What are you listening 2 now?

[vers la flamme]

Raimo Kangro: Idioms, op.43a. Camerata Tallinn

I know absolutely nothing about this composer, but it's an enjoyable work. Nice writing for flute and guitar.

[steve ridgway]

Ligeti - String Quartet No. 2. The clashing string plucking rhythms in the third movement remind me of the hundred metronomes piece.

[Karl Henning]

I just don't find those first two symphonies sincere or genuine in any way. It sounds to me to like in his years he he was confused and he only composed in this manner because it was what every other composer was doing at the time. If I want to listen to avant-garde music, I'll listen to Ligeti, Boulez, Scelsi, early Penderecki, etc., because I feel these composers bring something of their own to musical table and it doesn't sound forced --- if this makes any sense at all.

Interesting.

TD:

Chacun à son goût and Vive la différence ... my appreciation of the original quartet doesn't preclude my enjoying this:

Shostakovich (arr. Barshai)
Chamber Symphony № 1 in c minor, Op. 110a
Moscow Virtuosi
Spivakov

[vers la flamme]

Raimo Kangro: Idioms, op.43a. Camerata Tallinn

I know absolutely nothing about this composer, but it's an enjoyable work. Nice writing for flute and guitar.

And now Lepo Sumera: For B.B.B. and His Friend. Same disc, same ensemble. Also great flute and guitar stuff. If anyone knows anything at all about either of these composers please let me know. This disc was a random find at my dad's record store, but I'm enjoying it.

[Mirror Image]

TD:

Chacun à son goût and Vive la différence ... my appreciation of the original quartet doesn't preclude my enjoying this:

Shostakovich (arr. Barshai)
Chamber Symphony № 1 in c minor, Op. 110a
Moscow Virtuosi
Spivakov

And to each their own.

NP:

Shostakovich
Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93
Moscow Philharmonic
Kondrashin

[Harry]

Jaromir Weinberger.

Orchestral Works.

From the opera "Schwanda" the Bagpiper.
Bohemian Songs and Dances 1-VI.

Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland Pfalz, Karl Steffens.

A composer only really known for a opera he had written which was a phenomenal success, with over 2000 performances in less then 4 years, and was translated in more that 17 languages. Sadly he never topped this music. Schwanda is a masterwork, no doubt about that. The Orchestral music taken from that shows what an expert is was in contrapuntal techniques, nothing short of amazing.
The Bohemian Songs and Dances have an melancholy that amazed me too, such fine filigree writing, introverted, yet holding a world in itself.
The performance is very good, as is the sound. Of Weinberger was said, that if you talked with him for half a hour you want to commit suicide. He saw catastrophes everywhere, thus he ended his life in 1967 with an overdose of sleeping pills.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Or Boult? First Elgar recording purchased which retains pride of place on my shelves. "Froissart" is a great piece.

Cool cover art!

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Looks very interesting. I will look for the disc.

[Karl Henning]

And to each their own.

NP:

Shostakovich
Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93
Moscow Philharmonic
Kondrashin

To borrow a phrase from Jeeves: I believe Kondrashin has given general satisfaction ... and:

Rakhmaninov Symphony № 2 in e minor, Op. 27

We've both listened to Kirill Petrovich leading an e minor symphony lately.

[VonStupp]

To keep the American string concertos theme going for a bit...



Samuel Barber: Violin Concerto, op.14. Robert McDuffie, Yoel Levi, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Maybe it's hometown bias, but this seems to blow the only other recording of this work I have (Stern/Bernstein/NY) out of the water. In any case, it's a beautiful work.

I enjoyed Yoel Levi's tenure following Robert Shaw, who I never thought was a great symphonic leader. I always felt Levi's recordings were met with less enthusiasm, but there were many I enjoyed, and Telarc's sound was always very good.

[VonStupp]

Dvorak: Violin Concerto



Wow! This is one hell of a fiery, dramatic performance of this concerto; if you're searching for a charming, folksy interpretation, look elsewhere! Mutter is nothing if not an interpretive risk-taker - I generally find this to be a positive attribute even if I don't always agree with her musical decisions. And she is accompanied by none other than the great Honeck directing a guns-blazing Berlin Philharmonic. While I wouldn't rank the slow movement as one of Dvorak's most inspired creations, the rollicking finale is probably my favorite finale of any violin concerto - a real parade of great tunes and thrilling fireworks. It never fails to make me grin from ear to ear!

I remember liking this one too, but I rarely come back to it. I also appreciate Mutter's challenging, interventionist choices, but I find myself rarely returning to her choices with much enthusiasm after a while. Honeck and BPO are great though, I agree.

[Karl Henning]

Shostakovich
Two Pieces for String Octet, Op. 11
Moscow Virtuosi
Spivakov

[VonStupp]

Symphony No. 1

Sounds like a bold performance of this somewhat elusive work to me, and I like it.

I listened to this a day or two ago, and it is strong; a far cry from Barbirolli's interpretation. If you don't like the meandering post-Romanticisms of Elgar's symphonic voice, Solti's reading certainly aids in appreciation.

If I remember, Solti went back to Elgar's recordings to guide his interpretations of these symphonies. I believe, the argument was whether or not Elgar's urgency in his symphonies was due to artistic vision or limitations of timings on the physical media in that era.

I never got the feeling Solti was well-liked during his run with the LPO, although often times his recordings there are preferred over duplicates he made at Chicago, such as his Mahler.

[Mirror Image]

To borrow a phrase from Jeeves: I believe Kondrashin has given general satisfaction ... and:

We've both listened to Kirill Petrovich leading an e minor symphony lately.

Indeed. Oh and I bet that Rachmaninov 2nd with Kondrashin was excellent. I also own that RCO box set (or box sets as I own the last three volumes). I should get around to giving some of these performances a listen. Loads of good stuff therein.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

The whole disc:



Having greatly enjoyed Hashimoto's 1st Symphony on another Naxos disc, I was not disappointed with the 2nd. Like the 1st, it is an almost entirely sunny work and is full of colorful and individual touches. Unless you require your symphonies to be full of angst and drama, this is very enjoyable stuff. However, the gem of the disc is the Three Wasan for baritone and orchestra. These are some of the most beautiful orchestral songs I've heard; they have a noticeable "Japanese" touch and superb melodic inspiration. The Scherzo con sentimento is less memorable but still worth a listen. The Tokyo Geidai Philharmonia sound like a first-class orchestra in this recording; I'd like to hear more of them, but this appears to be their only recording, sadly.

Tokyo Geidai is an abbreviation of Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku (Tokyo University of the Arts.) The university is the most prestigious art school in Japan, and its orchestra consists of the students. I will check the disc out. Thank you for the post.

[Karl Henning]

Schnittke
Præludium In memoriam D. Schostakowitsch for two violins
Members of the Moscow Virtuosi
Spivakov

[Harry]

Andreas Romberg.

Overture opus 54, "Die Großmut des Scipio"

Symphony No. 1 opus 6 in E flat major.
No. 3, opus 33 in C major.

Phion, Orchestra of Gelderland & Overijssel, Kevin Griffiths.

A superb start of all of Romberg's orchestral works. Playing time is short, but the performance is magnificent.

[Karl Henning]

Haven't listened to these two in a great while, and I don't think I have ever listened to Barshai's recordings before:

Shostakovich
Symphony № 2 in B, Op. 14 « To October »
Symphony № 3 in E^b, Op. 20 « May the 1^st »
Barshai & al.

[Stürmisch Bewegt]

Can there be a Saint-Saëns revival afoot?  My Blake and Palmer disc dates back to 1991 (seems like yesterday I bought this!), but the other two are more recent.  If so, I say "Yay!"  There have been some hard words for him on GMG (someone called him "second-rate, at best" among other things to which I personally do not subscribe). Esp. enjoy his Mélodies, Christoyannis's baritone leans toward tenor and though he's not a native French speaker acquits himself ably in the language - clearly, he spent some time studying these songs.  I have long appreciated Jeff Cohen's pianism. 

[SonicMan46]

Mendelssohn, Felix - Piano Concertos w/ Ronald Brautigam on modern pianos and Nieuw Sinfonietta/Lev Markiz & Stephen Hough, also on a modern piano, with Foster/City of Birmingham SO; the Brautigam recordings are from 1994-95 - he has rerecorded these works on a 2010 copy by Paul McNulty of an 1830 Pleyel piano (3rd pic below, which I just ordered from Presto) w/ Michael Willens/Die Kolner Akademie - excellent reviews of all three releases, except for one 'dud' by David Hurwitz who found McNulty's piano unacceptable - gimme a break!  Dave

BTW - I listened to the Brautigam fortepiano version this morning on Spotify before ordering and completely agree w/ the two POSITIVE reviewers.