What are you listening 2 now?

[Biffo]

It's a while since I listened to the studio set (other than 'A Sea Symphony') but I suspect that the interpretations are similar. I read some poorish reviews of the live LPO recordings which rather put me off getting them. However, recently I read something more positive, so I thought that I'd give them a go. I did read that the organ was less spectacular in the live recording of Sinfonia Antartica and I recall that the studio recording is considered to be a highlight from that set.
NP
William Alwyn: Elizabethan Dances. I also think that this CD features the best recording of Symphony No.4.
I would imagine that Alwyn's thoroughly enjoyable 'Elizabethan Dances' would appeal to admirers of Malcolm Arnold's English, Scottish and Welsh Dances:

Thanks for the info about the RVW, think I will give it a miss. I have the Alwyn album as a lossless download, will have to refresh my memory of the Elizabethan Dances.

[foxandpeng]

Elena Ruehr
Six String Quartets
Cypress SQ
Borromeo SQ
Stephen Salters, Baritone

[Tsaraslondon]

Two foreigners' takes on quintessentially English music.

I've always had a soft spot for Karajan's Vienna Phil version of The Planets. Mars has probably sounded more menacing elsewhere, but Venus has rarely sounded so sensuously beautiful and the other planets are all sharply characterised.

Barbirolli is usually my guide when it comes to Elgar, and I wouldn't prefer Monteux's version to Barbirolli's more heart-on-the-sleeve approach (his Nimrod can leave me a quivering wreck), but it is interesting to hear a different take on the music. Monteux brings to it a slighty more diffident French pagmatism, which perhaps lets the music speak for itself more.

[Traverso]

Beethoven

String Quartets Op. 18 No.1,2 & 3

[vandermolen]

Two foreigners' takes on quintessentially English music.

I've always had a soft spot for Karajan's Vienna Phil version of The Planets. Mars has probably sounded more menacing elsewhere, but Venus has rarely sounded so sensuously beautiful and the other planets are all sharply characterised.

Barbirolli is usually my guide when it comes to Elgar, and I wouldn't prefer Monteux's version to Barbirolli's more heart-on-the-sleeve approach (his Nimrod can leave me a quivering wreck), but it is interesting to hear a different take on the music. Monteux brings to it a slighty more diffident French pagmatism, which perhaps lets the music speak for itself more.

+1 I like that disc as well.

[prémont]

I didn't know there were 2 options. This is from the EMI box set... *flips through booklet* recorded in 1982. I believe that makes it Tortelier II.

EDIT: Yes, definitely Tortelier II. Which I gather is considerably slower than his first version.

Yes, slower and also more extrovert and pretentious. Of the two I much prefer Tortellier I.

[Spotted Horses]

Weinberg Chamber Symphony No 3.



Lovely work. Much beauty, but I still have the feeling that too much of the music is performed in a hush. Sometimes I wish for a more full-throated statement of the music.

[Todd]

[Harry]

Tortellier I or Tortellier II. They are a bit different.

I have and love Tortellier I. One of my great favourites.

[vandermolen]

Shostakovich: Symphony 10 LPO and the very young Andrew Davis.
Not the most intense performance but has its own lumbering power and integrity. I originally owned the CFP LP:

[vandermolen]

Thanks for the info about the RVW, think I will give it a miss. I have the Alwyn album as a lossless download, will have to refresh my memory of the Elizabethan Dances.

Yes, I don't think that you'll be missing out - many prefer the studio recordings. I'd forgotten how enjoyable Alwyn's 'Elizabethan Dances' are.

[kyjo]

Serenade in F major

Stenhammar was one of those composers who had a remarkable gift to write lovely music, and the Serenade is a strong proof of it. It's interesting to notice how he incorporated touches of Sibelius throughout the score. Endearing stuff.

+1 A superb disc in all regards. I do wish they would've included the quirky Reverenza movement from the Serenade, but maybe there wasn't room for it on the disc.

[Papy Oli]

Shostakovich - Symphony No.3 (Kondrashin)

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Paul Dukas: Symphony in C maj. Jean Fournet/Netherlands Radio PO.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Walton: Symphony No.1
Philharmonia Orchestra
Bernard Haitink

A granitic performance:

Great performance!

[aukhawk]

( RVW 5 & 7 Haitink / LPO Live )

Are these performances significantly different from the studio recordings? - the Sinfonia antartica is my favourite from that cycle

Not really answering your question but I retrieve this from the Composer thread in 2019 ...

This morning I listened to the live 1984 Haitink/LPO recording of the Antartica - with its (presumably) live real-time organ contribution recorded by (apparently) skilled BBC engineers - and also 'Landscape' from the Manze recording again - all on heaphones unfortunately as I wouldn't want to frighten the horses on this peaceful Sunday morning.
The Haitink recording gives an opportunity to hear how the live contest between full-bore organ and full-bore orchestra could actually pan out.  Firstly, this performance really brings out the Bruckner, who I feel is never that far away during this symphony.  The organ pedal underpinning is (as you would expect) very convincing - generally more powerful than in most other recordings I've listened to (Haitink studio, Boult, Davis/BBC, Leppard, Thomson) but not by any means as full-on as the new Manze recording - which is thrilling in its effect, but too much too soon I feel. Even on headphones this organ seems to move huge masses of air in its bottom octave. 
At the climax in the live recording, the Royal Festival Hall organ is the winner, with the two orchestral swells scarcely registering whilst the bottom end of the organ rasps like an old Triumph twin motorcycle.  Then - at the cymbal crash - there is a none-too-subtle rebalancing act and the orchestra comes slightly to the fore sounding, actually, very good.  For Manze, it is the second (post-cymbal) balance that we hear thoughout the climactic episode, so that the orchestral parts are at all times clear to hear.  The organ too sits 'under' the orchestra in terms of tone colour, rather than competing in the middle register.  There is manipulation of course, but in this recording it's a lot more subtly done (to be fair to the BBC engineers, subtle is not always an option when recording live, however much rehearsal time you've had) - in Manze rather than overt gain-riding or compression the entire 'Landscape' movement is presented at slightly lower level, to allow room for the eventual climax - to hear the whole symphony correctly you would need to edge the volume up just a little for the middle movement only.

[Traverso]

Great performance!

+1

[Tsaraslondon]

Fabulous sound, and pretty good performances too. It's good to have the Hardy inspired Egdon Heath too, as it has always been a big favourite of mine.

[Papy Oli]

Shostakovich - Symphony No.3 (Haitink)
Shostakovich - Symphony No.3 (Barshai)

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Feldman
Coptic Light
ORF Vienna Radio SO
Michael Broder