What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Coopmv]

Now playing CD7 from this set.  The choral and soloists performances are uniformly excellent - very nice harmony indeed.

[listener]

Re Daphnis and Chloë   there's a Denon CD which has 99 index points if you want a moment-to-moment guide and your player will show them, and Dover  have published the complete score at a reasonable price

A quick follow-up to the listing for Hindemith's LONG CHRISTMAS DINNER :
8 solo parts, no chorus, very small orchestra, no big arias.  In addition to the continuation of characters from one year to the next (until they die off), there are textual references that  link scenes together.   The repetition would seem to invite sameness, but Hindemith has varied the orchestral tessitura and rhythmic structure of each scene to reflect its general mood.  I didn't recognize much in the way of musical allusion except for the opening and closing use of  "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" and "Ihr Christenleut" in scene 4.

To finish the day, Gidon Kremer's solo disc of pieces by Nathan Milstein, Schnittke (À Paganini), Ernst (Last Rose of Summer) and Rochberg
And organ pieces by Bossi :  Theme & Var. Op.115, 10 Pieces op.118, Symphonic Study op.78  nicely recorded on a Finnish organ. 

[Lilas Pastia]

I took out one of my Desert Island Discs today...



Oh my.  What exceptional performance AND recording quality! 

Daphnis et Chloe is simply magical; even if there were any readings that equal Dutoit's (and there isn't, IMO), nothing can match the atmosphere of the studio.  Magic, power, poise, color, and glamour all dazzle in this majestic recording.

Like all MSO - Dutoit Decca recordings it was taped in a church, not a conventional studio. St-Eustache, north of Montreal boasts wonderfully clear yet warm acoustics. Interestingly, the façade still bears musket shot marks from the 1837 rebellion. British troupes had cornered the rebels inside and mercilessly pounded the church for hours. Guided tours of this historic site relate the battle at length, and only incidentally mention it was also the site of the MSO recordings for some 30 years. The battle, in which 70 rebels and 10 english soldiers were killed, is pictured here (St-Eustache church in the background):

[Air]

Rex Richter, have you heard the Boulez Daphnis? A former member of this forum who departed several years ago made me buy it and I've been so thrilled with it (and with the fantastically deep DG sound) that I have acquired three different recordings since but have considered none of them rivals to the crown. Dutoit is a great conductor so that is a really tempting recording!

I don't own the Boulez, but am aware that it is considered one of the best modern recordings of this work.  The sonics apparently rival that of Dutoit's Decca one. 

So what discouraged me from buying it?  Well, I have heard his Daphnis is somewhat cold and Boulez-ian, like much of his other conducting.  In contrast to Boulez, Dutoit is warm and displays Ravel in a more colorful "French" array.

I'm lukewarm on Boulez-ian style recordings like his Mahler and his Rite, so it may be some time before I get my hands on that Daphnis.  But since you say it it so good, I must hear it soon....

Anyways, if you like Dutoit and you like Daphnis I wouldn't hesitate to order the disc.  It would be interesting to hear your comparisons of the two readings mentioned above.

[Air]

Like all MSO - Dutoit Decca recordings it was taped in a church, not a conventional studio.

Woah! I didn't know that.  That's cool... it does seem quite spacious.

[Coopmv]

Now playing this Vanguard SACD by a young Brendel.  The performance is precise and energetic ...

[Conor71]

Debussy: Various Piano Works

[Brian]

Woah! I didn't know that.  That's cool... it does seem quite spacious.

The Boulez performances are quite slow (La Valse 14 minutes!, Daphnis 57) but that does not exclude them from being dramatic, or atmospheric or French; I do enjoy cranking up the volume and "wallowing" in the colors and the romance.    As a caution, however, I know nothing of Boulez' conducting except for Ravel, and I'd describe his Daphnis as less a ravishing experience than a reverential/spiritual one.

How does the Decca Legends Daphnis compare in terms of sound quality with the Dutoit/OSM (standard issue) suites and other assorted orchestral works? I actually have mixed feelings about the sound in pieces like La Valse and Ma Mere l'Oye...


EDIT: Failed to read Lilas' post and thought he was talking about a different church.

[Air]

As I have never heard Boulez's Daphnis, I cannot compare it to Dutoit's.  And as you have never heard Dutoit's, saying that Boulez's recording is "French" is all a matter of what they sound like, next to each other. Think about Einstein.

So we can both sit here and wait for someone who has... 



Edit: Right now I'm listening to Faschingsschwank aus wien played by Richter...

[Brian]

As I have never heard Boulez's Daphnis, I cannot compare it to Dutoit's.  And as you have never heard Dutoit's, saying that Boulez's recording is "French" is all a matter of what they sound like, next to each other. Think about Einstein.

Oh dear, I'm sorry, my question about the sound quality was about a comparison of the sound of Dutoit's Daphnis and Dutoit's La Valse / Bolero / Pavane album. When I was speaking about Boulez it was just to try to help inform your future buy/not-buy decisions.

Interestingly, the least idiomatically French Daphnis I know features a French orchestra (Lyon, Jun Markl, Naxos).

[listener]

EMI Matrix series no.24   Steinberg/Pittsburgh SO  Toch and Hindemith
Stokowski   and his orch   Frank Martin
The Naxos disc may be said to be found in the spoken word section.

[val]

FAURÉ:       Piano Quartet n. 1                  / Gilels, Kogan, Barshai, Rostropovitch

A powerful version, perhaps too dense, in special in the first movement. Strong and with an impressive lyricism, but there are better versions of this work.

[bhodges]

As I have never heard Boulez's Daphnis, I cannot compare it to Dutoit's.  And as you have never heard Dutoit's, saying that Boulez's recording is "French" is all a matter of what they sound like, next to each other. Think about Einstein.

So we can both sit here and wait for someone who has... 

They are both fabulous recordings; I'd be hard-pressed to choose between them.  Dutoit's was one of the best recordings he ever made with the OSM--maybe *the* best--and sonically, one of the first real triumphs of the digital era.  He gets a ravishing, sensuous sound from the ensemble, including the OSM chorus.  Boulez, on the other hand, offers a vision of clarity and the spectacular playing of the Berliners.  Like his other Ravel recording with the same orchestra, it's gorgeous in its precision and clarity. 

Just get both...

--Bruce

[Keemun]

Scriabin
Symphony No. 1
Leif Segerstam
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra

[Frellie]

My first hearing of this 7th symphony of Rautavaara. And a second time immediately afterwards.

Not sure what to make of it yet. Most of it has an eternal and ethereal quality to it, which sharply contrasts with the second part 'Molto allegro'. Which is so powerful, it almost hurts.

Hearing some Sibelian echoes, here and there. As I said: not sure what to make of it. But I'm sure plenty of hearings will follow.

Anybody with a strong opinion on this music?

[Brian]

RAVEL | Piano Concerto
Martha Argerich
Berlin Philharmonic
Claudio Abbado

Today is gonna be a great day.

[Keemun]

[bhodges]

Yesterday I saw Keeping Score: Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, and again came away feeling--even more strongly--that Michael Tilson Thomas has done a real service with this series.  Filmed both here and in the Soviet Union, there are great scenes of where the composer lived and studied, and the music that influenced his work.  Some may want more on the technical side (e.g., themes, chordal relationships, etc.) but this does an excellent job at giving you many different ways to appreciate the music.  The San Francisco Symphony, as usual, sounds glorious.

--Bruce

[Benji]

My first hearing of this 7th symphony of Rautavaara. And a second time immediately afterwards.

Not sure what to make of it yet. Most of it has an eternal and ethereal quality to it, which sharply contrasts with the second part 'Molto allegro'. Which is so powerful, it almost hurts.

Hearing some Sibelian echoes, here and there. As I said: not sure what to make of it. But I'm sure plenty of hearings will follow.

Anybody with a strong opinion on this music?

I think it's great - especially the third movement 'Come un sogno', for which ethereal really is the best word. I try not to make much of the Sibelius thing - it's an easy jump to make but i'm not convinced I really hear it; the only real connection I make between them is that they both do a great job of conjouring up the chill northern landscape. And I hesitate to say even that as it seems so clichéd, and both composers can be made to sound entirely warm in the right hands, so I wonder how much is really intended in the music and how much is down to subjective interpretations that we're superimposing onto the music based on our own preconceptions, but I rant.... 

If you haven't already heard them, I think you'd appreciate the 8th and 3rd Symphonies. The 8th is very much in the same vein; with a suitably powerful 2nd movement aptly entitled 'Feroce' and another real beauty of a slow movement. Personally I think there is more of a connection with his teacher Copland than with Sibelius. What Copland did for the evocation of the American landscape, Rautavaara is doing for his own country. Except Rautavaara also makes use of more literal musical devices, most obviously birdsong (you hear the birdsong like crowing at the end of the Molto Allegro of the 7th?). And by the way, once you notice the birdsong thing, you notice it an awful lot!

The third is my favourite Rautavaara work, along with the 1st piano concerto. Excellent recordings of both are on a cheapo Naxos disc with my local band the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The third is commonly described as Brucknerian, but having little experience of Bruckner I'm not qualified to comment except to say the third is certainly not Brucknerian in scope! I recommended the 8th above the 3rd as your description of the 7th made me think perhaps you react more strongly to the 'spiritual' element of the music, which follows through to the 8th but hadn't really developed at the time the 3rd was written (or at least it isn't as obviously evident). If, like me, you respond strongly to the expanisive Copland-esque expression of landscape in the music, and the modernistic dissonant-but-not-atonal elements then you'll probably love the 3rd. Rautavaara used serial techniques in the composition, but it's so beautifully layered into the fabric of the music it retains its overall sense of tonality.

Oh yeah, and there's lots more birdsong. 

Happy exploring!

[Que]

Q