What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[The new erato]

For some light relief:



I need stuff like this from time to time. And I think I will need to put on the Vine set that has been lying unplayed since spring in the near future  , I bought it on an offer on ABC Classics at mdt (think I paid £12) but Sculthorpe has had precedence in my Australian explorations.

[canninator]

I've practically never heard the solo part played poorly . . . so to some degree the many recordings/performances I've heard of the piece (many of them unidentified to me) sound much the same.

The accompaniment here is perhaps a bit better played than in most;  and there is more taste in many of the balances.  For one instance: In some recordings, the brass (for whom the piece is something of a snoozer) are apt to sound a little over-eager (and unnecessarily loud within the texture) at their rare appearances.  Here, they blend into the ensemble well.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Harry]

Wondering if you have any of their Schutz recordings, and if so what you think of them.  I have the recording of Symphonie Sacrae III;  I like it well enough, but it arouses no enthusiasm with me to hear more.

Thread duty:  Handel, Organ Concertos Opus 7 Egarr/Academy of Ancient Music

Compared with Monteverdi the Schutz recordings which I have are much better, but leave a, although dimmed in intensity, the same feelings as I have with the Monteverdi set.

[The new erato]

EGGE, KLAUS Symphony No. 1, Piano Concerto No. 2 Eva Knardahl, Bjarne Fiskum, Tjark Nieuwelling, Trondheim SO / Starek, Bergen Philharmonic / Andersen. Aurora

A  really kick-ass piano concerto, and a moving and deeply felt symphony. Great disc!

[Lethevich]

Recent mentions of the fellow have inspired me to return to this. Symphony No.4.2 is very suited to my tastes - propulsive, with a real interest in exploring dynamic range and tempo contrasts. Most pleasantly, it's not Kancheli style contrasts, as the composer doesn't forget the middle range either Nice colours and textures throughout, but the main reason I am digging this is because what could have been a mechanical, march-like piece of music more often errs towards an exalted feel. There are no 20th century feelings of angst predominating - interesting how so many musicians got bored of that after the 80s.

[karlhenning]

Shostakovich Violin Concerto, by Hilary Hahn. Why don't more people compare the first movement of this concerto to the Berg concerto? It's atmospheric, shady music, and some of the woodwind soli sound like they were lifted straight from the Berg.

Good observations!

Thread duty:

Brahms
Clarinet Trio in a minor, Opus 114
Karl Leister, cl
Wolfgang Boettcher, vc
Ferenc Bognár, pf

Piano Trio № 1 in B Major, Opus 8
Jaime Laredo, vn
Sharon Robinson, vc
Joseph Kalichstein, pf

[karlhenning]

Wagner
Entrée des Dieux au Walhalla (L'Or du Rhin)
Chevauchée des Walkyries (La Walkyrie)
Murmures de la Forêt (Siegfried)
Voyage de Siegfried sur le Rhin (Crépuscule des Dieux)
Marche funèbre de Siegfried (Crépuscule des Dieux)
London Phil
Boult



My two-fer actually has better cover art, an etching of Siegfried & Fafner.

[Keemun]

Still one of my favorites.

[karlhenning]

Voyage de Siegfried sur le Rhin (Crépuscule des Dieux)

Yup, heard a flash of the Shostakovich Fifteenth Symphony there! ; )

[Franco]

Carter: String Quartet No. 2
Julliard String Quartet

[canninator]

Breathtaking, makes up for the rubbish packaging.

[The new erato]

There are no 20th century feelings of angst predominating - interesting how so many musicians got bored of that after the 80s.

Maybe because a new generation with no experience of WWII grew up, or because the nuclear threat started to fade at that time?

[karlhenning]

It isn't as if art must slavishly reflect the negative vibes of the times, either.  Art can be otherwise, a response which is not an echo.

[The new erato]

Beautiful disc, wonderful recording, perfect singing.

[The new erato]

It isn't as if art must slavishly reflect the negative vibes of the times, either.  Art can be otherwise, a response which is not an echo.

Certainly, but in general I find art (as an average) to reflect the sign o' the times (whether negative, postive or whatever), but with plenty of variation.

[Franco]

Certainly, but in general I find art (as an average) to reflect the sign o' the times (whether negative, postive or whatever), but with plenty of variation.

I would say this is only partly true, mainly for literature, theater, painting, or sculpture, but least true of music.  And political messaging is not a particularly high level of creativity, IMO, and can attach an expiration date to a work - which is somewhat self defeating if universality is a goal.

For sure, there have been some composers who are more topical or political than others, and usually they employ a medium such as opera (Nono, for example) or oratorio or some form of textual support in order to more potently express their extra musical messages. 

It is my view, that for most composers, music is an abstract art espressing itself, and unless there is a consciously programmatic theme (my least favorite kind since I find it drags the music down to a level of bland description through vague, but a the same time clumsy, aural effects), all attempts to find "meaning" in the music only serve to obfuscate and read into it what the beholder prefers.

[karlhenning]

Certainly, but in general I find art (as an average) to reflect the sign o' the times (whether negative, postive or whatever), but with plenty of variation.

An artist obviously lives in a certain environment.

As a rule, it is the art which transcends its immediate environment, which is found to possess the character of a classic.

[karlhenning]

I would say this is only partly true, mainly for literature, theater, painting, or sculpture, but least true of music.  And political messaging is not a particularly high level of creativity, IMO, and can attach an expiration date to a work - which is somewhat self defeating if universality is a goal.

QFT

[The new erato]

An artist obviously lives in a certain environment.

As a rule, it is the art which transcends its immediate environment, which is found to possess the character of a classic.

So you don't consider Vaughan-Williams' "war symphonies" classics? 

Not that I disagree....my point exactly being that an artist is a product of his environment even though most creative work is a process of trying to exceed it. But IMO it is no coincidence that renaissance music happened in the Reneissance (to put it somewhat humorously).

[karlhenning]

Пётр Ильич [Pyotr Ilyich]
Пиковая дама (1891)
Herman: Vladimir Atlantov
Count Tomsky: Sergei Leiferkus
Prince Yeletsky: Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Surin: Julian Rodescu
Chaplitsky: Dennis Petersen
Narumov: Jorge Chaminé
Major Como: Richard Clement
Countess: Maureen Forrester
Liza: Mirella Freni
Pauline: Katherine Ciesinski
Governess: Janis Taylor
Tanglewood Festival Chorus
The American Boychoir
BSO
Ozawa
Alistair Dixon

Tchaikovsky – Pique Dame