Your Favourite Purchases & Musical Discoveries of 2021

Started by Que, December 07, 2021, 11:57:32 PM

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kyjo

Quote from: classicalgeek on January 06, 2022, 01:18:24 PM
I know I'm a bit late to the party, but here are my favorite new musical discoveries of 2021:

Composer: George Lloyd. I was aware of his existence, of course, but had never delved into his music until this year. Boy, am I glad I did! It's so refreshing to find a 20th-century composer who simply wrote gorgeous melodies; Lloyd is the sort of composer I want to emulate as I try to write music again. His slow movements are especially masterful.

shout out to Charles Koechlin, who just missed the cut.

Piece: Leonard Bernstein's Serenade after Plato's "Symposium". I listened to the work in detail for the first time this year (I think I've heard it in years past, but it never really registered for me) - and I was immediately taken by it. It's a tour de force for the violin soloist, with rhythmically propulsive outer movement, and some gorgeous, lyrical slower bits. And what Bernstein does with his orchestra of strings, harp, and percussion is nothing short of dazzling. What a remarkable work.

Recording: Carl Nielsen Symphonies with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic. Top-notch playing, brilliant recorded sound, and insightfully and sensitively interpreted, this has become my new favorite Nielsen cycle, bar none. And it happens to include my preferred recording of my favorite Nielsen symphony, no. 4 (the Inextinguishable), just an all-out stunner of a performance.

Great stuff!!
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

classicalgeek

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 06, 2022, 02:07:43 PM
It truly is a remarkable work. The more I listen to Bernstein's music, the more I understand what a brilliant mind he had and the fact he was a notable composer on top of being an internationally renowned and revered conductor and educator makes him a triple tour-de-force.

Indeed! Bernstein was a special musician... a talented conductor, composer, and pianist, and like you said, an educator as well!

Quote from: kyjo on January 06, 2022, 07:25:17 PM
Great stuff!!

;D
So much great music, so little time...

Original compositions and orchestrations: https://www.youtube.com/@jmbrannigan

Oldnslow

Kit Armstrong Byrd and Bull

Jordi Savall Beethoven symphonies (including the 6-9 symphonies I just purchased today, though I guess that is 2022!

Oldnslow

TheGSMoeller

Quote from: TheGSMoeller on December 12, 2021, 01:41:05 PM
I'll start with my favorite musical discovery of the year, The Ghosts of Versailles, the opera was completed in 1990 by John Corigliano...

Now to some of my favorite purchases of the year, both released in 2021 or earlier...


VonStupp

2021, I didn't buy any new, hot-off-the-press recordings, but invested in older recordings that I hadn't explored yet.

My favorite musical discoveries were Vítězslav Novák's The Storm and Nikotina. The former I found just as I joined GMG this year, the latter was suggested by the forum, and I have been enjoying revisiting them throughout the year.

Thanks everyone! VS

 
"All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff."

Daverz

Quote from: VonStupp on January 09, 2022, 07:43:05 AM
2021, I didn't buy any new, hot-off-the-press recordings, but invested in older recordings that I hadn't explored yet.

My favorite musical discoveries were Vítězslav Novák's The Storm and Nikotina. The former I found just as I joined GMG this year, the latter was suggested by the forum, and I have been enjoying revisiting them throughout the year.

Thanks everyone! VS

 

I love Nikotina, and as I've said before, I think it would make a great double bill with Riisager's Benzin (Gasoline).

Symphonic Addict

Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

The new erato

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on January 09, 2022, 04:19:26 PM
Yes, Benzin is a barn-burner!
I'm afraid Riisager will be left at the wayside as we electrify our transport.

VonStupp

Quote from: Daverz on January 09, 2022, 03:49:00 PM
I love Nikotina, and as I've said before, I think it would make a great double bill with Riisager's Benzin (Gasoline).

:laugh: Yes, it does seem a missed opportunity.

VS
"All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff."