What are you listening 2 now?

[Karl Henning]

I'd forgotten how enjoyable these concertos are.

From the Warner Saint Saens box, which fills out the CD with Wedding Cake Opus 76 and Africa Opus 89 from the same performers.

Nice!

[JBS]

And now 2 piano concertos that I could easily live without (unlike the two men who composed them)

Chopin
Concerto 1 in e minor Op 11
Liszt
Concerto 1 in E Flat Major S 124
Orchestre de la Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire
Georges Tzipane conductor
Recorded May/June 1954

[Symphonic Addict]

Aho knows his orchestra. Astonishing.

[Spotted Horses]

That sounds like a rewarding endeavour.   Actually the Chamber Symphonies wouldn't be a bad place to start, I find I do play them quite regularly.  Today I have convinced myself it really is about time I moved this set from wishlist to basket:

After a few false starts, I settled on this set as my preferred recording of the Chamber Symphonies. The transcription of the Piano Quintet is also superb.

[Symphonic Addict]

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5

I know better now why this cycle has received seldom appraisal. This performance doesn't do justice to the piece. Where's the heart? Where's the intensity, the care for eliciting and performing understanding what the composer intended.

[Symphonic Addict]

Aho knows his orchestra. Astonishing.

This indeed was superbly atmospheric. One of my favorites by Aho.

[Mirror Image]

I'd forgotten how enjoyable these concertos are.

From the Warner Saint Saens box, which fills out the CD with Wedding Cake Opus 76 and Africa Opus 89 from the same performers.

Pounds the table! Indeed. Truly impressive works.

[Mirror Image]

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5

I know better now why this cycle has received seldom appraisal. This performance doesn't do justice to the piece. Where's the heart? Where's the intensity, the care for eliciting and performing understanding what the composer intended.

Indeed. A dull cycle that cannot stand next to Boult or Previn.

[Mirror Image]

NP: Milhaud La Création du monde, Op. 81a (Munch/BSO)

[Mirror Image]

NP: Fauré Requiem, Op. 48 (Piau/Degout/Equilbey)

[Symphonic Addict]

Weinberg: Piano Quintet

One of the great PQs IMO. The 4th movement Largo gave me chills. Very moving.

[Symphonic Addict]

Indeed. A dull cycle that cannot stand next to Boult or Previn.

Definitely. Previn and Boult are always trustworthy in this repertoire.

[vers la flamme]

I have had this disc for 20 years and relistened a week ago. I still fell that no 1 is partly (NB partly) a disorganised mess and no 2 superb.

Interestingly no 2 is an older recording than no 1 but sounds much better. I wish we could have had no 1 in a state of the art recording. It might change my opinion. It is the kind of work that requires SOTA sound. More Popov would be a good thing.

I own some Northern Flowers discs of Russian music by mostly unknown composers. There's treasures in the old Soviet that deserves modern and widely distributed recordings.

Hmm, really? I think the recording of the 1st symphony sounds better (and I also like the symphony more). Different strokes, they're both so excellent.

[bhodges]

Bax: Symphony No. 1 (Vernon Handley / BBC Philharmonic) - First time listen. So far, gorgeous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X63jKCcJ_4s&t=771s

--Bruce

[Mirror Image]

Last work for the night: Strauss Vier letzte Lieder (Studer/Sinopoli)

[vandermolen]

Weinberg: Piano Quintet

One of the great PQs IMO. The 4th movement Largo gave me chills. Very moving.

Very much agree.

NP


Ibert: Symphonie Marine

[vandermolen]

Recorded only a few years before the Hickox discs (Chandos), I tend to prefer these interpretations and, perhaps surprisingly, sound recordings. Rubbra's orchestration is leaner and his musical discourse more cursive than that of Bax and the more precise, less resonant engineering lets us hear more detail. Also, possibly because of the less reverberant acoustics, tempi tend to be faster on Lyrita, making the music sound more urgent. That being said, the luxuriant, baxian sound picture on Chandos does have its merits. So far I find that symphonies 2 and 3 and the 1st movement of 4 are superb, no matter who conducts and on whatever label.

Rubbra's 4th is very fine. I enjoy all of the recordings, my favourite being Rubbra's own premiere recording. On the Lyrita disc I enjoy the shorter works as well, especially 'Resurgam'.

[vandermolen]

Indeed. A dull cycle that cannot stand next to Boult or Previn.

+1

[Irons]

Janos Starker
Fauré's Élégie
Dvorak's Cello Concerto

on EMI's Artist Profile series

Really loved both works and performances.  My only wish is that it seemed to me that the balance between the cello and the orchestra in the Dvorak one seemed off to me--as in, I wish that the sound of the cello had been a bit more forward.  It felt rather unequally miked and therefore a bit too soft and distant.     Anyone else here familiar with this recording?  I should add that it with with Walter Susskind and the Philharmonia and recorded in Kingsway Hall in 1956.

PD

Your post inspired me to give Starker's Dvorak CC a spin, PD. I agree the balance between cello and orchestra wasn't quite right but not in the way you found it. In fact the polar opposite, as I found Starker's cello did come under the spotlight too much for my liking. During the long orchestral introduction I marvelled at the Philharmonia in their pomp but felt they were put on the back burner after the entry of the cello. My main criticism of the recording is the lack of depth, all very flat. Of course the elephant in the room is the system the recording is played on which can and does highlight different attributes. Personal taste also comes into play. I agree, a fine performance.

[Que]