What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Brian]

Now the Fourth Symphony 

And, having just finished the Ninth, on to the Seventh for an encore! Perfect 12.30 AM listening.

[Greta]

Hey Brian, how many Dvorak 7ths are you up to now? 

Okay, re. the Gielen Mahler...

It was great to read papy's review of the 2nd, because I swear this month I could have written a very similar review of the 5th, which I just adore. In fact, it has shot to the top to my growing pile of M5 recordings.

I know exactly what you mean, that it is hard to describe, but the approach is just very, very enjoyable for me. I could definitely wax rhapsodic about his 5th. I found myself just sitting back and admiring at some point, the musicality and detail and interesting ideas that are there in abundance. I love the way the phrases are shaped, and his direction, and the orchestra sounds incredibly good. I very much want the whole box, because I would love to see how his approach translates to the other symphonies.

BTW - I didn't realize his 2nd was paired with Kurtag and Schoenberg! I would really like to hear that now. papy, your comment on the Kurtag reminds me of my first experience with another filler, Varese's Arcana, the pairing on Slatkin's Philharmonia Planets. I came to love that piece from that recording, though at first I had no idea what to make of it.

BTW2 - For the Gielen Mahler 2, at Amazon - one of the first reviews is Bruce's, and he rated it very highly!

[Valentino]

Dvorak 7 is a wonderful piece. I only have the Cleveland/Dohnanyi recording on Decca, but if they were no good I wouldn't like it som much I guess.

Snowy morning here.
Vivaldi: L'Estro Armonico, played by Europa Galante/Fabio Biondi is a good choice I can hear.

[Daverz]

Breaking in new 'phones, Sennheiser 650s.

Brahms, Quintet Op. 25 - Martha and friends
Bruckner, Symphony No. 6 - Stan the Man
Das Lied von der Erde - Patzak/Ferrier/Walter
Prokofiev, Romeo & Juliet excerpts - Munch
               PC 2 - Henriot-Schweitzer/Munch...fantastic!

[Que]

Disc 5  (Still not done with this , Harry...  )

This is an excellent set, stylish and well condidered playing - though sometimes a touch on the "academic" side. Might supplement this with an organist that really goes "wild" with some Buxtehude. 
Gorgeous instruments, beautifully recorded.

Q

[Harry]

Dvorak: Symphony No 7
Ivan Anguelov / Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra

I hereby withdraw any and all negative comments previously made about this performance of the Seventh Symphony. Ivan Anguelov's Dvorak cycle is clearly the best around - superior sound quality, superior detailing of the score, astounding orchestral playing, and performances which can, when they don't blow away the competition absolutely, still stand proudly among the ranks of the very best. Truly marvelous.

Right, I will make the order active, and order this set now!

[Harry]

Disc 5  (Still not done with this , Harry...  )

This is an excellent set, stylish and well condidered playing - though sometimes a touch on the "academic" side. Might supplement this with an organist that really goes "wild" with some Buxtehude. 
Gorgeous instruments, beautifully recorded.

Q

It is exactly this academic quality that attracts me, and I shudder in advance of a Buxtehude going wild.
The wealth of detail, and the beautiful sounding instruments he uses, plus the sound quality, well what can I say more...

[Harry]

Beethoven.
Violin sonata, opus 47, in A major, "Kreutzer".
Violin sonata, opus 96, in g major.

Pinchas Zukerman, Violin.
Marc Neikrug, Piano.

This cd fares a bit better. I hear more personality in the playing of the Kreutzer, and allthough there is a lot of unnecessary flashing around with the bow, and added niceties of his own making, the message is coming through. That is of course not that difficult with the fabulous introduction Adagio-sostenuto:Presto. This is surely one of the very best compositions in this genre. Neikrug is overlooked in this all, but not by me, for he reminds me of Kempff, also a excellent Beethoven connoisseur.
The G major is a bit molded in the superficial style, very much like the previous instalments of other opus numbers.
Sound is direct and well enough.

[Florestan]

Harry, have you tried Oistrakh / Oborin?

[Harry]

Harry, have you tried Oistrakh / Oborin?

No, to be honest I did not.
As my reference I have Menuhin/Kempff, which I find absolutely beautiful.
They were recorded as far back as 1970.
The recordings with Zukerman are part of the Sony box, and I knew that I would not keep everything from it.
But I will shop around and see if I can find some samples from Oistrakh/Oberin Andrei.

[Florestan]

No, to be honest I did not.
As my reference I have Menuhin/Kempff, which I find absolutely beautiful.
They were recorded as far back as 1970.
The recordings with Zukerman are part of the Sony box, and I knew that I would not keep everything from it.
But I will shop around and see if I can find some samples from Oistrakh/Oberin Andrei.

I have only the Spring Sonata with Menuhin / Kempff.

[Harry]

I have only the Spring Sonata with Menuhin / Kempff.

And do you have a positive remembrance of that recording?

[Florestan]

And do you have a positive remembrance of that recording?

Absolutely smashing performance. Unfortunately it's not on CD but on tape, so I play it only once in a while.

[wintersway]

Good morning/day to all!

[prémont]

This is an excellent set, stylish and well condidered playing - though sometimes a touch on the "academic" side. Might supplement this with an organist that really goes "wild" with some Buxtehude. 

Most HIP Buxtehude integrals are a tad on the academical side. Ulrik Spang-Hanssen and Olivier Vernet offer a bir more Sturm und Drang than Vogel, but I am not sure, that you will find the difference big enough. But two older non-HIP integrals offer at least sometimes a more expressive, extatic and less academical playing. These are Walter Kraft and Michel Chapuis. Kraft has got dated sound and much reverberation, and Chapuis is variable and often rather mechanical. Taken as a whole (considering cost, style, sound) I think the dirt cheap Spang-Hanssen integral is the best buy (as complementation to Vogel). The newly rereleased Saorgin integral is imposing and relative cheap, but he is also rather much on the academical side. Rübsam, Rogg and Ablitzer are OOP, and I do not think, they would meet your demands. Foccroulle and Stender never go wild, Bryndorf only rarely. The Naxos integral with Julia Brown and others is reliable but no match for Vogel. I don´t know how the ongoing Koopman integral will turn out. We have to hope, that artists like Matthias Eisenberg and Martin Sander make an integral some day or maybe Andre Isoir.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Good morning/day to all!

Interesting CD, wintersway! I'm a great admirer of Adorno the philosopher, I even have a book about Adorno the composer, but I have never heard a note. Could you tell us what you think? He was, of course, a pupil of Alban Berg's. Can you tell?

[Harry]

Good morning/day to all!

One of my favourite discs from 2007.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Hello, Harry! Care to make any comment about the Adorno piece(s)?! Can you remember anything striking?

[Harry]

Hello, Harry! Care to make any comment about the Adorno piece(s)?! Can you remember anything striking?

Listen for yourself Johan, the sound has a lot of distortion but you will hear the essence of it.

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/hnum/7359844

I found it rather disturbing music, at once introverted and darkish, and the next moment hard hitting.
But it hit a nerve with me. Concentrated notes full of energy and mystery, plus a dose of despair.
The mood is like the mood Pettersson is creating.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Listen for yourself Johan, the sound has a lot of distortion but you will hear the essence of it.

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/hnum/7359844

I found it rather disturbing music, at once introverted and darkish, and the next moment hard hitting.
But it hit a nerve with me. Concentrated notes full of energy and mystery, plus a dose of despair.
The mood is like the mood Pettersson is creating.

I listened to the fragments at Amazon, Harry. At jpc they don't give any details about which composer belongs to which track... I agree with your findings. First impression: concentrated music, very diverse; those Six Studies sound like six poems, each with its own special character. And what I heard of the string quartet (written when he was only 18) was quite impressive, too. Ideas tumbling over each other.