What are you listening 2 now?

[Karl Henning]

Resisting the Weinberg temptation long enough for:

CD 10

6 Flute Concerti, Op. 10

Stephen Preston, fl

[Karl Henning]

Inspired by Judith's Monthly Focus thread...:



Joseph Haydn: Symphony No.98 in B-flat major. Colin Davis, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Damn good symphony—like ALL of Haydn's symphonies. Very nice orchestral counterpoint in the Allegro. I may prefer Mozart to Haydn overall, but I think Haydn may have been the better symphonist.

And, well done!

[ritter]

Revisiting the music of Jacques Ibert, with CD 1 of this anthology:


Divertissement, Escales, Symphonie marine, etc.

I suppose that as background music it's OK....

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Revisiting the music of Jacques Ibert, with CD 1 of this anthology:


Divertissement, Escales, Symphonie marine, etc.

I suppose that as background music it's OK....

I like everything in the set except for Divertissement.    It's quite natural that sometimes we have different preferences.

[T. D.]

Prompted by discussion here, I revisited the Third Quartet with my PT yesterday. It was a hit.

The Third [Holmboe SQ] is certainly very good. Unusually for string quartet cycles, I find myself (rather strongly) preferring his earlier ones.

Khachaturian: Extracts from Gayaneh [Tjeknavorian]

OT, but though this album cover art looks OK, I've always thought its use of the Cyrillic alphabet weirdly off the mark, considering that the composer and conductor names are Armenian (and so is the orchestra). Granted, the Armenian alphabet (Արամ Խաչատրյան, Լորիս Ճգնավորյան) would not be very useful on a Western-targeted cover. 

[vers la flamme]

^Besides, that's not even the correct Cyrillic spelling of his name.



Leopold Godowsky: Studies on Chopin's Etudes. Marc-André Hamelin

Dazzling stuff. Very good, actually.

[Mandryka]

^Besides, that's not even the correct Cyrillic spelling of his name.



Leopold Godowsky: Studies on Chopin's Etudes. Marc-André Hamelin

Dazzling stuff. Very good, actually.

Too many notes.

[SonicMan46]

There's also an ordinary piano recording with music by Kraus on Naxos, which I own. Interesting composer, but the keyboard music didn't strike me as on the level of some of the symphonies. Further listening might improve the impression, however.

Hi MusicTurner - assume that you mean Després on a modern piano shown below; I have him doing the violin/keyboard works on Naxos - the other disc I mentioned was w/ Mastroprimiano.  For those interested, see the attached reviews - plenty for Brautigam, mostly quite good to excellent, and seems to be preferred over Després; sour grapes from the Fanfare reviewers for Kraus' KB music, including Jerry Dubins who seems to hate PIs, especially fortepianos (of course I've seen exceptions w/ him), but the other commentators appear to like the composing, so to each his own, I guess?  Dave

   

[SimonNZ]

somehow I hadn't encountered this Reflexe release before, though I used to collect the series

nor had I previously heard of these arrangements for flute, string quartet and piano

[MusicTurner]

Hi MusicTurner - assume that you mean Després on a modern piano shown below; I have him doing the violin/keyboard works on Naxos - the other disc I mentioned was w/ Mastroprimiano.  For those interested, see the attached reviews - plenty for Brautigam, mostly quite good to excellent, and seems to be preferred over Després; sour grapes from the Fanfare reviewers for Kraus' KB music, including Jerry Dubins who seems to hate PIs, especially fortepianos (of course I've seen exceptions w/ him), but the other commentators appear to like the composing, so to each his own, I guess?  Dave

   

Thanks for the reviews, that to some extent disagree with each other. There's probably no doubt, that sampling the Brautigam too would be recommendable, when choosing a recording. I don't agree at all with the first reviewer's grumpy attitude towards Kraus' symphonies - IMHO he is one of the more interesting and temperamental symphonists of that age, say belonging to a top 5-7 of them or so.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto No. 1
Geza Anda
Alceo Galliera
Philharmonia Orchestra
Recorded in 1953



Looks like it originally came out on Columbia:


A nice happy wallow for me in warm romantic music. 

PD

[Karl Henning]

Weinberg: Symphony No. 3

Gothenburg SO, Svedlund

I'm in!


A new one on me. The first movement has an appealing Smetana-in-modern-clothing feel to it, with a particularly charming, sashaying theme barely a minute into the action. A touchingly poignant third slow movement also stood out. A rather good first encounter.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

An intriguing description Karl!  And I do love my Smetana! 

PD

[Karl Henning]

An intriguing description Karl!  And I do love my Smetana! 

PD

Aye, on revisiting the symphony, I thought Iota's desc. quite apt.

TD:

Weinberg
String Quartet № 1 in C, Op. 2/141 (1937-86)
Quatuor Danel

[foxandpeng]

Ernst Toch
Symphonies 5 - 7
Alan Francis
Berlin RSO
CPO

[aligreto]

Mahler: Symphony No. 5 [Tennstedt]





The opening section of this version of this first movement has a colossal sense of power to it [either overt or latent]. I also find it to be wonderfully menacing in tone. This sense of menace and threat is prevalent throughout this movement. The brass, where employed, has a great voice here. The second movement continues in the same mode and tone as the first. There is also an added sense of tension here which enhances the already dark and powerful atmosphere. This is terrific listening! I find the tone and atmosphere of the Scherzo to be much lighter in the opening section when compared to what has preceded it. It is almot gay by comparison which makes for a wonderful aural contrast. The tone does eventually change and although it becomes quite powerful in its presentation it does not become oppressive or menacing. The wonderful Adagietto is caressed into being on gentle strings. The pace, the tone and the sentiment are just right here. Tennstedt evokes a wonderful sense of yearning, something of an earnest plea. The swells in intensity are quite atmospheric and effective. The lower register strings are quite rich and full sounding. The climax is passionately intense. Wonderful!
5 I particularly like the tone and the voice of this final movement. It is airy and light hearted, buoyant and appealing even as the orchestral scoring becomes denser as the movement progresses. This is quite an upbeat and optimistic presentation with a terrifically exciting conclusion. 

In summary, this is majestic and compelling music making.

[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!

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

The above is in something of a tie with the old Columbia Boulez recording with Jess Thomas: although it is one of the shorter sections, the song Du Strenger Richter Droben with Boulez and Thomas has a fearsome, soul-shattering power!


https://www.youtube.com/v/a4m9UhJpTlY

[aligreto]

Inspired by Judith's Monthly Focus thread...:



Joseph Haydn: Symphony No.98 in B-flat major. Colin Davis, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Damn good symphony—like ALL of Haydn's symphonies. Very nice orchestral counterpoint in the Allegro. I may prefer Mozart to Haydn overall, but I think Haydn may have been the better symphonist.

That set and its sister set make for great Haydn symphonic listening IMHO.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Aye, on revisiting the symphony, I thought Iota's desc. quite apt.

TD:

Weinberg
String Quartet № 1 in C, Op. 2/141 (1937-86)
Quatuor Danel

Ah!  I wasn't sure who had described him as such.

Here:  Vaughan Williams
Fantasia on Christmas Carols (version with strings and organ)
with John Barrow, baritone
Choir of Guildford Cathedral
String Orchestra, etc.
From 1966...Collector's Edition on EMI

Wow!  What a beautiful work and great arrangement!  Loved John Barrow's and the choir's singing.  And in great sound too; I could have easily blown off the walls of my living room with it. 

PD

[aligreto]

OT, but though this album cover art looks OK, I've always thought its use of the Cyrillic alphabet weirdly off the mark, considering that the composer and conductor names are Armenian (and so is the orchestra). Granted, the Armenian alphabet (Արամ Խաչատրյան, Լորիս Ճգնավորյան) would not be very useful on a Western-targeted cover. 

Agreed but the music making is wonderful!