What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Orpheus]

5th Sonata

[asin]B004TWOXGC[/asin]

Any comments about this box?

[Antoine Marchand]

1st Leonhardt's recording (1963) of the six sonatas for harpsichord and violin BWV 1014-1019, this time with the violinist Lars Frydén:

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Lars Frydén, violin [Alexander Kennedy, London, 1767]

Gustav Leonhardt, harpsichord [Martin Skowroneck, Bremen, 1962, after J.D. Dulcken, Antwerp, 1745]

[North Star]

Any comments about this box?

Well, I don't know any other recordings of the pieces, but the playing is brilliant, but not overtly virtuosic when the music doesn't call for it. Speeds are quite fast, and Raekallio plays with quite a bit of force and percussiveness - as did Sergei himself. Not that there isn't beautiful legato stuff, too. The second movement from The Tales of the Old Grandmother is amazingly beautiful, as is the ending of the last movement of the Romeo & Juliet suite. The sound quality is super clear and somewhat dry and all the more excellent for it. If you are considering getting the box, stop and buy it. If you aren't, start considering.
But don't take my word for it, read what Dave thinks:

It’s probably fair to say that these recordings helped to put Ondine on the map as a major player in the world of classical music recordings. Prokofiev’s sonatas constitute landmarks in the repertoire, and they still don’t get the respect they deserve from non-Russian pianists, and sometimes not even there. They contain some of the composer’s deepest and most serious thinking, and for this reason they tend not to be as popular as his “fun” orchestral pieces. Matti Raekallio takes no prisoners in these steely, virtuosic performances, but while he brings plenty of excitement and tension to the more famous wartime works, he has plenty of lightness in reserve for the witty moments in the early pieces, to say nothing of Sarcasms or the Romeo & Juliet transcriptions. The sonics, dryish but clear and never unduly harsh, suit the music and the interpretations perfectly. Taken as a set this is well-nigh unbeatable.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com [6/2011]

Now listening from the set: The Tales of the Old Grandmother, Op.31 and the Sixth Piano Sonata

[Robert]

47.26
Piano Quartet No.2 in A, op.26

Is there a psychologist near by?

[Conor71]

Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 3, 5 & 11


I plan on devoting today to String Quartets! - First Classical listen of the day is the 3rd Disc from my Beethoven set: 2 Op. 18 Quartets and the Serioso Quartet, all fine listening!

[kishnevi]

Mahler: Symphony No. 9 LSO/Gergiev [LSO Live]

This landed today from Amazon.  Overall, a superior performance, although I wouldn't call it the best available (that slot is occupied for me by Zinman and Levine/Munich).  It may possibly be the best installment of Gergiev's cycle.

[Antoine Marchand]

Listening to this at NML:



through my principal speakers.

I had previously heard some discs by Pandolfo, but I was never too much impressed by him... until today. His playing here is nothing less than gorgeous, so full of nuances and feeling.   

[Conor71]

Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 76

Now playing Disc 20 from my 3rd full traversal of this set.

[Gurn Blanston]

Brought this one out for the first time in quite a while. Pleased that I did, it is even better than I remembered!



Compared to the other late, great oratorio, The Seasons is much lighter in texture, almost jolly in places. No less entertaining though, in its own way.

[Conor71]

Villa-Lobos: String Quartets Nos. 6, 1 & 17

This set was one of my best purchases last year - wonderful music

[not edward]

Taking some time with this new disc:

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Most of my time has been with the two Rihm pieces: Lichtes Spiel is I think the pick of the works on the disc; it's in his lyrical neo-Romantic vein, a single 18-minute movement with the violin playing almost non-stop in mostly long-breathed rhapsodic melody--tending to the higher registers, but rather less so than in Gesungene Zeit, his previous concerto for Mutter. I'm often not that drawn to Rihm in this vein, but this work seems to me to be of a much higher level of inspiration than many; the melodic material is memorable despite its complexity, and the generally light-hearted mood of the work is nicely offset by the darker undercurrents that surface intermittently. Dyade shows Rihm in the same vein but despite the interesting idea of a clear dialogue between violin and double bass, I find the material rather less compelling than in the concerto.

Penderecki's Duo concertante is the same late Penderecki work he's been writing for 30 years, though much more concise than usual, and this is probably to the benefit of the work. I'm not going to comment on Currier's Time Machines yet, a single listening usually not being enough to evaluate a work by a composer new to me.

[Daverz]

I found this quite thrilling.  Lovely recording, too.  The dynamic range is just right for home listening, at least in my living room.

[Conor71]

Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras Nos. 1-3


Decided to switch to some Orchestral Music and Some Rock and Jazz later instead of continuing with the SQ's - Now listening to Disc 1 of this excellent set!.

[Mirror Image]

Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras Nos. 1-3Now listening to Disc 1 of this excellent set!.

Agreed, that is an excellent set, Conor. Have you explored any of VL's other orchestral music?

[Mirror Image]

Now:

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Great so far.

[Conor71]

Agreed, that is an excellent set, Conor. Have you explored any of VL's other orchestral music?

Not as yet - I am interested in hearing the Choros though and have been considering the set of BB & Choros on Bis for a while


Now listening:


Sibelius: Orchestral Works


Now listening to Disc 2 of this set with Pohjolas Daughter, Night-Ride & Sunrise and the Lemminkainen Suite


[asin]B0009W4LLI[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

Not as yet - I am interested in hearing the Choros though and have been considering the set of BB & Choros on Bis for a while

I like the Choros better than the Bachianas Brasileiras. One reason I do is that in the larger Choros works, VL's genius comes through loud and clear where he basically throws everything but the kitchen sink into these works. There are so many wonderful lyrical and rhythmic twists and turns. Choros No. 11 is basically a piano concerto in all but the name. This particular work absolutely sent me into orbit the first time I heard it. Those infectious melodies and lush harmonies, and, as always, VL's orchestration is amazing. Choros No. 10 is an interesting work as it's a huge tour-de-force for chorus and orchestra and brings out the more primal qualities in VL's writing with the tympani and the huge percussion line plowing through the orchestra. I hope I wetted your appetite. The BIS set is seriously desert island listening for me.

[Mirror Image]

Now:

[asin]B00369K1GA[/asin]

So far, beautifully played and interpreted by Rattle and the Berliners. Listening to Brahms's Piano Quartet No. 1 orchestrated by Schoenberg, which this is Rattle's second recording of this work having originally recorded it with the CBSO.

[Que]

.[asin]B00002471O[/asin]

Starting the Sunday morning.

Q

[Drasko]

.[asin]B00002471O[/asin]

Starting the Sunday morning.

Q

Love that Tizian!