What are you listening 2 now?

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

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Mandryka

#37960
Quote from: André on April 16, 2021, 01:29:10 PM
d'oïl


How on earth do you say that? :o It's got a trema!

(They always freak me out in French, I never know what to do with them. When I'm in Paris I stay somewhere near Montparnasse Bienvenüe -- and I live in fear of having to say the last word!)
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

amw

#37961


I want to like this, but I don't. Either there's something very wrong with Beethoven performance over the last three decades or there's just something very wrong with my ears. More likely the latter.

amw

Quote from: Madiel on April 16, 2021, 07:06:15 AM
Thanks. Some of those were already on the list, some weren't.

From what I've heard I think Imogen Cooper is excellent but yes, she focuses firmly on the last 6 years (twice, even). I don't really care about incomplete sonatas but I would rather like to have the full ones in the D.500s and 600s.  Brendel manages to miss some of them as well I think. Uchida's box set has almost exactly the repertoire I would want but I find her style too wayward for comfort - in the sonatas I tried, some things were good but then she'd bring everything to a screeching halt to have a 'moment'.
That's fair enough I suppose.

Cooper I prefer the Ottavo recordings to the Avie ones; British critics disagree. You have the same problem I have with Uchida, which disappointed me a great deal after hearing her play them live.

There are a few sets I missed because I know nothing about them: Georges Pludermacher, Martino Tirimo, Ingrid Haebler, Daniel Barenboim, Walter Klien (seems to have been a top recommendation back in the day), a Brilliant Classics multi-pianist set, Vladimir Feltsman, Gerhard Oppitz, and of course Jenő Jandó.

I also missed out Alain Planès, whose set I know, but despite my usually high regard for him I didn't find his recordings exceptional. Others may disagree. And there are two ongoing integrals, Mathieu Gaudet (not to my taste but well done) and William Youn (much to my taste, but basically Endres 2.0).

aligreto

JS Bach: Suite No. 1 for Solo Cello [Wispelwey]



aligreto

Quote from: Traverso on April 16, 2021, 11:01:14 AM
Richard Strauss

Eine Alpensinfonie



Wonderful performance that. I hope that you enjoyed it Jan. Kempe is one of my top three favourite interpreters of Strauss' music.

aligreto

Quote from: steve ridgway on April 16, 2021, 08:46:29 AM
The Chailly box gradually grew on me when it was the only classical music I had. I'm least keen on the version of Ameriques which didn't help with it being near the start.

Cheers. I am really looking forward to hearing it.

Madiel

Quote from: Mandryka on April 16, 2021, 12:13:36 PM
What I mean is that although the spelling of oiseau starts with a vowel in the first syllable, the sound is a consonant (at least, to my English ears), so to me, for example, a liaison with in des oiseaux feels wrong (and that just shows that I can't speak French!) -- as wrong as a liaison with des wallons. The two words, wallons and oiseaux, seem to me to start with the same sound --/w/. 

Whenever I use the word oiseau I have a little mental jolt to remind myself about the liaison -- and a momentary loss of confidence! I avoid all discussions of birds and geese.

W in English is actually what's known as a semi-vowel.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Daverz

#37967
Quote from: Madiel on April 16, 2021, 03:14:38 PM
W in English is actually what's known as a semi-vowel.

Uuhat?

TD, from the most recent tranche of Ormandy mono recordings to hit the streaming and download sites:



Recorded in 1950.  Finally, a recording I've waited years to hear in a decent transfer.  I've had a couple private LP transfers on CDR, but they were always compromised by damaged grooves at some point.  The playback equipment of that era was hell on the softer vinyl.

Also in this week's tranche of downloads:



Eagerly awaiting Ormandy's mono era Sibelius Symphonies 4 & 5 and Four Legends, and symphonies by Piston, Harris, Persichetti and more William Schuman.




Brahmsian

Quote from: Madiel on April 16, 2021, 03:14:38 PM
W in English is actually what's known as a semi-vowel.

Interestingly, in English, w is called "double u", while in French, w is called "double v".

From a visual stand point, it makes more sense to call it "double v".

mabuse

Quote from: mabuse on April 16, 2021, 08:06:21 AM
This week I discovered this fascinating box:
https://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,26305.msg1350841.html#msg1350841


Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on April 16, 2021, 08:38:35 AM
I haven't heard of any of those composers before now.  What's the music like?

And are the chickens yours?  :)

PD

I didn't know these composers that much either...
I would say that they represent a certain "avant-garde", quite unknown, in the United States in the 60s.
The works are very varied ... I am not bored!
...


I found the birds recently in chocolate eggs...  :P

André

Quote from: Mandryka on April 16, 2021, 01:40:56 PM
How on earth do you say that? :o It's got a trema!

(They always freak me out in French, I never know what to do with them. When I'm in Paris I stay somewhere near Montparnasse Bienvenüe -- and I live in fear of having to say the last word!)

Much easier than you think ! Oïl is pronounced like oil in English (as in olive oil). If there was no trema, 'oil' would be pronounced 'wal' - with a short 'a' and a short 'l'. As in 'poil' (french word for hair).

:)

Madiel

Quote from: OrchestralNut on April 16, 2021, 03:25:48 PM
Interestingly, in English, w is called "double u", while in French, w is called "double v".

From a visual stand point, it makes more sense to call it "double v".

From a modern visual standpoint, yes. The history of U and V as distinct letters is one of those new-fangled things that only came in a few centuries ago...
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

SimonNZ


mabuse

Quote from: Mandryka on April 16, 2021, 01:40:56 PM
How on earth do you say that? :o It's got a trema!

(They always freak me out in French, I never know what to do with them. When I'm in Paris I stay somewhere near Montparnasse Bienvenüe -- and I live in fear of having to say the last word!)

Bienvenüe is for Fulgence Bienvenüe, the "Father of the parisian Metro".
You don't have to be careful with the trema here. We pronounce Bienvenüe as "bienvenue."

Madiel

Quote from: amw on April 16, 2021, 06:48:43 AM
I do like the Endres Schubert set a great deal, much more so than the Schiff Decca set, although not as much as the Schiff ECM recordings (but then choice of instrument plays a large role there). I do however consider both pianists to be working within a fairly similar style.

For alternative views I would potentially want to sample: Paul Badura-Skoda RCA (modern instrument) or Arcana (period instruments), Michel Dalberto, Mitsuko Uchida, Alfred Brendel, Malcolm Bilson, Wilhelm Kempff, the less than complete Christian Zacharias, the 1823-1828 sonatas by Imogen Cooper, potentially also someone like Elisabeth Leonskaja (for a complete set) or Sviatoslav Richter (for an incomplete one); a lot depends on how important the incomplete & early sonatas are to you. It's unlikely that you'll enjoy all of these options, I don't, but it'll establish directions to go in.

Requoting because your pm box is full..

I wanted to check, when you mentioned Elizabeth Leonskaja, were you thinking of her relatively recent recordings (EaSonus label), or her earlier ones (Teldec label)?

Thanks again for your other suggestions, I've decided I want to properly check out Badura-Skoda's RCA set, and Dalberto, and also Zacharias who does all the sonatas I'm most interested in.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Mirror Image

NP:

Nielsen
Symphony No. 3, "Sinfonia espansiva", Op. 27
Royal Danish Orchestra
Bernstein



Alek Hidell

Finally caught up with this thread again. ::) I was working a lot - like 80- to 100-hour weeks - in January and February, and then I began facing some rather serious medical issues, so I'm only now catching up with what's going on here.

Anyway, it's funny that there was a recent discussion of Schiff's Schubert set on Decca, because I just finished listening to it within the last few days. I wasn't too fond of the acoustic of the recording - a bit echoey. I'm not nearly expert enough to comment on the performances, though I certainly like Schiff in general (especially on ECM, but then I'm an ECM fanboy anyway). As far as the music goes: meh. I just run hot and cold with Schubert. I love his symphonies, and generally like his chamber music (though sometimes it seems to me that he tends to be a bit prolix - my problem, I'm sure), but I have yet to warm to the piano music. A lot of this music just went in one ear and out the other. Again, my failure, I'm sure. Someone here can take me to task for my philistine blasphemy.

More recently:

 

I've been meaning to listen to some Weinberg, so what better place to start than on my aforementioned beloved ECM? And these two sets have gotten some love here, so I listened to them on Spotify. I enjoyed both, but particularly the latter - I believe I own the recording (a sure sign of a GMG member, when you can't even remember which recordings you own), so I'll need to cue it up again soon.

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist." - Hélder Pessoa Câmara

Mirror Image

Quote from: Alek Hidell on April 16, 2021, 08:47:08 PM
Finally caught up with this thread again. ::) I was working a lot - like 80- to 100-hour weeks - in January and February, and then I began facing some rather serious medical issues, so I'm only now catching up with what's going on here.

Anyway, it's funny that there was a recent discussion of Schiff's Schubert set on Decca, because I just finished listening to it within the last few days. I wasn't too fond of the acoustic of the recording - a bit echoey. I'm not nearly expert enough to comment on the performances, though I certainly like Schiff in general (especially on ECM, but then I'm an ECM fanboy anyway). As far as the music goes: meh. I just run hot and cold with Schubert. I love his symphonies, and generally like his chamber music (though sometimes it seems to me that he tends to be a bit prolix - my problem, I'm sure), but I have yet to warm to the piano music. A lot of this music just went in one ear and out the other. Again, my failure, I'm sure. Someone here can take me to task for my philistine blasphemy.

More recently:

 

I've been meaning to listen to some Weinberg, so what better place to start than on my aforementioned beloved ECM? And these two sets have gotten some love here, so I listened to them on Spotify. I enjoyed both, but particularly the latter - I believe I own the recording (a sure sign of a GMG member, when you can't even remember which recordings you own), so I'll need to cue it up again soon.

Good to see you posting again, Alex. Sorry to hear of your medical issues. I hope you're feeling better now?

Mandryka

Quote from: André on April 16, 2021, 05:36:11 PM
Much easier than you think ! Oïl is pronounced like oil in English (as in olive oil). If there was no trema, 'oil' would be pronounced 'wal' - with a short 'a' and a short 'l'. As in 'poil' (french word for hair).

:)

I didn't expect that!
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Madiel

Schubert, Schiff, D.850



The drawback, such as it is, isn't the playing (at least not in the 1st movement that I'm listening to right now). The minor drawback is the acoustic, possibly coupled with the choice of piano. It just somehow prevents certain moments having the full impact my brain argues they ought to have.

It's not as if I'm not enjoying it though. I think greater familiarity with the piece over time helps. One thing I'm trying to do is focus on the fully completed piano sonatas and not get distracted by the bits and pieces.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!