What are you listening 2 now?

[Linz]

St Matthew Passion

[Traverso]

That is a great set 

Still for sale at a friendly price.

[Karl Henning]

And you have the Ancerl...which I haven't bought. On the other hand, I have the Krauss and Knappertsbusch sets...

Based on this CD (the other three I haven't heard yet) the set is well worth getting once you do decide to pull the trigger. I intend to get the companion chamber music set when it's released later this month.

Note taken

[Karl Henning]

That is a great set 

Delighted that you enjoy it!

[Artem]

[JBS]

Picked up used at La Metralleta in downtown Madrid, and now playing:



This isn't good....it's very good! I only knew Cécile Ousset's Debussy from her Suite bergamascque (included in the Warner Complete Works box), but the other pieces included here are spectacularly well played, and right up my alley in terms of interpretation, combining a full, sometimes percussive piano sound with just the right amount of "feeling". Even in Pour le piano, a work I don't usually care that much about, she has some breathtaking moments. Who knows, perhaps she'll even make me enjoy the Arabesques (two pieces I dislike —to put t mildly  —).

And man, every time I listen to L'Isle joyeuse I simply feel so happy!  What a piece....

Warner is releasing her complete EMI recordings in 2 weeks: going by the contents of that set, you're missing her recording of the Preludes.

[Karl Henning]

This may or may not be a first listen

[ritter]

Warner is releasing her complete EMI recordings in 2 weeks: going by the contents of that set, you're missing her recording of the Preludes.

Thanks for the info! Actually, that set is already available here in Spain (saw it in FNAC this afternoon). But it has too many discs of repertoire im not that into. I'll keep an  eye out for a used copy of the (OOP AFAIK) Préludes as a separate release.

Good evening you, JBS!

[amw]

The last two pages of the slow movement of Bruckner's 8th are, at this point, genuinely probably what I want to hear as I die. More than anything else I've heard, they feel like dying, in a good way: a gradual fading-out of consciousness; a good death, one most people never get to have. It's a diminuendo that feels like it could go on for hours just because of how stable and satisfying that fundamental D-flat major chord is. As it is, we only get 3-5 minutes depending on performance. (Closer to 5 in this one, which is the new-ish, well, 2009, recording by Kent Nagano and the Bayerisches Staatsorchester of the 1887 version.)

On to the last movement now. I'm not sold on this version of the symphony in all honesty, it's missing the last spark of genius of the 1890 revision, but this performance is near-ideal apart from a certain fussiness in the pushing and pulling of the tempo, and would convince me if I were closer to the line of being convince-able.

[André]

 

I've had 3 sets of The Ring waiting for my good pleasure for over 2 years now, maybe even 3... . Still, I didn't hesitate one moment when 2 more came my way recently, very cheap (Rings are becoming cheaper with every passing year it seems). So yesterday I finally unwrapped this box and listened to Das Rheingold. An excellent performance, with truly great singing and vocal acting in the roles of Erda, Loge and Donner, and excellent turns from just about everyone else, right down to the truly sultry Rhinemaidens. Excellent, dynamic conducting from Keilberth. Very listenable 1953 mono sound.

This time around I listened to this, my least favourite Ring opera, while reading the stunningly illustrated graphic novel The Ring of the Nibelung by P. Craig Russell. Even better than actually watching it in the opera house ! Now I'm in a quandary. Should I proceed to listen to the next 3 operas and then the 4 other Ring sets, or stay with Rheingold x 4 before moving to the next installment (Walküre) x 5 ? I love comparative lisetning, but I'm afraid even I might tire of such an endeavour...

[Karl Henning]

This may or may not be a first listen

Amusingly, it flashed upon me that I listened to this, with score, in the Music Library while I was at UVa. Great piece. FWIW, I also listened to the Penderecki Te Deum, which at the time failed to impress me.

[aligreto]

Still for sale at a friendly price.

That set sits proudly on my shelf 

[foxandpeng]

Alfredo Casella
Complete Symphonies
Symphony 1
Gianandrea Noseda
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Chandos

[kyjo]

Nice!! Fleisher/Szell have been always my reference recording for Beethoven Piano Concertos.

TD: more Atterberg, and more spellbinding music:

Atterberg
Suite no. 5 'Suite Barocco'
Suite no. 8 'Suite Pastorale in modo antico'
*String quartet
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Kurt Atterberg
*Saulesco Quartet
(on Qobuz)



The Suites are just charming, and full of beautiful music; the 'Suite Pastorale' has a distinctly Nordic flavor. They remind me of the works of Respighi in the same vein. The String Quartet didn't pique my interest quite as much, but it's still a fine work; it just takes me a little longer to "warm up" to chamber music than orchestral music.

Pounds the table! Love Atterberg's suites, above all the Barocco. Your Respighi comparison is quite apt (esp. to works like the Ancient Airs and Dances). Regarding his string quartets, this excellent CPO recording is more convincing:

[Todd]

As per usual, played at silly loud volume.  Definitely my favorite single Rattle recording, and perhaps a Top 10 all time recording in the classical category.

[André]

Franck's oratorio is not exactly a soloists' vehicle but here an all-star cast has been assembled for this very well recorded 1974 Bavarian Radio production: Kubelik conducts and the front cover lists only the best known singers from a most impressive line-up of 8 soloists. Jessye Norman contributes some incredibly beautiful sounds. Compared to the Rilling version, what struck me is how intensely dramatic this performance sounds: Kubelik conducts as if this was the Missa Solemnis.

Our own vonStupp wrote a very detaailed review on Amazon and I concur with his every comment !

[DavidW]

I've finally found another Ivan Fischer Mahler recording that blows me away!  He really captures the piece with this driving momentum and transparency.  Also... that cowbell.  Perfect.

[Todd]

Also... that cowbell.  Perfect.

[Mirror Image]

Tonight is a Dvořák chamber night:

String Quartets Nos. 12 & 13
Pavel Haas Quartet



String Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 97
Pavel Haas Quartet, Pavel Nikl (viola)

[Operafreak]

Schubert: Impromptus D899 and Moments Musicaux D780 =Alexandre Tharaud (piano)