What are you listening 2 now?

[kyjo]

I LOVE his orchestral works, but some of his piano works are rather ellusive to me. The works for two pianos are a different matter, nonetheless.

+1 I've listened to Rachmaninov's solo piano music expecting the same memorable, sweeping melodies and general accessibility of his orchestral and concertante works, and have often come away rather disappointed. His solo piano music occupies a more private, elusive, and often complex world than his orchestral music. I'm not saying that his solo piano music is inferior in quality due to these characteristics, just that my personal reaction to it is quite different. Then again, as I've said before, I'm generally not a huge fan of solo piano music anyway, though I do love much of Prokofiev's and Medtner's work in this field, for instance.

[Mirror Image]

+1 I've listened to Rach's solo piano music expecting the same memorable, sweeping melodies and general accessibility of his orchestral and concertante works, and have often come away rather disappointed. His solo piano music occupies a more private, elusive, and often complex world than his orchestral music. I'm not saying that his solo piano music is inferior in quality due to these characteristics, just that my personal reaction to it is quite different. Then again, as I've said before, I'm generally not a huge fan of solo piano music anyway.

To the bolded text, this is your loss. For me, solo piano music has enriched my life for the better and it has allowed me to appreciate, and love, a composer even more than before. It's as if another layer to the composer has come to the fore that I hadn't known about before.

As for Rachmaninov's solo piano music, it's interesting that you and Cesar aren't particularly taken with these works. I was hooked immediately when I heard his Preludes for example. It's this hidden emotional world away from the showpieces in which I find the composer to be particularly compelling. I find the same kind of intimacy in his songs and chamber music. A shame that some listeners will never be able to connect with this side of the composer.

[classicalgeek]

Glad to hear you're a fan of Schulhoff as well.

I definitely need to listen to more Schulhoff! Everything I've heard of his so far I've greatly enjoyed.

TD: Over the long (in the US) weekend:

Tubin
Symphony no. 4
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Neeme Jarvi




Beethoven
String Quartet in E-flat major, op. 127
Gewandhaus Quartet



As impressed as I was by the Gewandhaus Quartet's performances of op. 18 nos. 5 and 6, I was underwhelmed by their performance of op. 127. I guess their HIP-informed practice doesn't work as well with the late quartets.


Shostakovich
Symphony no. 4
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Bernard Haitink



Kind of disappointing - a bit like a routine run-through. Shostakovich 4 should be terrorizing and hair-raising in spots; the ending should leave one completely spent - but that's not the case here. The Chicagoans play superbly, of course.


Szymanowski
Metopes
Martin Jones, piano




Mozart
Piano concerto no. 16
Piano concerto no. 17
Malcolm Bilson, fortepiano
English Baroque Soloists
John Eliot Gardiner



This is my go-to set for Mozart on period instruments (the watery bassoons notwithstanding!) Bilson is an elegant and refined soloist, and Gardiner's accompaniments are tastefully done.

[kyjo]

I've listened several times in the last few days to this disc;



I think I've worked out - for me - why John Wilson just isn't the real deal.  He is well-known in the business as having a very fine "ear" for instrumentation/orchestration etc.  Listening to a sequence of his Sinfonia of London discs reveals now very specific traits in his conducting.  He has a preference for extremes - of dynamic/articulation/musical gestures.  In some works - Korngold symphony/Respighi etc this works well and of course it does help hugely to have playing as fine as that of the Sinfonia of London.  But he is crippingly lacking in nuance or musical half-lights.  For sure he gets his orchestra to play softly - but that becomes "just" a dynamic without the emotion or "why" behind the dynamic.  In fact - to steal and amend a famous musical quote - he's not very good at the silences between the notes which is where the musicality resides.  So instead it becomes high quality traffic control - you start / you stop / you play louder.  make no mistake some of this new Ireland disc is beautiful and compelling to listen to.  But that is just because the music at that moment fits his style.  At no point to I feel that Wilson is doing anything that is artistically revelatory.... he tells me no secrets

Your incessant criticisms of this conductor are getting to be quite tiresome, to be honest. To me, extremes of dynamic/articulation/musical gestures are what make a piece of music come alive, and Wilson excels at this. Sure, he doesn't "plumb the depths" (a kind of meaningless phrase anyway) with his interpretations, but most of the music he's recorded doesn't require that anyway, and that's totally fine! Not every conductor has to treat music like Celibidache treated Bruckner....

[kyjo]

To the bolded text, this is your loss. For me, solo piano music has enriched my life for the better and it has allowed me to appreciate, and love, a composer even more than before. It's as if another layer to the composer has come to the fore that I hadn't known about before.

As for Rachmaninov's solo piano music, it's interesting that you and Cesar aren't particularly taken with these works. I was hooked immediately when I heard his Preludes for example. It's this hidden emotional world away from the showpieces in which I find the composer to be particularly compelling. I find the same kind of intimacy in his songs and chamber music. A shame that some listeners will never be able to connect with this side of the composer.

Your disappointment is so palpable, John. I'll keep trying with Rach's solo piano music, but when it comes to the Russians I prefer Prokofiev and Medtner in this field. Oh, and by the way, I do love Rach's chamber music and what I've heard of his songs.

[listener]

BRUCKNER: Mass no. 3 in f  "Grosse Messe"
Bavarian Radio Orchestra & Chorus      Colin Davis, cond.
DUPRÉ  a dozen or so chorales from op.28
Sonata for Cello & Organ op.60   Trio for violin, cello & organ op. 55
Quartet for violin, viola, cello & organ op. 52

[SonicMan46]

Ries, Ferdinand (1784-1838) - Chamber Works from the recordings shown - own nearly 20 CDs at the moment, including the CPO Symphony box - just ordered the 5-disc Naxos Piano Concerto box from JPC (just $19 USD at the moment).  Short beginning bio below.  Dave

Ferdinand Ries was a German composer, and a friend, pupil and secretary of Beethoven. He composed eight symphonies, a violin concerto, nine piano concertos (the first concerto is not published), three operas, and numerous other works, including 26 string quartets. In 1838 he published a collection of reminiscences of his teacher Beethoven, co-written with Franz Wegeler. Many of his works have been recorded, including a symphony and piano concertos boxes. (Source)

     

[Florestan]

As for Rachmaninov's solo piano music, it's interesting that you and Cesar aren't particularly taken with these works. I was hooked immediately when I heard his Preludes for example. It's this hidden emotional world away from the showpieces in which I find the composer to be particularly compelling. I find the same kind of intimacy in his songs and chamber music. A shame that some listeners will never be able to connect with this side of the composer.

Amen, brother!

[Iota]

For me, solo piano music has enriched my life for the better and it has allowed me to appreciate, and love, a composer even more than before. It's as if another layer to the composer has come to the fore that I hadn't known about before.

Wholeheartedly agreed!


Recently spinning here:



Ravel: Sonatine
Yi-Chen Feng (piano)

Not heard of this pianist before today, but his playing of the Sonatine really caught my ear. At certain perfectly suited moments, he produces a gorgeous after-the-rain transparency/poignancy in his touch, which had me more or less wilting. And his playing, in the last movement particularly, is so alive.
An impressive start to what I very much hope will be a Ravel discography (amongst other things) that is added to after this debut album, and that he won't disappear into the woodwork having only just emerged, as so many promising pianists seem to.

[André]

Mostly a cappella stuff, but the producer hit the nail on the head by programming Shallow Brown (with soloist, chorus and orchestral ensemble) as the opening item. A wonderfully evocative work full of mists and melancholy moods, it hooked me right from the start. Well conceived and sufficiently varied to make the hour and a quarter long program a pleasurable listening experience.

[André]

Undeniably elegant, beautiful and refined music, but a boring disc all the same. It would have been much more interesting to have just a few of these languid viol consort pieces interspersed in a vocal program. A string of 21 such pieces is far too melancholy for general consumption. The cover art gives an unintentional indication of what to expect

[MusicTurner]

Reger & Haydn, piano works - the late Serkin recording/cbs-sony CD

Especially for the Reger, since the Haydn performance appears somewhat pedestrian, by comparison with other ones.

[Roasted Swan]

+1 I've listened to Rachmaninov's solo piano music expecting the same memorable, sweeping melodies and general accessibility of his orchestral and concertante works, and have often come away rather disappointed. His solo piano music occupies a more private, elusive, and often complex world than his orchestral music. I'm not saying that his solo piano music is inferior in quality due to these characteristics, just that my personal reaction to it is quite different. Then again, as I've said before, I'm generally not a huge fan of solo piano music anyway, though I do love much of Prokofiev's and Medtner's work in this field, for instance.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! (sound dies away as if falling over a cliff.............)

[Roasted Swan]

Your incessant criticisms of this conductor are getting to be quite tiresome, to be honest. To me, extremes of dynamic/articulation/musical gestures are what make a piece of music come alive, and Wilson excels at this. Sure, he doesn't "plumb the depths" (a kind of meaningless phrase anyway) with his interpretations, but most of the music he's recorded doesn't require that anyway, and that's totally fine! Not every conductor has to treat music like Celibidache treated Bruckner....

If you read back across my comments over the years you will see that I praised his Korngold and his Respighi.  So sadly your perception of my "incessant criticisms" is quite inaccurate.  However, if Chandos (and other media) are choosing to place him on a pedastal of implied greatness then it is only fair that people can take a moment to judge for themselves.  As I wrote at the beginning of my comment on the Ireland disc I made it clear that this was my response.  If others respond more positively to Wilson's work then that's fine by me.  Not sure I used the phrase "plumb the depths" re the Ireland disc - I can't go back on this here to check.  Sure - you are right but better try that than scratch the surface and in any case there are always nuances that can be applied to music of any style.

As a performer you will understand that there must be an intent behind any musical gesture - "just" short for shortness sake (for example) is self-defeating.  I played frequently in a professional orchestra once that was obsessed with short articulations to the exclusion of nearly everything else.  It became exhausting and frustrating and ultimately easier not to play at all so you couldn't be blamed for playing too long.

[Lisztianwagner]

On youtube:

Aaron Copland
Sextet for Clarinet, String Quartet and Piano
Violin Sonata

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzdrzthODFw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP41ifj7oZ4

[Roasted Swan]

Mostly a cappella stuff, but the producer hit the nail on the head by programming Shallow Brown (with soloist, chorus and orchestral ensemble) as the opening item. A wonderfully evocative work full of mists and melancholy moods, it hooked me right from the start. Well conceived and sufficiently varied to make the hour and a quarter long program a pleasurable listening experience.

Benjamin Britten included the great Shallow Brown on his famous "Salute to Percy Grainger" disc



it was a highlight of that prgramme too with the baritone solo taken by the very great John Shirley-Quirk

[Christo]

Urged by Vandermolen and others to give Atterberg a second chance - I once started with Symphony No. 7, but found it 'over-Romantic'. Now playing: Symphony No. 3:

[vandermolen]

Urged by Vandermolen and others to give Atterberg a second chance - I once started with Symphony No. 7, but found it 'over-Romantic'. Now playing: Symphony No. 3:

I have never liked Symphony No.7 (premiered in Nazi Germany I think) but No.3 is a completely different kettle of fish ( ). I have been playing it incessantly recently. It has a most beautiful opening and an inspiriting ending. I'm still waiting for the discounted CPO set to arrive. Let us know what you think of No.3 Johan. Best of all (IMO) is Symphony No. 5 'Funebre'.

[vandermolen]

Arno Babadjanian: 'Heroic Ballad'
Great fun - like Khachaturian and even more like Amirov:

[ritter]

Bruno Maderna conducting the Swingle Singers and the Orchestre National de l'ORTF in the European première of Luciano Berio's Sinfonia in Royan on April 4th, 1969.


A historic event, in excellent sound. Pity that the fifth movement had not yet been composed at the time.

What a piece, the Sinfonia (and not only the In ruhig fliessender Bewegung movement)!