What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[madaboutmahler]

Fine, GMG. Just MAKE me listen to this composer for the first time!

Which pieces did you listen to, and what did you think, Brian?

[North Star]

Fine, GMG. Just MAKE me listen to this composer for the first time!

Hopefully not for the last time too, Brian 
Do tell us your first impressions.


Thread duty:

Nielsen
Symphony no. 2. Op. 16 'Four Temperaments'
Michael Schønwandt & Danish National Symphony Orchestra

[Brian]

Which pieces did you listen to, and what did you think, Brian?

Hekla and the elegy for strings. Surprisingly, I was more impressed by the elegy: for many stretches of Hekla it seems like Leifs forgot he had strings and woodwinds at his disposal, but a lot of the effects are fantastic and the last 3-4 minutes are thrilling. I do think the performance is a bit 'hollow,' that is, I'd want to hear a bigger, more commanding orchestra play this music. If I had ten million dollars and a record label, it would be Edward Gardner and the Chicago Symphony...

[Brian]

After a brief detour to Gardner conducting Lutoslawski, I cave in to GMG fashion once again: Prokathon!

[Mirror Image]

Hekla and the elegy for strings. Surprisingly, I was more impressed by the elegy: for many stretches of Hekla it seems like Leifs forgot he had strings and woodwinds at his disposal, but a lot of the effects are fantastic and the last 3-4 minutes are thrilling. I do think the performance is a bit 'hollow,' that is, I'd want to hear a bigger, more commanding orchestra play this music. If I had ten million dollars and a record label, it would be Edward Gardner and the Chicago Symphony...

I think Leifs knew exactly what he was doing with the orchestra and wrote the way he did to give a sense of a vast, open-world. The BIS recordings are uniformly excellent and boost superb audio quality. I always have to ask what equipment are you using to listen to music, Brian? This could be apart of the problem. Leifs isn't meant for computer speakers. His music has large dynamic range and that's to be expected considering Hekla alone calls for 19 percussionists. The Iceland SO play the music with all their might I think.

Edward Gardner and the CSO? No thanks or just not in Leifs' music anyway. I'm thinking Segerstam with the Danish National Radio Symphony would be incredible.

[Fafner]

WAGNER - Siegfried
Boulez/Chereau DVD

[asin]B0009F2EPU[/asin]

[jlaurson]

I hadn't noticed - good catch. Though, with other such discs on Amazon, the used discs have turned out to be the original pressings. Or perhaps I just got lucky (after all, only done it a few times like that).

You can tell very easily from the blue/powder-blue frame around the cover. That's that company's thing. Pertains to many (mostly) Sony/RCA releases that Sony doesn't release in the US. Even new releases, mind you, like Gerhaher's "Hanging Gardens". http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2013/01/best-recordings-of-2012-3.html

Glazunov: Symphony No. 3 In D Major, Op. 33
Been working my way through this set the last couple of days - its pretty nice, just pleasant unchallenging music  0:) 

Yeah... that shouldn't be your only response. :-) I'll dare say that by anyone really into Glazunov, the composer is overrated, but he's better than that and as pointed out, Serebrier is the obvious choice to show that. (Some of the Naxos releases are quite fine, too.)

I'm usually not very keen on fusion but a bunch of reviews led me to giving this a try
and it's not bad. Some latino here, some Reich (actually A LOT) there, some nice tunes and rhythms, some not.. most of the time, it's fun, albeit rather forgettable. Shame that the most interesting music happens in the first two minutes.

Robert R. Reilly ("Surprised by Beauty") about Golijov's Passion: "I cannot salsa down the via dolorosa."

-

Thread duty:

This morning and now again:


Giovanni Antonio Guido
The Four Seasons
The Band of Instruments
divine
German link - UK link
Europe only, so far.


Guido's Four Seasons have had one other outing, on CPO in 2004... where I missed it or ignored it... it's played like the dickens (judging by clips) but it is also most severely abridged.

Then:


John Cage
"Journeys in Sound"
A Film by Allan Miller and Paul Smaczny
accentus DVD & Blu-ray
German link - UK link

Terrific, terrific, terrific. Touching, funny, entertaining, informative, and educational. A real joy to watch for anyone even remotely

Later today:


Anton Bruckner
Symphony No.4
Dannyboy / Staatskapelle Berlin

accentus DVD & Blu-ray
German link - UK link

The first time I have really dug a Barenboim Bruckner performance; some of the brashness of his Chicago account is still in his Fourth, but it sounds much less self-serving. Strangely, the orchestra--except for a gaggle of delighted (accident-free) horns--looks afterwards as if they had just returned from a funeral. (Then again, maybe that's the German facial expression for happy-fun-time.)

[Brian]

I always have to ask what equipment are you using to listen to music, Brian? This could be apart of the problem.

Ya got me there. I'm at work, so I'm listening via super-cheap headphones over Naxos Music Library.

[Sadko]

Héraclius Djabadary

Works for piano:
- Lied
- Caprice
- Les moments vécus - Guiguitte / Reminiscences / A.E.K. Enigme / Sur la tombe de Barczy Marguit
- Caprice 'M.D. seule'
- Nocturne

Works for cello and piano
- Regrets
- Variations sur un chant hongrois

Gérard Nougarol (piano)
Pierre Strauch (cello)

Very beautiful!

[Mirror Image]

Ya got me there. I'm at work, so I'm listening via super-cheap headphones over Naxos Music Library.

Yeah, that's not going to give you a good sense of the music.

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Symphony No. 1. A hell of a first symphony. Awesome. I've always loved Magnard's symphonic cycle. The Ossonce are my preferred performances of these symphonies.

[TheGSMoeller]

Speaking of headphones, was nearly rocked out of my socks last night listening to Kleiber's 4th on my "good" headphones, spectacular sound, felt like I was sitting directly in the middle of the orchestra. (Should have been posted in the "listened to last night" thread)

[Karl Henning]

Robert R. Reilly ("Surprised by Beauty") about Golijov’s Passion: “I cannot salsa down the via dolorosa.”

Thank you.

[prémont]

Gaspard Fritz. ( 1716-1783)

Sinfonias.



A really enjoyable well performed and recorded disc, from a unknown composer, but well worth having. Its a new release by CPO which I got for free. ( Anybody else)

Yes, I did two days ago. Haven´t heard it yet.

[classicalgeek]

Started off with some Mozart, beautifully done in what might now be called the 'old school' way:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony no. 35 in D major, K 385
Cleveland Orchestra
George Szell, conductor




Followed by an exciting, if erratic, performance of a Stravinsky masterpiece:

Igor Stravinsky
Les Noces (in German!  )
Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra; soloists and chorus not named (just as well - they leave a lot to be desired, especially the men)
Herbert Kegel, conductor




Now on to Michelangeli in the Brahms op. 10 Ballades - very nice!

[Conor71]

Quote from: The new erato on January 23, 2013, 07:33:25 PM

Glazunovs symphonies are not blazingly great music, but you might consider the fact that you find them unchallenging might be related to the performances. I always found Glazunov mostly (violin concerto excepted) dull until I heard a BBC magazine disc of a symphony (haven't the data here) and then invested in a single Serebrier dic, which quickly led me to buy the whole Serebrier box (which I admittedly haven't listened to in full yet, due to lack time).

Sure, maybe I might find the Serbier more exciting but as I said to Harry im happy with the Otaka set and have no plans to seek out new performances of these works at the moment. When I describe any music as unchallenging its not a criticism - I am just saying that I find the music easy to listen to (which is something I always appreciate)

[Conor71]

Glazunov: Symphony No. 4 In Eb Major, Op. 48
Now playing Disc 4 of this box - good stuff!

[Karl Henning]

Дмитри Дмитриевич [ Dmitri Dmitriyevich (Shostakovich) ]
Prelude & Fugue in d minor, Op.87 № 24
The composer playing

[asin]B0000AF1NA[/asin]

[Karl Henning]

Дмитри Дмитриевич [ Dmitri Dmitriyevich (Shostakovich) ]
Prelude & Fugue in d minor, Op.87 № 24
Константин Александрович [ Konstantin Aleksandrovich (Shcherbakov) ]

[asin]B000050XA2[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Symphony No. 6. Fantastic performance. I've forgotten how much I enjoy this Ozawa cycle.