What are you listening 2 now?

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Very good performances, those. Let me add three favorites:

I've seen that Mullova recording mentioned a good bit. A bet it's a great performance.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing Schmidt Chaconne in D minor



I believe this was originally a work for organ but Schmidt later orchestrated it. I don't like organ music, so it's nice that he made this arrangement. It's a beautiful work, too.

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 7 in E Major, 1885 Version. Ed.Leopold Nowak
Münchner Philharmoniker, Sergiu Celibidache

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing Holst Beni Mora, Op. 29

[Que]

Absolutely! Do you have a favorite performance of Schubert's Octett? I really enjoy these two recent(ish) performances:

I found that period performance - considering the starry line up - surprisingly underwhelming...

My favourite:

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now playing Lyadov The Enchanted Lake, Op. 62

[AnotherSpin]

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Before an afternoon nap --- Bartók Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, Sz. 106

[Linz]

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach CD1
Doppelkonzert fur Cembalo, Fortepiano und Orchester Es-dur Wq.47
Sonatine fur 2 Cembali und Orchester D-dur Wq.109
Doppelkonzert fur 2 Cembali, Fortepiano und Orchester F-dur Wq. 46
Eric Lynn Kelly harpsichord (WQ 47 & WQ 109)
Jos van Imerseel, Fortepiano (WQ 47) & harpsichord (WQ 10)
Alan Curtis, harpsichoerd (WQ 46)
Gustav Leonhardt, harpsichord (WQ 46)
Collegium Aureum

[André]

Svetlanov's dramatic take on Gerontius was the actual premiere of the work in Russia (1983). It must have been a momentous and prestigious affair, with the LSO chorus (prepared by Hickox) and distinguished English soloists flown in for the occasion.

5 years later Hickox got to make his own recording for Chandos but this time he was in charge of everything - chorus and orchestral execution. Two of the Moscow soloists reprised their task as Gerontius and The Angel: Arthur Davies and Felicity Palmer. The bass who sang the roles of The Priest and The Angel of Agony went to Gwynne Howell (Norman Bailey had sung them in the russian premiere).

So how's Hickox own performance as general project manager vs his previous role as chorus master of someone else's conception of the work ?

Some marked differences are the inevitable result of hall acoustics. The Melodiya account was a live performance taped in the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, with soloists caught in a more upfront perspective, with individual microphone placement, possibly with reverb added in the control room. The solo voices sound farther back on the Chandos disc, the voices sweeter but also less characterful.

A degree of pungency is part of Felicity Palmer's very special mezzo sound and this is especially the case in the live recording. The more flattering Chandos sound smooths the edges of her voice. I wrote earlier that she could go 'full Klytemnestra' (Strauss' Elektra's harridan queen). Under Hickox she is more an Eboli or Amneris. Still unusual in sound for an oratorio mezzo, but definitely more maternal in sound. For comparison I played the second half of the second part back to back. Palmer/Hickox is still a redoubtable vocalist, but she didn't make my eyebrows shoot up and my jaw go slack at her forte interval leaps.

Much the same could be said of Davies' Gerontius. On both occasions his voice is insolently healthy for a dying old geezer, but it's even sweeter in sound under Hickox. I almost expected him to break into 'Ev'ry Valley' after his solos as The Soul. Under Svetlanov he is more declamatory, with a degree of defiance quite apparent - this Gerontius definitely indignant at the Priest's exhortation: 'Go forth upon thy journey, Christian soul! Go from this world !' Woooaaw, camel, not so fast ! That kind of resistance seems to have melted under Hickox' more enveloping conception of Gerontius' death watch.

Bass Gwynne Howell has a beautiful, rounded voice, fully equal to the demands of the role. Norman Bailey, a noted Wotan (their part as the Angel of Agony also heard twice in the comparison I made) sounds a bit more ample of tone, with a slightly freer delivery and more air around his noble tones. That's possibly a result of Chandos' more blended acoustic.

As for Hickox as chorus master AND orchestra conductor, I found him very attentive to the niceties of Elgar's special way with cadences (musical phrase ends), pauses, etc. The first faint intimation of the Judgment theme at 'the judgment is begun' in The Angel's duet with Gerontius 'My Work is Done' is a wonderful touch. That theme comes out clearly and ominously under Hickox, while it's less distinctly heard in the live Svetlanov. There are other places where I perceived a more even temperament at work on the podium. Svetlanov had discovered Elgar in Britain and was an ardent advocate. Communicating his discovery to his compatriots was probably his overriding goal when preparing and performing the work.

Between the two one may favour Hickox for his successful smoothing of Svetlanov's sharper edges and Chandos' better sound. Personally I wouldn't want to be without Svetlanov and his soloists' searing conception of the work. Oh, and the chorus: they are much more involved in Russia - men and women on a mission.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Manolis Kalomiris: Symphony No. 3, etc..  Athens State Orchestra/Byron Fidetzis.

[Linz]

Camille Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor, op.33
The Philadelphia Orchestra, Daniel Baerenboim
Antonin Dvořák Cello Concerto in B minor, op.104
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sergiu Celibidache
Jacqueline Du Pré

[JBS]

TD

A repeat listen, but on a new cheap CD player that is better than the old cheap CD player, and far better than the portable DVD player I was using for the first listen.

[There's a reason I never post in the audiophile threads.]

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Now going to go through the Bax symphonies --- now playing Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6

[Lisztianwagner]

Kurt Weill
Violin Concerto

Nona Liddell (violin)
David Atherton & London Sinfonietta

[Que]

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 5 in B Flat Major
Concertegebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, Paul van Kempen

[foxandpeng]

Miloslav Kabeláč
Symphony 1 for Strings and Percussion
Marko Ivanovic
Prague RSO

I think it was last summer that I spent some time with this excellent cycle for the first time. Immensely gratifying.

[VonStupp]

Hugo Alfvén
Symphony 1 in F minor, op. 7
Swedish Rhapsody 2 'Uppsala', op. 24
Drapa, op. 27
Revelation Cantata: Andante religioso
Royal Swedish PO - Neeme Järvi

I haven't given much time over to Alfvén. Järvi seems like a strong place to start up.
VS

CD1:

[foxandpeng]

Kamran Ince
Symphony 2, 'Fall of Constantinople'
Albany SO
David Alan Miller

Like Kabeláč and his Symphony for Strings and Percussion, Ince knows how to use percussion to great effect.

This, combined with a hint of Philip Glass, makes Ince a surefire success for me.