What are you listening 2 now?

[brewski]

Listening to this all-Richard Strauss program, live from the Ludwigsburg Palace Festival, with a conductor new to me:

Don Juan
Orchesterlieder
Vier sinfonische Zwischenspiele aus "Intermezzo"
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche

Matthew Swensen, tenor
Deutsche Radio Philharmonie
Pietari Inkinen, conductor

[Iota]

Schumann: Papillons, Op.2
Walter Klien (piano)

A highly lovable work, played exceedingly lovably.

[Florestan]

It seemed poised, classical to me, rather than the chaotic aggression-fest we normally hear

Sounds like I could enjoy it. Will investigate.

[ritter]

Listening to this all-Richard Strauss program, live from the Ludwigsburg Palace Festival, with a conductor new to me:

Don Juan
Orchesterlieder
Vier sinfonische Zwischenspiele aus "Intermezzo"
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche

Matthew Swensen, tenor
Deutsche Radio Philharmonie
Pietari Inkinen, conductor

Inkinen was to conduct the new production of the Ring in Bayreuth in 2020. The pandemic prevented that from happening. He conducted Die Walküre in isolation in 2021, and then the full Ring in 2023 (the production had premiered the previous year under the baton of Cornelius Meister. He didn't come back (or was not invited to do so) the following year... I've never heard him conduct.

[Spotted Horses]

Bartók - String Quartet No. 6

I've been meaning to revisit the Bartok quartets, and this set is attractive. I've long held the Vermeer's quartet's recording of the Beethoven Quartets as a favorite.

[Florestan]

Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15
Walter Klien (piano)

Unlike many other Schumann fans, I never really warmed to Kinderszenen. The 'excellent' bits of this curate's egg for me are Von fremden Ländern und Menschen, Kind im Einschlummern and Der Dichter spricht, which I love unequivocally. Klien plays it as well as anyone, but my perceptions on this one seem resistant to change.

That's a pity. If I may ask, what is it about KS that you find off-putting?

[Iota]

That's a pity. If I may ask, what is it about KS that you find off-putting?

I don't find them bad, but by Schumann's very high standards, all the pieces apart from the ones I mentioned just seem rather ordinary to me. Not 'off-putting' exactly, but they don't excite me either.

[Mister Sharpe]

I was out and about this morning and visited a recycle shoppe I'd never been to before (it's like Goodwill, but a bit classier); came away with over thirty classical CDs at $1.50 each, including this one, enjoying now.  As we are nearing 100 F. (37.7 C.), and are likely to reach it, I don't think I'll be venturing forth before nightfall and anyway, I've got a bunch to listen to. 

[Florestan]

In memoriam.



Going through the whole thing in the next days and nights.

Finished the 1st disc (Op. 1/1. 1/2 and Op. 13) Believe it or not, this the first time I listen to this set, although I've had it for years. It's good. It's very good. It's excellent. The piano sounds metallic at times, especially in the Pathetique, but that's a quibble: the stereo sound is amazing for its age. As for the performance, all I can say is that I love it. For years I've been trying to rekindle my long lost, teenage-time love for Beethoven, with limited results --- but I can safely predict that this set will be an unqualified success in this respect. I remember a former GMG member labeling Brendel as the epitome of bourgeois bad taste (to which I replied back then that bourgeois bad taste is no better or worse than aristocratic or proletarian bad taste). Well, I define myself as an educated and cultured bourgeois (ie, a middle-class city dweller), so I guess Brendel fits my taste to a tee by default --- as attested by my loving his Haydn, Mozart and Schubert recordings.

[Lisztianwagner]

Johann Sebastian Bach
Musikalisches Opfer, BWV 1079

Barthold Kuijken (traverso), Sigiswald Kuijken, Marie Leonhardt (violin), Wieland Kuijken (viola da gamba), Robert Kohnen (harpsichord), Gustav Leonhardt (harpsichord and conductor)

[Roasted Swan]

I was out and about this morning and visited a recycle shoppe I'd never been to before (it's like Goodwill, but a bit classier); came away with over thirty classical CDs at $1.50 each, including this one, enjoying now.  As we are nearing 100 F. (37.7 C.), and are likely to reach it, I don't think I'll be venturing forth before nightfall and anyway, I've got a bunch to listen to. 

Great disc - enjoy... and stay coooooool!

[SonicMan46]

Vivaldi, Antonio - Cello Concertos w/ Raphael Wallfisch & Nicholas Kraemer/City of London Sinfonia on 4 discs - all 27 works (claim is that he wrote 28 - irregardless beats even Boccherini by 2x) - new acquisition of 'used' CDs at good prices (eBay & Amazon MP) - had several 'period instrument' sets so added Wallfisch on MIs; several reviews attached for the interested - the only other 'complete' modern set is Ofra Harnoy to my knowledge unless others know of additional ones?  Dave

[Mister Sharpe]

Part of my CD haul this morning, an opera of which I was only vaguely aware (though I'd heard Fortner's version, Bluthochzeit, many years ago. It's emtionally ferocious even by operatic standards.  Mine is a Japanese pressing.

[Karl Henning]

Dvorak: Symphonies 8 and 9

The 8th receives a first-class performance. The 9th doesn't IMO.

Remind me what set you're listening to?

TD:

[DavidW]

 

Remind me what set you're listening to?

You can't see it? It is Rowicki.

[DavidW]

[Karl Henning]

Classic!

[Mister Sharpe]

Looking forward to hearing Bronfman tonight in Prokofiev's 3rd PC, though I expect to be a hard sell.  I love Kapell, Argerich, and Sergei himself in that energetic, electrifying work. Hardly bedtime listening, I know, but curiosity is getting the better of me.

[Symphonic Addict]

Cras: Légende, for cello and orchestra
Amirov: Shur, for orchestra

Not my first encounter listening to the Cras, and not an occasion where I wasn't impressed either. The work lives up to its title, there are elements of sheer magic that are quite arresting, so is the narrative accompanying the music. A truly phenomenal creation.

The Amirov is not half bad either. Just marvelous in its exotic terms. It sounded like a fantasy with several sections where the oriental exuberance ruled it all over. Some could think that it's one of those typical flamboyant pieces a la Khachaturian (and I don't intend to be pejorative by saying that, I love Khachaturian!) and it is not. It's more eloquent and stupendously written than expected.

[Karl Henning]