What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Peregrine]

Through the Gekic Website. They told me a few weeks ago that they had one or two left.

I see. I'll have to give them a shout. Cheers.

[Lilas Pastia]

Mahler 9 (VSO/Scherchen).
Not one of the great Mahler 9s: playing too sloppy, tempi often way too fast (as was this conductor's wont). Yet some passages are strangely compelling, particularly the frantic, chaotic reading of the Rondo-Burleske.

Scherchen's tempi were not always too fast. It all depends on the work at hand. In the contemporaneous Mahler 2, Scherchen pulls out the slowest of all Resurrection's I've heard (92 mimutes plus). And it works!

This weekend: Mozart 41 (Jochum and the Bambergers (Orfeo) and 35-36 with Peter Maag and the Philharmonia Hungarica. Very different conceptions of the Mozart sound world, but each is artistically unimpeachable and silences any criticism (except for a rather too clinical fuge at the end of 41:IV). G;orious music-making, magnificent conceptions and realizations, all in great sound.

[BachQ]

Shosty 8 (Barshai)

[bhodges]

Nørgård: Spell (1973) (Trio Ondine) - For violin, cello and piano, and grows more interesting with each hearing.

Elliott Carter: Concerto for Orchestra (1969) (Gielen/SWF Symphony Orchestra) - Exciting piece, exciting performance.

--Bruce

[Renfield]

Solid!

(And "purchased today", as well.)

[wilhelm]

Gustav Mahler: Symphony Nr. 2
Helen Donath,Birgit Finnilä
Südfunk-Chor
Chor des Staatlichen Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart
Radio-Sinfonieorchester  Stuttgart
Sir John Barbirolli

[not edward]

Scherchen's tempi were not always too fast. It all depends on the work at hand. In the contemporaneous Mahler 2, Scherchen pulls out the slowest of all Resurrection's I've heard (92 mimutes plus). And it works!

Very true: I should have said that Scherchen's extreme tempi were not always fast. (And that is indeed a great Mahler 2.)

SInce the piano concerto (which I like) got some mention on another thread, I thought I'd pull my only Sumera disc out for a first airing in some years.

[Solitary Wanderer]

Piano concerto #23

&

Rachmaninov ~  Symphony #2 Handley/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

[Peregrine]

Mozart string quintets/Griller

[Solitary Wanderer]

Excellent recommendation from Mark 

[Kullervo]

Tonight:



Disc 1: 12 Études, Métopes, Masques, Marzukas Op. 50 and 62

[Gurn Blanston]

Some of this very nice Kurt Weill. This is an interesting concerto, reeking of 20th century ambiance.



----------------
Now playing: Kurt Weill VC & Suite from "The 3 Penny Opera" - London Sinfonietta / Atherton  Nona Liddell - Weill Concerto for Violin & Winds Op 12 1st mvmt - Andante con moto

[Wanderer]

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Suthaus/Flagstad/Fischer-Dieskau/Chorus of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden/Philharmonia Orchestra/Furtwängler).


Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (Mathis/Prey/Fischer-Dieskau/Janowitz/Troyanos/Chor und Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin/Böhm).


Haendel: Rinaldo (Horne/Gasdia/Palacio/Weidinger/Orchestra e Coro del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia/Fisher).

[Que]

                 ~ ordres 6 & 7 ~


Good morning Wanderer, thats a hefty breakfast!
Do you always listen to opera in the morning?

Q

[wilhelm]

Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 in c
B.P.O. - Hans Knappertsbusch
7/8 Jan. 1951
Music & Arts

[Wanderer]

Good morning Wanderer, thats a hefty breakfast!
Do you always listen to opera in the morning?

Good morning, Que! Not that often, but it's known to happen! 

[Mark]

Excellent recommendation from Mark 

You like it, then?

It's more intimate than my top choice (Sveshnikov's very first recording of the work from 1965), and has vastly better sound. The only slight quibble I have is that I'd have preferred a more reverential, pleading performance from the soloist in the 'Bless the Lord, O my soul'.

[RebLem]

In the week ending Saturday, 20 OCT 2007, I listened to the following:

1, 2.  10/10 Bach, J.S.: Goldberg Variations, S. 988 (1'24:52)—Evgeni Koroliov, piano—2 hanssler CDs, Vol. 112 of CBE, recorded 4/1999.  If you like Bach on the piano (I generally do not) these are very fine performances..

3, 4.  10/10 Bach, J.S.:  Clavier Buchlein for Anna Magdalena Bach (1725) (2'25:44)—Michael Behringer, harpsichord, organ, and, in some pieces, Sibylla Rubens, soprano, and  Johannes-Christoph Happel, baritone—2 hanssler CDs. Vol. 136 of CBE, recorded 10/1999.  Many of the recordings which feature solo harpsichord music in this series are recorded at an unusually high level, and require toning down the volume controls.  This set, perhaps because it also includes organ in some pieces and solo voices and a duet in some others, is an exception.  Wonderful performances.

5, 6, 7.  10/10  Beethoven: The Late String Quartets—the Smetana Quartet (Jiri Novak, Violin 1, Lubomir Kostecky, Violin 2, Milan Skampa, viola, Antonin Kohout, cello), 3 CD Supraphon SU 3870.  CD 1—SQ 15 in A Minor, Op 132 (1825) (42:57), rec c. 1967, SQ 11 in F Minor, Op. 95 (1810) (20:27), rec. c. 1962.  CD 2—SQ 12 in E Flat Major, Op. 127 (1804) (33:51), rec. c. 1961, SQ 14 in C# Minor, Op. 131 (1826) (36:57), rec. 1971.  CD 3—SQ 13 in B Flat Major, Op. 130 (1826), Grosse Fuge in B Flat Major, Op. 133 (1826), rec. c. 1965, SQ 16 in F Major, Op. 135 (1826) (24:29), rec. c. 1972.  The Smetana Quartet chose to record the SQ 13 in its original form, with the Grosse Fuge as the finale and the traditional last movement allegro as an addendum.  The Grosse Fuge by itself has a 15:47 timing, while the quartet in its traditional form is 36:46, with the last movement coming in at 9:39.  The first 5 movements before the finale come in at 27:07.

I was very pleased to see these performances re-released, along with the Early and Middle Quartet boxes, and in their original form, so that people like me who got part of the cycle years ago don't have to duplicate to get the whole set.  I bought the Early and Middle Quartets in this series in the 1980's, but the whole series was withdrawn from the market before I got around to buying the late quartets.  Now, the whole series is once again available.  These Smetana performances are full out romantic Beethoven.  Unabashedly sentimental, they eschew the classicism of, for example, the Alban Berg Quartet cycle, which I feel is at the opposite extreme.  This is particularly true of the SQ 15, the longest quartet, which has the same sort of slow tempos and care for lovingly shaped phrases I remember from the Giulini Missa Solemnis I reported on last week.

In the middle someplace, but still more classical than romantic, is the Gewandhaus Quartet cycle I reported on recently.  And, in the Late Quartets, my favorite is that of the Yale Quartet, a little more MOR than the other three, but perhaps leaning just a tad to the romantic side.  I have other sets, but these four  are my  favorite cycles of the late quartets, and except for the Yale Quartet, which has recorded only the late quartets, of the whole cycle of all the quartets, too.

5,6,7,8, 9.  10/10 Shostakovich:  CDs 1-5 of a 10 CD Supraphon set of all the Shostakovich symphonies—Maxim Shostakovich, cond. Prague Symphony Orch, specifically Symphonies 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, & 14.  CD 1—Sym 1 in F Minor, Op 10 (1925) (32:37)  |Sym. 12 in D Minor, Op. 112 "The Year 1917" (1961) (41:05), CD 2—Symphony 2 in B Major for chorus and orch, Op. 14 "To October" (1927, words by A Bezymensky) (18:26), with Prague Phil Choir  |Sym 10 in E Minor, Op. 93 (1953) (53:45).  CD 3—Sym 3 in E Flat Major for chorus and orch, Op. 20, (1929 with S Kirsanov) "The First of May" (29:21), with Prague Phil Choir  |Sym 14 for soprano, bass, strings, and percussion, Op. 135 (1969) (49:11), with Marina Shaguch, soprano, Mikhail Ryssov, bass.  CD 4—Sym 4 in C Minor, Op. 43 (1936) (64:58 ).  CD 5—Sym 5 in D minor, Op. 47 (1937) (51:20) |Sym 9 in E Flat Major, Op. 70 (1945) (25:27).

I have seen a fair amount of critical commentary about these performances which express disappointment, and attribute the allegedly inferior quality of these performances to a decidedly second rate orchestra, not to the conductor.  IMO, nothing could be further from the truth.  These are superb performances by an orchestra that can hold its own with any in the world, even if it is Prague's second orchestra.  The sound quality is up to modern standards, though it does lack just that last little oomph in the bass that distinguishes the Barshai Brilliant set. 

Of particular note here, IMO, are the performances of Symphonies 1, 5, and 9.  Maxim's take on # 1 is a great deal quieter, more contemplative, and less bombastic than that of most other conductors, but in their stead, he finds an appealing pastoral lyricism.  The 9th has the usually ebuillient first movement, but much of the rest of the work seems fraught with portents of grim things to come which are absent from the performances of many others. And his 5th is altogether magnificent. 

Maxim started on a cycle of the symphonies with Channel Classics in the early 90's, but it was never completed.  I don't know how many CDs they issued, but I have four, and that may be all there is.  One of them was a 5th, coupled with the Festive Overture.  I listened to some of that performance, too, just for comparison, and while it has its merits, the Supraphon performance is, in every sense, to be preferred.  It is tighter, with an almost Szell-like (and, from me, there can be no higher compliment) emphasis on rhythm and pulse, and this despite the fact that the Channel Classics CD, from 1990, was recorded with the LSO, an allegedly much better ensemble than the Prague.  I dispute the accuracy of that conclusion, but there is no doubt that the LSO's reputation is better than that of the Prague Sym Orch.  Timings are closely comparable, except in the Largo (3rd of 4 movements), which is 17:06 in the LSO recording, and  a much faster 14:20 in the Prague performance. 

10. 10/10 Tippett: Piano Sonata 1 (1937, rev. 1942) (19:18 ) |Piano Sonata 2 in one movement (1962) (11:46) |Piano Sonata 3 (1962) (22:30)—Peter Donohoe, piano—Naxos 8.557611. Let me quote the liner notes on the backside of the jewel box.

Tippett's four piano sonatas span a period of nearly 50 years and crystallize important facets of his musical development.  Indeed, listeners might be forgiven for thinking his first 3 sonatas were written by 3 different composers, so different are their styles and musical exploration.  The neo-classical Sonata 1 is, in tippet;s own words, "a young man's work, with all the exuberance of discovery and creation which that commonly implies."  Sonata 2 was written immediately after Tippett's second opera King Priam and is similarly austere and angular.  In contrast, Sonata 3 concentrates on the sonorous capabilities of the instrument opening up new vistas of harmony and color.

And that's about it.  On tap for next week—obviously, the rest of the Shostakovich symphony cycle, and at least a beginning on the Friedrich Gulda set of the Beethoven piano sonatas.

[Peregrine]

You like it, then?

It's more intimate than my top choice (Sveshnikov's very first recording of the work from 1965), and has vastly better sound. The only slight quibble I have is that I'd have preferred a more reverential, pleading performance from the soloist in the 'Bless the Lord, O my soul'.

I recently 'acquired' the Sveshnikov - it's stunning, incredibly emotional music making.

[Mark]

I recently 'acquired' the Sveshnikov - it's stunning, incredibly emotional music making.

Isn't it just? If only the sound had been captured in a slightly more resonant setting - it would've been perfect. 0:)