What are you listening 2 now?

[Symphonic Addict]

Happy birthday, Carl!

+1

I had played this recording of his Symphony No. 5 previously:



Not the best performance to my ears, but it wasn't bad at all either.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Walton: Symphony No. 1.  Philharmonia Orchestra · Louis Frémaux.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

NP: Adams Hallelujah Junction

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

+1

I had played this recording of his Symphony No. 5 previously:



Not the best performance to my ears, but it wasn't bad at all either.

What is your favorite performance of Nielsen's 5th?

[Iota]

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck (conductor)

This seems like an excellent performance. Honeck keeps everything moving along on a stream of adrenalin, either in full flight or temporarily soothed by some swooning melody, and throughout seems to have the orchestra on the end of his baton, so complete is the impression of his control.
Having said that, I felt somewhat outside of events as I listened, not sure why, I feel certain it was not down to Honeck, I may just not really have been in the mood for a large, swashbuckling symphony. Whatever it was, I'd still nonetheless highly recommend it to anybody who might be, and will be paying more attention to Honeck in the future.

[Spotted Horses]

Based on prior experience, I was expecting to be less engaged with Weinberg's late work, but these last two quartets really caught my interest.

I listened to the Arcadia Quartet, as usual, but since they have not yet released a recording of the final quartet I switched to the Silesian Quartet for No 17. After a quick comparison which I did when starting this cycle I decided that the Arcadia was my preference, but I think the Silesian suite me just as well, if not better.

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 7 in E Major, 1885 Version. Ed.Leopold Nowak
Wiener Philharmoniker, Georg Solti

[Symphonic Addict]

What is your favorite performance of Nielsen's 5th?

That is a tough question, John. It's a work where I've never been able to find the "right" performance yet. Nevertheless, my three choices in any order are: Bernstein/NYPO for its take-no-prisoners incandescence; Rozhdestvensky/Royal Stockholm P.O. for exactly the opposite, some passages are more nuanced and there's more grandeur where I feel it's critical (to me) to be felt, and Horenstein/New Philharmonia for the certain weighty gravitas it conveys. There are others I enjoy too, but for now, the ones I just mentioned.

[Spotted Horses]

Saygun, String Quartet No 1



I remember getting this set, which seemed to go out of print almost immediately after it was released, was a wild goose chase. I did find it, but only listened to any of it just now. So anticlimactic to just stream it!

I like the music a lot, which seems to inhabit a world not far from Bartok's idiom, but with some Turkish influence and Saygun's personal imprint. Enjoyed and looking forward to Saygun's other quartets.

[Symphonic Addict]

This composer definitely composed some interesting pieces, the two works on this disc being two of them, but particularly the Piano Concerto 'Drei Tanskizzen' with a 1st movement marked 'Tempo di minuetto moderato' that sounded more like a light and delectable intermezzo, its airs of Johann Strauss II in the 2nd movement and jazz ideas in the 3rd one. The Variations on a Saint-Nicolas Song has a more mellow, late-Romantic feel to it, and all the most enjoyable for that.

[Symphonic Addict]

Saygun, String Quartet No 1



I remember getting this set, which seemed to go out of print almost immediately after it was released, was a wild goose chase. I did find it, but only listened to any of it just now. So anticlimactic to just stream it!

I like the music a lot, which seems to inhabit a world not far from Bartok's idiom, but with some Turkish influence and Saygun's personal imprint. Enjoyed and looking forward to Saygun's other quartets.

They are formidable creations indeed. Hoping you enjoy the next ones too. Saygun is such a consistent composer in my book.

[ultralinear]

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck (conductor)

This seems like an excellent performance. Honeck keeps everything moving along on a stream of adrenalin, either in full flight or temporarily soothed by some swooning melody, and throughout seems to have the orchestra on the end of his baton, so complete is the impression of his control.
Having said that, I felt somewhat outside of events as I listened, not sure why, I feel certain it was not down to Honeck, I may just not really have been in the mood for a large, swashbuckling symphony. Whatever it was, I'd still nonetheless highly recommend it to anybody who might be, and will be paying more attention to Honeck in the future.

Last year around this time I saw Honeck conduct the Philharmonia in a spellbinding performance of Bruckner's 9th - like hearing it for the very first time all over again.  Since when I've been accumulating some of his recordings, not all of which appeal to me equally, but that's a matter of repertoire rather than performance.  His Bruckner and Shostakovich are definitely worth a listen.

That Schulhoff work is a great favourite but I don't have that recording, so need to remedy that.

[Lisztianwagner]

I'll join the Nielsen party:

Carl Nielsen
Symphony No.5

Fabio Luisi & Danish National Symphony Orchestra

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

That is a tough question, John. It's a work where I've never been able to find the "right" performance yet. Nevertheless, my three choices in any order are: Bernstein/NYPO for its take-no-prisoners incandescence; Rozhdestvensky/Royal Stockholm P.O. for exactly the opposite, some passages are more nuanced and there's more grandeur where I feel it's critical (to me) to be felt, and Horenstein/New Philharmonia for the certain weighty gravitas it conveys. There are others I enjoy too, but for now, the ones I just mentioned.

Very nice, Cesar. Bernstein/NYPO and Blomstedt/SFSO have always been my favorites. I should revisit the Rozhdestvensky at some juncture.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

NP: Martinů Concerto No. 2 For Two Violins & Orchestra, H 329

[Linz]

Dmitri Shostakovich String Quartet  No. 3 in F major, Op. 73
Sergei Prokofiev String Quartet No. 2 in F major, Op. 92
Pacifica Quartet Vol. 2 CD 2

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Saygun, String Quartet No 1



I remember getting this set, which seemed to go out of print almost immediately after it was released, was a wild goose chase. I did find it, but only listened to any of it just now. So anticlimactic to just stream it!

I like the music a lot, which seems to inhabit a world not far from Bartok's idiom, but with some Turkish influence and Saygun's personal imprint. Enjoyed and looking forward to Saygun's other quartets.

I should do a deeper dive into Saygun's music. I own all of those symphonies/concerti discs in addition to this SQ set, but it's been quite some time since I've tackled any of his music.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Following @Lisztianwagner...

NP: Nielsen Symphony No. 5, Op. 50, FS 97



Despite my reservations about the sound quality, this is a ferocious performance. Luisi is one of my favorite conductors, so there could be a little bias involved.

[Iota]

Last year around this time I saw Honeck conduct the Philharmonia in a spellbinding performance of Bruckner's 9th - like hearing it for the very first time all over again.  Since when I've been accumulating some of his recordings, not all of which appeal to me equally, but that's a matter of repertoire rather than performance.  His Bruckner and Shostakovich are definitely worth a listen.

That Schulhoff work is a great favourite but I don't have that recording, so need to remedy that.

Ah, that's very good to hear. I got the impression of great strength and presence in his conducting, despite feeling somewhat outside the Tchaikovsky 5 on this occasion, and am very glad to have your suggestions as to where I might head next with him. As for the Schulhoff I don't know anything about it or indeed the composer, so perhaps that might be an interesting place to start. Thanks a lot for the recommendations.

[Linz]

Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major, 1878 Version Ed. Leopold Nowak
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Lorin Maazel