What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Wanderer]

Is it a large collection Tasos, what you have from Beethoven?

Not many things with me at the moment, no, most of it is at home in Athens. Beethoven is one of my top favourite composers, so naturally I have amassed a noteworthy number of recordings over the years, including DG's "complete" edition that was issued some years back. It goes without saying that I constantly keep adding to the lot (lately, I've got my eye on Vänskä's recordings of the symphonies and on that Masur cycle Karl likes so much:-).

[Que]

Q

[johnQpublic]

Marschner - Overture to "Der Templer und die Judin" (Walter/Marco Polo)
Schubert - Konzertstuck, D.345 (Zukerman/Philips)
Schumann - Carnaval (Arrau/Philips)
Strauss - Symphonic Fragments from "Die Liebe der Danae" (Mehta/Sony)

[Bogey]

Good morning.

[Harry]

Not many things with me at the moment, no, most of it is at home in Athens. Beethoven is one of my top favourite composers, so naturally I have amassed a noteworthy number of recordings over the years, including DG's "complete" edition that was issued some years back. It goes without saying that I constantly keep adding to the lot (lately, I've got my eye on Vänskä's recordings of the symphonies and on that Masur cycle Karl likes so much:-).

Vanska is also a option for me, seeing the good reviews, and a few members that are estatic about them, but Old Fellow Masur with his plodding heavy handed Beethoven, nah that is totally so not a option. Never did like the recordings Masur made, not in the past, not now!

[Harry]

Q

Dear Que, I would plead for a thorough review, for I have my eyes on those ones too.....

[George]

Beethoven.
Piano Trio, opus 70, No. 1, in D major.
Seraphin Trio.

Well I can be short about this my friends.

No need to belittle yourself. 

[Florestan]

Never did like the recordings Masur made, not in the past, not now!

IMHO, the live recordings he made with Gilels and the State Symphony Orchestra of USSR (issued by Brilliant) are very good.

[Harry]

IMHO, the live recordings he made with Gilels and the State Symphony Orchestra of USSR (issued by Brilliant) are very good.

I do not doubt that Andrei, but he is simply not a conductor that makes me happy.
It has often to do with the tempi, and blandness of interpretation.
But hey, for all I know, my ears are badly attuned.
I am happy for you that you like him, and many others do agree with you, so don't mind me.....

[Harry]

No need to belittle yourself. 

Okay George, I will not.
You can be so lucid some times......

[bhodges]

Do you have any suggestions for a DVD version of Otello?  I would love to see it...

Domingo has been recorded in this three times, I believe, but I've only seen this one, which is excellent.  Fleming and Morris are superb, too.



--Bruce

[hautbois]

I watched a tv broadcast of the new year's eve performance of the Choral Fantasy, with Ozawa, Lang Lang, and the China Philharmonic. It strucked me hard how much extra time Lang Lang was taking in certain sections, in fact, there was so much time stolen and not given
back, that i am probably qualified to say that it was a bit more than usual self indulgence. And those awful awful vocal soloists...don't haunt my dreams please! The orchestra was actually quite excellent, though somewhat lacking in detailed phrasing.

I took the liberty of reminding myself and borrowed from the conservatory library Harnoncourt and Aimard's rendition. Not only did it rekinder my passion towards the work which i discovered years ago, through a bootlegged download on which the performers were unknown, it was also one of the most satisfying performances of Beethoven's music i have heard, period.

The Choral Fantasy was pure pleasure from the very beginning till the end. There was beauty, exuberance, and just plain excitement when necessary, but there was never self indulgence and it was always a collaboration, and not a struggle to show that it was more like a piano concerto! (Which was apparent with you know who.) Tempi choices were perfect, at least for my taste, because it was always flowing, and never a stagnant moment there was! There is no doubt about it, Aimard is one of the best pianists in the world right now and Harnoncourt has still, something fresh to show to us everytime he records (this was recorded in 2003-4). In the Rondo for piano and orchestra, Aimard was simply brilliant. No harm in putting a bit more virtuosity in here, as it was such a nice filler for the album.

I didn't remember the triple concerto so well, Karajan's legendary recording with Richter/Oistrakh/Rostropovich was the only recording i have ever heard personally. My impression was that it was a well written work, and the Berliners together with the all star cast were working very hard and produced a quite satisfying interpretation, very present, full of Mendelssohn like bravura, and what a great sound! On to the Harnoncourt, i was shown a quite remarkably different point of view, and oh yeah it was a damn good one. Hagen and Zehetmair had the flare of being experts in pre-romantic music and it wasn't difficult to hear why. There was so much clarity in their playing, and there was no extra ordinary gestures that sometimes disrupted the flow of the music, and it didnt hurt to have less or no vibrato at all at moments and in fact there were magical moments because of this very reason. All 3 soloists were seamlessly connected to each other and lines were never overpowering anyone else in any way, well, maybe thanks to the magic of editing?

Highly recommended for those who haven't heard it, yet.   Sorry for the over long post!

Howard

[orbital]

Fiorentino Edition III with Scriabin 1st and 4th,  and Rachmaninov 1st sonatas. I originally got this one for the Scriabin but it made me realize the often overlooked Rachmaninov sonata which is the real plus on this CD IMO.

[Brian]

Not exactly my usual listening, as I am not (yet) an oboe fan and don't know any of this music, except for the Flight of the Bumblebee, which seems to plague all virtuoso CDs. So far so good, however! 

[Brian]

Hey Brian, how many Dvorak 7ths are you up to now? 

Oh, I only own two, school library has 4 or 5 more ... 

Moving on to this disc, which for whatever reason is immensely appealing to me, even after just a minute or two:



What awesome stuff! 

[ChamberNut]

I watched a tv broadcast of the new year's eve performance of the Choral Fantasy, with Ozawa, Lang Lang, and the China Philharmonic. It strucked me hard how much extra time Lang Lang was taking in certain sections, in fact, there was so much time stolen and not given
back, that i am probably qualified to say that it was a bit more than usual self indulgence. And those awful awful vocal soloists...don't haunt my dreams please! The orchestra was actually quite excellent, though somewhat lacking in detailed phrasing.

I took the liberty of reminding myself and borrowed from the conservatory library Harnoncourt and Aimard's rendition. Not only did it rekinder my passion towards the work which i discovered years ago, through a bootlegged download on which the performers were unknown, it was also one of the most satisfying performances of Beethoven's music i have heard, period.

The Choral Fantasy was pure pleasure from the very beginning till the end. There was beauty, exuberance, and just plain excitement when necessary, but there was never self indulgence and it was always a collaboration, and not a struggle to show that it was more like a piano concerto! (Which was apparent with you know who.) Tempi choices were perfect, at least for my taste, because it was always flowing, and never a stagnant moment there was! There is no doubt about it, Aimard is one of the best pianists in the world right now and Harnoncourt has still, something fresh to show to us everytime he records (this was recorded in 2003-4). In the Rondo for piano and orchestra, Aimard was simply brilliant. No harm in putting a bit more virtuosity in here, as it was such a nice filler for the album.

I didn't remember the triple concerto so well, Karajan's legendary recording with Richter/Oistrakh/Rostropovich was the only recording i have ever heard personally. My impression was that it was a well written work, and the Berliners together with the all star cast were working very hard and produced a quite satisfying interpretation, very present, full of Mendelssohn like bravura, and what a great sound! On to the Harnoncourt, i was shown a quite remarkably different point of view, and oh yeah it was a damn good one. Hagen and Zehetmair had the flare of being experts in pre-romantic music and it wasn't difficult to hear why. There was so much clarity in their playing, and there was no extra ordinary gestures that sometimes disrupted the flow of the music, and it didnt hurt to have less or no vibrato at all at moments and in fact there were magical moments because of this very reason. All 3 soloists were seamlessly connected to each other and lines were never overpowering anyone else in any way, well, maybe thanks to the magic of editing?

Highly recommended for those who haven't heard it, yet.   Sorry for the over long post!

Howard

Howard,

I have this CD as well.  Very pleased to hear you enjoy it.  I LOVE the Choral Fantasy on this one.  It is envigorating.  I'm a big fan of Harnoncourt's Beethoven works.  I also have the Beethoven Aimard/Harnoncourt piano concertos.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

What is that beautiful painting on the cover, Brian?

[Brian]

What is that beautiful painting on the cover, Brian?

Dolo on the Brenta, by Canaletto (also known as Giovanni Antonio Canal; 1697 - 1768)

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Dolo on the Brenta, by Canaletto (also known as Giovanni Antonio Canal; 1697 - 1768)

Ah! I should have known - I have a whole book about him. 

Thanks!

[Harry]

Domingo has been recorded in this three times, I believe, but I've only seen this one, which is excellent.  Fleming and Morris are superb, too.



--Bruce

I simply love your new Avatar......