What are you listening 2 now?

[Karl Henning]

Vol. 7/CD 11

Shostakovich
Symphony № 13 in b^b minor, « Babi Yar » Op. 113 (1962)
Sergei Leiferkus
Men of the Prague Philharmonic Choir
Kurt Masur

Britten
Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20 (1939-40)
Stefan Asbury

So very good, I'm listening again!

[Cato]

Let's not forget, no less a figure than Jean-Paul Sartre considered the 7th the best.  Gets my vote, as well.

Feast your ears on this classic performance from Toscanini and Company:

[brewski]

Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle (Robert Lloyd, Elizabeth Laurence, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Adam Fischer, dir. Leslie Megahey, 1988). Somehow have never seen this film, and it's a gem. The only other similar version I recall is with Sylvia Sass, Kolos Kováts, and Solti, also with the LPO, and while I like it, this one is more intimate, and creepier.

[Mister Sharpe]

Feast your ears on this classic performance from Toscanini and Company:

THAT was a barnstormer! And better sonics than I was led to believe.  With many conductors, the faster the speed, the sloppier the playing, not so with Toscanini.  Thank you for the treat. Wonder if that was the performance - '51 I take it - Jean-Paul listened to?  ( Someone once asked him what existentialism is...he said it was "how he earned his existence.")

[Cato]

Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle (Robert Lloyd, Elizabeth Laurence, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Adam Fischer, dir. Leslie Megahey, 1988). Somehow have never seen this film, and it's a gem. The only other similar version I recall is with Sylvia Sass, Kolos Kováts, and Solti, also with the LPO, and while I like it, this one is more intimate, and creepier.

Jessye Norman performed Bluebeard's Castle at The Metropolitan Opera c. 1990 and after the intermission, gave a humid, riveting performance of Erwartung by Arnold Schoenberg.

THAT was a performance!


YouTube has an excerpt: The Metropolitan Opera used to sell a DVD of the performances.

[Symphonic Addict]

Raff: Symphony No. 3 in F major 'Im Walde'

[brewski]

Jessye Norman performed Bluebeard's Castle at The Metropolitan Opera c. 1990 and after the intermission, gave a humid, riveting performance of Erwartung by Arnold Schoenberg.

THAT was a performance!


YouTube has an excerpt: The Metropolitan Opera used to sell a DVD of the performances.

I saw that double bill! One of my first experiences at the Met Opera, and my first live encounter with both pieces. Loved the singing and the orchestra, and most of the production, with IIRC some irritating choices that seemed to trivialize the drama. In any case, this excerpt brought back some of that experience. And even if Jessye Norman isn't the most vulnerable Judith, she sings the hell out of the role, and Samuel Ramey was in his prime, too.

[hopefullytrusting]

Mozart's Symphonies No. 10 to 19.

Light and nice, but nothing that stood out to me.

Music I'd play in the background or on an elevator - at least two of them lulled me to sleep, lol.

My cure for insomnia - early Haydn and Mozart symphonies, lol.

[brewski]

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 (Yunchan Lim / Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra / Marin Alsop. Final round of the Van Cliburn Competition, June 17, 2022).

With the recent release of Lim in Tchaikovsky's The Seasons, I wanted to revisit this performance. All I can say is that yes, Lim is all that, and may be at the beginning of a legendary career. You can see it in Alsop's face, and now and then in the orchestra: they know they are witnessing something special.

[Cato]

Protopopov: 6 Preludes (except #6 is still missing)

Belgian pianist Valere Burnon:

[Symphonic Addict]

Another lovely 3rd symphony today:

Alfvén: Symphony No. 3 in E major

This could easily be my favorite Alfvén symphony: great thematic material, gorgeous orchestration, lush harmonies, very well proportioned overall. What's not to love?

[JBS]

[AnotherSpin]

[hopefullytrusting]

Tonight, into this morning, more orchestral works by Clementi:

Hopefully, Symphonies 2-4, but, currently, his two overtures.

Splendid composer, with a deep, rich harmonic language.

[AnotherSpin]

String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 74

[Madiel]

Vivaldi: La verità in cimento (Act One so far)



My first proper listen to any of this (I suspect I heard some of it on streaming years ago). And... it's good, but honestly I think it could be just a little better if Spinosi wasn't so fond of sudden soft-loud contrasts. In the opening sinfonia it was genuinely hard to set the correct listening level because the volume changes were so violent. Moreso than in the volumes I've listened to thus far with other conductors. All of the singers are good.

I've had my required magical Vivaldi moments, chiefly in the quieter music. The aria "Fragil fior" (Delicate flower) is lovely and has quite the tune, and it's followed by a ravishing slow trio all about calmness and softness that is almost a pause from the plot.

The plot is ever so slightly absurd in a very operatic way, but also kind of fun (half-brothers born on the same day and switched, the bastard son thinks he's the heir to the throne and the true heir thinks he's the bastard, one mother knows the truth and the other doesn't).

There's a really DUMB split between discs in Act One, not required due to disc length. Act One ends quietly, and methinks that somebody decided that the first disc should end with a bang. Because the composer got it wrong or something. Excuse me while I reach back into 2003 and give a record company executive a little slap.  

ACT TWO: The Sultan finally tells the truth. Some people think that he's lying. One person who knows that he's telling the truth also says that he's lying. Arias ensue, and a great closing quintet.

[Que]

Stumbled on while browsing Spotify:



A British (all male) ensemble I haven't encountered before, even though they have been around since 2008 with recordings on Resonus and Signum. I was drawn to it because the usual suspects of Victoria, Guerrero, Lobo and Morales, there are some (New World) composers that were new to me.
I'll try more by them, preferably on their home turf.

[hopefullytrusting]

Tonight, into this morning, more orchestral works by Clementi:

Hopefully, Symphonies 2-4, but, currently, his two overtures.

Splendid composer, with a deep, rich harmonic language.

Driving and vibrant - very different from his piano sonatas. When I return to purchasing, these will be on my list.

Copilot spit out a list of composers I might like given this information, and on that list there was one I had never heard of - Leopold Koželuch. I was a bit shocked I had never heard of him, given how prolific he was that was until I sampled his work - now, I think I have a fair idea about why I had never heard of him. I found all his work - that I sampled - significant enough for me - below run-of-the-mill, and there is far too much music to listen that I've not yet heard (or discovered) to even consider treading down that path - life is simply too precious and too short for that.

Luckily, they also suggested Michael Haydn and Luigi Cherubini, so my morning will revolve around those two:

Haydn Symphony 29: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhzCBvF8y6g
Haydn Cello Concerto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku9ffFEpD1s
Haydn String Quartet in G minor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68BJTiIZ-n4

Cherubini Symphony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ooqDDYKji0
Cherubini Requiem in C minor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lLzIFdo8II
Cherubini Requiem in D minor (not Muti's bastardization): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAVmEfdEhFg

[AnotherSpin]

Pieces by:

Melchior Schildt
Georg Böhm
Johann Sebastian Bach
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Heinrich Friedrich Enckhausen
Johannes Brahms

[Que]

Great minds... 



I read that Berben's approach was quite different from Davidsson's but as successful, so I had to hear it.
Plus it is was high time to revisit this wonderful music.