What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Scarpia]

When did you order it?  I seem to remember that it took a few weeks to arrive for me.

Probably a week and a half ago.  Given that it is coming from Germany, I'm not worried yet, just impatient.

[Brahmsian]

Probably a week and a half ago.  Given that it is coming from Germany, I'm not worried yet, just impatient.

Should be any day now! 

[SonicMan46]

Mozart, WA Piano Concertos w/ Bilson & Gardiner - starting from the first disc!   

[Scarpia]

Should be any day now! 

I'm sure delivery schedules are delayed due to all those heavy Bundespost deliveries to Sarge's house.   

[Antoine Marchand]

Antoine - there is a 6-CD Brilliant box of Brahms' Piano Works w/ Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy, Kamerhan Turan, & Hakon Austbo - assume all of these discs are included in that  BIG BOX?  I own the Katchen set but not much more Brahms' solo piano - do all three of these pianists perform well?  Thanks - Dave 

Hi, Dave. I am currently trying to know that big box, but the impression so far has been very good. I have just listened to five discs of a total of eight included in that box.

I have seen the reply of Navneeth, but Hélène Grimaud is not included among the performers of this particular set. The performers included are: Håkon Austbø (superb), Alan Weiss (excellent), Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy (very good, but not totally to my taste), Kamerhan Turan and Louis Demetrius Alvanis. 

[listener]

HAYDN   Mass in d minor  "Missa in Augustiis"/"Lord Nelson"    probably his most memorable for melodies and most famous mass
Teresa Stich-Randall, Nedda Casei, Kurt Equiluz, Nikolaus Simkowsky SATB
Vienna State Opera Orch. & Chorus     Hans Swarowsky, cond.
Nonesuch lp licensed from Tono (Zurich).  Large scale, "old-fashioned" style took a bit of time to get used to, but the music carries the day.   The cover is intended to represent Haydn in London meeting Lady (and Lord?) Hamilton, (or is that Napoleon?)
SIBELIUS: Pelléas and Melisande Suite;  Romance in C, Belshazzar's Feast Suite, Valse Triste.
Knock-out performances by the Leningrad Philharmonic under Rozhdestvensky, great engineering of the recording,  over-all seems better than Beecham, even.
DVORAK:  The Jacobin    excerpts
1950's recording from the Prague Smetana Theatre

[prémont]

Fully enjoying two organastic giants of the baroque:

So you got it at last. 

[prémont]

I was pleased by the integrity of his approach: exciting, moving, but not sentimental.

Yes, unsentimental. This is what I very much have appreciated in performances of romantic music already from my childhood.

Is that image in your avatar the last page of the AoF, Premont?

Yes, spot on.

But I am only experimenting with avatars. 

[bhodges]

Now listening to this program from just a few weeks ago, archived on the orchestra's website.  A surprising factor is Alec Baldwin, the orchestra's radio spokesperson, who is actually quite good: informed, intelligent, and with an excellent "radio resonance."  I've never heard the Berlioz or the Chausson before.

New York Philharmonic
Susan Graham, soprano
Sir Andrew Davis, conductor

Berlioz: Les francs-juges Overture 
Chausson: Poème de l'amour et de la mer   
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3, "Organ"

--Bruce

[Drasko]

[Todd]

Generally speaking, I don't like my Beethoven sonatas slow.  But Christoph Eschenbach's playing in this twofer is so good that I can make an exception.  To be fair, most of the playing is not slow, but the slow movements sure are.  The Adagio of Op 106 is around 25 minutes, making it one of the longest out there, and it works well, especially when the solid, large scale, yet nuanced playing of the rest of the sonata is taken into account.  Op 111 tips the scales at over 31 minutes, with a 22 minute second movement.  Excess slowness here can mean musical death, but again it works here.  The other two sonatas are not much slower than normal, but they are both excellent – indeed, the Op 110 is a stupendous reading.  Throw in a well done Op 126 and excellent sound, and this set is a winner.

[PaulR]

The 8th symphony.

Haven't listened to this in a long time.  Seems like a good time to give it spin.

[not edward]

I've changed my mind about On the Transmigration of Souls since hearing this recording. I still think Adams is attempting something impossible with the work, but I think it's far more effective than I'd given credit for from hearing the NYPO/Maazel recording. The rest of the disc seems somewhat less essential; in particular, Higdon's Dooryard Bloom just feels bland to me. Maybe I'm missing something there too.

[bhodges]

Poulenc: Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra (Francis Poulenc and Jacques Février, pianos, and Orchestra National de la RTF conducted by Georges Prêtre) - This appears to have been filmed in the early 1960s, and for the time period, the sound is excellent.  Poulenc and Février are superb together--perhaps no surprise, since Poulenc had envisioned the two of them when he wrote it.  Prêtre and the orchestra are in sparkling synch all the way.

I found this wonderful description of the piece by Ronald Gallman, writing for the San Francisco Symphony:

"The Concerto for Two Pianos combines Maurice Chevalier with Mozart, music hall buffoonery with Balinese gamelan and lilting melodies, all with a touch of innocent hedonism."

--Bruce

[kishnevi]

Poulenc: Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra (Francis Poulenc and Jacques Février, pianos, and Orchestra National de la RTF conducted by Georges Prêtre) - This appears to have been filmed in the early 1960s, and for the time period, the sound is excellent.  Poulenc and Février are superb together--perhaps no surprise, since Poulenc had envisioned the two of them when he wrote it.  Prêtre and the orchestra are in sparkling synch all the way.

I found this wonderful description of the piece by Ronald Gallman, writing for the San Francisco Symphony:

"The Concerto for Two Pianos combines Maurice Chevalier with Mozart, music hall buffoonery with Balinese gamelan and lilting melodies, all with a touch of innocent hedonism."

--Bruce

includes this concerto with Poulenc and Fevrier, but with different orchestra and conductor (Pierre Devraux)

Thread duty

not my favorite recording of this symphony, but certainly well up there

[Coopmv]

Now playing CD8, the last CD - BWV 1044, 1055-1056, etc. by Violin Festival Strings Lucerne with Baumgartner and Kirkpatrick from this set for a first listen ...

[listener]

from A -  ALKAN   12 Études  op. 35  ( includes Alllegro barbaro, and Fire in a Neighbouring Village)
     Le festin d'Esope,  Scherzo diabolico  op.39  nos.12 & 3
     Bernard Ringeissen, piano     can bring out the humour and other qualities without making them sound like pedantic knuckle-busters
       AUBER  La Muette de Portici (aka Masaniello)   Alfredo Kraus, June Anderson, John Aler, Jean-Philippe Lafont,
Monte-Carlo Phil. O.,  Thomas Fulton        text available on the internet only, too bad if you bought this instead of a computer.

[Coopmv]

Now playing this CD from my Chopin collection ...



1. Polonaise-fantasy for piano No. 7 in A flat major, Op. 61
2. Etude for piano No. 13 in A flat major, Op. 25/1
3. Etude for piano No. 3 in E major, Op. 10/3
4. Etude for piano No. 12 in C minor ('Revolutionary'), Op. 10/12
5. Fantasy for piano in F minor/A flat major, Op. 49
6. Nocturne for piano No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 9/2
7. Nocturne for piano No. 13 in C minor, Op. 48/1
8. Nocturne for piano No. 8 in D flat major, Op. 27/2
9. Scherzo for piano No. 3 in C sharp minor, Op. 39
10. Fantasy-Impromptu for piano in C sharp minor, Op. 66,
11. Polonaise for piano No. 6 in A flat major ('Héroique'), Op. 53
12. Waltz for piano No. 2 in A flat major, Op. 34/1, CT. 208
     

[greg]

First listening:



Good morning, Que! 

You notice she has the first three letters of her last name- 'tit' right above the matching area...

[Luke]

Greg, that is such a childish comment, you should be ashamed. Anyway, for maximum punnage you should have said 'ova', not 'above. And you failed to mention that the 'Rach' is situated similarly.....   I would never stoop so low, myself.....