What are you listening 2 now?

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

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 20 Guests are viewing this topic.

SonicMan46

English Viola da Gamba Duos w/ Robert Smith and Paolo Pandolfo; a compilation but nearly all works split almost evenly between composers, Christopher Simpson (c. 1605-1669) and John Jenkins (1592-1678) - just a few reviews could be found but quite positive; a new arrival for me a week ago and a re-listen now.  Dave :)

 

vandermolen

Quote from: Iota on September 17, 2021, 09:50:31 AM
Totally agree. I listened to this a few weeks ago and found it disappointingly uninvolving, and its momentum hobbled by odd conductorial decisions. Don't think I even made it all the way through. Shame.

(p.s found your frog tale in #49603 very funny!)


Spinning here:



Palmgren: Sol och skyar (Sun and Clouds), Op. 102

Jouni Somero (piano)



Twelve short pieces evoking a series of uncomplicated moods, one associated with each month of the year. The textures are nicely transparent and although the music doesn't aspire to any depths, it has some affecting moments, and I find it easy to warm to.
Glad you liked the frog story - it was absolutely true and my daughter still reminds me of it. Yes, the DGG 'The British Project' CD has been a big disappointment in all respects.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on September 17, 2021, 10:22:38 AM
I only heard the Walton and I thought it was pretty nice, Jeffrey. On the strength of your impressions, I think I'll pass with the rest of the CD.
Probably because I'm less familiar with the Walton score I enjoyed it more than the Elgar or Britten. Haven't go round to the VW yet.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).


Brian

The Tetzlaffs and friends do Schubert D. 956:



The most immediately crippling problem is that my streaming service (NML) cuts off the finale at 7:19, and the track is 9:09, so I can't hear the finale coda.

The other serious problem is a bizarre, mannered approach to phrasing throughout, with clipped notes and insistent crescendos/diminuendos on individual notes, especially at the starts and ends of phrases. This creates a sound picture which is absolutely "five individual virtuosos" rather than "one unified ensemble."

Not competitive.

Que


Traverso

Quote from: Que on September 17, 2021, 12:49:21 PM
Interesting!

Never heard this one?

I have this  recording on my wishlist  :)


Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Irons on September 17, 2021, 08:06:07 AM
I think some issues with tape speed on the Brahms YT. As for Bartok, sound is irrelevant. The intensity of the performance is mind-blowing, that first movement is akin to free-jazz! What is sonically lost is more then made up by actually seeing musical giants performing, and yes, DSCH liked it too. ;)
Yes, I loved the Bartok!   ;D  My question for you was whether or not the recording quality/transfer for the LP was significantly better than on the youtube clip.  I had read by someone who had commented on the YT thread that it was much better, but was curious as to what you recall hearing when you played your LP of it.

In any event, happy that you enjoyed watching it; I suspected that you would.  ;)

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

kyjo

Quote from: foxandpeng on September 16, 2021, 09:18:29 AM
I'm also hearing Symphony #5 again now. We have a fortnight off work to prep for putting our house on the market, so my listening is somewhat reduced atm, but this symphony is now likely to be forever known as The Spider Symphony. I played it in the car earlier when making a trip to the tip, and the largest spider in the entire universe appeared on the dashboard from the garden rubbish, causing me to react like a teenage girl, screaming like a man possessed. I had to stop the car to let my wife bravely evict it while I stood on the other side of the road. Putting it on again now, led her to exclaim that 'this is that spider symphony, isn't it?'.

I am ashamed.

This made my day - thanks for sharing! :laugh:
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

classicalgeek

Smetana's Ma Vlast, Playlist II on Spotify, now with 67% more Czech Philharmonic!:

1. Vysehrad
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (1954)
Vaclav Talich



2. Vltava
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Wolfgang Sawallisch



3. Sarka
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Vaclav Neumann



4. From Bohemia's Woods and Fields
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Jiri Belohlavek



5. Tabor
Vienna Philharmonic
James Levine



6. Blanik
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Charles Mackerras



I couldn't find Kubelik's 1990 Czech Phil performance on Spotify for some reason... they have his other four (Chicago, Boston, Vienna, Bavarian Radio) but not the most famous one. Vysehrad and Sarka have grown on me, but the last two I'm still working on. Enjoyed the Talich and Belohlavek, so thank you for the recommendations!
So much great music, so little time...

Original compositions and orchestrations: https://www.youtube.com/@jmbrannigan

VonStupp

Felix Mendelssohn
Variations Sérieuses, op. 54
Rondo Capriccioso, op. 14

Jean‐Yves Thibaudet - piano
(rec. 2001)

"All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff."

classicalgeek

My Bernstein-Serenade-a-day serving for today:

Leonard Bernstein
Serenade
Gidon Kremer, violin
Israel Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein




I still like Hilary Hahn and David Zinman the best so far, and it's really not even close. Still, Kremer brings a lot to the table, and it's great to have the composer's own take on his masterpiece.
So much great music, so little time...

Original compositions and orchestrations: https://www.youtube.com/@jmbrannigan

Symphonic Addict

Quote from: Brian on September 17, 2021, 12:20:31 PM
The Tetzlaffs and friends do Schubert D. 956:



The most immediately crippling problem is that my streaming service (NML) cuts off the finale at 7:19, and the track is 9:09, so I can't hear the finale coda.

The other serious problem is a bizarre, mannered approach to phrasing throughout, with clipped notes and insistent crescendos/diminuendos on individual notes, especially at the starts and ends of phrases. This creates a sound picture which is absolutely "five individual virtuosos" rather than "one unified ensemble."

Not competitive.

Just the opposite as I heard about Brahms's 2nd String Quintet performed by Lepiziger Streichquartett on MDG earlier. All the members felt integrated, joined, working as a team, without intentions of standing out in the expenses of the other members.

I'd probably hear it (the Schubert) because to find out how "special" it is.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

André



Symphony No 5




K.387, 521, 156.

The comparison with the Alban Berg Quartet is instructive. I hear more sensibility, more nuance, a greater ability to switch from light to shade in a heartbeat with the Talich. With them K 421 is a miracle of sensitivity, an opera without words.

Brian

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on September 17, 2021, 04:58:47 PM
Just the opposite as I heard about Brahms's 2nd String Quintet performed by Lepiziger Streichquartett on MDG earlier. All the members felt integrated, joined, working as a team, without intentions of standing out in the expenses of the other members.

I'd probably hear it (the Schubert) because to find out how "special" it is.
For hardcore Schubert quintet nerds I would definitely recommend streaming it just to hear the unusual character.

JBS

2nd listen. Music works much better for me tonight than it did the first time around.

Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

Karl Henning

Quote from: JBS on September 17, 2021, 05:35:13 PM
2nd listen. Music works much better for me tonight than it did the first time around.


Nice.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

classicalgeek

Just heard George Lloyd, Symphony no. 6, this time listening with the full score:



I just love Lloyd's music - lively and tuneful, emotionally satisfying, just music for music's sake, straightforward and unpretentious. I particularly love the slow movement in this symphony: poignant and gripping with an unforgettable melody that starts out in muted strings. I'm running out of superlatives!
So much great music, so little time...

Original compositions and orchestrations: https://www.youtube.com/@jmbrannigan

Symphonic Addict

#49658
The Legendary
In comparison with the most-known Järvi reading, this is more stately, eloquent, also somewhat warmer and less bleak (or raw), but it never lacks presence and impact. The quiet closing section is phenomenally done, utterly atmospheric and consoling. Granted, it's not as in-your-face like the BIS recording. However, I can say it's convincing all around.




Alfvén: Symphony No. 2

An underrated symphony in my view. I feel a mix between pastoral mood, grandeur, wizardry and compelling counterpoint. It's also melodically generous. How not to love the endearing tunes in the 1st movement?

Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

vandermolen

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on September 17, 2021, 07:52:48 PM
The Legendary
In comparison with the most-known Järvi reading, this is more stately, eloquent, also somewhat warmer and less bleak (or raw), but it never lacks presence and impact. The quiet closing section is phenomenally done, utterly atmospheric and consoling. Granted, it's not as in-your-face like the BIS recording. However, I can say it's convincing all around.




Alfvén: Symphony No. 2

An underrated symphony in my view. I feel a mix between pastoral mood, grandeur, wizardry and compelling counterpoint. It's also melodically generous. How not to love the endearing tunes in the 1st movement?


+1 for the 'Legendary' perhaps my favourite of the Tubin symphonies and one which should be much better known.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).