What are you listening 2 now?

Started by Gurn Blanston, September 23, 2019, 05:45:22 AM

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ritter

Some Richard Strauss here as well: the "Moonlight Music" and the closing scene from Capriccio.



Can it get more authentic than this? The broadcast (in perfectly tolerable sound) is led by Clemens Krauss, who not only conducted of the world première in the same city (Munich, albeit with a different orchestra), and the countess is sung by the same soprano, Viorica Ursuleac, who created the rôle.


André

Quote from: ritter on April 14, 2021, 12:27:14 PM
Some Richard Strauss here as well: the "Moonlight Music" and the closing scene from Capriccio.



Can it get more authentic than this? The broadcast (in perfectly tolerable sound) is led by Clemens Krauss, who not only conducted of the world première in the same city (Munich, albeit with a different orchestra), and the countess is sung by the same soprano, Viorica Ursuleac, who created the rôle.

Ursuleac was Mrs Kraus à la ville.

ritter

#37782
Quote from: André on April 14, 2021, 12:30:19 PM
Ursuleac was Mrs Kraus à la ville.
Indeed she was. Good day, André.

The Strauss fest continues, with Montserrat Caballé singing the final scene from Salomé, under the baton of Leonard Bernstein.



"Allein was tut's? Was tut's?
Ich habe deinen Mund geküßt,
Jokanaan
".

Wunderbar!

Mirror Image

Quote from: ritter on April 14, 2021, 12:37:34 PM
Indeed she was. Good day, André.

The Strauss fest continues, with Montserrat Caballé singing the final scene from Salomé, under the baton of Leonard Bernstein.



"Allein was tut's? Was tut's?
Ich habe deinen Mund geküßt,
Jokanaan
".

Wunderbar!

It seems that Bernstein didn't conduct a lot of Strauss. I know he's recorded some of the symphonic poems while on Columbia. Does he strike you as a good Straussian, Rafael?

ritter

#37784
Quote from: Mirror Image on April 14, 2021, 12:50:27 PM
It seems that Bernstein didn't conduct a lot of Strauss. I know he's recorded some of the symphonic poems while on Columbia. Does he strike you as a good Straussian, Rafael?
I don't know much if it, only these selections from Salome, and the Rosenkavalier from Vienna. I think the latter is a splendid recording, and has something special to it I cannot really describe...

EDIT:

...or perhaps I can? It's as if Bernstein, a foreigner in Vienna (and a highly beloved on at that) was trying to more echt-Wienerisch than any Viennese could ever be. The result is really charming...

MusicTurner

Quote from: André on April 14, 2021, 12:07:46 PM


CD 5 from this box set:



Suitable for listening in the car.

Interesting that those 10x ultra budget CDs are all quite new recordings.

listener

BRAHMS:  Piano Trio in Bb  op.8  IVES   Piano Trio
both played a bit too carefully for my taste by the Trio Fontenay
REGER: Fantasy on Wie schön leucht' uns der Morgenstern, BACH Organ Sonata 5 in C
KARG-ELERT:  5 Pieces
Graham Barber,  Klais organ of Altenberg Cathedral
"Keep your hand on the throttle and your eye on the rail as you walk through life's pathway."

Mirror Image

Quote from: ritter on April 14, 2021, 12:56:17 PM
I don't know much if it, only these selections from Salome, and the Rosenkavalier from Vienna. I think the latter is a splendid recording, and has something special to it I cannot really describe...

EDIT:

...or perhaps I can? It's as if Bernstein, a foreigner in Vienna (and a highly beloved on at that) was trying to more echt-Wienerisch than any Viennese could ever be. The result is really charming...

It looks like I'll have to look into Bernstein's Der Rosenkavalier, although wouldn't you say Bernstein is just as brash as Solti? What makes you dislike the Solti, but like the Bernstein?

Harry

#37788
Quote from: André on April 14, 2021, 12:03:04 PM


Cello concerto no 2 and symphony in E (1944). Mossolov is not extensively recorded, except for the short Iron Foundry and a few piano works. A student of Myaskovsky and Glière, Mossolov's style changed radically in the early 1930s, perhaps for fear of political persecution - to no avail: he was excluded from the powerful Composers Union in 1936. He spent some time in the central asian republics of the USSR, studying and collecting folk songs.

In these wartime works what is most striking is the strong lyrical vein that courses through from the initial thematic strains to the very end. The style of Myaskovsky is definitely in filigree throughout. Also, the use of folk tunes brings him sometimes close to Tchaikovsky (Eugene Onegin) and Prokofiev (the Young Juliet theme from R&J makes a surprising choice for the coda of the symphony, where the rythm is changed to that of a deliberate march). Surprisingly tuneful, big-hearted stuff then, completely different from the futuristic/motoric style of Iron Foundry.

Performances and sound seem adequate but I can't muster more enthusiasm. The percussion in particular sounds anaemic (timpani, bass drum, celesta, triangle, harp, etc) and the soundstage lacks a precise spatial image. I can't help thinking Chandos would have given us something much more solid and colourful. Some major label should take up the challenge and give us the other concertos and symphonies.


To my ears there is nothing really wrong with this recording. I do not recognize these things in the recording. But I agree it would be a fine thing if Chandos would record his works.
Quote from Manuel, born in Spain, currently working at Fawlty Towers.

" I am from Barcelona, I know nothing.............."

ritter

Solti almost invariably transmits to me a "nervousness" in his conducting that is not to my liking, and I get the impression that that "nervousness" is replacing real dramatic thrust. The sound also is too "angular" for me. Still, I think his Tannhäuser is a great achievement.

I've never been a fan of Bernstein either, but admire his Rosenkavalier, his Falstaff and his (very controversial) Tristan.

But, as you'll have noticed, these are very personal and subjective impressions...

Karl Henning

Quote from: Traverso on April 14, 2021, 11:58:44 AM
Stravinsky

CD 19


Well,it seems a good idea to listen to Momentum pro Gesualdo di Venosa




I hope you enjoy it, Jan!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Mirror Image

#37791
Quote from: ritter on April 14, 2021, 01:31:26 PM
Solti almost invariably transmits to me a "nervousness" in his conducting that is not to my liking, and I get the impression that that "nervousness" is replacing real dramatic thrust. The sound also is too "angular" for me. Still, I think his Tannhäuser is a great achievement.

I've never been a fan of Bernstein either, but admire his Rosenkavalier, his Falstaff and his (very controversial) Tristan.

But, as you'll have noticed, these are very personal and subjective impressions...

A good observation. There is a certain neurosis in Solti's conducting. I have also made it a point to never watch the man conduct anything again. The way he flails his arms and I think I even saw him spin his arm around like he was winding up to throw a softball pitch. Truly distracting and not fun to watch. Personally, I don't see how any musician working under him could even understand what he's doing on a podium. :) Truth be told, I'm much more of a Bernstein fan than Solti.

The new erato

#37792
I would like to experience a performance of the Hoffnung Concerto for Conductor and Orchestra.

aukhawk

#37793
Quote from: Mandryka on April 14, 2021, 07:27:34 AM
This is Messiaen's notes for La Fauvette des Jardins

That is a fascinating quote you pulled and so (thread duty) I'll be listening again to this piece tomorrow, thankyou.
However there barely seems much point to the music when the programme has been described in such vivid verbal detail.

For example in my favourite piece, l'Alouette Lulu, without any reference to program notes I hear in the placid left-hand chords a depiction of weak rays of sunlight penetrating the forest, making a 'bed' rather like in painterly terms, a canvas washed in a particular background hue.  Then in the right hand, superimposed, the Wood Lark chimes in.  As the sun rises and traverses the sky, the rays (left hand again) subtly shift their position, again and again.  The Wood Lark returns.  Rinse and repeat.  At the very end of the piece, some other smaller bird runs interference, to comic effect.

Very interesting to see Lac Laffrey referenced.  This is a place in the remote heart of France that I know quite well, although I have always visited in early May, when it seems a rather chill and sombre location.  I could be wrong but I think it is the highest 'large' natural lake in France - probably a much happier place later in the year, but I've never seen it like that.  Anyway, an odd location for the Fauvette des Jardins (Garden Warbler).  If I ever return there, I'll be thinking of Messiaen.
Another place very strongly associated with him is the beautiful village of La Grave in the Alps, another place I have visited many times, and even now that it is somewhat commercialised, and the alpine scenery diminished due to global warming, here it is really very easy to feel close to Messiaen and his more spiritual side, as I have often done.

Mirror Image

Selections from this recording:


Traverso

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on April 14, 2021, 01:36:48 PM
I hope you enjoy it, Jan!

I liked it Karl,It did me think of a transcription Webern made of Bach das musikalische opfer bwv 1079  :)

André

Quote from: aukhawk on April 14, 2021, 02:13:46 PM
That is a fascinating quote you pulled and so (thread duty) I'll be listening again to this piece tomorrow, thankyou.
However there barely seems much point to the music when the programme has been described in such vivid verbal detail.

For example in my favourite piece, l'Alouette Lulu, without any reference to program notes I hear in the placid left-hand chords a depiction of weak rays of sunlight penetrating the forest, making a 'bed' rather like in painterly terms, a canvas washed in a particular background hue.  Then in the right hand, superimposed, the Wood Lark chimes in.  As the sun rises and traverses the sky, the rays (left hand again) subtly shift their position, again and again.  The Wood Lark returns.  Rinse and repeat.  At the very end of the piece, some other smaller bird runs interference, to comic effect.

Very interesting to see Lac Laffrey referenced.  This is a place in the remote heart of France that I know quite well, although I have always visited in early May, when it seems a rather chill and sombre location.  I could be wrong but I think it is the highest 'large' natural lake in France - probably a much happier place later in the year, but I've never seen it like that.  Anyway, an odd location for the Fauvette des Jardins (Garden Warbler).  If I ever return there, I'll be thinking of Messiaen.
Another place very strongly associated with him is the beautiful village of La Grave in the Alps, another place I have visited many times, and even now that it is somewhat commercialised, and the alpine scenery diminished due to global warming, here it is really very easy to feel close to Messiaen and his more spiritual side, as I have often done.

When I was very young I read this book:



I had no idea it was an actual place... ::)

André

Quote from: ritter on April 14, 2021, 12:37:34 PM
Indeed she was. Good day, André.

The Strauss fest continues, with Montserrat Caballé singing the final scene from Salomé, under the baton of Leonard Bernstein.



"Allein was tut's? Was tut's?
Ich habe deinen Mund geküßt,
Jokanaan
".

Wunderbar!

And good day to you too, Rafael!

I should get this recording of the Final Scene with Caballé. I have her complete Salomé (under Leinsdorf), but this one under Bernstein probably finds her more free to express herself vocally and dramatically than under Leinsdorf.

Mirror Image

#37798
NP:

Stravinsky
Renard
John Tomlinson (bass), David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), John Aler (tenor), Nigel Robson (tenor)
London Sinfonietta
Salonen




I'll have to read more about this as I'm not sure if it's supposed to be silly or not, but it's certainly a fun romp. 8) This work does remind me a bit of Les noces with it's almost relentless, drunken forward momentum. Solti should've conducted this work! :P

Karl Henning

#37799
Quote from: Traverso on April 14, 2021, 03:17:03 PM
I liked it Karl,It did me think of a transcription Webern made of Bach das musikalische opfer bwv 1079  :)

Apt, I think, Jan, as Stravinsky undertook this project after his acquaintance with Webern's work.

And, now:

Stravinsky
Disc 18: Oratorio—Melodrama Vol. 1

Œdipus Rex

The Flood
(conducted by Robt Craft in the composer's presence, Hollywood, 28-31 Mar 1962)
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot