What are you listening 2 now?

[Lisztianwagner]

Joseph Haydn
Symphonies 101 & 104

[Traverso]

Gubaidulina

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Mahler
Symphony No. 4 in G major
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, soprano
Philharmonia
Klemperer

From this new acquired set -

[Traverso]

NP:

Mahler
Symphony No. 4 in G major
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, soprano
Philharmonia
Klemperer

From this new acquired set -

They look very nice but I stick with these.   

[Mirror Image]

They look very nice but I stick with these.   

I own that set, too. I'm rather thrilled by the fidelity of this latest remastering by Atsuo Fujita.

[classicalgeek]

Simply delightful works! They represent some of the best of Pierné, along with his ballet Cydalise et le Chèvre-pied and the ineffably beautiful Concertstück for harp and orchestra. I find his chamber works less engaging - odd, as I'm usually a sucker for French chamber music.

Cydalise et le Chèvre-pied is high on my list of works to explore further - I think there's only one complete recording (which is available on some streaming services, but which is really hard to find on CD). I'm not really familiar with his chamber music, though I'm curious. Pierné appears to have been quite a prolific composer.

TD: over the weekend:
Holst
The Planets

Richard Strauss
Also Sprach Zarathustra

Boston Symphony Orchestra
William Steinberg
(on CD)

from this newly landed box:



These are widely regarded as classic recordings, and for the most part they live up to their billing. One of the best (if not the best) Also Sprachs I've heard, and a very solid Planets (though I found Mars and Jupiter a little underwhelming.)

[Linz]

Bruckner Symphony No. 3 The 1878 version

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NP:

Dvořák
Symphony No. 9 In E Minor, Op. 95, B 178, "From the New World"
Czech PO
Ančerl



I don't listen to Dvořák's 9th often, although I do love the piece. I have to say this Ančerl performance is just what my soul needs today.

[Mirror Image]

Béla Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle 
    Bernard Haitink, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Sandor Elès (Narrator), John
    Tomlinson (Bluebeard), Anne Sofie von Otter (Judith)



What a compelling recording! Fabulous stuff...

One of the great Bluebeard's Castle recordings. My absolute favorite is Boulez on Columbia (Sony).

[VonStupp]

I never got around to Hänssler's 'Choir Music of the World' set. Nothing like US Independence Day to dip a toe in, beginning with the first entry, America.



From this set:

This one got me out of my comfort zone a bit. I am familiar with Barber's Ordnance Map and Bernstein's Missa Brevis, but the rest were new to me.

Aaron Copland
Four Motets (1921)
I am sorry I came to this so late. The opening motet was really wonderful, perhaps due to this particular German chorus, and if I had a capable church choir, I would unhesitatingly program it. Copland, during his Boulanger period, mentions Mussorgsky was an inspiration for this set, an interesting influence upon hearing it.

Steve Reich
Proverb (1996)
I dug this piece after a while. I think it is a sit back and take it in sort-of thing, something I don't do to often. The ever-changing meter is fun, as is the combo of chorus, vibraphones, and synthesizers.

John Cage
Five (1988)
I am glad this was only five minutes, for five singers nonetheless, but it was just fine, if not occasionally interesting in its untimed combinations.

Morton Feldman
The Rothko Chapel (1971)
I have seen this tracked into five sections, here in only one, and that would help this 30-minute work for future listening. I really liked the final portion, where the viola really comes into its own.

Leonard Bernstein
Missa Brevis (1988)
This will never be as popular as Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, but I have always found it a most interesting work for chorus and percussion. I have a number of recordings of Brevis, and this one was very good and using a countertenor as a soloist.

Samuel Barber
A Stopwatch and an Ordnance Map (1939)
I love this short work. The very finest I have heard is Conspirare on Harmonia Mundi paired with Barber's The Lovers. I think I have only heard the timpani version, not the brass one... This is also a nice companion to Gustav Holst's A Dirge for Two Veterans

SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart - Marcus Creed
I really like this group and appreciate their varied repertoire of Hindemith, Villa Lobos, and Elliott Carter choral works, to name a few. The sung English was excellent!

The whole album can be found on Youtube.

VS

[TheGSMoeller]

I think I have Masur and the Gewandhaus' Dante skulking around (unlistened to at the moment); are there some you prefer over others?

VS

Barenboim and Masur are both great and probably my top choices. Sinopoli, Botstein, and Conlon have all also conducted really good performances of the Dante if you decide to seek out more. But if you're into the music I would highly suggest the two-piano and chorus transcription by the composer himself.

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Bartók
Piano Concertos Nos. 1-3
Vladimir Ashkenazy
London PO
Solti



This is still a favorite recording of mine of these PCs. Everything just came together for Ashkenazy and Solti.

[Linz]

Brahms Serenade No. 1 in D major, Op. 11 and Weber Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E flat Major, Op. 74 with Hermut Giesser (clarinet)

[VonStupp]

Barenboim and Masur are both great and probably my top choices. Sinopoli, Botstein, and Conlon have all also conducted really good performances of the Dante if you decide to seek out more. But if you're into the music I would highly suggest the two-piano and chorus transcription by the composer himself.

Very interesting! Many thanks 

VS

[Bachtoven]

[Symphonic Addict]

A great disc.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

De Falla: Sombrero de Tres Picos. Lenny, NY.



 

[Karl Henning]

De Falla: Sombrero de Tres Picos. Lenny, NY.



 

Nice! Your post reminds me how I found such a great deal to love, in that box!

TD:

The US Music Festival continues!
Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blue (original jazz band scoring)

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Roy Harris: Symphony No.3 NYPO (Sony/CBS)
Bernstein: 'Jeremiah Symphony' (CBS/Sony) (on the same LP as the Harris)
VW: Symphony No.4 (CBS/Sony)
Shostakovich: Symphony No.5 NYPO (CBS/Sony)
Bernstein: 'Facsimile' (Dutton, with another fine version of 'Jeremiah')
Bernstein: Symphony No.2 'The Age of Anxiety' (Israel PO DGG)

I like his Mahler recordings as well.

The cover looks cool. I will check the recording as well as the recordings of VW, Facsimile and No.2/Israel.
I like his Mahler too.
Have a great week, Jeffrey!

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Nice! Your post reminds me how I found such a great deal to love, in that box!

TD:

The US Music Festival continues!
Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blue (original jazz band scoring)

Yes the performance is hot and energetic.

Sorry, I don't understand " original jazz band scoring". Who are the performer? Do you like Rhapsody by Arthur Fiedler/Boston Pop Orchestra as well as Lenny/Sony? Any other recordings of Rhapsody, or other Gershwin, you dig?