What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Harry]

Thank you Lethe.

Now then....
A fellow in The Netherlands kindly sent me this - I'm not big on music pre 170, but I'm finding I like Handel more and more.  Thanks Harry, these are just great.

I am happy that you like them John!

[Sergeant Rock]

oooooOOOOOOoooo!

Levi paces the Blumine really nicely...very slow and dreamy. I'm in the minority, I know, but I think Mahler made a mistake when he removed it. The original five movement version makes the symphony seem more related to the symphonies that came after: the five movement Resurrection; the six movement Third.

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Thanks to Drasko, I'm listening to Dvorak's Cello Concerto with Rostropovich, Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra; a concert at Severance Hall on May 8th, 1969.

Sarge

[mahler10th]

"It's called Blumine or something...which is something to do with flowers."
Eugene Ormandy

[not edward]

The Jean Sibelius Quartet playing two Sallinen quartets: the 4th 'Quiet Songs' and 5th 'Pieces of Mosaic'. Impressive works, and to my mind considerably meatier than the 3rd (surely the only Sallinen quartet to have any sort of profile whatsoever).

[Keemun]

[FideLeo]

Just put the first disc on - judgeing form the opening number, this is probably the most urgent, passionate performance of this Passion-Oratorio I have heard on disc this far, all the while on a most intimate scale of one vocalist per part.  Hence 10 singers at the maximum (6 concertists 2 sopranos-unison-in-repieno, Evangelist, Jesus).  The singers' German pronunciation is so literal though (prominent glottal sounds etc.), it may irritate listeners that are used to singing in more operatic styles.   The recits sound very exciting and dramatic (noisy? ) as a result, though.   Pacing is really well done to usher in and to balance different chorale, recitatif and concerted numbers.  The conductor John Butt has thus chosen not so much to linger on each detail but instead to articulate an overall sense of sequence in either part (Part I anyway as I have proceeded so far).  

Update: I am deep into Part II now, close to the great bass aria, "Komm, susses Kreuz" -- the obbligato gamba playing is great, and so is the bass-baritone voice, which has some uncommon phrasings on offer here.   One thing that Butt's interpretation draws attention to, and rightly so in my opinion, is how Bach's music flows in exactly the same way as the words to which it is set.  

FL

ps. In comparison, McCreesh's first ever OVPP recording of SMP now sounds quite placid and cautious in its unfolding of (musical) events.    

pps. John Butt has chosen to record Bach's last known performing version c. 1742.  This may or may not be a coincidence as he also chose to record Handel's Messiah in its first Dublin version, 1742.  

[Haffner]

Like it!

[FideLeo]

Like it!

Like the Boulez better! 

[Keemun]

Like the Boulez better! 

I don't have the Boulez's DG release, but I do have an incredible live, unreleased recording with the same lineup.  I haven't decided on a favorite recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 2, but these are at the top of my list:  Bernstein/NYPO, Klemperer/Philharmonia and Mehta/VPO. 

[Haffner]

Like the Boulez better! 

That's a good 'un.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Brian: Symphony No 30
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Jason Lai (conductor)

One of the most cogent and powerful of Brian's late symphonies, written when he was 91. Inspiring stuff!

[Henk]

[orbital]

Berezovksy Recital at the Auditorium in Louvre from June 2007.
Excellent performances of the b minor scherzo and the 3rd sonata of Chopin, the Polonaise-Fantasie  barely makes it from the edge of the cliff

[Kullervo]

Tonight: Milhaud - Six Petites Symphonies (Kontarsky/Orch. Radio Lux.)
            Mozart - Clarinet Quintet (Emerson QT/Shifrin)

[Lilas Pastia]

Dipping my toe into Norbutaité. Not convinced 100% by the string quartets, but the orchestral works command attention. More exposure is required.

Czerny symhonies 2, 5 and 6. All thoroughly professional and enjoyable, but I retain an especial affection for # 1, with its more striking melodic invention. 5 and 1 are played in a HIP way, although on modern instruments. The best of both worlds IMO.

Mozart Gran Partita K361: more listening to the Collegium Aureum recording. Patience brought rewards as I now find this conductorless version to have an extremely natural pacing and beautiful contouring. The various 'conducted' versions allow the exchange of phrases to sound more 'cohesive', in the sense that not a milli-second is lost in the phrasing. However the sense of open air, relaxed entertainment perforce takes second place. Other conductorless versions have great merits (the Philidors esp.) but this one has a special sense of gemütlichkeit which ought to be part and parcel of the music.
Much recommended. But where, oh! where is that first Collegium Aureum version? 

[Bonehelm]

I don't have the Boulez's DG release, but I do have an incredible live, unreleased recording with the same lineup.  I haven't decided on a favorite recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 2, but these are at the top of my list:  Bernstein/NYPO, Klemperer/Philharmonia and Mehta/VPO. 

Hey Keemun, what's your thought on Mehta's 1st movement? I say the beginning is too fast...but then the finale was incredible...

[toledobass]

Golijov's Ayre


Allan

[Harry]

"Nun Gruss dich Gott, mein feine Krott"
South German Composers around 1500.
Freiburger Spielleyt, on period instruments.

A most excellent compilation of fine songs, well played and performed. It gives a realistic insight of the music of those days, and that is fascinating.

[Harry]

This cd is one of the many I purchased from this label over the last months or so, for they budgeted the price down from 19,95 euro's to 4,99, so that is quite a drop for these fantastical releases of this label, comparable to the label Accent. Almost everyone of those cd's I purchased is a gem of great worth to me, as are these "Maria Motets". So well sung and recorded, that it is constantly in my player at all hours. When I could not sleep last night, and had to wake and help, due to illness befalling my wife, the Stabat Mater from Josquin Desprez, gave me some hope and consolation in the middle of the night, with voices that float almost through the air, like images from the past, brittle as my wives health, but also luminous, and almost from another plain of existence, well...