What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Opus106]

Sprightly!, or may be sprightlier than the playful playing, in the best sense, of Brendel and ASMF that I'm used to.

http://www.youtube.com/v/_vf3FsnZmdA

Annerose Schmidt | Dresdner Philharmonie | Kurt Masur (from the set that hit the spot, so to speak, for long-lost member Elgarian)

[Mirror Image]

Now:

[asin]B001U1L9RG[/asin]

Listening to Szymanowski's youthful Symphony No. 1, which Sinfonia Concertante will follow.

[Drasko]

[DavidW]

I should've waited for the box (spent a fortune on each disc at full price)....but then, I was getting to that age when waiting was becoming less an option    I don't regret the purchase though. Love these recordings.

Yes, if I find that box, it will be a Temptation . . . .

I have those recordings individually and they are superb... if you find a box set buy it!  You won't regret it.

[DavidW]

My listening: Kempff performs Beethoven's Piano Sonatas Op 2 #1-2, Op 7.  Lovely, soft yet dynamic playing.

[Scarpia]

My listening: Kempff performs Beethoven's Piano Sonatas Op 2 #1-2, Op 7.  Lovely, soft yet dynamic playing.

Mono or stereo version?

[DavidW]

Mono or stereo version?

I have both, but I'm currently listening to the stereo version.

[karlhenning]

I may well have heard the Bach transcription before, but the Fantasia contrappuntistica is definitely a First Listen™

Busoni
Piano transcription (1900) of JS Bach, Toccata & Fugue in d minor, BWV 565
Fantasia contrappuntistica (Edizione definitiva), KiV 256 (1910)
Wolf Harden

[asin]B00005AYEK[/asin]

[Keemun]

Debussy
Le Martyre De Saint Sebastian
Günter Wand
North German Radio Symphony Orchestra (Hannover)

[karlhenning]

First Listen to this recording:

Liszt
Années de pèlerinage — Première année: Suisse, S.160
Louis Lortie

[asin]B004LHOZZO[/asin]

[Scarpia]

First Listen to this recording:

Liszt
Années de pèlerinage — Première année: Suisse), S.160
Louis Lortie

[asin]B004LHOZZO[/asin]

Hmmm, didn't know about that one.  Lortie's Beethoven cycle is superb....

[karlhenning]

This set is certainly starting out strong, Scarps!

[Todd]

Maazel's recording of Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony is pretty nifty, as one might expect wih Julia Varady and Dietrich Fischer Dieskau the soloists.  Early digital sound is better than expected, the BPO plays splendidly, and Maazel adds some zest to some of the proceedings.  Best of the three versions I've heard (Eschenbach and Conlon being the others)?  I don't know if I'd say that, but it's a fine disc.

[karlhenning]

Alkan
Petit conte
Esquisses, Opus 63
Toccatina, Opus 75
Ronald Smith

[karlhenning]

Alkan
. . .
Esquisses, Opus 63
. . .

Just eight out of what is apparently a set of 48 . . . .

[karlhenning]

MONTEVERDI - Vespers of 1610
Bonus tracks: MONTEVERDI - Salve, O Regina; ALLEGRI - Miserere mei; SCHUTZ - 3 Latin Motets; PALESTRINA - Stabat Mater
Pro Cantione Antiqua UK, Mark Brown, Edgar Fleet, Collegium Aureum, Musica Fiata & Hannover Boys Choir, Heinz Hennig, direction.
Alto label (2 disc set)

. . . Then the Monteverdi Vespers set, including some substantial bonus tracks from Allegri, Schutz and Palestrina. Monteverdi's Vespers can be interpreted flexibly in terms of forces used to perform them. Monteverdi would usually have a 25 strong choir at St Mark's Venice (which was quite a huge choir at that time) along with a handful of instrumentalists (or just solo organ). The work would be performed by larger forces if there was a festival or feast day on, when more musicians would be hired. This recording, a collaboration of UK and German musicians under the baton of Heinz Hennig, was done in 1978 for North German Radio and subsequently issued on the Harmonia Mundi label. It's now on the boutique budget Alto label. The acoustic is that of a large space, it was recorded in a monestary in Germany. It's quite reverberant and appropriate for the many echoes that permeate this work. The sound is less clear than some more recent recordings, but I'm not an audiophile so it doesn't really bother me.

The bonus tracks are just as good as the title work. Schutz's Latin Motets have this sense darkness and tragedy. They show the influence of his teacher Gabrieli, as well as Monteverdi, and look forward many centuries to the sacred works of Bruckner. The Allegri Misere mei was originally performed with improvised ornamentation from the vocalists, but since the Baroque period these improvisations have been notated and set in stone, more or less. It's another dark work, which was sung in the Vatican three times during Holy Week. The Vatican didn't allow it to be published, but the teenaged Mozart got around this by exactly scoring the 12 minute long work after having heard it live on a visit to Rome. Needless to say, that must not have been very easy, this is a highly complex work. In contrast to the Schutz and Allegri, the Palestrina work on the set has this light, ethereal and delicate quality. It's no surprise that the likes of Debussy were said to have been great admirers of this guy's music.

Sid, you've had this in your listening so often, at last I went to hear the samples.  Nice!  I'm not at all dissatisfied with the Boston Baroque recording of the Vespro della Beata Vergine, mind you . . . still, this one promises to be so lovely, and I like the sound of the boy trebles, and the price is right . . . thanks for beating the drum for this one!

[Mirror Image]

Now:

[asin]B000095SL0[/asin]

Listening to La course de printemps. No description is necessary.

[Keemun]

Rochberg
Transcendental Variations
Christopher Lyndon-Gee
Saarbrucken Radio Symphony Orchestra

[asin]B00009L4W5[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

Rochberg
Transcendental Variations
Christopher Lyndon-Gee
Saarbrucken Radio Symphony Orchestra

[asin]B00009L4W5[/asin]

I've been looking at the Rochberg series for quite some time, Keemun. Please tell what you think about the music, thanks.

Now listening:



Listening to Symphony No. 4. A heartbreakingly beautiful work.

[listener]

Dmitry SMOLSKY:  Overture       Dulcimer Concerto no. 1 (of 2)
Cello Concerto in C     Violin Concerto      Symphony no. 6
Belorussian State TV & Radio Orch.       Boris Raisky,  Valery Leonov (Sym.) cond.
b. 1937    -  very much in the Kabalevsky/Khachaturian folk based style, cello concerto rather like Shostakovich, and succinct. Smolsky is (was?) a lecturer at the Belorussia State Conservatory (Minsk?) and probably kept up with and absorbed current trends. 
There's much to be said for someone who gets to the point and stops.  I'm sure the dulcimer concerto is unique in  my collection.     The Symphony sounds like a mono recording (they all are from Gostelradio, Minsk)
Roy HARRIS   Violin Concerto
Symphony 1933 (no. 1)   Symphony no. 5
Louisville Orchestra   cond. Lawrence Leighton Smith, violin cto    Jorge Mester Sym.1, Robert Whitney Sym.5
Gregory Fulkerson, violin
Harris edit:  duty listen - , I can't remember a note of of these works from before.   The Third Symphony does appear to be worth its "hit" status, with a Sibelius-like big tune ending, but there's a "busy" bit in the first section that is often trimmed with no bad effect.