What are you listening 2 now?

[pjme]

Thanks for this, pjme. It's great to see you around again! I'll have to watch this performance later on.

I'll be back so now and  then.
The Frankfurt Orchestra is really excellent and congratulations to madame Matiakh for performing Koechlin!

Peter

[Roasted Swan]

RS - which is your favourite version of Symphony No.1? Mine is Tjeknavorian with the LSO (RCA) but it has never been released on CD. His ASV version was disappointing by comparison.

Yes I agree - I've got a mp3 rip of that Tjeknavorian/LSO LP and make do with that for the time being.  Generally his ASV remakes are "OK" but not a match for the recordings he did earlier in his career.  The Armenian orchestra plays well enough (and obviously idiomatically) but I think the engineering isn't great - if Brian Culverhouse was still alive he'd be furious that I said that!  Somehow the whole package just doesn't match up.

[classicalgeek]

Now playing K. A. Hartmann Symphony No. 1, 'Versuch eines Requiems' with Kismara Pessatti/Markus Stenz/Netherlands Radio PO from this marvelous set:

Nice! I'm looking for a complete set of Hartmann Symphonies, and I'm aware of three sets: various conductors on Wergo, various conductors on Challenge Classics, and Metzmacher on EMI/Warner. The Wergo and Challenge Classics sets are difficult to track down, and the Metzmacher has had mixed reviews. There haven't been a lot of stand-alone recordings, either: Conlon did nos. 2 and 4, and there's a Gunther Herbig/Herbert Kegel disc of nos. 5, 6, and 8 on Berlin Classics. Any recommendations?

TD:
Aarre Merikanto
Symphony no. 2
*Ekho
*Anu Komsi, soprano
Turku Philharmonic Orchestra
Petri Sakari
(on Spotify)



Hot-blooded late-Romantic decadence, and mostly very enjoyable - though certain aspects of Merikanto's orchestration grated on me after a while (his fondness for flutter-tongued brass, and a passage with trombone glissandi in the slow movement that went on a little too long for my liking.) I really enjoyed Ekho, an eerie and atmospheric work where the voice is utilized most effectively.

[Karl Henning]

https://www.youtube.com/v/FL14P35y8gk

Many thanks, my friend. Exquisite!

[Todd]

The upside to streaming is that one can listen to pretty much anything one wants.  The only downside is that it ends up revealing basically must-have recordings like this one.  Brahms and Ligeti are an odd couple to be sure, but Hadelich absolutely delivers in both.  The Brahms is fantastic, with a nifty cadenza of Hadelich's creation, and the Ligeti sounds superb, with the fiddler coaxing more beautiful playing than one might expect given the music.  Outstanding.

[Mirror Image]

Nice! I'm looking for a complete set of Hartmann Symphonies, and I'm aware of three sets: various conductors on Wergo, various conductors on Challenge Classics, and Metzmacher on EMI/Warner. The Wergo and Challenge Classics sets are difficult to track down, and the Metzmacher has had mixed reviews. There haven't been a lot of stand-alone recordings, either: Conlon did nos. 2 and 4, and there's a Gunther Herbig/Herbert Kegel disc of nos. 5, 6, and 8 on Berlin Classics. Any recommendations?

My recommendation is for either the Wergo or Challenge Classics sets, but sonically the Challenge Classics set can't beat (the performances are also excellent). The Wergo set has FM sound quality as these were radio broadcasts, but it's more than acceptable and the performances are off-the-chain great.

Honestly, and I don't know how much money you're willing to spend, but for $54 from a Dutch seller on Discogs, this Challenge Classics set can be yours:

https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/15906270?ev=rb

My suggestion would be to jump on it as this is an incredibly hard-to-find set (even more difficult to find than the Wergo set). I haven't found this set on Amazon in quite some time and it's nowhere to be found on eBay.

The Metzmacher set is horrible. Lifeless performances in dull sound quality. Metzmacher recorded some Hartmann in the Challenge Classics set (Symphony No. 8), but the performance is so damn good that you would've thought this was a completely different conductor on the podium altogether.

[vandermolen]

Now playing Vaughan Williams Sinfonia antartica with Boult from this box set:

That's a very good version. It excludes the spoken introductions (unlike the Decca set). I like both Boult versions. His rather objective manner with Vaughan Williams really suits the icy wastes of Antarctica.

[Karl Henning]

FWIW, I don't think the Metzmacher set is any where near so bad as all that.
FWIW II, the first I heard Hartmann's music was Metzmacher leading the BSO in the Fourth Symphony.

TD:

CD 10

Berg
Drei Bruchstücke aus Wozzeck, Op. 7 (1924)
Dunja Vejzovic, mezzo
cond, Gerd Albrecht

Mahler
Symphony № 1 in D, « Titan » (1885-88)
cond. Lenny

[Linz]

Bruckner Symphony 3 Roger Norrington

[VonStupp]

Outstanding performances!

Agreed! There is so much great Prokofiev to explore on Chandos; I am glad I invested. Speaking of which:

Sergei Prokofiev
Violin Sonata 1 in f minor, op. 80
Violin Sonata 2 in D Major, op. 94a

Lydia Mordkovitch, violin
Gerhard Oppitz, piano

[vandermolen]

Yes I agree - I've got a mp3 rip of that Tjeknavorian/LSO LP and make do with that for the time being.  Generally his ASV remakes are "OK" but not a match for the recordings he did earlier in his career.  The Armenian orchestra plays well enough (and obviously idiomatically) but I think the engineering isn't great - if Brian Culverhouse was still alive he'd be furious that I said that!  Somehow the whole package just doesn't match up.

VMT (very many thanks) - much appreciated. So, which is your favourite CD version? Mine is probably conducted by Gauk with the USSR SO but it is a very old recording now.

[Karl Henning]

Bruckner Symphony 3 Roger Norrington

What do you think? I've not heard any of Norrington's Bruckner ... I just remember reading a skeptical critic decades ago.

[Linz]

I think its not to bad although with the 7th he plays the first movement very fast

[Lisztianwagner]

Bernstein's Mahler for me too, but not the Titan symphony:

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No.7

[Karl Henning]

Bernstein's Mahler for me too, but not the Titan symphony:

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No.7

Nice!

[Mirror Image]

That's a very good version. It excludes the spoken introductions (unlike the Decca set). I like both Boult versions. His rather objective manner with Vaughan Williams really suits the icy wastes of Antarctica.

I think Boult does incredibly well in this symphony, Jeffrey. Of the Boult EMI cycle, I really liked the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th and 9th. I still got the 8th and 9th to go in revisitation of his cycle.

[Mirror Image]

Bernstein's Mahler for me too, but not the Titan symphony:

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No.7

Bernstein was always a notable Mahlerian and his 7th on Columbia (Sony) is rather special for me, but this one is just as inspired --- better sonics, too.

[ritter]

After a short hiatus, I continue with this set. It's now the turn for the Fourth Concerto.



This traversal by Arturo Tamayo of Petrassi's magnificent cycle is turning out to be even better than I expected (hat tip to André).

[Karl Henning]

After a short hiatus, I continue with this set. It's now the turn for the Fourth Concerto.



This traversal by Arturo Tamayo of Petrassi's magnificent cycle is turning out to be even better than I expected (hat tip to André).

I need to wade into that set. Good evening, Rafael!

[Mirror Image]

Now playing K. A. Hartmann Symphony No. 2, 'Adagio' with James Gaffigan/Netherlands Radio PO from this marvelous set:



Smoldering performance. Hartmann's symphony cycle is one of the greatest of the 20th Century, IMHO. Right up there with all the big names: Mahler, Sibelius, Shostakovich, Vaughan Williams, Nielsen et. al.