What are you listening 2 now?

[foxandpeng]

Schuman (one 'n') Symphony No 3, Schwarz, Seattle



This symphony seems different than the ones the followed (I've been listening to them in reverse order from eight). More of a brilliant orchestral show piece, compared with the serious, tense tone that seems to characterize the later symphonies. Performance is good. I think I'll listen to Bernstein next. I have a choice of NY Philharmonic recordings from Columbia/Sony (1960) and DG (1987). I think I'll go with 1960, because I'm expecting the sound to be better.

My preference is definitely for the later Schuman symphonies, but #3 rates highly for me also. #5 and those strings have their own attraction, of course 🙂

[71 dB]

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra Concert on TV (YLE Teema)

Cecilia Damström: ICE
Magnus Lindberg: Viola Concerto (cadenza by L. Power)
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 4 E Minor, Op. 98

Lawrence Power, Viola
Nicholas Collon, Conductor

Damström's ICE is an musical message about climate change. Interesting use of orchestral sounds. Lindberg's brand new Viola Concerto (this was the premier performance. Commissioned by YLE, the Finnish broadcasting company) is a very enjoyable work. There is a lot of drive and Lawrence Power's (to who Lindberg wrote this concerto for) playing is very impressive!

[Lisztianwagner]

Béla Bartók
Bluebeard's Castle

Kolos Kovats, Sylvia Sass, Istvan Sztankay
Georg Solti & London Philharmonic Orchestra

[Linz]

Brahms Symphony No. 2 in D major op. 73, New York Philharmonic, Artur Rodzinski

[ritter]

John Ogdon playing French music. The mammoth Dukas Sonata, Schmitt's Deux Mirages, and the Dutilleux Sonata.

Disc 11 of this set I bought today:

[Bachtoven]

Great playing captured in wonderfully realistic DSD256 audio.

[Karl Henning]

Again:

Wm Schuman
To Thee, Old Cause, Evocation for Oboe, Brass, Timpani and Strings (1968)
In Praise of Shahn, Canticle for Orchestra (1969)

In the spring of 1969, shortly after the death of Ben Shahn, I received a call from Lawrence A. Fleischman of the Kennedy Galleries in New York on behalf of a group of the late artist's friends. Would I accept a commission to compose a work in Shahn?s memory? Because of my admiration for the astonishing achievements of this artist, my response was immediate and affirmative. I began at once to consider what relationship, if any, the music could have to Shahn. My thoughts led me to reject any attempt to portray his works in a specific programmatic manner. I did, however, want to learn more about Shahn from those who knew him well. Actually, although I had been introduced to Shahn several times at large receptions, there was only one occasion, a small gathering at the home of Emily (Genauer) and Fred Gash, when we met for an entire evening. I was struck immediately by the artist's ebullience, far-ranging social interests and insights, and most of all by his optimistic embrace of life. It was from others that I subsequently learned of another equally telling side of his nature. I am particularly indebted to Morris Bressler, who for some thirty years sang for Shahn the folk songs from the Eastern European and Jewish heritage they shared. Mr. Bressler was kind enough to make a tape for me of many of these songs which gave Shahn a continuing link to his generic past. It is my hope that music I have created reflects two prominent characteristics of his nature. Shahn, it seems to me, combined a contrasting yet wholly compatible duality, unabashed optimism and a searching poignancy. The work opens with an extended fast section for orchestral winds and percussion. It is a kind of clarion call. At the climactic moment of this section the entire string choir makes a dramatic entrance which leads to a transition (passionatamente) for strings alone, in slower tempo, leading to the beginning of the principal section of the composition. Here the music, a songlike theme, is first stated in a very slow tempo and marked "tenderly, warmly, expressive." The melody is repeated (at different pitch levels) with developing contrapuntal embellishments. It is heard yet again in a solo trumpet, with harmonization given to the lower brass while the violins play agitated contrasting material. Soon the melody becomes impatient and enters at multiple points in a series of overlappings. The contrasting rhythmic and contrapuntal lines gain in momentum and increase in complexity. There is a culmination which brings a faster tempo and a short rhythmic transition reminiscent of music from the opening section. The conclusion begins innocently enough with simple scherzo-like figures, but matters soon change. There are references to the opening music and the principal song again with its overlapping statements and contrasting rhythmic-melodic materials growing from the spirit of the scherzo but which now have become much more insistent. As the work draws to its conclusion, previous ideas are restated in a variety of new guises which, together with fresh propulsions, all lead to a final acceleration, a spirit of celebration which alone seems apposite for any statement honoring Ben Shahn's memory.

Concerto on Old English Rounds (1973) for viola, female chorus and orchestra

[Linz]

Bruckner Symphony No. 5 in B flat Major, 1896 Edition [Doblingler] Revision by Franz Schalk, Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch

[classicalgeek]

Schulhoff: Concerto Doppio, for flute, piano, and orchestra 8
Krenek: Concertino, for flute, violin, piano, and strings *#
d'Indy: Concert for flute, cello, piano, and strings *%
*Maria Prinz, piano
*Karl-Heinz Schutz, flute
#Christoph Koncz, violin
%Robert Nagy, cello
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Sir Neville Marriner
(on Spotify)

[Karl Henning]

Schulhoff: Concerto Doppio, for flute, piano, and orchestra 8
Krenek: Concertino, for flute, violin, piano, and strings *#
d'Indy: Concert for flute, cello, piano, and strings *%
*Maria Prinz, piano
*Karl-Heinz Schutz, flute
#Christoph Koncz, violin
%Robert Nagy, cello
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Sir Neville Marriner
(on Spotify)

Très intéressant!

TD:

Anton Bruckner
Symphony № 9 in d minor
Sergiu Celibidache
Münchner Philharmoniker

[Bachtoven]

[Lisztianwagner]

Geirr Tveitt
A Hundred Hardanger Tunes, Suite No.2

Bjarte Engeset & Royal Scottish National Orchestra

[SimonNZ]

[classicalgeek]

Très intéressant!

It was!   I especially enjoyed the Schulhoff.


TD:
Waxman
Sunset Boulevard (complete score)
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Joel McNeely
(on Spotify)



Brilliant!

[Bachtoven]

Very nice. Track listing and samples here: https://www.highresaudio.com/en/album/view/tfawa3/marco-ramelli-mompou-misteris-transcriptions-for-guitar-vol-1

[Linz]

Chopin 24 Préludes op.28, Claudio Arrau

[Karl Henning]

It was!   I especially enjoyed the Schulhoff.

That, I rather suspected.

[VonStupp]

Dmitri Shostakovich
String Quartet 9 in E-flat Major, op. 117
Shostakovich Quartet

VS

[Karl Henning]

That, I rather suspected.

Excellent, as expected!

[Linz]

Roberto Gerhard Symphony No. 4 & Violin Concerto, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Yfrah Neaman, Sir Colin Davis