What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[listener]

Michael HAYDN  String Quintets - in C, in G
The Roth Quartet with Laurent Halleux 2nd viola
CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO   Quintet for Guitar and String Quartet
Manuel López Ramos, guitar      The Parrenin Quartet
BONDON  Concierto de Mars
Konrad Ragossnig, guitar   Lamoureux Concerts Orch.,  Jacques Bondon, cond.
KELEMEN Études Contrapuntiques   CASTIGLIONI  Tropi
FELLEGARA   Serenata      YUN   Musik für Sieben Instrumente
Hamburg Kammersolisten    / Francis Travis

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One of my favorite purchases of 2010. Truly in a class by itself. Exquisite playing from Bavouzet and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. These performances of Ravel's concerti go straight to the top surpassing my previous favorites Argerich, Zimerman, and Roge.

[madaboutmahler]

To bring the night to a close, the Bernstein Symphonic Dances, again. (Although, this time Dudamel's Proms performance on youtube)

Just love them so much!

[classicalgeek]

Until I scrolled down I thought this was an ECM disc when the image was half-cut off at the bottom of my screen

I can definitely see that...

I remember my old Michael Ponti VOX set, which many criticized as "wrong-headed."  But he could slam-dunk these, and I suspect that is what some people disliked.

I have those recordings as well - my only complaint would be the sound!  I do like Ponti's interpretations, and his technique is just about flawless!

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One of my favorite purchases of 2010. Truly in a class by itself. Exquisite playing from Bavouzet and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. These performances of Ravel's concerti go straight to the top surpassing my previous favorites Argerich, Zimerman, and Roge.

Very nice!  Bavouzet is hard to beat in Debussy and Ravel.  Speaking of Massenet, I imagine he'd do the Piano Concerto well if given the chance...

Thread duty: more Mozart on fortepiano.

W.A. Mozart
Piano concerto no. 4 in G major, K 41   
Viviana Sofronitzki, fortepiano; Tadeusz Karolak; Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense

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[classicalgeek]

Now up:

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov   
Symphony no. 1 in E minor, op. 1   
Neeme Järvi; Gothenburg SO

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Very nice!  Bavouzet is hard to beat in Debussy and Ravel.  Speaking of Massenet, I imagine he'd do the Piano Concerto well if given the chance...

Agreed. I'd like to hear Bavouzet in Saint-Saens, Poulenc, and Prokofiev piano concerti. That would be something else.

[TheGSMoeller]

Michael Nyman Piano Concerto




Sarge

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Until I scrolled down I thought this was an ECM disc when the image was half-cut off at the bottom of my screen

Gosh I hated that piece :\

Two past winners of the prestigious Moellerphone award, especially the MGV from Nyman, and Dand Lang is dynamite.

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Such a killer work. I love every minute of it.

[Cato]

Concerning the old VOX recordings of Scriabin's Complete Sonatas (and just about everything else for piano solo) with Michael Ponti:

I have those recordings as well - my only complaint would be the sound! I do like Ponti's interpretations, and his technique is just about flawless!

Well, VOX was not known for the highest quality: the reviews on Amazon complain about the sound, but it was adequate enough for one to be impressed (or appalled) by Ponti's edgily energetic playing.  His Ninth Sonata is almost terrifying in its intensity.

[Karl Henning]

Two past winners of the prestigious Moellerphone award, especially the MGV from Nyman, and Dand Lang is dynamite.

Pleased with this confirmation, though in fact, ye trigger is already pulled.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[classicalgeek]

Winding down the workday with the genius of Haydn:

Joseph Haydn
Symphony no. 102 in B-flat major
Eugen Jochum/London Philharmonic



Very fine performance, too!

[TheGSMoeller]

Pleased with this confirmation, though in fact, ye trigger is already pulled.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

On both?

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Listening to Bernstein's Serenade. A great work.

[Todd]

 


Finished up my first take of Barbirolli's recording of Elgar's symphonies.  Good, but I think I prefer both Boult and Sinopoli.

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Listening to Jeremiah symphony. What a great piece fo music. I've got all of Bernstein's DG recordings of his own music too, so I should do some comparisons soon.

[classicalgeek]

Appropriate, given that 'Spring' finally arrived in the Northwest U.S. over the past weekend!  Though it has been raining most of today...

Robert Schumann
Symphony no. 1 in B-flat major, op. 38
James Levine; Philadelphia O

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Fantastic performance - so full of life!

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Listening to The Age of Anxiety now. Here's a review I wrote on this recording via Amazon:

Leonard Bernstein can sometimes be seen as a celebrity amongst casual classical listeners which is due in large part to his conducting career, but a deeper look into this very influential and passionate personality lies a man of strong musical integrity. Yes, he composed "Westside Story" and went on to write "Candide," which were both successful, but he composed serious music as well. This particular side of his composing seems to be overshadowed by the more energetic, danceable music that made him famous as a composer. I think with "Symphony No. 1" titled "Jeremiah," Bernstein silenced all notions that he was merely a composer after popular appeal.

The other symphony on this disc is "Symphony No. 2 - The Age of Anxiety," which, if anything, is a concertante work much like Szymanowski's "Symphony No. 4" is a concertante work, but let's not get too concerned with what the work actually is and let me just say this work will blow your socks off! I would say both "Symphony Nos. 1 & 2" are two of Bernstein's strongest works as far as being a serious composer is concerned. Another Bernstein work (not represented on this recording) that is gaining repertoire status as of late is "Serenade," which is essentially a violin concerto and has been performed by many big names in classical music: Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Itzhak Perlman, Anne-Sophie Mutter to name a few.

It's hard to pinpoint what this music sounds like, because there are so many strains of his influences that rear their head here and there. At one point I hear Mahler and another I hear Gershwin. I think Bernstein, much like composers Poulenc, Ravel, or even his hero Mahler, was ingenious in the way he combined serious music with lighter, more low cultured music. He seemed to have this very contradictory sound-world meld into one.

The performances themselves are nothing less than spectacular. Bernstein, as usual, is on fire and the NY Philharmonic give this music their all. The remastered sound quality is also quite good. In comparison to his later recordings of these two symphonies, I prefer these earlier performances for their sheer energy.

If you're at all interested in hearing Bernstein outside of the more popular works, then this disc would be one to checkout. Also checkout the afore mentioned "Serenade," but also "Chichester Psalms" and the controversial "Mass," which still seems to raise a few eyebrows with it's mix of religious choral overtones, ritualistic musings, and Broadway glitz and glamour.

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Listening to Facsimile. A great work.

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Listening to Serenade.

[Opus106]

15-minute shipping, across the Atlantic? That's impressive!

Seemed to appear out of a Cloud . . . .