What are you listening 2 now?

[Mirror Image]

Now playing Alwyn Lyra Angelica from this recording:

[Harry]

Carl Nielsen.

CD I from 10.

Symphony No. 2 in G minor & No. 2, "The Four Temperaments"

Royal Liverpool PO, Douglas Bostock.

[Todd]

Slatkin does pretty well in the Third, making it sound more lovely and smaller in scale than Ashkenazy (Exton) or Jansons.  Those are the only three Rach symphony cycles I've tried, and ultimately, none really hit the spot overall.

The Symphonic Dances are well played, but Temirkanov crushes in this work.  I don't see myself listening to this recording with great frequency.

[Mandryka]

This one's caught my attention, it's more than a well executed but run of the mill run through. Extraordinary sound - realistic possibly, possibly too realistic.

[Mirror Image]

Now playing Barber Symphony No. 2:

[Harry]

Pjotr Ilych Thaikovsky.

Symphony No. 3 in D major.

Oslo PO, Mariss Jansons.

Very strong performances despite the sometimes peculiar antics in the sound spectrum.

[Brian]

Mladen Čolić's Soler on modern grand disc on Naxos stands as the highpoint of that series so far, so I just had to hear his debut solo recital on Naxos.  Unfortunately, the first thing one notices is the sub-par sound, which is close and has limited lower register weight.*  Fortunately, the second thing one notices far outweighs sound quality: the playing.  Čolić brings fresh new insights to the well-known music on this recording, and he introduces a corker of a new work.  That new work is Tardes de almazara by Juan Medina, a just shy of ten-minute flurry of notes, written in a sort of avant-garde style, with kinda quotations and allusions to other composers.  The piece flies by, almost overwhelming the listener with musical invention and goodness. 

The rest of the disc is given over to Ravel, Rachmaninoff, Schumann, and closes with Schubert's D760.  The Ravel Valses nobles et sentimentales starts almost rough and clunky, but, partly aided by the bass-light sound and Čolić's less generous than normal pedaling, one soon begins to hear every little detail.  As in his Soler, Čolić tinkers with every aspect of playing, all the time, with very fine dynamic control and micro-tempo shifts everywhere.  He maintains an appropriate, or almost appropriate but just kind of off rhythmic style.  The disc then moves on to three of Rach's Études-Tableaux, and Čolić delivers an idiosyncratic musical x-ray, where individual note accents and accelerations and decelerations are performed just because, and they work.  They do not sound like any other Rach recordings I have heard.  Čolić then does something basically miraculous: he makes me like Schumann's Toccata, a piece I typically merely tolerate.  Some of the playing sounds off, as if he played the wrong thing, until he repeats the playing, and his little touches and forward momentum combine to compel more than any other version I've heard. 

The disc closes with the Wanderer Fantasie, and here the lack of bass heft limits scale, precluding a quasi-orchestral feel.  What one gets in the single-track work is a piano-scaled rendition where some of the dynamic contrasts are muted, but the clarity of voices at times completely dominates the listening experience.  The tempo shifts, sometimes abrupt yet precisely controlled, can nearly startle.  The theme and variations movements doesn't quite display a Kirschnereit level of differentiation, but the listener is keenly aware that the movement is a theme and variations.  As compelling as all this is, it is when Čolić slows down and plays quietly – oh so very quietly – that one is treated to something even better, with the quality approaching that of Jean-Rodolphe Kars.  Čolić does so much in the piece, and there is so much to enjoy, that one sits nearly gobsmacked.  It makes for a supremely fine end to a magnificent recording.   



* What is it about piano recordings made in Spain?  Almost every one I have heard, from any pianist on any label, has been far from SOTA, though ultimately listenable.  Fortunately, every sub-par sounding disc has displayed exceptional musical quality, which is the right trade-off.

Dude! You weren't joking. I just tried the Schumann Toccata and there are moments where he's almost disrespectfully jazzy in the way he swings the rhythm. And it absolutely rules.

[Karl Henning]

Nielsen & Aho - Clarinet Concertos

Martin Fröst (clarinet)- Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä

Cracking disc!

[Todd]

Dude! You weren't joking. I just tried the Schumann Toccata and there are moments where he's almost disrespectfully jazzy in the way he swings the rhythm. And it absolutely rules.

I do not know if Čolić enjoys recording or if he wants to record more, but based on the quality of his two Naxos releases, it is the pianophile's loss that he does not record more frequently.   

[Karl Henning]

Cool! But what performance of the Martinů?

Giorgio Koukl

TD: It's a while since I've listened to the Fourth.

https://www.youtube.com/v/f6XB5iuLws

[Todd]

O.M.G.

[kyjo]

Now playing Braga Santos Symphonies Nos. 1 & 5 with Álvaro Cassuto and the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra:

Pounds the table! Braga Santos' 1st Symphony often gets viewed as one of his weakest, but I don't think so - it's an entirely assured, characteristic, and powerful work. And the 5th - what terrifyingly cataclysmic, creepy stuff!

[kyjo]

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.

Point taken. I don't want to argue any further about conductors and their interpretations as it's all so subjective. It's the music itself that matters, anyway!

[kyjo]

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:

If you have a problem with "over-Romantic" music, I'm afraid you won't find much kinship with Mr. Atterberg.

[kyjo]

TD:
William Mathias
Helios
*Oboe Concerto
Requiescat
Symphony no. 3
*David Cowley, oboe
BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra
Grant Llewellyn
(on Spotify)

Quel coincidence - I was just listening to this great disc a few days ago! The 3rd Symphony isn't far short of a masterpiece IMO - dark yet never depressing, brilliantly orchestrated, and with some truly riveting climaxes. I've seen it described as "neo-Baxian" in its fantastical atmosphere, and I agree very much. And Helios couldn't be more different from Nielsen's overture of the same name - threatening, spacey, and concluding with a cosmic, Holstian dance!

[kyjo]

What a lovely false dichotomy you made there. You must be very proud of it.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

[kyjo]

Don Gillis: Symphony No. 1 An American Symphony

What an optimistic composition, even reminding me of Braga Santos's music. My only quibble is the apparition of a motif in the trumpets that gets somewhat tiresome. Apart from that detail, it's a very enjoyable work.

I recall trying his 3rd Symphony a few years ago - it was enjoyable in its life-affirming character, but I detected some lack of satisfying development as well as the occasional repetitiousness that you mention. I should give his music another try, though!

[kyjo]

Magnard: Symphony No. 2

Sounds relatively "straightforward" to the ear, albeit there is some interesting complexity and fine counterpoint here.

One thing I particularly enjoy about Magnard's music is its general avoidance of being "straightforward", at least by late-19th century standards. There's a lack of "obvious/conventional" gestures that one finds in other music of the period, coupled with Magnard's distinctly quirky harmonic and rhythmic language (characterized by wide intervallic leaps and the influence of folk music).

[Brian]

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Without taking any sides, what he is referring to is the argument you seemed to make (deliberately or not) that the choice is between Wilson and Celi, or better put, between surface excitement and spiritual depth. Madiel was saying there's a middle ground or possiblity of both. I'm stepping in here because I think we'll all happily agree to meet in that middle ground without further fuss.

(Okay I said I wouldn't take sides but I do think Wilson is less interesting as a "surface excitement" guy than Kuchar, Svetlanov, Denève, Muti, Previn, etc.)

[Roasted Swan]

Don Gillis: Symphony No. 1 An American Symphony

What an optimistic composition, even reminding me of Braga Santos's music. My only quibble is the apparition of a motif in the trumpets that gets somewhat tiresome. Apart from that detail, it's a very enjoyable work.

I have to say I enjoy these Don Gillis Symphonies A LOT!  And these particular performances are superb.  I think as long as you accept them for what there were written to be - essentially well-crafted light music you won't go far wrong.  Gillis does what he does very well and attractively - personally I think Braga Santos is in a different (higher) league but that doesn't stop me enjoying Gillis every time I pull out one of his discs.