What are you listening 2 now?

[Karl Henning]

"Wolferl"
String Quartet in F, K. 590
Alban Berg Quartet

[Traverso]

Mahler


Des Knaben Wunderhorn


Des Knaben Wunderhorn is one of the Mahler works I love the most.

[aligreto]

Barry: The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, Act 3 [Markson]

[Traverso]

Mahler


I'm sorry to say but this recording ( Boulez) makes me long for the Haitink recording who better captures the atmosphere of these songs. The singers, Norman and Quirk are also more convincing. It all sounds a bit flat in these songs. It's not a bad interpretation, but Haitink is clearly superior here, where the Concertgebouw Orchestra also shows its best side.

[Harry]

I was asked,  , but I definitely agree that the sonics are a little bit 'off'. It sounds like an older recording -and I usually neither pay attention to, nor care about, such things. I have 1957 recordings that sound more 'bright' and with better presence.
I don't have a lot of experience with Symphony No. 2 recordings, though I've got seven of them, but I didn't find the tempi to be slow myself, but I found the orchestra to be nice and clear/transparent. "Detailed" is probably the other way of saying the same thing. I've only recently purchased the Suitner. I'll play both of them side-by-side later on and tell you which I preferred.

Updated to Add: I've just listened to movement 1 of Suitner, Rowicki and Neumann, in rapid succession. There's a clear winner for me: Rowicki. Lovely sonics; up-tempo without sounding in a hurry, not at all muddy. Next, Neumann; Suitner sounded as if it had been recorded with a plump cushion over the microphone! If they're all like that, I fear it's a dud purchase!

Thank you, much is clear to me now, and I know where to go from there. Rowicki is on my list to sample. And no not all Suitner recordings are like a cushion over the Mic, but I definitively hear not enough of the detail I see in the score. His tempi are for me on the good side of the spectrum, and it is still the set I prefer, But I am also eying the complete set of the Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg,  under Marcus Bosch, all of them SACD's. Until now I did not see reviews of this set, but I keep a eye on if. A friend of mine also recommended Serebrier with the Bournemouth SO, (recordings from 2011-2014) a set that is reissued in August for a budget price.

[SonicMan46]

Vivaldi, Antonio - finishing up my collection today w/ the recordings below - probably got through only a third of my 60+ discs!  But now to go on - Dave

       

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Varèse
Ecuatorial
Choeurs de Radio France, Ensemble Intercontemporain
Pierre Boulez





About Ecuatorial:

Edgard Varèse completed Ecuatorial in 1934, a work for orchestra, bass singer, electronic instruments, and an augmented percussion section. This is one of the few works by Varèse that was inspired by something extra-musical. For the most part, his titles came to him only after he was well into the writing of a composition. In this case, a book by the composer's friend got him interested in capturing some of the atmospheres within the text. The book, Legends of Guatemala, is by Guatemalan author Miguel Angel Asturias, who had also written an admiring article about the composer. When the French translation of the book appeared in 1932, Asturias sent Varèse a copy, who was struck by the inclusion of Mayan holy texts, taken from the Popol-Vuh, which inspired the composer. It was a specific supplication prayer from these excerpts that he decided to set to music, but, because his own command of Spanish was strong, he chose to work with that language rather than the French translation.

In Ecuatorial, the composer was after the elemental spiritual health of the text's message and the sense of tragedy at its intended audience's downfall as a civilization. It is a prayer requesting peace, a good harvest, and children. A direct, ancient feel was also part of what he wanted to capture in the manner of a dramatic incantation. During its composition, Varèse relocated to the United States, after a few years moved again to Paris. The orchestration of Ecuatorial was frequently revamped. At first, the voice was scored for a chorus of bass voices, or a solo bass voice performed through a megaphone. Both approaches were considered before the non-amplified solo voice was settled on. Just as crucial to the voices was the scoring for electronic instruments. This also went through different versions, as the composer waffled between the use of the Ondes Martenot and the theremin. The problem was in finding an instrument that would work properly, which was difficult in the 1930s because the instruments were still in their infancy. In an important edit by the composer's long-time friend and associate Chou Wen-Chung, one Ondes Martenot and one theremin were decided as the ideal combination, taking into consideration the peculiarities of the work's orchestration and the improvements of both instruments since the death of Varèse in 1965. The most immediate benefit of these electronic instruments is that they can produce higher notes than even the piccolo. Another is the connotation of the purity of electronic sound, which amplifies the primitive, rough-hewn quality of the vocal line. The overall impression depicts a pre-Columbian sculpture, majestic and mysterious, and with a fecund spirituality.

The first performance of Ecuatorial took place on April 15, 1934, in New York. Town Hall was the venue, Slonimsky conducted, and the soloist was Chase Baromeo. Generally, the audience and critics were baffled, and there was no subsequent performance for the next twenty-five years. It is not a frequently performed work, but it successfully captures the complex quality of ancient, exotic prayer that the composer was after, to a sublime extent. Many listeners feel that Ecuatorial does credit to both twentieth-century music and the text, and this successful juxtaposition of an ancient holy text and electronic sound renders the music timeless and eternal. This work was dedicated the composer's wife, Louise.

[Article taken from All Music Guide]

[Mirror Image]

Mahler


I'm sorry to say but this recording ( Boulez) makes me long for the Haitink recording who better captures the atmosphere of these songs. The singers, Norman and Quirk are also more convincing. It all sounds a bit flat in these songs. It's not a bad interpretation, but Haitink is clearly superior here, where the Concertgebouw Orchestra also shows its best side.

Well, no one cycle is ideal, but the strengths of the Boulez far outweigh the negatives (I don't like his Das Lied von der Erde for example).

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Webern
Symphony, Op. 21
Berliner Philharmoniker
Karajan



There have been several other great performances like both of the Boulez accounts for example, but Karajan truly turned in one of most opulent and satisfying performances on record, IMHO. I'm not a huge Webern fan (much prefer Schoenberg and Berg), but, for me, this is one of his greatest works.

[Traverso]

Mahler


Symphony No.5

[Lisztianwagner]

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No.15

[Traverso]

Well, no one cycle is ideal, but the strengths of the Boulez far outweigh the negatives (I don't like his Das Lied von der Erde for example).

That is true John, by the way as far as Das Lied von der Erde is concerned, I also prefer Haitink. I already had the Boulez recording
I am not disappointed in the set, quite the contrary.

[Linz]

Haydn Sir Neville Marriner and The Academy of St Martin in the Fields Cd1 of this 15 cd set, Haydn is probably my second most favorite Composer

[Roasted Swan]

Choice can be a bit of a bummer at times, can't it?! I think it's called 'FOMO': Fear of Missing Out
Which is why I'm toying with Deutsche Radio Philharmonie and Pietari Inkinen's rendition of #2. Allegedly, according to 'Fanfare', it's "the best stand-alone performance of the Dvořák Second Symphony so far available". Which is a bit of a bold claim... but I'm tempted anyway.

I found Inkinen remarkable dull - not BAD but just not good let alone great so the Fanfare comment is a decided mystery!

[vers la flamme]

NP:

Ravel
Le Tombeau de Couperin
Alexandre Tharaud



This work makes for some fine morning listening for sure.

Nice! One of my favorite piano works by anyone.

[vers la flamme]

Mahler


Des Knaben Wunderhorn


Des Knaben Wunderhorn is one of the Mahler works I love the most.

I love the Wunderhorn-Lieder too—and I have you to thank, Jan, for putting me on to them when you sent me that excellent Haitink recording (over three years ago now)!

[ritter]

One of my favorite piano works by anyone.

That makes two of us! 

[Linz]

Bruckner Symphony No. 8 in C Minor Gunter Wand

[vers la flamme]

For the record, and this is not the first time I'm saying this, but I'm really loving how much everyone else here on GMG is on the same Mahler binge that I'm on...

Now playing:



Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.10 in F-sharp major (Deryck Cooke completion/"performing edition"). Simon Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic

I think this work lends itself well to Rattle's highly detail-oriented (a less sympathetic listener may refer to it as "micromanaging") conducting. The opening Adagio is astonishing and very mysterious/enigmatic music. I still have yet to make heads or tails of the rest of the symphony, and I've heard it maybe half a dozen times now. I must admit I recall some of it coming off as kind of bare-bones, and kind of un-Mahlerian.

I just got to that extremely colorful chord that occurs 3/4 of the way into the opening Adagio.

[André]

I like Zinman in Strauss.

+ 1

I listened to that recording of Alpensinfonie a few weeks ago and as a result bought the Zinman Strauss box this last weekend !