What are you listening 2 now?

[Madiel]

Beethoven, op.70 piano trios (planning to listen to both)



The Stern/Rose/Istomin recordings are definitely the best thing in this box. Sometimes wish I'd just bought the trios separately...

[Symphonic Addict]

Ravel
Piano Concerto in D for the left-hand
Krystian Zimerman, piano
LSO
Boulez

That is the recording with which I grew up. It stills holds like a formidable performance.

[VonStupp]

PI Tchaikovsky
String Sextet in d minor 'Souvenir de Florence', op. 70
Endellion String Quartet+

Perhaps Tchaikovsky's most wonderful confection? It is certainly the work that I have most enjoyed revisiting in my month of Tchaikovsky.

VS

[JBS]

The first 10 CDs in the set (plus another 5 or so devoted to vocal music placed towards the end of the box) are jacketed as "the 78 RPM Collection", and some are a hodge-podge (CD 10 contains a Mendelssohn symphony and overture, the Peer Gynt Suite, highlights from Delibes' Sylvia, and Stravinsky's Concerto in D) but CD 9, after starting with Barbirolli's arrangement of movements from Corelli's Opus 5 Sonatas, is solid British: Elgar, RVW, and Delius, including what presumably his first recordings of the Enigma Variations, the Introduction and Allegro for Strings, and the Fantasia on Greensleeves (1947 for the Elgar and 1948 for the RVW).
The only flaw to these performances is the sound: brass overloaded, strings shrill. But nothing to criticize JB for.

ETA
The sound improves after the Enigma Variations.

[Karl Henning]

Fact is, I had to go right back and enjoy this all over again:

CD 39

Schoenberg
Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4
Erste Kammersymphonie, Op. 9
Zweite Kammersymphonie, Op. 38

And now:

CD 40 The Classical Hits pot-pourri

Roman Hoffstetter (a quartet, apparently formerly considered to be one of "Papa's"
Quartet in F, Hob. III:17
2. Andante cantabile
Gluck
Danse des Furies & Ronde des esprits bienheureux from Orphée et Eurydice
Michael Haydn
Notturno in F, P. 106
3. Adagio
Boccherini
Quintet in E, G. 275
3. Minuetto
"Wolferl"
Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525
2. Romance

LvB
The Creatures of Prometheus
16. Finale
Mendelssohn
Ein Sommernachtstraum, Op. 61
5. Intermezzo
7. Notturno
Schubert
Rosamunde, D. 797
5. Entr'acte
6. Hirtenmelodien
9. Ballet II
2. Ballet I

[Symphonic Addict]

PI Tchaikovsky
String Sextet in d minor 'Souvenir de Florence', op. 70
Endellion String Quartet+

Perhaps Tchaikovsky's most wonderful confection?

VS

I'm tempted to concur with you. Tchaikovsky's sense of melody and lyricism seem unsurpassable here. The Piano Trio is another work that leaves me hugely impressed.

[Mirror Image]

That is the recording with which I grew up. It stills holds like a formidable performance.

There are many fine performances of this masterpiece and, yes, this Zimerman/Boulez is certainly one of them!

[Karl Henning]

Fact is, I had to go right back and enjoy this all over again:


And now:

CD 40 The Classical Hits pot-pourri

Roman Hoffstetter (a quartet, apparently formerly considered to be one of "Papa's"
Quartet in F, Hob. III:17
2. Andante cantabile
Gluck
Danse des Furies & Ronde des esprits bienheureux from Orphée et Eurydice
Michael Haydn
Notturno in F, P. 106
3. Adagio
Boccherini
Quintet in E, G. 275
3. Minuetto
"Wolferl"
Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525
2. Romance

LvB
The Creatures of Prometheus
16. Finale
Mendelssohn
Ein Sommernachtstraum, Op. 61
5. Intermezzo
7. Notturno
Schubert
Rosamunde, D. 797
5. Entr'acte
6. Hirtenmelodien
9. Ballet II
2. Ballet I

You can practically hear the derailleur shift for the easie ground

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Martin
Le vin herbé
Sandrine Piau, Steve Davislim, Jutta Böhnert, et. al.
RIAS Chamber Choir
Scharoun-Ensemble
Reuss



I've got the old mono recording of Le vin herbé on the Jecklin label, but that performance left much to be desired. The audio quality was certainly a hinderance and had almost a closed, claustrophobic sound to it, but that performance did have a certain mystique to it that I found alluring. This Reuss recording is a different animal altogether --- clarity for days and articulation that the older recording couldn't possibly measure up to --- this is a gorgeous recording and I'm in awe right now. There's nothing else I can write here.

[Symphonic Addict]

Nielsen: Pan og Syrinx

Perfectly well-executed. Nielsen in an exotic and dreamy mood. The percussion is more recurrent in this piece than in the 5th Symphony.

[Symphonic Addict]

Now on totally unknown territory:

Arnold Griller: Scherzoid for orchestra

Mildly interesting, it has some merit. I felt it to be like a mini-concerto for orchestra. His style is modern, and the way he shifts moods is quite obvious. The name of the piece certainly speaks by itself.

[VonStupp]

I'm tempted to concur with you. Tchaikovsky's sense of melody and lyricism seem unsurpassable here. The Piano Trio is another work that leaves me hugely impressed.

With the sextet, I was really impressed how as a whole, each succeeding movement stood on its own compared to the previous; no lulls or lack of interest, but ever-interesting, forward-moving invention as the work proceeded.

An excellent suggestion! I will have to see if I can dig out the Piano Trio this week to give it a spin. Thanks!

VS

[Mirror Image]

Hey VonStupp, what do you think about Frank Martin's choral music? I singled out the choral music since this seems to be the genre of classical music you're most interested in or, at least, from what your posts have indicated.

[VonStupp]

Hey VonStupp, what do you think about Frank Martin's choral music? I singled out the choral music since this seems to be the genre of classical music you're most interested in or, at least, from what your posts have indicated.

Frank Martin's Mass is perhaps the first 'modern' choral work I had ever heard, and it took my breath away. I still easily consider it in my top 5 favorite choral works of all time. But more importantly, his Mass led me to Stravinsky, and then all bets were off! 

It has been some time since I have revisited his oratorios, Golgotha comes to mind, but they haven't struck me the same way. Perhaps I need to revisit them now that I have heard a lot more music. It is funny how time has a way of changing how music sounds to one's ears. I do like how he wrote for large forces; he seems to have a certain way with them that catches my ear regardless.

I also ran across that Nicholas A. Deutsch reviewer on Amazon who seems to have heard most of Martin's big vocal works on record, but I am not sure of his veracity on the subject. I never pursued a lot of those recordings that he recommended at the time, though.

On the other side of things, I have really enjoyed some of his concertos recently. 

VS

[Symphonic Addict]

Moeran: Symphony in G minor

One of the most lovely symphonies from British Isles.

[Mirror Image]

Frank Martin's Mass is perhaps the first 'modern' choral work I had ever heard, and it took my breath away. I still easily consider it in my top 5 favorite choral works of all time. But more importantly, his Mass led me to Stravinsky, and then all bets were off! 

It has been some time since I have revisited his oratorios, Golgotha comes to mind, but they haven't struck me the same way. Perhaps I need to revisit them now that I have heard a lot more music. It is funny how time has a way of changing how music sounds to one's ears. I do like how he wrote for large forces; he seems to have a certain way with them that catches my ear regardless.

I also ran across that Nicholas A. Deutsch reviewer on Amazon who seems to have heard most of Martin's big vocal works on record, but I am not sure of his veracity on the subject. I never pursued a lot of those recordings that he recommended at the time, though.

On the other side of things, I have really enjoyed some of his concertos recently. 

VS

Wow, I didn't know you had a long history with Martin's music. That's awesome! As much as I love Martin, I have yet to hear his Mass, but don't worry I plan on it. Like you mentioned, he did have a way of writing for these larger forces that pulls one into the sound-world. Do give a listen to Cantate pour le temps de Noël, In terra pax, Le Mystère de la Nativité and the Requiem. Other vocal works that are favorites of mine: Le vin herbé, Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, Drey Minnelieder, Poèmes de la mort and Maria-Triptychon (if you can give a listen to the ECM recording with Juliane Banse, then please do so!). His only opera, Der Sturm is also magnificent. To my knowledge, it's only been recorded once (released on Hyperion, but I believe this recording is OOP now):



Outside of the vocal works, his output is still so incredibly consistent. Other favorite works (and I'm skipping around here from concerti to orchestral to chamber, etc.): Petite symphonie concertante, Polyptyque, Violin Concerto, Cello Concerto, Trois danses, String Quartet, Trio sur des mélodies populaires irlandaises, both Violin Sonatas, Das Märchen vom Aschenbrödel, Les quatre éléments, Erasmi monumentum and the Ballades.

And yes, I'm quite familiar with Nicholas A. Deutsch's Martin reviews on Amazon. I mentioned him (not by name) on the Martin thread earlier. He is quite knowledgable about the composer and certainly knows his stuff about his discography, but where our opinions divulge are our choice of recordings.

Anyway, do give the afore mentioned works a listen. I think Martin's music is criminally undervalued, but there does seem to be some listeners who enjoy his music on GMG (and elsewhere).

[Symphonic Addict]

I think Martin's music is criminally undervalued, but there does seem to be some listeners who enjoy his music on GMG (and elsewhere).

Whilst I do have this composer in high esteem, I also have some reservations about some of his works, e.g. Golgotha and In Terra Pax (which left me kind of disappointed recently). He sometimes is rather grim and dour, and, frankly, I'm not in the mood for that when there are other interesting composers and works to revisit. And since I can't tolerate vocal music too much, I opt for listening the instrumental music in most of cases.

[Mirror Image]

Whilst I do have this composer in high esteem, I also have some reservations about many of his works, e.g. Golgotha and In Terra Pax (which left me kind of disappointed recently). He sometimes is rather grim and dour, and, frankly, I'm not in the mood for that when there are other interesting composers and works to revisit. And since I can't tolerate too much vocal music, I opt for listening the instrumental music in most of cases.

This criticism could be leveled at many composers, Cesar. I think one of the problems here is your general approach to music doesn't allow you the kind of time that's necessary in order to become familiar with a composer's sound-world, especially someone like Martin who isn't a composer that is going to hit you over the head with earth-shattering crescendos and constant excitement (of course, he could do both extremely well when he felt it necessary). It's a different kind of listening altogether. His art is one of subtlety and color. This is probably why you don't find yourself drawn into Debussy's sound-world too often or, to another extreme, Schoenberg, Berg or Webern.

Anyway, just an observation, my friend. Nothing more.

[Madiel]

I learned one of Martin's piano pieces years ago. Really, really liked it. I keep kicking myself that I haven't listened to more of his music. It's on the list, like so many things...

[Mirror Image]

I learned one of Martin's piano pieces years ago. Really, really liked it. I keep kicking myself that I haven't listened to more of his music. It's on the list, like so many things...

Very cool, Madiel. What piece? I own this recording, which seems to be the only one solely dedicated to his solo piano music (which isn't much):