What are you listening 2 now?

[André]

Some discs are interpreter-centric or composer-centric, and still others are conceived around a theme. Among the latter we find programs about a country, region or town. This one belongs to that last group. Music in Lucerne presents a very familiar work by a world famous composer and two little-known composers, all of whom have roots in the town.

Wagner's Siegfried Idyll was composed in Lucerne where he stayed from 1866 to 1872 with Cosima in Villa Tribschen (now the Lucerne Wagner-Museum). The story of the premiere in the villa's staircase is well known. What I didn't know is that Wagner had hired musicians from Zurich for the occasion ! Here the Lucerne orchestra plays the work in a luminous, intimate way. The solo horn is meltingly played. I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. Maybe the close connection to the work's birthplace played a role. After all it's not really a concert item. Here I found a perfect match between work and performers.

I have never heard before of Joseph Lauber (1864-1952). A native of Canton Lucerne, he studied under Rheinberger and Massenet. Frank Martin was one of his pupils. His 1935 double bass concerto is obviously not a familiar work, but it should definitely be heard. The orchestration is quite original - there's even what sounds like a glass harmonica. I think the connection with Massenet can be felt in the work's unusual orchestration and winsome thematic material. A fine discovery.

Fritz Brun has acquired a reputation among amateurs of off-the-beaten-paths symphonic music. He wrote 10 symphonies and many other orchestral works. Conductor Adriano has championed the lot, recording many discs of his music on the Sterling label. All of it has been reissued cheaply in a neat box by Brilliant. I have 4 other symphonies of Brun's and while they are not all of the same quality, at least one (no 5) is a quasi-masterpiece. Brun certainly has an original personality. His language at first appears rather discursive but there is a logic at work. In the end the whole edifice has shape and character. One should admire the composer's refusal to give the listener a scenic tour and choosing instead circuitous, surprising musical vistas. The 2nd symphony is quite fine and contains many impressive and unusual moments. There is nothing in the least predictable about the way Brun organizes his music. It kept me interested until the end.

[JBS]

Were they able to record the Siegfried Idyll at Villa Tribschen itself?

TD
Another Jarvithon

[SimonNZ]

[Cato]

Speaking of remarkable orchestrators...

NP:

Schoenberg
Gurre-Lieder
Hermann Becht (bass), Peter Haage (tenor), Hans Hotter (speaker), Brigitte Fassbaender (contralto), Siegfried Jerusalem (tenor), Susan Dunn (soprano)
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Chor der St. Hedwig's-Kathedrale, Berlin, Stadtischer Musikverein, Dusseldorf
Riccardo Chailly

A nearly perfect recording of the Gurrelieder!  I maintain that Brigitte Fassbaender is the best Waldtaube on a recording.  Siegfried Jerusalem is also excellent!

[Mirror Image]

A nearly perfect recording of the Gurrelieder!  I maintain that Brigitte Fassbaender is the best Waldtaube on a recording.  Siegfried Jerusalem is also excellent!

Absolutely, Cato. The stars were aligned in this recording for sure. What would you say is your favorite recording of Gurrelieder?

[listener]

It being Friday yet here, VIERNE's appropriate
Organ Symphonies 3 in f# op. 28  and 6 in b, op. 29
Bruno Mathieu, Dalstein-Haerpfer organ at Église Saint-Sébastien, Nancy

[classicalgeek]

Winding down this Friday with this:

Shostakovich
Symphony no. 7 'Leningrad'
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Neeme Järvi
(on Spotify)



A powerful, raw performance, with absolutely crushing (and in the case of the first movement, terrifying) climaxes, and the more introspective bits are well-characterized too.

[Mirror Image]

Winding down this Friday with this:

Shostakovich
Symphony no. 7 'Leningrad'
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Neeme Järvi
(on Spotify)



A powerful, raw performance, with absolutely crushing (and in the case of the first movement, terrifying) climaxes, and the more introspective bits are well-characterized too.

Thumbs up! I love Järvi's Shostakovich recordings.

[Daverz]

Schubert: Symphony No. 4



Never knew the work could be this thrilling.

[vers la flamme]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No.27 in B-flat major, K 595. Friedrich Gulda, Claudio Abbado, Vienna Philharmonic

Mozart sounds just right at the moment—I love these moments. Gulda kills it in this performance. I need to hear more of his work.

[Mirror Image]

Last work for the night:

Mahler
Das Lied von der Erde
Christa Ludwig, René Kollo
Berliners
HvK

[T. D.]

Saw Holmboe quartets being discussed on another thread, so pulled this box off the shelf.
Funny how perceptions change...Bought this over the summer, at which time I ranked it as among best acquisitions of the year. Listening again a few months later, I don't rate it as highly, though the set is by no means weak.

[Daverz]

Frank Martin: Violin Concerto



I think this may be the best recording of the work since Schneiderhan/Martin.

[Linz]

I am Listening to this disc

[Madiel]

Mendelssohn, Lauda Sion (op.posth. 73)



Continuing with the impression that Mendelssohn's large sacred choir & orchestra works are something I need to add to my collection. Somehow it's just the right combination of forces to make me really, really like this composer.

[Linz]

Bruckner Symphony 2 Blomstedt

[Klavier1]

[Que]

[Irons]

The real deal.

George Lloyd: 4th Symphony.

[Que]

3rd disc:



Splendid! 

Luckily I have enough of this series to tie me over for the holidays - Book II was in the mailbox yesterday. 

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2017/Aug/Marais_viol_RIC379.htm