Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969)

Started by Maciek, April 18, 2007, 01:13:25 PM

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Maciek

Bah-tze-vitch

The vitch is actually more like veech but the -ee- sound is short as in -i-... ::)

Bah-tze-vitch would be close enough.

(The Bah- more or less as in the British pronunciation of "bar".)

OK, sorry, maybe someone else can do this in an understandable way...?

snyprrr

Quote from: Maciek on February 13, 2010, 10:34:42 AM
Bah-tze-vitch

The vitch is actually more like veech but the -ee- sound is short as in -i-... ::)

Bah-tze-vitch would be close enough.

(The Bah- more or less as in the British pronunciation of "bar".)

OK, sorry, maybe someone else can do this in an understandable way...?

No, that's it, haha... I ran into a Polish girl the other day and had quite a time of it saying, "Have you ever heard of Penderecki?" haha, she was adding "z"s and "t"s so I couldn't figure out who was wrong. funny!

Scarpia

I'm afraid I'm quickly becoming the party-pooper of this thread.  Listened to most of this release.



The Overture is very attractive, but I've listened to Concerti 1 and 3 so far and was not blown away.  I enjoyed the first more, a lightweight piece which is successful, but except for the more extroverted passages of the 3rd movement, the Concerto #3 made no impression at all after two listens.  I am coming to the conclusion that I just don't like Bacewicz so much.

Maciek

Well, you certainly can't be accused of not trying. ;D

Scarpia

Quote from: Maciek on February 15, 2010, 07:23:09 AM
Well, you certainly can't be accused of not trying. ;D

Except I have this feeling that I should like her music.  My impression is that if I like Martinu I should like Bacewicz, but there is a certain undefinable quality missing.

zorzynek

Quote from: Scarpia on February 15, 2010, 07:36:48 AM
Except I have this feeling that I should like her music.  My impression is that if I like Martinu I should like Bacewicz, but there is a certain undefinable quality missing.

Well I feel you. I like Bacewicz and I got the feeling I should like Martinu too. Somehow, I can't start digging his music.

Scarpia

Finally listened to the last concerto on the disc, No. 7.  I just don't get it.  Constant glissandi, sounds like a theramin  in an Ed Wood science fiction movie.  Then the parts that sound like a chicken pecking or a dog scratching for a bone.  When did the idea of melody and harmony become obsolete?

One more Bacewicz disc on the shelf.

The new erato

Quote from: Scarpia on February 16, 2010, 06:11:28 AM
Then the parts that sound like a chicken pecking or a dog scratching for a bone.  When did the idea of melody and harmony become obsolete?

Sounds like you just don't like modern music (I haven't checked other postings to see whether that's actually the case, but just observing) ? That's totally OK by me, but doesn't necessarily make her a bad composer. The same statements could (and surely have been, at some time or another) be made against eg Bartoks string quartets.   

Maciek

#68
Well, do let us know what you think! At this point, we're entitled to know. ;D

(FWIW, I don't have that Chandos CD, but know two of the pieces in another recording - this one - and it happens to be one of my two favorite Bacewicz discs!)

Scarpia

Quote from: erato on February 16, 2010, 06:44:27 AM
Sounds like you just don't like modern music (I haven't checked other postings to see whether that's actually the case, but just observing) ? That's totally OK by me, but doesn't necessarily make her a bad composer. The same statements could (and surely have been, at some time or another) be made against eg Bartoks string quartets.

I love Bartok's string quartets, Shostakovich as well.  Bartok throws in some odd effects to spice things up here and there, but the basic language of the music is melody, harmony, counterpoint.  As far as violin music goes, I also adore the Stravinsky concerto, the Bartok, the Berg, the Martinu, Hindemith, Sibeluis, etc.  When I listen to the 7th Bacewicz, all I hear is an attempt to get a violin to make weird sounds.  I have no idea what the point of it is.  (Of course, I may just be missing it, that's happened before.)



The new erato

Quote from: Scarpia on February 16, 2010, 08:48:56 AM
I love Bartok's string quartets, Shostakovich as well.  Bartok throws in some odd effects to spice things up here and there, but the basic language of the music is melody, harmony, counterpoint.  As far as violin music goes, I also adore the Stravinsky concerto, the Bartok, the Berg, the Martinu, Hindemith, Sibeluis, etc.  When I listen to the 7th Bacewicz, all I hear is an attempt to get a violin to make weird sounds.  I have no idea what the point of it is.  (Of course, I may just be missing it, that's happened before.)
OK; that clarifies things. I need to relisten to that disc!

Scarpia

Quote from: erato on February 16, 2010, 08:54:24 AM
OK; that clarifies things. I need to relisten to that disc!

I generally liked the 1st, parts of the 3rd (the finale) and the Overture.  It was the 7th that just went over my head, so to speak.

Ugh

Quote from: Scarpia on February 16, 2010, 06:11:28 AM
Finally listened to the last concerto on the disc, No. 7.  I just don't get it.  Constant glissandi, sounds like a theramin  in an Ed Wood science fiction movie.  Then the parts that sound like a chicken pecking or a dog scratching for a bone.  When did the idea of melody and harmony become obsolete?

One more Bacewicz disc on the shelf.


Ha ha you're not the first to be baffled by this one... Lots of glissandi yes, particularly in the allegro, but hardly anything like a Theremin. Personally I like the Largo, particularly the instrumentation of it....
"I no longer believe in concerts, the sweat of conductors, and the flying storms of virtuoso's dandruff, and am only interested in recorded music." Edgard Varese

Lethevich

Quote from: Scarpia on February 16, 2010, 06:11:28 AM
One more Bacewicz disc on the shelf.

Interested in what you think of this when you get around to it. I am finding her violin sonatas increasingly rising in my esteem - there are some interesting "effects", but always utilised to highly musical ends.
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

snyprrr

Quote from: Scarpia on February 16, 2010, 06:11:28 AMConstant glissandi, sounds like a theramin  in an Ed Wood science fiction movie.  Then the parts that sound like a chicken pecking or a dog scratching for a bone. 

See? Already this sounds interesting to me. Suono gratia artis? One man's meat...

Plus, you really can't blame anyone for living through the '60s, can you? ;D Everyone went wacky!



not edward

Does anyone know what happened to the alleged Zimerman recording of the 2nd piano sonata and the piano quintets?
"I don't at all mind actively disliking a piece of contemporary music, but in order to feel happy about it I must consciously understand why I dislike it. Otherwise it remains in my mind as unfinished business."
-- Aaron Copland, The Pleasures of Music

lescamil

Quote from: edward on June 20, 2010, 01:08:27 PM
Does anyone know what happened to the alleged Zimerman recording of the 2nd piano sonata and the piano quintets?

As far as I know, Zimerman cancelled the production of this recording (it appeared on the DG website as a future release, but was removed). It is quite a shame, because in 2011 he has said that he will retire from performances and recordings. This is quite a shame, for his earlier recording of the 2nd sonata from the 1970s is still the benchmark for this piece, and a new interpretation by him would have been most welcome. The piano quintets have already been recorded quite splendidly by Waldemar Malicki and the Amar Corde String Quartet.
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Scarpia

Quote from: lescamil on June 22, 2010, 10:34:44 AM
As far as I know, Zimerman cancelled the production of this recording (it appeared on the DG website as a future release, but was removed). It is quite a shame, because in 2011 he has said that he will retire from performances and recordings.

He as decided to just sit at home and seethe with hatred for the U.S. in the comfort of his own home?   8)

lescamil

Quote from: Scarpia on June 22, 2010, 10:36:58 AM
He as decided to just sit at home and seethe with hatred for the U.S. in the comfort of his own home?   8)

Basically. I really don't like Zimerman's attitude lately, even despite all of the US boycott bullcrap. I heard an interview with him once, and he boasted that he only performs and records about 1% of all of the repertoire he knows, and then listed a bunch of pieces that he plays at home for fun. I remember one of them being the Dutilleux Piano Sonata, and he named some works by Alkan, I believe. He said that for the majority of these pieces, they haven't reached his "standard", and then he went on about how audiences aren't prepared for a lot of it anyways. Just shameful.
Want to chat about classical music on IRC? Go to:

irc.psigenix.net
#concerthall

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