What are you listening 2 now?

[André]

Bruckner

Symphony No.9

A great, great version, sadly underrated.

[André]

While I still think the first Act is difficult to like, there's no denying it contains moments of stunning beauty, especially in the rapturous singing of Anna Tomowa-Sintow. The next two acts are superb on all accounts (music and interpretation). The sound is state of the art.

[Traverso]

Stravinsky

Agon

Deutsches Symohonie Orchester Berlin

Vladimir Ashkenazy

[Traverso]

A great, great version, sadly underrated.

I agree but I'm biased as Klemperer is one of my heroes.

[Daverz]

Seems to be a Scandinavian Sunday morning

Groven: Symphony No. 2:



Very attractive music, though it does not strike me as very symphonic.

Atterberg: A Varmland Rhapsody, Op. 36



Tveitt: Variations on a Folksong from Hardanger



The Variations get second billing on the cover, but it's a 31-minute piece. A really fine Tveitt disc.

[Karl Henning]

CD 1
Le sacre du printemps
NY Phil
the composer conducting
Carnegie Hall 4 Apr 40

So good, I had to listen to it twice!

[vers la flamme]

Johann Sebastian Bach: Coffee Cantata, BWV 211. Christopher Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music

With a cup of coffee.

[Karl Henning]

No surprise:

CD 2
Petrushka Suite
NY Phil
the composer conducting
Carnegie Hall 4 Apr 40

[Symphonic Addict]

Love this work with no restrictions.

[VonStupp]

César Franck
Les Béatitudes, op. 25

Jessye Norman, Brigitte Fassbaender
René Kollo, Dietrich Fischer‐Dieskau

Bavarian Radio Orch. & Choir - Rafael Kubelík (rec. 1974)

I don't know if anyone has ever said this, but I have been spending time with French oratorios lately.

Franck's The Beatitudes is overlong at 2 hours, but at least it is well varied structurally, with some quality dramatic points.

Mostly an operatic choral work, the required eight soloists ensure the obscurity of this music. The continuity of the returning music for DFD is sublime, and the chromatic bass motifs in the final three Beatitudes are really something. Hardly a masterpiece not to be missed, I was glad it was not two-hours of delicate contemplation, but instead there is some fine choral writing and orchestral banter from Franck.

The outer few Beatitudes of the 8 are perhaps the best, and at an overall timing 10 minutes faster than Helmuth Rilling, Kubelík does his best to inject this rarity with some juice (the timpani in #3!).

The star-studded stable of soloists (there are four more I didn't list) are pretty good, with Jessye Norman, Fassbender, and particularly Fischer-Dieskau, giving it their best.

[ritter]

Revisiting Florent Schmitt's absolutely stunning Trio à cordes, op. 105:


I first listened to this piece about a month ago, and was bowled over. Well, the impression is even stronger now. Wow! Just wow!

[Que]

[SonicMan46]

Vaughan Williams, Ralph (1872-1958) - Early Chamber Music + String Orchestra - Dave

   

[Irons]

Szymanowski: String Quartet No.1 & Violin Concerto No.2.



The single-minded intensity of Szymanowski can be at times unsettling. His sound-world is not for the faint-hearted but one hell of a ride. SA is 100% correct with his comment recently on another thread that the 1st Quartet is a masterpiece - it is.

[ritter]

....
The single-minded intensity of Szymanowski can be at times unsettling. His sound-world is not for the faint-hearted but one hell of a ride. SA is 100% correct with his comment recently on another thread that the 1st Quartet is a masterpiece - it is.

I really ought to explore Szymanowski further. I only know Symphony No. 3, the Stabat Mater, a couple of other orchestral works (the Boulez disc, of course), and King Roger (which I've also seen fully staged here in Madrid). The SQs sound very enticing....

[Karl Henning]

No surprise:

CD 2
Petrushka Suite
NY Phil
the composer conducting
Carnegie Hall 4 Apr 40

Also
Scènes de Ballet
Carnegie Hall 5 Feb 45

and the Divertimento from Le baiser de la fée (a most touching reading!)
Orquesta Sinfónica de México
Mexico City, 3 Aug 40 & 19 July 41

[Karl Henning]

LvB
32 Variations in c minor WoO 80 (a first listen, I am pretty sure—and an excellent piece)

Mendelssohn
Variations sérieuses, Op. 54—quite possibly my favorite Mendelssohn piece

Brahms
Variations & Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24

[Traverso]

Johann Sebastian Bach: Coffee Cantata, BWV 211. Christopher Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music

With a cup of coffee.

A fine recording 

[vers la flamme]

A fine recording 

Indeed; I went on to listen to the Peasant Cantata too. 

Now:



Madrigals by John Bennet, Orlando Gibbons, Thomas Weelkes, Thomas Morley, etc. The Hilliard Ensemble

The second disc. Good stuff, though I can only take so much at once.

[André]

César Franck
Les Béatitudes, op. 25

Jessye Norman, Brigitte Fassbaender
René Kollo, Dietrich Fischer‐Dieskau

Bavarian Radio Orch. & Choir - Rafael Kubelík (rec. 1974)

I don't know if anyone has ever said this, but I have been spending time with French oratorios lately.

Franck's The Beatitudes is overlong at 2 hours, but at least it is well varied structurally, with some quality dramatic points.

Mostly an operatic choral work, the required eight soloists ensure the obscurity of this music. The continuity of the returning music for DFD is sublime, and the chromatic bass motifs in the final three Beatitudes are really something. Hardly a masterpiece not to be missed, I was glad it was not two-hours of delicate contemplation, but instead there is some fine choral writing and orchestral banter from Franck.

The outer few Beatitudes of the 8 are perhaps the best, and at an overall timing 10 minutes faster than Helmuth Rilling, Kubelík does his best to inject this rarity with some juice (the timpani in #3!).

The star-studded stable of soloists (there are four more I didn't list) are pretty good, with Jessye Norman, Fassbender, and particularly Fischer-Dieskau, giving it their best.

Great ! I have the Rilling version and despite some excellent singing from the chorus and fine orchestral playing I found it a bit lacking in backbone. Following your post I've ordered that Kubelik set.