What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Dundonnell]

Symphony No.2 in f-minor (1900)
Beautifully tuneful full-fledged romantic piece, at turns vigorous and nostalgic. Know next to nothing of composer, it says he was titled Cesar Franck of Brittany but to me symphony is more reminiscent of russian romantics than french, echoes of Tchaikovsky in the Scherzo, melancholic Adagio with prominent horn solos of Borodin. All in all quite enjoyable. Short clip here.
5th Symphony made lesser impression initially, but will give it another go.

edit: written in 1900 not 1990

Nice to see another Ropartz convert

[Dancing Divertimentian]

The more I listen to Dohnanyi's partial Ring cycle the more I like it. Dohnanyi's take is more, for lack of a better term, 'modern' than some, with textures that have a "neatly tucked and folded" quality to them, but boldly highlighted by streaks of color to set it all alight.

Actually just take a look at the cover (below) and you'll find a pretty good snapshot of what it all might "sound like".

The singing is in keeping with the overall concept: honed, tight, never overheating (which could smear those carefully sculpted colors), yet still passionate.

It's a pretty good balancing act by Dohnanyi - keeping the romantic fire lit within a framework of modern sensibilities. Makes me wonder what he might have accomplished had he been allowed to finish his cycle.

 

[ChamberNut]

Vaughan Williams

Symphony No.1, A Sea Symphony

Margaret Marshall - soprano
Stephen Roberts - baritone

London Symphony Chorus
The Philahmonia
Richard Hickox

Virgin Classics

[The new erato]

This is a great disc of what I can imagine being the best piano music to be written post Shostakovich op 87.

[ChamberNut]

Beethoven

String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131

Quartetto Italiano
Philips

[The new erato]

Yea....some good stuff there erato, though uneven!
Shosta's op.87 is very patchy too.
Messiaen's Catalogue Oiseaux has newly discovered things.
Boulez & Stockhausen have great piano pieces.
And check out Franco Donatoni's Francoise Variations  AMAZING!

Thank you - Donatoni is well beyond the limits of my experience.

Now playing:

[mahler10th]

Oh yes, you should definitely investigate Rautavaara's music, John!! And much of it can now be obtained cheaply in the ongoing Naxos series with the RSNO-by and large, good to very good performances.

I would recommend the Symphony No.3-which when I first heard it made me catch my breath in amazement thinking that I had put a Bruckner symphony into my machine by mistake and Symphonies Nos. 7-9 which are typical of later Rautavaara-warm, romantic, beautiful music which envelops one in a marvellous sound world. The Violin Concerto, Flute Concerto, "Isle of Bliss" and any works with the word "Angels" in its title
are all very worth hearing.
Not 'demanding' music in any way(which has led some to be critical or dismissive of the composer) but he is far too fine a craftsman to be lumped with some other contemporary composers who have opted for neo-romanticism.

Corey: Dundonnell said it better than I could as I am only familiar with this disc, but these two pieces have an accessible "top level" that is immediately appealing, but there are many things bubbling underneath this shiny surface that keep it from being facile and boring. I will definitely get the rest of the cycle.

Thank you very much fellows.  Quite clearly I'm  missing out on something special, and with performances by my own home band!!  I'll get on to it over the next few days.  Much appreciated.

[Que]

Q

[Catison]

Imminent? 

oops.  "Eminem"ent 

[Opus106]

Q

Any info on the dude on the cover, Que?

[Keemun]

Mahler: Symphony No. 6 (MTT/SFS).  The thread on Mahler's 6th put me in the mood to listen to this. 

[Catison]

Eduard Tubin - Symphony No. 10
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Punkte
Toru Takemitsu - Mystere
Charles Wuorinen - Mass

Do you catch the theme?

[Que]

Any info on the dude on the cover, Que?

He is Prince Karl Alois Lichnowsky, the dedicatee of the Pathétique.

Q

[Subotnick]

Some of my recent purchases arrived today, including this one which I'm quite excited about. A whole disc of works by Holst that are entirely new to me! 



TTFN.
Me.

[Henk]

[UB]

I have spent the afternoon going through files of recorded radio concerts and listening to shorter works that looked interesting.

Glowicka, Katarzyna - Autumn Concerto – Not very interesting
Serge Nigg - Visages d'Axël – Beautiful
Otto Ketting – Chamber Concerto – The trumpets have some really good parts.
James MacMillan – 7 Last Words – One of my favorite works by this composer.
Gerdjan Eldering - Cygnus  - A work for solo cello. OK but not something I will go back to.
Dorothé Hahne - Restzeit  - A short work for violin and electronics. It works well with the electronics providing a forward movement and the solo violin providing contrast. Worth revisiting.
Isabel Mundry - Spiegel Bilder for clarinet and accordion. Not too many works written for this combination but it works here.
Rihm - Akt for Mezzo-soprano and String Quartet – 2006 premiere of this excellent work. The voice is the fifth instrument in this work. At first it is hard to realize that the soprano is singing along with the quiet strings.

[Bogey]

Beethoven

String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131

Quartetto Italiano
Philips

Love 'em for Mozart SQ's.  What's your call for their LvB effort here?

[Drasko]

[Symphonien]

Eduard Tubin - Symphony No. 10
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Punkte
Toru Takemitsu - Mystere
Charles Wuorinen - Mass

Do you catch the theme?

Enlighten me!

Right now: Prokofiev Sonata No. 6 (Boris Berman)

[Lethevich]

Listened to Pettersson 6 during a night walk - odd how it makes you look over your shoulder every now and again