What are you listening 2 now?

[classicalgeek]

Franck
CD 2
Rédemption (Morceau symphonique),  première version (1872)
Rédemption (Morceau symphonique),  deuxième version (1873)
Les Éolides (1875)
Ballet de l'hiver et du printemps (1879) (de l'opéra Hulda)
Le Chasseur maudit (1881)

Excellent! That Franck Orchestral Music Box has been on my radar since the release was announced.

TD:
Karl Amadeus Hartmann
*Symphony no. 2
%Symphony no. 6
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
*James Gaffigan
%Christoph Poppen
(on Spotify)



A fascinating composer with his own unique and highly complex sound world. I feel the influence of Mahler, Berg, and Bartok among others - but it sounds nothing like any of them. 

[foxandpeng]

Dmitri Shostakovich
The Symphonies
Symphony 8
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Decca

Late night DSCH...

[JBS]

Excellent! That Franck Orchestral Music Box has been on my radar since the release was announced.

I have it. It is excellent. I advise getting it off your radar and into your CD player ASAP.
The same goes for the companion set of chamber music.
TD
Part of a Presto order that landed today.

[Karl Henning]

Excellent! That Franck Orchestral Music Box has been on my radar since the release was announced.

Mi piace molto, James!

[André]

The Missa Cellensis is my favourite Haydn vocal work, slightly ahead of The Creation and the Nelson Mass. Its tunefulness is simply inexhaustible. This version by Jos van Immerseel and Anima Eterna is one of the best, almost on a par with that of Gerhard Wilhelm, who makes a tad more of the reflective, minor key sections. Beautiful sonics and excellent performances from all concerned. Warmly recommended.

[JBS]

Another first listen. I haven't heard the other two works yet (both of which will be first encounters with the music when I get to them), but GMG's most controversial conductor delivers the best Metamorphosen I remember hearing.
Combined with the excellent Chandos sonics, this can be considered a reference recording of the Strauss.
Yes, the twisty-turny approach to dynamics and tempo is there, but it WORKS!
He needs to do some Mahler eventually.

[classicalgeek]

I have it. It is excellent. I advise getting it off your radar and into your CD player ASAP.
The same goes for the companion set of chamber music.

Mi piace molto, James!

I'm glad to know you've both been enjoying it! And I want to get the chamber music box too, definitely, though I'll probably get the orchestral music first.

TD: winding down the work week with some enchanting piano music:

Carlos Guastavino
10 Cantilenas Argentinas
10 Cantos Populares
El Sampedrino
Bailecito
Marcos Madrigal, piano
(on Spotify)

[San Antone]

Haydn - No. 59 in G Minor, Op. 74, No. 3| Schuppanzigh Quartet

[JBS]

Another first listen. I haven't heard the other two works yet (both of which will be first encounters with the music when I get to them), but GMG's most controversial conductor delivers the best Metamorphosen I remember hearing.
Combined with the excellent Chandos sonics, this can be considered a reference recording of the Strauss.
Yes, the twisty-turny approach to dynamics and tempo is there, but it WORKS!
He needs to do some Mahler eventually.

Update; the Schreker and Korngold works are pleasant and well executed, but not on the same level as the Strauss.

Continuing on with CD 1 of this set, WAM's earliest symphonies

[Mirror Image]

Now playing Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77 with Vengerov/Rostropovich:



Stunning performance of one of my favorite concerti.

[Mirror Image]

Another first listen. I haven't heard the other two works yet (both of which will be first encounters with the music when I get to them), but GMG's most controversial conductor delivers the best Metamorphosen I remember hearing.
Combined with the excellent Chandos sonics, this can be considered a reference recording of the Strauss.
Yes, the twisty-turny approach to dynamics and tempo is there, but it WORKS!
He needs to do some Mahler eventually.

I remain skeptical and Wilson's up against some stiff competition from Karajan, Kempe, Klemperer et. al. I seriously doubt he betters any of these conductors.

[JBS]

I remain skeptical and Wilson's up against some stiff competition from Karajan, Kempe, Klemperer et. al. I seriously doubt he betters any of these conductors.

I am factoring in the sonics, which is definitely better than those classic performances, when I call it a reference recording. Of the big classic performances, I like Klemperer and Barbirolli. I also like the conductor-less Nash Ensemble recording.  Karajan and Kempe just left me feeling meh.

[Mirror Image]

I am factoring in the sonics, which is definitely better than those classic performances, when I call it a reference recording. Of the big classic performances, I like Klemperer and Barbirolli. I also like the conductor-less Nash Ensemble recording.  Karajan and Kempe just left me feeling meh.

Of course, The Nash Ensemble recording is of an arrangement for string septet and wasn't done by the composer, so I have very little interest in that particular performance even though I've heard it maybe twice. One of the main problems with so many performances today is with the performances themselves, but because they sound so much better than their older counterparts that were recorded in say the 60s or whatever, people have a tendency to rate them solely because of the sound and not for the performance. While I don't doubt the fidelity of the Wilson recording is fine, I seriously have my reservations about his playing, which I have bought many of his recordings in the past and have been disappointed with every single one of them. Many listeners dig his conducting, but I just can't find much to grab onto or get excited about I'm afraid.

[Operafreak]

Schubert: German Mass D872 & Mass D167

Lucia Popp (soprano), Adolf Dallapozza (tenor) & Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone)

Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Wolfgang Sawallisch

[JBS]

Of course, The Nash Ensemble recording is of an arrangement for string septet and wasn't done by the composer, so I have very little interest in that particular performance even though I've heard it maybe twice. One of the main problems with so many performances today is with the performances themselves, but because they sound so much better than their older counterparts that were recorded in say the 60s or whatever, people have a tendency to rate them solely because of the sound and not for the performance. While I don't doubt the fidelity of the Wilson recording is fine, I seriously have my reservations about his playing, which I have bought many of his recordings in the past and have been disappointed with every single one of them. Many listeners dig his conducting, but I just can't find much to grab onto or get excited about I'm afraid.

His style works here. There probably are plenty of works where it may not work; I don't have many of his recordings. As it is, the other two works on the CD are merely good, but not in the league of the Strauss.

Did you ever listen to his performance of Britten's Variations on Theme of Bridge? That's the other recording by him which I think is much better than the competition (and perhaps not by accident, similar in tone to the Strauss).

[Mirror Image]

His style works here. There probably are plenty of works where it may not work; I don't have many of his recordings. As it is, the other two works on the CD are merely good, but not in the league of the Strauss.

Did you ever listen to his performance of Britten's Variations on Theme of Bridge? That's the other recording by him which I think is much better than the competition (and perhaps not by accident, similar in tone to the Strauss).

I haven't heard that recording of English string music he made. I own his Korngold (two recordings in all) and one of his Copland recordings (there are three and I bought the the first volume), but was so disappointed by each of these recordings that I haven't tried any others.

[vandermolen]

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No.5

[VonStupp]

Sergei Prokofiev
Queen of Spades Suite (Berkeley)
On Guard for Peace, op. 124

Irina Tchistjakova, soprano
Niall Docherty, boy soprano
Royal Scottish NO & Chorus (& JC)
Neeme Järvi (rec. 2008)

Two new (for me) Prokofiev works for the afternoon:

I find it interesting Prokofiev's cantata On Guard for Peace takes a child's point of view for a good chunk of the 30-minute runtime. The duet between mother and child is perhaps the best part of the work.

The message of peace and unity among ethnic communities could have been universal, but then you get lines thrown in, such as:

...leading them is the child's best friend,
he who lives in the Kremlin.

I'm not sure how I feel about the dove flying out of the cossack hat / cranium cover art. 

VS

[Brian]

Another first listen. I haven't heard the other two works yet (both of which will be first encounters with the music when I get to them), but GMG's most controversial conductor delivers the best Metamorphosen I remember hearing.
Combined with the excellent Chandos sonics, this can be considered a reference recording of the Strauss.
Yes, the twisty-turny approach to dynamics and tempo is there, but it WORKS!
He needs to do some Mahler eventually.

I don't know the piece well but I thought the Korngold performance there was really fun. It and the British strings are definitely my favorite Wilson albums... maybe he needs to avoid woodwinds and brass 

How was the Roth Bruckner 7? That is very close to my personal ideal timings for the piece. But I want Bruno Walter type expression with my fast tempos, not HIP influenced lightness.

[Karl Henning]

I find it interesting Prokofiev's cantata On Guard for Peace takes a child's point of view for a good chunk of the 30-minute runtime. The duet between mother and child is perhaps the best part of the work.

The message of peace and unity among ethnic communities could have been universal, but then you get lines thrown in, such as:

I'm not sure how I feel about the dove flying out of the cossack hat / cranium cover art. 

VS

Tangentially, in Russian the same word is used for both dove and pigeon.