What are you listening 2 now?

[Mirror Image]

A **wonderful** recording!

Yes, indeed. I also like the performance that was mentioned several pages back with Baker/Kmentt/Kubelik. But there are many great performances of this work.

[TheGSMoeller]

Church Windows from this album...

[Mirror Image]

Church Windows from this album...

I prefer Geoffrey Simon, but Neschling's Respighi is quite good overall.

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Mahler
Symphony No. 5
CSO
Solti

[SonicMan46]

I have these two, but not the ones Brian posted. I can't really say one is better than the other, but Cherubini put enough meat onto the bones to make it worth getting at least one recording.

Thanks JBS for your comments - the Melos Quartett date from the 1970s and have received OK reviews - have not read much about Quartetto Savinio, BUT will listen to my Hausmusik London discs tomorrow and look up some more reviews - for me, one set will be enough (these are kind of 'second tier' for their times; just do I need to replace my PI set w/ the a MI performance? - don't know but will return w/ some comments.  Dave

[Symphonic Addict]

One of 2021 best releases. Period.

[Symphonic Addict]

I have these two, but not the ones Brian posted. I can't really say one is better than the other, but Cherubini put enough meat onto the bones to make it worth getting at least one recording.

I have the Melos and it's a sheer delight of a set. I discovered these fabulous gems a couple of years ago and I instantly felt a connection with them. It's great and wonderfully written music.

[André]

I remember Universo as the cheapo label used by Philips for reissues of its mono and early stereo recordings. Their pressings were not quality - at least the few I purchased weren't. In the seventies when HvK and the BP were considered the Rolls Royce of orchestral recordings the Markevitch brand didn't have the luster and vintage patina it would acquire some 40 years later.

Apart from the overtures and the 5th and 8th symphonies I had never heard Markevitch's Beethoven. Actually it is as much the orchestra as the conductor that made me sit up and listen. Orchestral timbres and balances are very, very different from german and english orchestras. Winds are forwardly balanced and timpani stand out from the mass. Strings have sinew and brass blare unapologetically. Particularly notable is the strong, penetrating, pungent oboe sound, worlds removed from the slender wail of their german counterparts. Markevitch conducts a bold, sharply etched performance, almost melodramatic in places (the long recitative that opens the finale). This is Beethoven writ large.

Although Markevitch's conducting is strongly characterized, his tempos never seem fast. In the finale the the choral parts have power but also great nobility. The soloists are exceptionally fine, their voices projecting with exceptional clarity. This is an outstanding recording, worthy of inclusion in any collection.

[JBS]

Thanks JBS for your comments - the Melos Quartett date from the 1970s and have received OK reviews - have not read much about Quartetto Savinio, BUT will listen to my Hausmusik London discs tomorrow and look up some more reviews - for me, one set will be enough (these are kind of 'second tier' for their times; just do I need to replace my PI set w/ the a MI performance? - don't know but will return w/ some comments.  Dave

And for me it's the reverse question: is it worth getting the PI set when I have two perfectly acceptable MI versions.
For now I'm just wishlisting the Hausmusik set. I have their Mendelssohn doublet on Virgin/Erato.

TD
From the "Lifetime on Chandos" set.
I'm fairly sure I've never heard anything from this work before.

[foxandpeng]

Pēteris Vasks
Laudate Dominum
Latvian Radio Choir
Sinfonietta Riga
Sigvards Kļava

Surprising just how engaging and beautiful sacred music can be, at times.

[Mirror Image]

One of 2021 best releases. Period.

Absolutely! Stunning works, stunningly performed.

[Mirror Image]

Speaking of stunning...

Now playing a duo of choral symphonies:

Rachmaninov
The Bells, Op. 35
Ryszard Karcykowski (tenor), Natalia Troitskaya (soprano), Tom Krause (baritone)
Chorus of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Ashkenazy

Shostakovich
Symphony No. 13 in B flat minor, Op. 113 'Babi Yar'
Alexey Tikhomirov (bass)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Chorus
Muti

From these recordings -

[Symphonic Addict]

This Piano Concerto No. 1 impressed me when I first listened to it earlier this year, and it has remained so. Aho is a master of atmospheres and textures.

[classicalgeek]

Speaking of stunning...

Now playing a duo of choral symphonies:

Rachmaninov
The Bells, Op. 35
Ryszard Karcykowski (tenor), Natalia Troitskaya (soprano), Tom Krause (baritone)
Chorus of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Ashkenazy

Shostakovich
Symphony No. 13 in B flat minor, Op. 113 'Babi Yar'
Alexey Tikhomirov (bass)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Chorus
Muti

From these recordings -

That reminds me - my copy of that Muti/CSO Babi Yar arrived a couple of days ago! I need to listen soon - I confess that due to its heavy subject matter, it's a piece one must 'be in the mood for'. And of course those Ashkenazy Rachmaninov Symphonies are outstanding - I need to get them on CD!

This Piano Concerto No. 1 impressed me when I first listened to it earlier this year, and it has remained so. Aho is a master or atmospheres and textures.

My interest is piqued by that Timpani Concerto! I haven't heard much Aho, sadly - I remember having the disc of his Tuba and Contrabassoon Concerti, and being fascinated by his writing for the solo instruments.

Thread duty:

Barber
Violin Concerto*
Souvenirs (arranged for orchestra)
Serenade for Strings
Music for a Scene from Shelley
*James Buswell, violin
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Marin Alsop



I'm continuing to greatly enjoy the Barber/Alsop series. The Violin Concerto is an absolute masterpiece, with the first two movements heartrendingly gorgeous before the remarkable Moto Perpetuo finale. The Music for a Scene from Shelley is a really fine piece as well. I'm less sold on Souvenirs (I don't know the four-hand piano original) and the Serenade for Strings (an early work), but there's still a lot to enjoy.

Berwald
Symphony no. 1 'Symphonie Serieuse'
Malmo Symphony Orchestra
Sixten Ehrling



A highly original, harmonically innovative piece! Berwald's music sounds like no one else's - it makes frequent but effective use of sequences to move the music forward. The orchestration is woodwind-forward, with often beautiful solos, while the trombones have plenty to do! It deserves a wider hearing - maybe orchestras could program a Berwald symphony where they might now be playing similar works by Schubert, Mendelssohn, or Schumann?

[Symphonic Addict]

Speaking of stunning...

Now playing a duo of choral symphonies:

Rachmaninov
The Bells, Op. 35
Ryszard Karcykowski (tenor), Natalia Troitskaya (soprano), Tom Krause (baritone)
Chorus of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Ashkenazy

Shostakovich
Symphony No. 13 in B flat minor, Op. 113 'Babi Yar'
Alexey Tikhomirov (bass)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Chorus
Muti

From these recordings -

A fantastic program!

[Mirror Image]

That reminds me - my copy of that Muti/CSO Babi Yar arrived a couple of days ago! I need to listen soon - I confess that due to its heavy subject matter, it's a piece one must 'be in the mood for'.

Very nice, classicalgeek. Yeah, the Babi Yar isn't "everyday listening", but it's a masterwork without question!

[Mirror Image]

A fantastic program!

I knew you'd approve.

[Traverso]

Disc 2: 11, 12, 13

Fabulous.

Where has this set been all throughout my life? 

Indeed a great set,one I really treasure.

[JBS]

Arrived today. Currently playing CD 1. So far, dreamy and poetic, just the way I like these done.



The booklet's track listings label KKIVb/8 as "possibly by Charlotte de Rothschild" (a pupil of Chopin" and KKAnh.Ia/6 as "composer unknown".  The final track is a version of Op 9 No 2 in which Chopin wrote out improvisation-like ornamentation for some of his students when they played the work.

The cover art is "Moonlight" by Felix Edouard Vallotton.

[Karl Henning]

Arrived today. Currently playing CD 1. So far, dreamy and poetic, just the way I like these done.



The booklet's track listings label KKIVb/8 as "possibly by Charlotte de Rothschild" (a pupil of Chopin" and KKAnh.Ia/6 as "composer unknown".  The final track is a version of Op 9 No 2 in which Chopin wrote out improvisation-like ornamentation for some of his students when they played the work.

The cover art is "Moonlight" by Felix Edouard Vallotton.

Sweet!