What are you listening 2 now?

[vandermolen]

That's really interesting! I definitely detected a hint of Bartok's style - I'll have to check out the two-piano version.

I'll keep listening to the Sixth - I admit to being not as familiar with the Vaughan Williams late symphonies, particularly nos. 6, 8, and 9.

I definitely was impressed with Previn.

I think I'll be listening to the two-piano version today! And probably the 6th, 8th, and 9th symphonies as well. And some of the other orchestral works. The RVW mini-binge is now a frenzy! 

I definitely got that impression of the Sixth - a really unsettling work. That trumpet-and-timpani ostinato that permeates the second movement is downright chilling! Not quite as furious and frenzied as the Fourth, but along those lines.

The 6th always reminds me of Honegger's contemporaneous 'Symphonie Liturgique' - another magnificent work.

[Karl Henning]

This work has always been a favorite of mine, and it consider it as a song cycle on the level of Das Lied for der Erde. I grew up with Ormandys version.

One of the first six Shostakovich symphonies I got to know well, back in the deeps of Time; Love it oodles!

[Karl Henning]

Hindemith: Amor and Psyche. Hindemith/Berlin PO.

Great little box!

[SonicMan46]

Hoffmeister, Franz Anton (1754-1812) - Wind Serenades, V. 1/2 w/ Consortium Classicum - continuing into the late afternoon w/ more Hoffmeister - superb performances by Klocker and his group; reviews attached for those interested - same bio from my last post.  Dave

Franz Anton Hoffmeister at the age of fourteen went to Vienna to study law, but decided on a career in music and by the 1780s he had become one of the city's most popular composers, with an extensive and varied catalogue of works.  Hoffmeister's reputation today rests mainly on his activities as a music publisher. By 1785 he had established one of Vienna's first music publishing businesses, second only to Artaria & Co. Hoffmeister published his own works as well as those of many important composers, including Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Clementi, Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf and Johann Baptist Vanhal. These famous composers were also among Hoffmeister's personal friends: Mozart dedicated his String Quartet in D to him and Beethoven addressed him in a letter as my "most beloved brother". (Source)

 

[vandermolen]

Ives: Orchestral Set No.1 'Three Places in New England' (Version 1)
The most affecting version I have heard:

[prémont]

Bach's Concerto for 2 pianos and orchestra BWV 1061 with Clara Haskill

Actually the most convincing piano version, I have heard.

[Karl Henning]

https://www.youtube.com/v/XR4mlR3laik

[classicalgeek]

As recommended by John (MI) and Jeffrey (vandermolen), the two-piano version of Vaughan Williams' Piano Concerto:

Vaughan Williams
Concerto for two pianos
Louis Lortie and Helene Mercier, pianos
Bergen Philharmonic
Sir Andrew Davis



Add me to the camp that prefers the two-piano version over that for single piano. For lack of a better term, it sounds "fuller", with the two pianos giving greater weight to the climaxes. I was impressed with Lortie and Mercier's work in the Poulenc concerto, and they do RVW full justice as well.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Great little box!

Yes, I love it. The recording from EMI under the same title "Hindemith conducts Hindemith" is excellent as well.

[vandermolen]

As recommended by John (MI) and Jeffrey (vandermolen), the two-piano version of Vaughan Williams' Piano Concerto:

Vaughan Williams
Concerto for two pianos
Louis Lortie and Helene Mercier, pianos
Bergen Philharmonic
Sir Andrew Davis



Add me to the camp that prefers the two-piano version over that for single piano. For lack of a better term, it sounds "fuller", with the two pianos giving greater weight to the climaxes. I was impressed with Lortie and Mercier's work in the Poulenc concerto, and they do RVW full justice as well.

Glad you enjoyed it James! VW treats the piano in a percussive way (I know that it is a percussive instrument!) and I think that it works best in the two-piano version. It must be about the most underrated of all VW's major works. the Vronsky/Babin Boult version remains very special to me as the LP (coupled with the Eighth Symphony) was an early VW discovery for me when I took it out of the record library.

Now playing (before bed-time) 'Voice in the Wilderness' by Bloch (Nimbus Records CD)

[foxandpeng]

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

I'm finding real drawing power in these quartets, the more I play them. I'm probably less connected to #2 on account of the vocal addition, but even that isn't off-putting. Tuneful, accessible, engaging pieces.

[Daverz]

Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto



Some recordings try to prettify or normalize the concerto, but this performance is suitably wild.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Actually the most convincing piano version, I have heard.

Good to hear that you enjoy it too.    I don't believe that I have another version of it for piano, so I can't really compare it.  By the way, all I had said was that I had listened to it, so am a bit confused as to why you prefaced it with "Actually"?  Or perhaps I am misunderstanding your comment.  I do enjoy many of Geza Anda's recordings and Clara Haskil's too (though I don't own/know nearly as many of hers).

PD

[prémont]

Good to hear that you enjoy it too.    I don't believe that I have another version of it for piano, so I can't really compare it.  By the way, all I had said was that I had listened to it, so am a bit confused as to why you prefaced it with "Actually"?  Or perhaps I am misunderstanding your comment.  I do enjoy many of Geza Anda's recordings and Clara Haskil's too (though I don't own/know nearly as many of hers).

PD

I didn't intend to indicate anything surprising, so I might also have written "Really", or just "The most convincing piano version, I have heard."

[classicalgeek]

Glad you enjoyed it James! VW treats the piano in a percussive way (I know that it is a percussive instrument!) and I think that it works best in the two-piano version. It must be about the most underrated of all VW's major works. the Vronsky/Babin Boult version remains very special to me as the LP (coupled with the Eighth Symphony) was an early VW discovery for me when I took it out of the record library.

Thank you for the recommendation! I knew there was a reason I was reminded of Bartok - the percussive piano writing, and of course the rhythmic drive. I'm aware of the Vronsky and Babin performance, but I couldn't find it on Spotify, unfortunately.

[classicalgeek]

Another listen to Vaughan Williams 6, this time with a full score:

Vaughan Williams
Symphony no. 6
New Philharmonia Orchestra
Sir Adrian Boult



I've heard this symphony a few times now - and this is the first time it really 'clicked' for me. I think I 'get' this symphony now - it really is on a level with his Fourth, turbulent, unsettling, almost violent in spots. After the unrest and turmoil in the first three movements, the impact of the Epilogue (which doesn't rise above pianissimo dynamically) is profound indeed. I stand by my comparison with the ending of Shostakovich's Fourth and Eighth Symphonies. I look forward to listening again with renewed appreciation! Listening with the full score definitely made a huge difference.

[foxandpeng]

Per Nørgård
Symphonies 4 and 5
Leif Segerstam
Danish NRSO
Chandos

Fascinating works that rank very highly, for me, amongst his compositions

[André]

Symphonies 5 and 6. Although influences abound, this is highly original in conceiving and voicing a distinct musical idiom - part classical, part pop, crossover, cinematic. Its free use of ostinatos is quite hypnotic and yet it does not become a tic. Kalnins is a real composer.



I could use the second part of the above sentence to describe Pettersson's concerto for violin and string quartet, but I can't say I detect influences. This in itself is challenging, as I have to grapple with an idiom I have little connection with. It is harshly dissonant at times, but I sense a huge will to convey a message. Repeated exposure will probably bring things in better focus.

[listener]

MENDELSSOHN" Symphony no. 4 - "Italian"        SCHUBERT:  Symphony no. 8 "Unfinished"
Philharmonia O.    Giuseppe Sinopoli cond.
MOZART: Sonata for 2 Pianos K.448    SCHUBERT: FANTASIA D.940 for piano 4-hands
Murray Perahia & Radu Lupu, pianists
Welcome back listening after putting these to rest for a couple of years

[Karl Henning]

Yes, I love it. The recording from EMI under the same title "Hindemith conducts Hindemith" is excellent as well.

Right you are.