother could comment on.