What are you listening 2 now?

[Que]

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

Interesting! 

I really liked the 1st set (different version, picture inserted) : one of the best things Brautigam has done - he has a knack for Mendelssohn.

Naturally I'm going to explore the HIP remake.

[Karl Henning]

Dvořák
The Noon Witch Op. 108
Cz Phil
Neumann

And: l'avant-dernier disque

CD 10

"Wolferl"
Clarinet Trio in E^b, K.498 « Kegelstatt »

Spohr
Octet, Op. 32

Bliss
Conversations for flute, oboe and string trio
Oboe Quintet
Clarinet Quintet

The Spohr & Bliss are all initial listening.

[steve ridgway]

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.

I looked Weinberger up and at least he got to 71 and someone's still enjoying at least some of his music. Can't blame him for taking the peaceful way out if he had brain cancer.

[Traverso]

Beethoven

Visiting this fine box too 

Octet

Schubert

Octet

[André]

Sylvia yesterday, La Source today. The latter is a joint collaboration between Delibes (Act II and scene 1 of Act III) and Leon Minkus (Act I, scene 2 of Act III). La Source is the work that started it all for Delibes. Then came commissions for Coppélia and, after the franco-prussian war, Sylvia. Delibes capped his career with Lakmé, which exhibits the same flair for enchanting tunes (this time for voices) and flavourful orchestration.

Many people think they don't know any Delibes but they'd be surprised to find that they recognize at least half a dozen tunes from his ballets.

[SonicMan46]

Schubert, Franz (1797-1828) - String Quartets w/ the Diogenes Quartet; 7-CD box - pulling out a few for today - also own the 3-CD set with the Emersons of the later works, but nice to have all of the works (plus more) in one excellent 'brilliant' production - Jerry Dubins has reviewed most (in not all) of these recordings - his comments from four of the releases is attached and highly enthusiastic; the box is currently 'on sale' at Presto for $19 USD!  Dave

 

[Karl Henning]

Beethoven

Visiting this fine box too 

Octet

Schubert

Octet

It's a beauty, Jan!

[Karl Henning]

Dukas
L'apprenti sorcier

[Traverso]

It's a beauty, Jan!

When I hear the first bars of the Schubert octet I think back to the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice 

[Traverso]

Schubert, Franz (1797-1828) - String Quartets w/ the Diogenes Quartet; 7-CD box - pulling out a few for today - also own the 3-CD set with the Emersons of the later works, but nice to have all of the works (plus more) in one excellent 'brilliant' production - Jerry Dubins has reviewed most (in not all) of these recordings - his comments from four of the releases is attached and highly enthusiastic; the box is currently 'on sale' at Presto for $19 USD!  Dave

 

It surely is a fine set and I prefer it to the older Melos Qurtet recordings wich I have too.

[Traverso]

Dukas
L'apprenti sorcier

There you have a treasure trove ! I will listen to the L'apprenti sorcier in the coming days.

[listener]

by coincidence, two similar sets of organ music by Max REGER
the 10 Pieces op. 69
Preludes & Fugues op. 85
Rosalind Haas   Albeiz-Orgel at Frankfurt   and
the regergitation by Bernard Haas , Giengen an der Brenz

[Karl Henning]

There you have a treasure trove ! I will listen to the L'apprenti sorcier in the coming days.

There are two Apprentices in the box (as it were) One at 10"30, the other at 11"24 ....


Now:


LvB Op. 125
SFSO & al.
MTT

[SonicMan46]

It surely is a fine set and I prefer it to the older Melos Qurtet recordings wich I have too.

+1 - out of curiosity, I was looking on Amazon USA and the 'complete' sets that I could easily find are shown below, including the Melos Quartett, but at much higher prices vs. that current Presto sale mentioned - for those 'in the market' take a look at my previous link; these Brilliant boxes have the habit of disappearing overnight at times -    Dave

 

[vers la flamme]

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No.3, "A Pastoral Symphony". André Previn, London Symphony Orchestra

Such a phenomenal work. One of my favorite symphonies by anyone.

[Karl Henning]

Shostakovich
Op. 87 Preludes & Fugues
Ashkenazy

[vers la flamme]

Havergal Brian: Violin Concerto in C major. Marat Bisengaliev, Lionel Friend, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Picked this up blindly today at a used bookstore out of a desire to familiarize myself more with Brian's music. So far, so good.

[Karl Henning]

Again:

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

[André]

I haven't listened to this recording in at least 10-12 years. It is very well played and spaciously recorded. Sawallisch's tempi are moderate to slow. Although I can't find anything to fault I think he misses the mystery and mysticism of the work. My tastes are all over the place in this work, from Suitner's breathtaking drive to Gielen's exacting objectivity and, even better, Wand's (NDR) and Klemperer's (NPO) Stonehengian sense of eternity.

[foxandpeng]

Peter Mennin
Symphony #7
Chicago Symphony Orchestra

I'm not sure I have fully assimilated anywhere near the whole of Mennin's 7th, but its five movements keep my attention and I always want to return to hear more. I've also enjoyed #3 recently.

Probably not the best choice before sleep, but there you have it.