What are you listening 2 now?

Started by Gurn Blanston, September 23, 2019, 05:45:22 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Peter Power Pop and 13 Guests are viewing this topic.

Mapman

Quote from: Mirror Image on July 07, 2022, 07:17:04 AM
Excellent! For me, this is Five Pieces for Orchestra to beat. This is the performance that left the biggest impression on me. Boulez was "in the zone" so to speak in this performance.

It's really interesting how Schoenberg doesn't have any instrument in the foreground for more than a few seconds. I liked it more than I expected (I'm still on the fence about atonal music), although I don't expect to return to it soon. For music of this style, Webern's 6 Pieces made a bigger impression on me.

classicalgeek

Quote from: Florestan on July 06, 2022, 11:40:23 AM
Which is anything but how they should actually be.

Can't argue with that! I've heard them played much better - my reference set is Uchida's. Superior in every way.

Quote from: DavidW on July 06, 2022, 11:48:33 AM
Yes!  Bilson is boring and always has been.  Brautigam is the opposite.  I haven't heard his Beethoven, but his Haydn and Mozart are superb.

Can't be the fortepiano, it is not THAT different.  It is the artist sitting behind the instrument that matters.

I quite enjoy Bilson's Mozart concerto cycle with Gardiner, so I don't quite know what's up with the sonatas. They just didn't do anything for me. I'll have to sample Brautigam on Spotify.

Quote from: JBS on July 06, 2022, 06:25:22 PM
Try Van Oort on Brilliant for Mozart...but for Haydn Brautigam is tops. As for Beethoven, Brautigam may not be the best, but I think no other fortepianist comes close to him for completeness (he did all the keyboard works).


I think Van Oort is available for streaming too, so I'll have to check him out. Didn't Brautigam record the complete keyboard works of all three composers? I'm less familiar with the Haydn and Mozart odds-and-ends for keyboard, but I quite enjoy some of the Beethoven variation sets.

Quote from: Mirror Image on July 06, 2022, 04:04:51 PM
They're excellent performances, James. I can find no fault with them. My only wish was that Litton recorded the Holidays Symphony, The Unanswered Question and the Orchestral Sets with the same forces for Hyperion.

I'm glad to hear it! I look forward to listening when my order arrives. You're right, it's too bad he didn't record the Holidays Symphony - I've been fascinated by that work since I watched the 'Keeping Score' documentary with Michael Tilson Thomas (which I believe you recommended! ;D)

Quote from: Mirror Image on July 06, 2022, 06:24:32 PM
Speaking of Sinfoniettas...

NP:

Zemlinsky
Sinfonietta, Op. 23
Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne
Conlon


I need to listen to more Zemlinsky! His style reminds me so much of Mahler's (and of course the two are inextricably linked.)

Speaking of...

TD: celebrating the birthday boy! ;D
Mahler
Symphony no. 9
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Herbert von Karajan

(on CD)



What a performance! First time hearing it, but it's immediately become one of my favorite Mahler 9s. Gorgeously played, taut and tense and heart-rending... just a really great recording.
So much great music, so little time...

Original compositions and orchestrations: https://www.youtube.com/@jmbrannigan

Karl Henning

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on July 06, 2022, 06:00:07 PM
Braga Santos: Sinfonietta for strings

The composer at the height of his powers, stunning! The folksy combined with the gnarly.



I remember especially enjoying this piece. I should revisit it!

For now, though:

https://www.youtube.com/v/y2OCxLbrEM4

Still on a US music kick!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

Quote from: JBS on July 06, 2022, 07:17:59 PM
I'm listening to this from the RCA Complete Peter Serkin set, and whoaza!
Can't remember a recording of PC 1 that grabs my attention like this one does

PC 3 lies ahead but even if it's not as good, the PC 1 makes this a must have for anyone interested in Bartok
ETA
PC 3 is just as good.
The sonics are excellent; if I'm reading the booklet correctly, this mastering waa a previous one, not done for the set I have.

Nice, too!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

Quote from: VonStupp on July 07, 2022, 07:02:45 AM
Carl Nielsen
Aladdin Suite
Maskarade Overture

San Francisco SO & Chorus - Herbert Blomstedt


After revisiting some really fine symphonies (1-3) from Nielsen in the last day or so, these seem mere makeweights in comparison. Very different in scope.

I may check out Rozhdestvensky in the complete Aladdin though.

VS



The Aladdin Suite was especially bracing when first I heard it!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on July 07, 2022, 10:33:37 AM
I should listen to these, really I should.

Yes, for the music. Yes, for the support of Ukraine.  ;D

Linz

Leonard Slatkin, Vaughan Williams Symphonies 5 and 6 with the Philharmonia Orchestra

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Lisztianwagner

Quote from: classicalgeek on July 07, 2022, 10:29:18 AM
I need to listen to more Zemlinsky! His style reminds me so much of Mahler's (and of course the two are inextricably linked.)

Speaking of...

TD: celebrating the birthday boy! ;D
Mahler
Symphony no. 9
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Herbert von Karajan

(on CD)



What a performance! First time hearing it, but it's immediately become one of my favorite Mahler 9s. Gorgeously played, taut and tense and heart-rending... just a really great recording.

I couldn't agree more about Karajan's Mahler 9th, it's a good competion between this and Bernstein's recording.  ;D

Zemlinsky is a composer that is absolutely worth listening! He greatly absorbed Mahler's influence, it can be noted in several of his compositions.
"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." - Gustav Mahler

Lisztianwagner

To celebrate Mahler's birthday:

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No.5


"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." - Gustav Mahler

DavidW

Quote from: JBS on July 06, 2022, 06:25:22 PM
Try Van Oort on Brilliant for Mozart...but for Haydn Brautigam is tops. As for Beethoven, Brautigam may not be the best, but I think no other fortepianist comes close to him for completeness (he did all the keyboard works).

I have Badura Skoda in Beethoven, and I like him so much I haven't listened to any other PI cycles.  I'll have to check out Van Oort.

SonicMan46

Telemann, GP - Concertos for Mixed Instruments w/ Michael Schneider and La Stagione Frankfurt - another wonderful GPT 6-CD box - Dave :)


Karl Henning

Quote from: Lisztianwagner on July 07, 2022, 10:52:04 AM
To celebrate Mahler's birthday:

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No.5




BIRTHDAY BOY!!

Mahler
Symphony № 7
Philharmonia Orch
Sinopoli
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Tsaraslondon



first discovered the existence of this performance when I came across a video on youtube of just the Libera Me with Jessye Norman as the soprano soloist. I was totally knocked out by her singing of it, but the video was deleted shorty after I discovered it and for years afterwards I tried to find out if the whole performance existed somewhere. Much later, the whole performance, which was recorded in Munich's Herkulesaal in 1981, did indeed appear on youtube and eventually last year it got an official release; and with good reason. Quite simply it is one of the best performances of the work I've ever heard.

Muti is much better hear than on the 1979 studio recording I wa listenin to earlier, clearly inspired by the live recording. Some of the speeds are still thrillingly fast, but he delves deeper into the spiritual here. The soloists are a superb ensemble. Baltsa and Nesterenko are retained from the studio performance and their performances are now much more sung in. Baltsa, as I know from hearing her sing this work live at Covent Garden, is especially fine and this is one of the best accounts of the mezzo part I have heard. Carreras was still at his lyric, honeyed best and is a great improvement on Luchetti. As for Norman, she is stupendous. I don't know if she ever sang the soprano part again, but here she is absolutely fantastic, not only in that wonderful Libera me I heard all that time ago, but throughout the performance.

The sound, though it probably can't compete with the best digital recordings, is still pretty good and the audience admirably quiet. It being a live performance, there are a couple of slighty muffed entries, but all in all I'd place this very close to the top of the list of recommended performances of the Verdi Requiem.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

Linz

Haydn's Seven last words of Christ Jordi Savall

Mirror Image

Quote from: Lisztianwagner on July 07, 2022, 10:52:04 AM
To celebrate Mahler's birthday:

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No.5




Pounds the table! I'll be revisiting Karajan's performance tonight.  8)

ritter

A new arrival.

The recordings made in Paris (conducted or under the supervision of Fernand Oubradous) of all works that Mozart composed in the French capital.



CD 1: the fragmentary —an allegro movement that just stops suddenly at 3'50"— Concerto for Violin and Keyboard, K325f, the Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard K6 through K9, the Kyrie for vocal quartet and strings, K33, and the Sinfonia concertante for oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon and orchestra, K297b (of disputed attribution).

Delightful performances that show their age...Most enjoyable!  :)

Traverso

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on July 07, 2022, 10:43:22 AM
Looks very nice, Jan!

This set had been on my wish list for a while, when I saw that it was offered for 20 € cheaper, I immediately made the purchase.
It sounds great, but it takes some time to get used to it. The "Grand Pièce Symphonique" lasts 21'28 with Guillou and 28'39 with van Oosten  :)
It sounds majestic !