What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[greg]

Listening to this (actually part of the boxed set), and it is AWESOME!    After listening to some of Chailly's Mahler I was starting to doubt the maestro's chops, but this recording is astonishing.  So many details in the music that jump out at you, and such a beautiful sense of drama.  Great!.

I agree- my favorite recording of that symphony. The only other one I've heard that comes close, for me, is Gielen.

[Coopmv]

CD 2

Still unimpressed?

[listener]

Tuesday was the centenary of the birth of Samuel BARBER, so a couple of relevant discs for the evening
3 Essays, that Adagio, School for Scandal Overture, Medea's Dance of Vengeance
    St. Louis S.O., Leonard Slatkin
String Quartet (with the Adagio again)  plus IVES  String Quartets 1 & 2  
    Emerson Quartet

[George]

Still unimpressed?

Overall, yes. There are some beautiful moments, but I find his playing to be too restless, with not enough lingering for my taste. 

[Coopmv]

Overall, yes. There are some beautiful moments, but I find his playing to be too restless, with not enough lingering for my taste.

So the Nocturnes by Maria Joao Pires are far better?

[George]

So the Nocturnes by Maria Joao Pires are far better?

Not far better, but better. Arrau, Tipo, Moravec and Ciccolini are far better.

[Harry]

I have decided to erect a life scale model of the Statue of Liberty in my front room, and to aid me to this end I have chosen to put on Ned Rorem.  Fine job he's doing, I've nearly finished construction.

That a awesome recording. Just sayin it the American way, savy?

[Harry]

Hi Tasos - I've gone through this set several times now - just about perfect (if not!) - glad that you are enjoying her as much as I have (and, I think, many others who have bought this superb collection!) - Dave 

I know for sure that I was the first on GMG buying this box, and telling all how perfect it was, over and over again. No reactions at all. Finally after a years time this box is getting the attention it deserves. I could say I told you so, but I won't.

[mc ukrneal]

I love a piano concerto (or a concerto symphonique) in the morning, and this is a fun one! Beautiful playing and thoroughly enjoyable...

[Harry]

A disc from Brilliant that should get some attention too, for played on authentic instruments, being recorded in a superb way, and performed on the highest possible level you can imagine. The recorder sounds soft and mellow, and the Collegium Pro Musica, is a excellent band. Niccolo Fiorenze's music holds more than one surprise. Its witty, life affirming music, that opens readily pictures of a fabulous spring.

[Harry]

I love a piano concerto (or a concerto symphonique) in the morning, and this is a fun one! Beautiful playing and thoroughly enjoyable...

I heard in the backyard that Hyperion will eventually bundle them all together for a very competitive price. 

[Wanderer]

Hi Tasos - I've gone through this set several times now - just about perfect (if not!) - glad that you are enjoying her as much as I have (and, I think, many others who have bought this superb collection!) - Dave 

I'm enjoying this immensely. I really like Lettberg's colour palette and rhythmic sense; she seems immersed in Scriabin's idiom and most of the things she does feel natural to the music. She also is a superb analyst, bringing the details and melodic lines (especially those of the left hand) to the fore without sacrificing the overall sense of drama. I also found the DVD interesting; if anything, the pianist among a canvas of swirling/changing colours reminded me of the opening minutes of Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark (a superb film, by the way).

[mc ukrneal]

I heard in the backyard that Hyperion will eventually bundle them all together for a very competitive price. 

By then, it will be far too late for me. Berkshire was my downfall. But I am glad I didn't wait, as I have discovered so many interesting and new composers I had never heard of like Scharwenka, Brull, Lyapunov, and Alnaes just to name a few. I have since explored the music of many composers in the series, the best indicator of its success for me. 

[Lethevich]

It's strange: I just love Mahler, yet Bruckner doesn't click yet, except for the Fourth. But I don't give up the hope of seeing the light some day.

Bruckner has more in common with Schubert than Mahler, if you wish to try via that route. Very much heavenly-length and adherent to a template, with the subtle invention within familiar movement arrangements providing the entertainment...

I heard in the backyard that Hyperion will eventually bundle them all together for a very competitive price. 

I hope they do it in boxed volumes similar to Suzuki on BIS, so that they can continue with the series and periodically release new boxes of the older stuff. Or maybe they will focus on their long-neglected violin and cello concerto series.

[Wanderer]

I know for sure that I was the first on GMG buying this box, and telling all how perfect it was, over and over again. No reactions at all. Finally after a years time this box is getting the attention it deserves. I could say I told you so, but I won't.

It's been on the wishlist since then and finally got it from Abeille not so very long ago during their huge sales. Good times! 

I heard in the backyard that Hyperion will eventually bundle them all together for a very competitive price. 

Any street rumours regarding how many more releases there are going to be?

[mc ukrneal]

Bruckner has more in common with Schubert than Mahler, if you wish to try via that route. Very much heavenly-length and adherent to a template, with the subtle invention within familiar movement arrangements providing the entertainment...
I hope they do it in boxed volumes similar to Suzuki on BIS, so that they can continue with the series and periodically release new boxes of the older stuff. Or maybe they will focus on their long-neglected violin and cello concerto series.

They are releasing Volume 8 in the Violin series in May. It will be Vieuxtemps concerti 4 & 5.

[Wanderer]

It's strange: I just love Mahler, yet Bruckner doesn't click yet, except for the Fourth. But I don't give up the hope of seeing the light some day.

I don't consider Mahler and Bruckner similar; I love them both but for different reasons (so your reaction doesn't seem strange to me at all).

A strategy you can use for unknown music and/or music you have lukewarm feelings for (e.g. Gade:-) is play it in the background once in a while; not liking it much, you won't be  distracted in what you're doing but it's more than likely that something will eventually impress you and catch your attention – these points of interest (maybe even different each time) will then prove as beacons and points of further access to the music. Hopeless cases can then be made presents to loathed acquaintances or used as shiny, ineffective balcony scarecrows for insolent birds.

[Florestan]

Gianfrancesco Malipiero

Concerto per pianoforte e orchestra No.1 (1934)

Sandro Ivo Bartoli / Michele Carulli / Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken

[Florestan]

A strategy you can use for unknown music and/or music you have lukewarm feelings for (e.g. Gade:-) is play it in the background once in a while; not liking it much, you won't be  distracted in what you're doing but it's more than likely that something will eventually impress you and catch your attention – these points of interest (maybe even different each time) will then prove as beacons and points of further access to the music.

A reasonable approach that I will certainly try.

Hopeless cases can then be made presents to loathed acquaintances or used as shiny, ineffective balcony scarecrows for insolent birds.

[Florestan]

Bruckner has more in common with Schubert than Mahler, if you wish to try via that route. Very much heavenly-length and adherent to a template, with the subtle invention within familiar movement arrangements providing the entertainment...

Schubert is one of my favorite composers, yet Bruckner eludes me.