What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Harry]

Health, love & happiness to all!


Francois Couperin.
Complete Chamberworks, Volume IV.
Le Gouts-reunis ou Nouveaux Concerts.
Musica ad Rhenum, Jed Wentz.

Good music to start the morning with.

[RussellG]

1956:

[Florestan]

Health, love & happiness to all!

And to you the same, Harry!

Thread duty:



Symphony no. 2

Review here.

[jlaurson]

For breakfast:


Bach
Cantatas vol.5
Disc 4  
Koopmann, Erato/Challenge



Bach
Cantatas vol.4
Disc 2 (Coffee Cantata)  
Koopmann, Erato/Challenge

and now, fresh from what the cat dragged in:


Mahler
"Four Movements"*  
P.Jarvi, Frankfurt RSO
Virgin 50999 2165762 7

* the four movements are:
Totenfeier (Sy.2, 1st mvt., original version, possibly planned to be a stand alone tone poem)
Adagio - Sy.10
Blumine (orig. part of "Der Titan", orig. version of Sy.1)
What the wild flowers tell me (arr. for small orchestra from Sy.3, B.Britten.)

[Harry]

Schubert.
Complete Piano Sonatas, Volume IV.
A flat major D 557.
B major D 575.
G major D 894.
Andras Schiff, Piano.

Again it is missing personality, and is at times carelessly played.

[val]

SCHUBERT:     Winterreise           / Hans Hotter, Raucheisen     (DG, 1943)

One of the first recordings of this masterpiece and in excellent technical conditions. Hotter has a remarkable diction and seems more concerned with the phrasing and intelligibility of the text, than with the dramatic expression.
There are very good moments in this recording. "Frühlingstraum" is perhaps the best.

[val]

Harry
Schubert.
Complete Piano Sonatas, Volume IV.
A flat major D 557.
B major D 575.
G major D 894.
Andras Schiff, Piano.

Again it is missing personality, and is at times carelessly played.

I agree with you, Harry. I was very disappointed with Schiff. His version of the Sonata D 850 is very superficial.

[Harry]

I agree with you, Harry. I was very disappointed with Schiff. His version of the Sonata D 850 is very superficial.

Yes, I think I will remove it from my collection.

[Harry]

Another composer that I admire very much, and although these are not really good performances, we have to do with them. As such I think Symphony No 6, second movement mightily impressive, and it must be said impressively played at times by the Moscow SO strings,

[awe]

Schiff's Schubert is really excellent, in my opinion. Among its major strengths is his sense of structure. It's never primarily about this or that phrase, passage, modulation etc as such. He seems to seek out the theme and meaning of the entire sonata - and all the elements, be it melody, harmony or rhythm, are only there to serve this higher purpose. His style of playing is perhaps the least flashy of all the big names on the scene today, and he conceals his considerable technique well. But make no mistake, it's all there.

[Harry]

Schiff's Schubert is really excellent, in my opinion. Among its major strengths is his sense of structure. It's never primarily about this or that phrase, passage, modulation etc as such. He seems to seek out the theme and meaning of the entire sonata - and all the elements, be it melody, harmony or rhythm, are only there to serve this higher purpose. His style of playing is perhaps the least flashy of all the big names on the scene today, and he conceals his considerable technique well. But make no mistake, it's all there.

I am glad you like the way Schiff approaches Schubert, unfortunately it is not my cup of soup.

[The new erato]

You drink soup from cups? Seems messy.

[Que]

My order of two box sets on Cantus came in several days ago. (So, Spanish online retailer Gaudisc is hereby recommended!)
And I'm revelling, really revelling in this superb rendition of Machaut:



Good morning!

Q

[DavidRoss]

Schiff's Schubert is really excellent, in my opinion. Among its major strengths is his sense of structure. It's never primarily about this or that phrase, passage, modulation etc as such. He seems to seek out the theme and meaning of the entire sonata - and all the elements, be it melody, harmony or rhythm, are only there to serve this higher purpose. His style of playing is perhaps the least flashy of all the big names on the scene today, and he conceals his considerable technique well. But make no mistake, it's all there.

Thank you, awe, and welcome to GMG!

[awe]

There are many excellent ways of playing Schubert's piano sonatas. Of course, most great pianists play/have played them, as these are some of the finest sonatas ever written. And we do need several and varied interpretations of the masterpieces to get to know them better. Lupu is another firm recommendation, as is Pollini, S. Richter (who approached Schubert very differently during the span of his career), Kempff and others.

And I cherish my collection of Karajan recordings, Harry. Thank you, DavidRoss.  

[The new erato]

Welcome, newbie!   

[jlaurson]

Lutoslawski, Dalbavie
Piano Concertos   
"Shadows of Silence"
L.O.Andsnes, F.Welser-Moest, Bavarian RSO
EMI 50999 2 64182 2 3

Would hate to see this thing be buried in the "Various, Pianists" section of a store (are there still any?). It's a two composer CD with two generous boni by other composers.
I am rather enchanted.

[bhodges]

Jens, that CD looks absolutely terrific.  Have been hearing a lot of Dalbavie in the last couple of years--enjoyed all of it--and how great to have another version of the Lutoslawski.  And for the "fillers," don't know Sorensen, but Kurtág is certainly one of my favorite 3-4 living composers.  

Many thanks for the post, and will be eager to hear your impressions.  

--Bruce

[George]

5th Symphony

I loved the transparency and power of this recording. I heard things (entire phrases in spots) in this symphony that I had never heard before. One thing I also noticed, perhaps because of the faster tempos the overall structure was more apparent, was that the last 1/3 or so of the fourth movement really goes on and on and on. When you think you are at the final chords, it just keeps going. I also recalled that I have always loved the first movement a great deal more than the rest of the work. I think it was written better, with a tight sense of form missing in the other movements. I realize I sound like a newbie who only listens to the "hits," but I have tried numerous times to enjoy this entire symphony and each time I notice that my enjoyment drops after the first movement. I should mention that I don't have this experience with many of his other works that contain famous movements, such as the Pastoral symphony or the Moonlight Sonata.  

[Harry]

Egon Wellesz.

Symphony No. 1 opus 62.
Symphony No. 8 opus 110.
Symphonischer Epilog, opus 108.

Radio Symphonieorchester Wien, Gottfried Rabl

The first Symphony immediately confirmes the enormous creative output of this composer. Forcefull, decisive, packed within a tightly orchestrated framework. It is well performed and recorded.