What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[George]

Mozart
PC
Moravec/Marriner

[Henk]

I think I begin to appreciate late romantic works more. I just enjoyed Mahler's 4th.

[Wanderer]

Same here!   I'm moving next wednesday.
I couldn't believe how many CD's I've accumulated in the last ten years! It's a huge pile of boxes....

Good luck to both of us! 
Thankfully, I haven't had the air-conditioning uninstalled and moved to the new place beforehand; packing while the temperature is in the upper thirties (degrees Celsius) would be rather uncomfortable.

If you think you have to much Que, I will give you my address most willingly.
I can always use more cd's, out of your excellent collection.

Harry, he would still have to pack them. That's the main inconvenience in the whole process. At least for me.   

[pjme]

That's good news Henk! Keeps us posted.
Have you tried Janacek?

[Henk]

That's good news Henk! Keeps us posted.
Have you tried Janacek?

I've listened to already Janacek much, but I don't categorize his work as late-romantic. Do you?

I like his string quartets very much. I want to order this box: .

Do you know it? Is it recommended?

Henk

[mn dave]

[scarpia]

I've listened to already Janacek much, but I don't categorize his work as late-romantic. Do you?

I like his string quartets very much. I want to order this box: .

Do you know it? Is it recommended?

Henk

This set has been brought up recently, I will repeat myself, the Mackerras/VPO selections are top notch.  The rest I'm not familiar with (although I don't know why Decca didn't put in the Schiff recordings that they have available).

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

After a necessary pause I'm now listening to Parts 2 & 3. This work is really incredible and the performance leaves nothing to be desired (I can't compare, I'm judging it purely on its own merits). The Gurrelieder makes me want to explore Schoenberg thoroughly, in toto.

[mn dave]

I doubt anyone here has heard this.

[karlhenning]

After a necessary pause I'm now listening to Parts 2 & 3. This work is really incredible and the performance leaves nothing to be desired (I can't compare, I'm judging it purely on its own merits).

It is a magnificent, intense work!

The Gurrelieder makes me want to explore Schoenberg thoroughly, in toto.

Splendid!  As one who has made a point of seeking out a great deal of Schoenberg's music in the not-too-distant past, I can heartily endorse this impulse.  Only, take pause, and realize that having written the Gurrelieder, Schoenberg does not keep writing that piece over and again.  His oeuvre makes wide strides, and it can seem difficult to follow at times;  but I have found music throughout his career well worth digging into!

[karlhenning]

And now: Zappa, "Revised Music for Guitar & Low-Budget Orchestra" & "RDNZL"

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Splendid!  As one who has made a point of seeking out a great deal of Schoenberg's music in the not-too-distant past, I can heartily endorse this impulse.  Only, take pause, and realize that having written the Gurrelieder, Schoenberg does not keep writing that piece over and again.  His oeuvre makes wide strides, and it can seem difficult to follow at times;  but I have found music throughout his career well worth digging into!

Well, I know quite a lot about Schoenberg already. I have read a lot about him throughout the years, and I 'know' and have Style and Idea. I have listened to several of his pieces and liked them - from Verklärte Nacht to the Second Chamber Symphony and Moses und Aron. But - I never really felt like studying his music, seeing Schoenberg in the whole as an aesthetic fact of the first order. Until now, that is. Schoenberg's intensity was always a bit too much for me. But I'm a big boy now...

[karlhenning]

Excellent, Johan, excellent.

[mn dave]

Wouldn't "big boys" put intensity aside? 

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Wouldn't "big boys" put intensity aside? 

This big boy is serenity incarnate! That's why I think I can deal with Schoenberg's intensity. 

[mn dave]

This big boy is serenity incarnate! That's why I think I can deal with Schoenberg's intensity. 

Bon voyage. 

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Bon voyage. 

Merci beaucoup. 

Just finished listening to Schoenberg's Gurrelieder for the first time. It's an extraordinary work - the variety is staggering, it is several genres telescoped into one, it looks back and it looks forward, the orchestra is immense and handled in the most inventive way imaginable. It really makes me want to reassess 'contemporary' works (temporally and/or ideally) on a similarly massive scale like Mahler's Eighth, Delius's Mass of Life, Brian's Gothic, Foulds's World Requiem, Korngold's Das Wunder der Heliane. Fascinating. The ending of the work is an ecstatic sunrise, but subtly tinged by melancholy (to these ears, at least).

Gielen's performance is excellent. The soloists are good, too. I don't know whether I like tenor Robert Dean Smith's Waldemar, though. His voice seems a bit constricted (although the tessitura of the part is rather high throughout).

[bhodges]

Great that you liked it, Johan!  It's a huge favorite of mine, too.  I've heard it live several times (first with Rattle and Philadelphia, then with Levine and the MET Orchestra). 

Last year when Natalie Dessay had to cancel a MET Orchestra concert, James Levine got Michelle DeYoung to do the "Song of the Wood Dove."  Dessay would have been great, but I liked the substitution even better.  DeYoung has a lustrous, powerful voice (and looks about 9 feet tall  ).  To be honest, sometimes she was slightly obscured by the gigantic ensemble behind her, but offered up some brave, gorgeous singing.

--Bruce

[Moldyoldie]

On yet another virgin voyage...


Sibelius: Lemminkäinen Suite: 4 Legends from the Kalevala;  Tapiola
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
Leif Segerstam, cond.
ONDINE

Incredible sound, as per usual with this outfit.  So far, a most compelling performance.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Great that you liked it, Johan!  It's a huge favorite of mine, too.  I've heard it live several times (first with Rattle and Philadelphia, then with Levine and the MET Orchestra). 

Last year when Natalie Dessay had to cancel a MET Orchestra concert, James Levine got Michelle DeYoung to do the "Song of the Wood Dove."  Dessay would have been great, but I liked the substitution even better.  DeYoung has a lustrous, powerful voice (and looks about 9 feet tall  ).  To be honest, sometimes she was slightly obscured by the gigantic ensemble behind her, but offered up some brave, gorgeous singing.

Lucky you! That must have been quite an experience. After this I must have the score of the Gurrelieder. There is so much going on, I want to see it with my own eyes.