What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[karlhenning]

I usually avoid Ozawa, generally.  Have you heard either of the other two and would care to comment?

I've heard both, but you didn't ask me ; )  And I think that once he traverses this set, Davey may have heard both, too.  So I'll yield him the right of first response.

[Sergeant Rock]

Say more about that, Sarge, at your convenience.

Both the Scythian Suite and the symphony are awesome (interpretively and sonically). Celibidache is best known for Bruckner but I think he's even better in the Russian repertoire (the DG Stuttgart box with works by Stravinsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky and Prokofiev is one of my treasures). This is the "young" Celi: nothing ponderous here. Tempos are perfect, the fast movements blazing. The orchestra glows (with very prominent winds that have a really sarcastic bite). Rob Cowan ends his Gramophone review thusly: "In this sort of repertory, Celibidache was alchemist, colourist and seducer...A prime sampling of Celibidache at his best." I agree.

Sarge

[karlhenning]

Happy birthday!

Сергей Сергеевич [ Sergei Sergeyevich (Prokofiev) ]
Праздничная поэма «Встреча Волги с Доном», соч. 130 [ Festive Poem "The Meeting of the Volga and the Don," Opus 130]
St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
Ashkenazy

[karlhenning]

Both the Scythian Suite and the symphony are awesome (interpretively and sonically). Celibidache is best known for Bruckner but I think he's even better in the Russian repertoire (the DG Stuttgart box with works by Stravinsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky and Prokofiev is one of my treasures). This is the "young" Celi: nothing ponderous here. Tempos are perfect, the fast movements blazing. The orchestra glows (with very prominent winds that have a really sarcastic bite). Rob Cowan ends his Gramophone review thusly: "In this sort of repertory, Celibidache was alchemist, colourist and seducer...A prime sampling of Celibidache at his best." I agree.

Sarge

Nice, thanks!  I've heard him in some Stravinsky, which is very agreeably luminous.

[Sadko]

I was just wondering how this compares with the Gergiev (which I have) or Jarvi (which I was considering)? 

I usually avoid Ozawa, generally.  Have you heard either of the other two and would care to comment?

[Prokofiev symphonies]

I like this Prokofiev/Ozawa set, no extremes, but lively and capturing the spirit of the works well.

[karlhenning]

Happy birthday!

Сергей Сергеевич [ Sergei Sergeyevich (Prokofiev) ]
Piano Concerto № 5 in G, Opus 55
Boris Berman, pf
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Järvi

[Sadko]

Alban Gerhardt (Cello) & Steven Osborne (piano) play Shostakovich and Schnittke



Alban Gerhardt is another "radio discovery" for me, I was very impressed by his beautiful tone, his subtle nuanced playing.

[karlhenning]

He's been a featured soloist here in Boston a few times, he is always outstanding.

[Brian]

Werner Janssen: Symphonic Paraphrases on "Chopsticks"
Columbia SO; Werner Janssen

OH YES HE DID.

PS. There is a "Requiem" variation.

[The Diner]

Gabrieli Music for Brass Vol. 1 - Crees

[karlhenning]

Happy birthday!

Сергей Сергеевич [ Sergei Sergeyevich (Prokofiev) ]
Симфония № 2 d-moll, соч. 40 [ Symphony № 2 in d minor, Opus 40 ]
SNO
Järvi

Not so good as the Ozawa/Berlin account, but better than I remembered it.

[DavidW]

I was just wondering how this compares with the Gergiev (which I have) or Jarvi (which I was considering)? 

I usually avoid Ozawa, generally.  Have you heard either of the other two and would care to comment?

I've heard both.  Jarvi gets alot of hype, most of it didn't excite me though at the time.  I liked Gergiev's big romantic heart on sleeves approach and prefer it to Jarvi but it's been so long now that I can't adequately compare and contrast the two sets, sorry.

I can saw that Ozawa seems to have a good sense of momentum, how to build and sustain it, or stop it if need be.  I actually find that is what I needed with these symphonies, I am really liking ALL of them, and I haven't felt that way before.

[PaulR]

Symphony #2, then eventually to 7.

[Scarpia]

I was just wondering how this compares with the Gergiev (which I have) or Jarvi (which I was considering)? 

I usually avoid Ozawa, generally.  Have you heard either of the other two and would care to comment?

I find Jarvi a big disappointment.  Chandos sound can vary considerably and Jarvi's Prokofiev cycle is far towards the reverberant, distant side of the spectrum.  I have three cycles on deck, Rostropovich on Erato, Kitajenko and the Ozawa (along with various odds and ends).

[Brahmsian]

Alban Gerhardt (Cello) & Steven Osborne (piano) play Shostakovich and Schnittke



Alban Gerhardt is another "radio discovery" for me, I was very impressed by his beautiful tone, his subtle nuanced playing.

I went to a WSO concert this season with Alban Gerhardt as guest artist, for Dvorak's Cello Concerto.  He was magnificent!

[karlhenning]

I find Jarvi a big disappointment.  Chandos sound can vary considerably and Jarvi's Prokofiev cycle is far towards the reverberant, distant side of the spectrum.

On those lines, his account of the Shostakovich Fourth is impossibly tubby! There, I said it, and I'm GLAD, I tell you!

. . . I can saw that Ozawa seems to have a good sense of momentum, how to build and sustain it, or stop it if need be.  I actually find that is what I needed with these symphonies, I am really liking ALL of them, and I haven't felt that way before.

Splendid, Davey!

[karlhenning]

Happy birthday!

Сергей Сергеевич [ Sergei Sergeyevich (Prokofiev) ]
«Гамлет», музыка к спектаклю, для малого симфонического оркестра, соч. 77 [ Hamlet, incidental music Opus 77 ]
Tatiana Sharova, sop
Andrei Baturkin, bar
Russian State Symphony Orchestra
Polyansky

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Tippett, Double Concerto Marvellous!

[karlhenning]

Great piece, Johan!

Happy birthday!

Сергей Сергеевич [ Sergei Sergeyevich (Prokofiev) ]
«Сказ о каменном цветке», балет в 4 действиях по материалам сказов П. Бажова, соч. 118 [ The Tale of the Stone Flower, Opus 118 ]
BBC Phil
Noseda

[listener]

GINASTERA Concerto for Strings, op. 33
VILLA-LOBOS Suite for Strings, Bachianas Brasileiras no.9
EVANGELISTA Airs d'Espagne
I Musici de Montreal          Yuli Turovsky, cond.
I  was reading the discussion on "caterwauling" as the violins were using some wide interval portamenti in the Ginastera... The Evangelista pieces are very short and sound recorded with a different set-up and more reverberation.
and keeping on with VILLA-LOBOS, his musical Magdalena