What are you listening 2 now?

[Florestan]

These newer versions are just wrong on every level - impossible to dance to and lacking the space and room to emotional engage.

Amen, brother!

[Cato]

The preludes to two operas by Ildebrando Pizzetti based on Greek antiquity. The early  Fedra (from 1915) and his last opera, from fifty years later, Clitennestra (1965).

I am intrigued!  Thanks for the recommendation!


Today:

From Nikolai Tcherepnin's ballet The Masque of the Red Death, a suite called Le Destin

And...I heard this on the radio with Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic: things were fine for a while but then, I found tempos and other things to be questionable.

Anyway, how about a recent classic?  Leonard Slatkin and The Detroit Symphony:

or...

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

The preludes to two operas by Ildebrando Pizzetti based on Greek antiquity. The early  Fedra (from 1915) and his last opera, from fifty years later, Clitennestra (1965).

Nice! Feliz Navidad!

[Belle]

The best Symphonic Dances of Rachmaninoff is this one, IMO.  It was recommended by folks on another music board.  And I love it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4IB5mM0H_Y

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Skoryk: Complete Violin Concertos, Vol. 2. Andrej Bielow.

[Cato]

The best Symphonic Dances of Rachmaninoff is this one, IMO.  It was recommended by folks on another music board.  And I love it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4IB5mM0H_Y

That is another fine choice!  Eugene Ormandy, of course, knew Rachmaninoff personally, so...the odds for a great performance are nearly 100%!

[Peter Power Pop]

British Light Music Discoveries 5 (City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra / Gavin Sutherland)



[Details at Discogs]

[Madiel]

Handel as arranged by Mozart (with some later slight mucking around by a guy named Mosel): Alexander's Feast (retitled by that other guy for some reason)



I'm not aware of any other recordings existing.

I really did not have any awareness of Mozart's numerous Handel arrangements until I reached them in the Koechel catalogue. It does make me inclined to go check out a lot more Handel. Eventually. My list of things to check out rarely shrinks.

[AnotherSpin]

Brahms: piano concerto no 2.



This performance of the Brahms concerto was taped live from the Concertgebouw on November 1, 1973. It has also been issued on Tahra. The sound is wide-ranging, with a deeper sound stage than what we usually hear on Philips or Decca. It's very slightly cloudy in places, but we get to hear both soloist and orchestra in a realistic perspective, with no discernible compression.

Musically this is slightly less polished but more exciting than the Gilels/Jochum/BP commercial release. Gilels hits a few wrong notes here and there, but my ! What incredible command of the keyboard, what depth of tone allied to delicacy of phrasing (Backhaus sounds a bit jackhammerish in comparison). And Jochum in Amsterdam is definitely more volatile than in Berlin. Some tutti have an explosive quality (the timps in particular spare no effort to drown the rest of the orchestra). Together they really go to town in Brahms' « little, little scherzo ». 

In the Andante we hear the great Tibor de Machula giving his all in his moving solos. Listeners familiar with Haitink's recording of Don Quixote will know what to expect: a sweet, almost weeping tone, the vibrato strong yet perfectly controlled, with some unabashed portamenti - possibly the most 'vocal' cellist I've heard. In this movement Gilels hits some keys almost ferociously, but barely brushes them in the hushed soliloquy before the return of the cello solo (more weeping) - an unusual take on this most romantic movement.

The finale has a power that is close to demonic: Jochum is almost volcanic here, and Gilels' hands thunder forth mercilessly. Not the carefree, joyful romp one often hears instead. 2 minutes shorter than the DG performance, it still clocks in at just under 50 minutes, a few minutes longer than Serkin, Pollini or Rubinstein.

As a musical experience this is hard to beat. As a recording, because of those tiny imperfections (wrong notes, slightly cloudy sound) it still ranks at the top. 9/10

Thanks for the recommendation! I came across this recording on Qobuz with a different cover, and I listened to it yesterday with considerable pleasure.

The sound is indeed unpolished, I agree, and Gilels not only makes some minor slips here and there; overall, it feels as if he does not quite grasp the full architecture of the concerto. He seems to be interpreting it moment by moment, making no effort to see the forest for the trees.

Yet, in the most paradoxical way, the sheer, mighty power of this recording floods the entire space like a powerful torrent. It sweeps you away and captivates with incredible force. The effect is absolutely stunning.

Jochum is impeccable, as always, and the orchestra sounds magical. Honestly, no one expected anything less from that combination.

Thank you again. I really enjoyed it!

[AnotherSpin]

[Que]

A Christmas mass by Diabolus in Musica that is constructed from music from the Papal Chapel in Avignon, home of the Papacy from 1309 to 1376.
The result is a combination of the style of the Notre Dame School and the later Ars Nova.

[AnotherSpin]

Bach: Weihnachtsoratorium

Wiener Singerknaben
Soprano: Soloist of the Wiener Sängerknaben
Alto: Paul Esswood
Tenor: Kurt Equiluz
Bass: Siegmund Nimsgern

Concertus Musicus Wien

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

[DaveF]

Bach: Weihnachtsoratorium

I'm glad to see that you're still alive, listening and posting after the last few terrible days.

[DaveF]

The best Symphonic Dances of Rachmaninoff is this one, IMO.  It was recommended by folks on another music board.  And I love it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4IB5mM0H_Y

Thanks for that - not one I know, and I'm still searching for the "perfect" Symphonic Dances.  I skipped to the last 5 minutes to check for 2 of my many criteria - I like the final Alleluia section fast (tick), and the final tamtam smash must go on for ever (here, sadly, it's cut off).  Playing and recording sound terrific, though, so will listen in full shortly.  Do you know Slatkin's recordings? - both his Detroit and St Louis tamtams go on reverberating for about 20 seconds.  Now that's what laissez vibrer means!

[Traverso]

 



 

[Papy Oli]

Making a start:

Bach - Saint John Passion




Helmuth Rilling

Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Gächinger Kantorei,

Markus Muller (tenor), Peter Schreier (tenor), Julia Hamari (alto), Arleen Auger (soprano), Charlotte Hoffman (soprano), Philippe Huttenlocher (bass), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (bass), Dietmar Keitz (bass)

[Que]

Pastorale sur la naissance the N.S. Jésus-Christ, H.483
In Navitatem D.N.J.C. Canticum, H.414

[Philo]

One of my few traditions: watching The Nutcracker - this year it will be the version presented by the Azara Ballet company.

[Cato]

Thanks for that - not one I know, and I'm still searching for the "perfect" Symphonic Dances.  I skipped to the last 5 minutes to check for 2 of my many criteria - I like the final Alleluia section fast (tick), and the final tamtam smash must go on for ever (here, sadly, it's cut off).  Playing and recording sound terrific, though, so will listen in full shortly.  Do you know Slatkin's recordings? - both his Detroit and St Louis tamtams go on reverberating for about 20 seconds.  Now that's what laissez vibrer means!

Amen!

Leopold Stokowski revs up the Tam-Tam at the end of Tchaikovsky's Francesca Da Rimini in one of his last recordings in the 1970's.

[ritter]

Cello concertos by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (in A minor, op. 72 —1935–), Gian Francesco Malipiero (1937), and his nephew Riccardo Malipiero (1957). Silvia Chiesa is the soloist, accompanied by the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, conducted by Massimiliano Caldi.



This CD was released some 7 years ago, and seems to have been meant for the domestic Italian market. It seems unobtainable in Europe (at least from any of the —many  — sources I frequent), but a new copy was on offer on Discogs from Japan, at a very reasonable price, and shipping costs were also very affordable. Ordered on Dec. 19th, and delivered today —i.e. within 5 days!— at my doorstep, despite the heavy shipping activity for the Christmas season. Discogs also handled the import VAT issues, so no hassle. 

So far, the Castelnuovo-Tedesco Concerto per violoncello e orchestra, op. 72 is interesting, even if a bit overpowering. Performance and sound appear excellent to me. 

I got the disc for the concerto by Riccardo Malipiero, which I still haven't reached (it's the last piece on the disc).