What are you listening 2 now?

[SonicMan46]

It does indeed make a big difference.

The Planès is a new recording that I haven't heard yet. Sofar this has served me well:

 

Hi Que - I have the Michèle Boegner (1941-2021) recording as a MP3 DL w/o a booklet - quoted below suggests that she used an original 1836 Pleyel (of course likely restored?); I do enjoy but not completely happy w/ the 'mechanics' of the piano (probably need to listen again), but I'll be quite interested in this version w/ Alain Planès and which 1836 Pleyel piano (or copy?) he used?  Dave

Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831) was active as a composer, music publisher and piano builder. He founded the firm of Pleyel et Cie in Paris in 1807. His eldest son, Camille Pleyel (1788-1855), was taken in as a partner in 1815, and assumed a leading role in the 1820s, maintaining a close relationship with many famous musicians and artists, including Chopin. A concert hall, Salles Pleyel, was opened in 1830, and in this hall Chopin gave his first (1830) and last (1848) Parisian concerts, along with many others between these years. The 1836 Pleyel used in Michel Boegner's recent recording of the nocturnes is known to have been used in the Salles Pleyel during the time when Chopin was active there. (Source)

[Traverso]

The more I listen to the Cantata, esp., Jan, the more I love it!

It is a delicate work with an appealing beauty, very welcome in the confusing times in which we live.
The performance I listened to is with the Schönberg Ensemble with Reinbert de Leeuw
Rosemary Hardy Soprano-Ian Bostridge Tenor.

[Daverz]

Mahler: Symphony No. 9



For years I had it in my head that the recording quality of this was awful and avoided it.  Now it sounds fine to me.  Nothing to write home about, but OK.  It's a fantastic performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

NP:

Ginastera
Estancia, Op. 8
Luis Gaeta, bass-baritone
London Symphony Orchestra
Gisele Ben-Dor



A work that should be a part of the mainstream repertoire. Sizzling performance, too.

What's the difference (and overlap) between the album and the disc below?  I like the recording below especially after Hurwitz criticized it.

[Daverz]

What's the difference (and overlap) between the album and the disc below?  I like the recording below especially after Hurwitz criticized it.

Huh, I got the Popul Vuh disc based on Hurwitz's praise.

https://www.youtube.com/v/BHPnPSBnyOg?t=1441

The fill-up on the Popul Vuh disc is just selections from the same recordings as the full ballet disc.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Huh, I got the Popul Vuh disc based on Hurwitz's praise.

https://www.youtube.com/v/BHPnPSBnyOg?t=1441

The fill-up on the Popul Vuh disc is just selections from the same recordings as the full ballet disc.

Thank you. Please don't expect any accuracy in my posts 😄😄. What's the Ginastera disc DH criticized? I thought it was the Ben-Dor. Not a big deal.
Is it worth seeking the full-ballet disc as well?

[Daverz]

Thank you. Please don't expect any accuracy in my posts 😄😄. What's the Ginastera disc DH criticized? I thought it was the Ben-Dor. Not a big deal.
Is it worth seeking the full-ballet disc as well?

I think the duplication may have been the only criticism.  If you like the selections, why not get the complete ballets?

[Mirror Image]

Thank you. Please don't expect any accuracy in my posts 😄😄. What's the Ginastera disc DH criticized? I thought it was the Ben-Dor. Not a big deal.
Is it worth seeking the full-ballet disc as well?

YES! You must hear the complete ballet of Estancia. The Ben-Dor performance is the one to get, but it might actually be the only recording of the complete ballet. As for your question about that Popol Vuh recording, the performances of Panambí and Estancia are extractions from the full ballet recording I posted about earlier. Anyway, that Popol Vuh disc is great --- all of the Ben-Dor recordings of Ginastera are worth their weight in gold. If you don't own it, I would also buy this one:



As for Hurwitz's critique, who cares. His opinion isn't any more valid than anyone else's.

[T. D.]

Not, alas, from the "Complete Erato" megabox which I don't own.

[Mirror Image]

Revisiting these SQs again, but this time in the order they came released:

Villa-Lobos
String Quartets Nos. 6, 1 & 17
Cuarteto Latinoamericano

[vandermolen]

Britten's Cello Symphony to be followed by Bridge's 'Oration':

[Que]

Hi Que - I have the Michèle Boegner (1941-2021) recording as a MP3 DL w/o a booklet - quoted below suggests that she used an original 1836 Pleyel (of course likely restored?); I do enjoy but not completely happy w/ the 'mechanics' of the piano (probably need to listen again), but I'll be quite interested in this version w/ Alain Planès and which 1836 Pleyel piano (or copy?) he used?  Dave

Found this picture of the instrument used by Planès on a Dutch website:



It is an extralarge ('Modèle puissant') Pleyel nicknamed 'Grand Patron' from Spain.
The reviewer is BTW happier with the instrument and the way it is recorded then with the interpretations.

PS From the booklet:

The 1836 Pleyel concert grand (labelled 'Modèle puissant') that was used for this recording is larger in size than a
standard model (2.40 m). Housed in a Brazilian rosewood case (Pleyel also used mahogany, another rare wood),
it has an eighty-note keyboard with ivory and ebony key tops; carved feet 'en torchon'; and a Greek-pattern pedal
lyre with two brass pedals, the soft one on the left and the sustaining one on the right. Mercury-gilded brass
fleurons and lock fittings are also adorned with Greek fret. Nicknamed the 'Grand Patron', the instrument was
described by its manufacturer as being constructed according to 'a new principle of sound production unlike any
conventional notions'. Indeed, instead of a standalone soundboard, the one in pine is here glued to a second one,
in mahogany, so that their wood grains run perpendicular to each other. 'Unexpectedly, the effect was a twofold
increase in volume,' allowing the new model to rival the English-made pianos of the time. In fact, the instrument, in
its original state, already produced a volume comparable to that of a modern piano. It has three distinct registers:
a treble that is light and harp-like, a velvety middle register, and a bottom register with round and clear bass notes
– sonorities which combine together better than on the more evenly voiced pianos of today.

[Iota]

NP:

Mahler
Symphony No. 3 in D minor
Waltraud Meier (mezzo-soprano)
London Philharmonic Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Eton College Boys' Choir
Tennstedt



One of my favorite Mahler 3rd performances. Everything here just feels right to my ears and Tennstedt's credentials as a wonderful Mahlerian are never in question. A must-buy for those who haven't heard it.

I don't know that particular recording, but I saw Tennstedt conduct a few times on London's Southbank in the 80's, and have never known a conductor that looked more physically and emotionally drained at the end of a performance. And when intensity like that meets Mahler interesting things can happen, his live Mahler 2 with the LPO is marvellous!

Brahms - String Sextet No.1 (Raphael Ensemble)

A standout favourite recording of that work for me.

[Mirror Image]

I don't know that particular recording, but I saw Tennstedt conduct a few times on London's Southbank in the 80's, and have never known a conductor that looked more physically and emotionally drained at the end of a performance. And when intensity like that meets Mahler interesting things can happen, his live Mahler 2 with the LPO is marvellous!

That must've been a memorable experience, indeed. It does seem that Tennstedt lived and breathed this music. It seems that the 2nd and 6th were the two symphonies that were his 'specialty' or this is, at least, how it appears to a simpleton like me. His live 6th performances with the LPO are transcendental.

[Iota]

Anton Bruckner.

Symphony No, 4, last version 1879/80, WAB 104.

Sinfonieorchester Basel, Mario Venzago.

What a beacons of heavenly light these performances are under the direction of Venzago. To hear the works as they were suppose to be, and true to the intent of what Bruckner meant to say. Ravishingly is the key word for the interpretation of the 4th. You can now walk easily between the desks, and hear every single note come together as a whole glorious manifestation of musical bliss. It is a joy to be so privileged to hear such honest and clean works of genius. An orchestra that follows closely the direction of Venzago and respond with unbounded enthusiasm. Recording is very good.

Hear, hear, well said! I haven't heard the Fourth yet, but for me the effect of Venzago on the symphonies so far has been like the liberating of birds from their cages.

I love Britten's Piano Concerto - what a sparkling work! Sure, the influence of Prokofiev is audible in places, but that just makes it all the more enjoyable for me.

A feeling I totally understand, and I enjoy the concerto as well, but whatever quality it is in Britten that really lights up my synapses is slightly diluted at times in the concerto. Not actually by the Prokofiev flavoured moments, but by something a touch Germanic/baggage-y at odd moments that for me clips the music's wings a little.

[ritter]

CD 3 of this set of Jean Roger-Ducasse's complete piano music, played by Martin Jones (with Adrian Farmer in the piano duo pieces):


Some time ago I was listening to CD 2, and wasn't really impressed by the music (except for a couple of pieces). This CD, OTOH, is turning out to be most enjoyable...

Délicieux!  

[Iota]

That must've been a memorable experience, indeed. It does seem that Tennstedt lived and breathed this music. It seems that the 2nd and 6th were the two symphonies that were his 'specialty' or this is, at least, how it appears to a simpleton like me. His live 6th performances with the LPO are transcendental.

Well this simpleton will check that live 6th out, but I slightly over-listened to that symphony not so long ago, so I may need to let the planet spin a few times before wading back in.


Here:



Hosokawa: Die Lotosblume

I think I've heard this previously, but don't remember being so drawn into it before. I had to put it straight back on!

[Karl Henning]

It is a delicate work with an appealing beauty, very welcome in the confusing times in which we live.
The performance I listened to is with the Schönberg Ensemble with Reinbert de Leeuw
Rosemary Hardy Soprano-Ian Bostridge Tenor.

I have that recording, as well!

[Mirror Image]

Well this simpleton will check that live 6th out, but I slightly over-listened to that symphony not so long ago, so I may need to let the planet spin a few times before wading back in.

A good thing to do for sure. I try not to overdose on Mahler and I love his music dearly.

[SonicMan46]

Found this picture of the instrument used by Planès on a Dutch website:



It is an extralarge ('Modèle puissant') Pleyel nicknamed 'Grand Patron' from Spain.
The reviewer is BTW happier with the instrument and the way it is recorded then with the interpretations.

PS From the booklet:

The 1836 Pleyel concert grand (labelled 'Modèle puissant') that was used for this recording is larger in size than a
standard model (2.40 m). Housed in a Brazilian rosewood case (Pleyel also used mahogany, another rare wood),
it has an eighty-note keyboard with ivory and ebony key tops; carved feet 'en torchon'; and a Greek-pattern pedal
lyre with two brass pedals, the soft one on the left and the sustaining one on the right. Mercury-gilded brass
fleurons and lock fittings are also adorned with Greek fret. Nicknamed the 'Grand Patron', the instrument was
described by its manufacturer as being constructed according to 'a new principle of sound production unlike any
conventional notions'. Indeed, instead of a standalone soundboard, the one in pine is here glued to a second one,
in mahogany, so that their wood grains run perpendicular to each other. 'Unexpectedly, the effect was a twofold
increase in volume,' allowing the new model to rival the English-made pianos of the time. In fact, the instrument, in
its original state, already produced a volume comparable to that of a modern piano. It has three distinct registers:
a treble that is light and harp-like, a velvety middle register, and a bottom register with round and clear bass notes
– sonorities which combine together better than on the more evenly voiced pianos of today.

Thanks Que for the booklet link and the description above - so, an original Pleyel (restoration state?) - well, the Planès recording is already on Spotify, so will take a listen soon!  Dave