What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[marvinbrown]

 For today I just finished listening to Dvorak Symphonies 5-8, Kubelik and as I am typing this the 9th has just started (A piece I am all too familiar with).  WOW what can I say about symphonies 5-8, these 4 Symphonies are GRAND, exploring a whole host of emotions and musical textures.  The 7th is a masterpiece no doubt and the highlight of 5-8.  The influence of BEETHOVEN is undeniable here, and the Bohemian flavor is ever present.  Of all the complete symphony cycles I have (Mahler, Bruckner, Brahms, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and now Dvorak) I  would say that Dvorak reminded most of Beethoven.

 After the 9th Symphony I will listen to the other orchestral works in the set then I'm off to the serenades (I have both 0p.22 and Op.44) and finally the Cello concerto which from what I have been reading is supposed to be a masterpeice!  

 marvin  

[SonicMan46]

Kapustin, Nikolai (1937-Present) w/ M-A Hamelin on the keyboard; this disc has appeared in these pages before w/ the highest recommendations, so I decided to give the music a try (plus, quite inexpensive in a BMG offer!) - have absolutely no complaints - mixture of classical-jazz piano performed wonderfully by Hamelin; this will not disappoint if you're a piano jazz fan!

Moscheles, Ignaz (1794-1870) - Piano Concertos 4 & 5; Recollections of Ireland w/ Howard Shelley on the ivories & the Tasmanian SO - have the other piano disc w/ same performers; can't seem to get enough of this Hyperion series - all of these releases have been pretty much excellent - 

 

[George]

I have some from that cycle and one CD from Quintana/Harmonia Mundi 1991 (Op. 77 and 103.) I believe that is from the second cycle, no?

I should also clarify. When I say over-resonant and too polished, I mean for my taste, not that they are ridiculously so, just that I like my SQ to sound like they were performed in a small hall as opposed to a medium or large hall. As for the polished comment, I am conflicted because they sound goddamn beautiful! Just too beautiful for me.     

If the quote below is true, then I guess I really have my foot in my mouth:

If you listen to the Festetics' earlier recordings for Hungaroton and Quintana you will hear a radically different sound (much mellower, thanks in part to their being farther from the microphones and recorded in a more resonant acoustic).

So they are one in the same? Then surely they are recorded in different venues or by different engineers?

At any rate, the Hungaroton Op. 9 is some of the most gorgeous and best recorded SQ music I have ever heard.

(Mark, if you see this one, snatch it up)

[Lethevich]

the Cello concerto which from what I have been reading is supposed to be a masterpeice!

It can be phrased as simple as: this is the joint best cello concerto in history, along with Elgar

[Lethevich]

Disc 6

For Bruckner recordings, the one-stop shop is John Berky's site at http://www.abruckner.com -- it has almost everything you could ever need.

Hmm I forgot about using that - silly me. Especially daft considering I visited it earlier to dl this month's archive symphony.

[Brian]

  For today I just finished listening to Dvorak Symphonies 5-8, Kubelik and as I am typing this the 9th has just started (A piece I am all too familiar with).  WOW what can I say about symphonies 5-8, these 4 Symphonies are GRAND, exploring a whole host of emotions and musical textures.  The 7th is a masterpiece no doubt and the highlight of 5-8.  The influence of BEETHOVEN is undeniable here, and the Bohemian flavor is ever present.  Of all the complete symphony cycles I have (Mahler, Bruckner, Brahms, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and now Dvorak) I  would say that Dvorak reminded most of Beethoven.

  After the 9th Symphony I will listen to the other orchestral works in the set then I'm off to the serenades (I have both 0p.22 and Op.44) and finally the Cello concerto which from what I have been reading is supposed to be a masterpeice! 

  marvin 

O to be in your shoes again! Isn't the finale of the Seventh a real firecracker?

Who's playing the cello concerto? ~ a concerto which, to be modest and keep your expectations on a realistic plane, I rank as one of the 10 best works of music I've ever heard.

[...usually I'd say it's in the top five...  ]

[Maciek]

Playing in provincial german orchestras of the time was somewhat rough but they're probably well worth hearing.

I'm no expert on the subject but I read in the memoirs of Henryk Czyż (a Polish conductor) that in the years directly after WWII and for a long time after that the Bamberg orchestra was one of the finest in Europe. The reason being that... [EDIT: the general gist of what followed here was correct but practically all the details were wrong - I've now found the book, and insted of my previous confused recollections I'm giving a direct quote below]

But let us not exaggerate too much [the positive outcomes of conflicts with orchestras]! I have had situations, the mere memory of which gives me goose bumps. For example with the Bamberger Symphoniker, even though it is an excellent orchestra...
As the war drew to an end... among those fleeing the advancing Red Army were musicians from the German opera in Prague. Almost all of them. They stopped for a while in Bamberg. And then the mayor of this town had the idea to make them stay...
He must have been a very musical man. He was so hospitable that they decided to stay - forever... They are today one of the best orchestras in the country.

(What follows is a very funny but long description of a conflict between Czyz and the orchestra - they went on a tournee together, with Bruno Gelber and Gidon Kremer as soloists; the conflict resulted in reviewers raving about "the dramatic tension of the playing, which allowed the musicians to discover unforeseen depths in the pieces" and a "near-absolute precision". One of the reviewers stated that the playing could only be compared to that of the Berliner Philharmoniker, and only on their rare, very best days...)

[Brian]

Marvin has given me a most wonderful idea 

DVORAKATHON
Cello Concerto - Fournier/Szell/Berlin [first movement now playing]
Symphony No 7 - Bernstein/New York
Hussite Overture, Water Goblin - Kubelik/Bavarian Radio
Symphony No 7 - Suitner/Berlin Staatskapelle
Cello Concerto - Rostropovich/Szell/Cleveland

[Drasko]

I'm no expert on the subject but I read in the memoirs of Henryk Czyż (a Polish conductor) that in the years directly after WWII and for a long time after that the Bamberg orchestra was one of the finest in Europe. The reason being that there was some sort of camp in close proximity to Bamberg - after the war many of the people released from that camp (I don't remember if it was a German concentration or death camp, or an American DP camp) decided to stay in Bamberg - for some reason most of them happened to be musicians from various of the best European prewar orchestras. And they were the ones who formed the main body of the Bamberg SO.

http://www.bamberger-symphoniker.de/orchester.html?&L=1

[Maciek]

Ha.

[Solitary Wanderer]

Discs.1. Requiem

[Don]

Marvin has given me a most wonderful idea 

DVORAKATHON
Cello Concerto - Fournier/Szell/Berlin [first movement now playing]
Symphony No 7 - Bernstein/New York
Hussite Overture, Water Goblin - Kubelik/Bavarian Radio
Symphony No 7 - Suitner/Berlin Staatskapelle
Cello Concerto - Rostropovich/Szell/Cleveland

I'll second this one, but I'm going to listen to every Piano Quintet, Op. 81 that I own and those I can find on the Naxos Music Library site.

[Don]

Currently listening to Aho's Quintet for Oboe and Strings. Aho has been a great discovery for me over the past few months.  I really love the atmospheres he creates and his splendid mix of lyricism and dissonace.

[Brian]

Don, that's a great plan and a great new avatar.

Aaa! Just discovered I don't have the Water Goblin on my computer. New Plan:

DVORAKATHON
Cello Concerto - Fournier/Szell/Berlin
Symphony No 7 - Bernstein/New York [third movement now playing]
Othello, Noonday Witch, Wood Dove - Kubelik/Bavarian Radio
Symphony No 7 - Suitner/Berlin Staatskapelle
Cello Concerto - Rostropovich/Szell/Cleveland

[Mark]

(Mark, if you see this one, snatch it up)

Sorry, George. I've lost track of what it is I should be looking out for.

[Drasko]

[Don]

Don, that's a great plan and a great new avatar.

I've always had a warm spot for spontaneous romance.

[marvinbrown]

Marvin has given me a most wonderful idea 

DVORAKATHON
Cello Concerto - Fournier/Szell/Berlin [first movement now playing]
Symphony No 7 - Bernstein/New York
Hussite Overture, Water Goblin - Kubelik/Bavarian Radio
Symphony No 7 - Suitner/Berlin Staatskapelle
Cello Concerto - Rostropovich/Szell/Cleveland

  Every now and then I tend to have that effect on people  !!  That Dvorakathon Schedule sounds delightful. As I am writing this I am close to 5 minutes into the  Dvorak's Scherzo Capriccioso-  Happy Listening!!

  marvin

[Fëanor]

Great music and performance to my humble ear.  I'm listening to this SACD in multi-channel.

If you don't have multi-channel capability to hear recordings like this, then eat your heart out! because M/C can provide a sense of concert hall realism that stereo simply cannot -- you move from back of the hall to front orchestra.  Wow

[Lilas Pastia]

http://www.bamberger-symphoniker.de/orchester.html?&L=1

Thanks, Milos! This orchestra has a long recording history (post WWII of course). I recall one of my earliest lps was an Heliodor pairing of the two Peer Gynt suites from the late fifties. It was obvious even for the untrained ear that this was a superb sounding group, with creamy woodwinds and velvety strings.
Its history brings to mind the very similar story of the Philharmonia Hungarica, which unfortunately has not survived.