What are you listening 2 now?

[Linz]

Bruckner Symphony No. 2 in C minor (ed. Carragan, 1877) Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nesons

[vers la flamme]

Antonín Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor, op.104. Rafael Wallfisch, Charles Mackerras, London Symphony Orchestra

Very fine performance of a great late piece of Dvořák's, written here in New York.

[DavidW]

How did you find those recordings to be?  I do have some of Bavouzet's recordings (love the French ones that I have);however, I have not heard his Haydn and am curious as to what others here think of them.

PD

Relaxed, playful, nuanced.

[Karl Henning]

[Karl Henning]

This may sound peculiar, since his music is in large part so brief, but this week I am finally giving Webern his time. Not rushing through, going Opus no. by Opus no. And it is making a huge difference. I'm tickled by how, contextually, the first movement (Mäßig) of the String Quartet, Op. 28 feels "Grand."

[atardecer]

I don't think that he could stand the music! VW may have chopped around the poems as well.

"There's something gruesome about the intimate fusion of poetry and music -- actually, the gruesome role belongs only to the latter. Music has decidedly something of the vampire about it. It claws at its victim relentlessly, and sucks the last drop of blood from it. One could also compare it with a greedy suckling, who relentlessly demands fresh nourishment from its mother and thereby becomes plump and fat while its mother's beauty withers away. But this comparison is valid only with regard to the effect that music, in league with poetry, has upon the public..."
-Hugo Wolf

[JBS]

[JBS]

Followed by

From


I'm not sure if I have any other recordings of these two sonatas: one of several places this box is filling in a gap in what I have.

[Que]

Morning listening:



Paolo Cherici is another favourite lutenist.

[vandermolen]

Kalinnikov: Symphony No.2
+ Glazunov's 'The Seasons':

[AnotherSpin]

Do try the Leon McCawley CDs - they are worth it IMO. Other modern piano versions which I found myself rather seduced by were Sokolov, Richter playing sonata 20 on a CD on Stradivarius called "à notre dame de la fidélité" and Horowitz on a Naxos CD with the Liszt sonata. This was in December last year, when I spent a few days listening to Haydn on this type of instrument, even though I think the uniformity of modern instruments tends to impoverish the music.

Despite my reservations, the Richter is interesting to me, and I revisit the whole recital sometimes. I'm not saying anyone else will hear it, but I sense a strange and intriguing melancholy. I could do without all the others - Sokolov, Horowitz, McCawley.

Thanks for the recommendations. I listened to Leon McCawley some time ago, can't remember the impressions, may try again. I listened to Haydn played by Sokolov too. I like Sokolov most of the time, of course his Haydn is quite peculiar.

I'm not sure I'd go looking for a Richter recording. Only if I come across one by chance. Richter has become increasingly irritating over the years. By coincidence, yesterday I was leafing through Gavrilov's book, where in one place Gavrilov writes that Richter played like a zek (term for convict in Russia). Not necessarily an accurate characterisation, but there's something to it.

[AnotherSpin]

Following ChatGPT's directions, Haydn Piano Sonata No 37, Pienaar, Brautigam, Buchbinder







Actually all three were equally successful performances. The finale (menuetto) was probably the most interesting movement.

I think three listens to one of these sonatas is too much, I will have to pare it down to 2. Perhaps I will alternate Brautigam with either Pienaar or Buchbinder, but not both. ChatGPT, command me!

I am trying not to compare. Each of the three is very rich. Buchbinder grows in perception. A few years ago I decided for some reason that he (Buchbinder) was extraordinarily cool, and a few subsequent listens, LvB mostly, didn't quite live up to my expectations. My bad.

[Que]

One more, this time not on disc but streaming.

[Que]

Following ChatGPT's directions, Haydn Piano Sonata No 37, Pienaar, Brautigam, Buchbinder

I think Brautigam's is a strong set amongst his output. But over time I feel that his rather straight & driven approach is sometimes too single minded in comparison with my two other period instruments set by Christine Schornsheim and Beghin. But the latter sets are multi (period) instruments, probably not your thing. Beghin's approach can admittedly be a bit gimmicky, but he is also the most imaginative. For me his brilliant moments make it worth it. Schornsheim could at time use a bit of Brautigam's drive, but she is flexible in her approach to sonatas from different productive periods, nuanced and charming. My appreciation of her set has gradually grown.

[Mandryka]

A distinctive combination of power and tenderness -  lioness's paw in a velvet glove.

[Florestan]

yesterday I was leafing through Gavrilov's book, where in one place Gavrilov writes that Richter played like a zek (term for convict in Russia). Not necessarily an accurate characterisation, but there's something to it.

Actually, zek means not just any type of convict, but especially and particularly an inmate of the Soviet labour camps, of the Gulag (cf. Solzhenitsyn). Corroborating this with the "strange and intriguing melancholy" mentioned by @Mandryka, Gavrilov may have actually unwittingly paid Richter a subtle compliment. 

[Florestan]

A distinctive combination of power and tenderness -  lioness's paw in a velvet glove.

Mandryka listening to Beethoven and enjoying it! The end is near, folks, very near, repent while you can! 

[Que]

[atardecer]

Mozart - Le nozze di Figaro

The 1976 Jean-Pierre Ponnelle film with Hermann Prey, Mirella Freni, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Kiri Te Kanawa & Maria Ewing. Conducted by Karl Böhm with the Wiener Philharmoniker

[AnotherSpin]

Actually, zek means not just any type of convict, but especially and particularly an inmate of the Soviet labour camps, of the Gulag (cf. Solzhenitsyn). Corroborating this with the "strange and intriguing melancholy" mentioned by @Mandryka, Gavrilov may have actually unwittingly paid Richter a subtle compliment. 

Yes, I know about the connection of the origin of this word with the Gulag. Subsequently any prisoners often called that. Including thousands of those Prigozhin took from prisons into his army to be killed in Bakhmut.

It's hard to say how I feel about Richter. It's complicated. I often pass by one or the other of the houses where he lived in his youth. My town has a peculiarity that is hard to explain, which is perhaps imbued in Richter's playing. Isn't that why he hated Odessa and never returned to play?