What are you listening 2 now?

[Karl Henning]

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

Excellent!

[Karl Henning]

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)

The day before, I wound up listening to Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne three times. I'm in the midst of the same with Le Chasseur maudit.
.

[Mirror Image]

The day before, I wound up listening to Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne three times. I'm in the midst of the same with Le Chasseur maudit.
.

I guess this is a good sign with you and Franck. I do love much of his music, too. I know you like his Violin Sonata, have you heard any of his other chamber works?

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

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

My favorite Russian word is "toska" (tocka).  Russian friends told me that it is a feeling of deep melancholy, emptiness and sadness. Vladimir Nabokov said that "No single word in English renders all the shades of toska."

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Brahms, Liszt, et al.  György Cziffra.

[Karl Henning]

I guess this is a good sign with you and Franck. I do love much of his music, too. I know you like his Violin Sonata, have you heard any of his other chamber works?

I've been through this set twice, now, John. Franck together with Fauré would appear to be my great 19^th-century discoveries.

[Todd]

GMG's most controversial conductor

Who is GMG's most controversial conductor?  I can't remember if it would be Thielemann or Gergiev or someone else.

[Mirror Image]

I've been through this set twice, now, John. Franck together with Fauré would appear to be my great 19^th-century discoveries.

Oh, very nice, indeed. I should go through these Fuga Libera box sets as well. Franck wrote some lovely music.

[Mirror Image]

Now playing Sibelius Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43 with Maazel/Wiener Philharmoniker from this set:

[Brian]

Who is GMG's most controversial conductor?  I can't remember if it would be Thielemann or Gergiev or someone else.

He's referring to John Wilson, over whom there's a debate of the week about whether he's fast and exciting or fast and characterless.

[Lisztianwagner]

Franz Liszt
Grandes Études de Paganini

CD 5

[Todd]

He's referring to John Wilson, over whom there's a debate of the week about whether he's fast and exciting or fast and characterless.

I guess we all have different ideas about what constitutes controversy. 

I don't think I've ever heard Mr Wilson.  A quick glance at Presto shows that he's a Chandos conductor who works with second or third tier orchestras, conducts some film scores, and conducts little core rep.  All that indicates he is a B- or C-lister.  Maybe I will investigate his Ravel.

[Brian]

The Ravel is quite representative of his attitude and will enable you to draw a conclusion very quickly. Probably just one or two tracks will do it.

Or you could stream the Mother Goose and try to detect why he calls it a world premiere recording of the original version. (I failed.)

[Todd]

Or you could stream the Mother Goose and try to detect why he calls it a world premiere recording of the original version.

In general, I am not a big fan of world premieres of well-established works.  Too gimmicky.  I will try to hear his Ravel in the next week or so.

[JBS]

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.

Re Wilson:
I'm listening a second time to the BBB Magazine CD in which he conducts RVW: Symphony 4, In the Fen Country, Symphony 6.  Fairly good, but here he's not clearly better than the usual suspects.

Re Roth Bruckner:
HIP influenced lightness. I liked it (and need to listen to it again to make sure of that), but again he's not better than the usual suspects.

[Sergeant Rock]

Smetana The Moldau, Szell conducting the  Cleveland




Sarge

[SonicMan46]

Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai (1844-1908) - Symphonies & Much Else - yesterday and this morning listening to my modest R-K collection of just 10 CDs, including the 4-disc box w/ Kees Bakels and the Malaysian Orchestra - the reviews of the latter have been good to excellent (except for a scathing dismissal by our member 'Bulldog'), e.g. 10/10 in Classics Today - the complaints have been directed mainly at the performances of Scheherazade & Capriccio Espagnol, so I've supplemental those w/ a Mackerras Telarc CD; short bio below and reviews attached for those interested.  Dave

Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, a member of the group of composers known as The Five. He was a master of orchestration. His best-known orchestral compositions—Capriccio Espagnol, the Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonic suite Scheherazade—are staples of the classical music repertoire, along with suites and excerpts from some of his 15 operas. Scheherazade is an example of his frequent use of fairy-tale and folk subjects. (Source)

   

[Mirror Image]

Before heading off to work --- Elgar Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61 with Hahn/Davis:



A stunning account of one of my favorite concerti.

[Karl Henning]

Smetana The Moldau, Szell conducting the  Cleveland




Sarge

Great to "see" you, Sarge!

[Karl Henning]

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).

Interesting, thanks.