What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[karlhenning]

I am STILL going through moutains of Sibelius to identify what it is exactly that this set has to offer which so may favour over many other sets.  One thing is for sure, Maazel pulls out the 'big' orchestra sound with the VPO and his attention to detail and innuendo is exacting.  The difference between this set and my favourite (up until now) Ashkenazy set is palpable indeed - Ashkenazy seems to sustain very little, where Maazel stretches the music in a much wider, bigger way.  My interpretative difficulty is in assessing what Sibelius was trying to do with each symphony, and if the shorter attack style of Ashkenazy is a more appropiate than the wide and beautiful Maazel.  I have eight cycles which I'm working through (Sibelius has always been my main man), playing one off another, etc, so the jury for me is still out.
I still expect to repost on the Sibelius thread some comparisons and comments in the near future.

Maazel - Sibelius ... what a great seventh!

Inspired by John's post:

Sibelius
Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Opus 105
Wiener Philharmoniker
Maazel

[Drasko]

Petrouchka / New York Philharmonic

[ChamberNut]

I'm joining the Sibelius party tonight 

Sibelius

Symphony No. 5 in E flat, Op. 82

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Sir Colin Davis

[Novi]

Good evening all . For me:



Sibelius sounds good too. I might put some on next - I feel like some icy cold Blomstedt, but I think my sister's pilfered that set . That Maazel set sounds good - might have to put it in my basket.

[Brian]

To recap my "Writing a Paper" playlist so far today:

TCHAIKOVSKY | Piano Concerto No 2
Konstantin Scherbakov, piano
Russian Philharmonic Orchestra; Dmitry Yablonsky

SCHUMANN | Fantasie in C
Sviatoslav Richter, piano

TCHAIKOVSKY | Capriccio Italien
Not sure which orchestra; Paul Kletzki

ERICH KLEIBER CONDUCTING THE BERLIN PHILHARMONIC
Three lovely bits from operas: Berlioz' "Rakoczy March", Strauss' overture to "Die Fledermaus", and Reznicek's overture to "Donna Diana"

-interlude for dinner-

KALLIWODA | String Quartet No 1
Talich Quartet

and now:

BEETHOVEN | Symphony No 2
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Herbert von Karajan (1962)
Believe it or not, I apparently haven't listened to this symphony since January, according to iTunes!

[karlhenning]

Glinka
Overture to A Life for the Tsar
Moscow Philharmonic
Kondrashin

Bartók
Concerto for Violin no 2, Sz 112
Yehudi Menuhin
New Philharmonia
Doráti

. . . the latter from the EMI two-fer reissue, not the 5-disc Mercury Living Presence box (different recording, same soloist and conductor)

[Dundonnell]

To recap my "Writing a Paper" playlist so far today:

TCHAIKOVSKY | Piano Concerto No 2
Konstantin Scherbakov, piano
Russian Philharmonic Orchestra; Dmitry Yablonsky

SCHUMANN | Fantasie in C
Sviatoslav Richter, piano

TCHAIKOVSKY | Capriccio Italien
Not sure which orchestra; Paul Kletzki

ERICH KLEIBER CONDUCTING THE BERLIN PHILHARMONIC
Three lovely bits from operas: Berlioz' "Rakoczy March", Strauss' overture to "Die Fledermaus", and Reznicek's overture to "Donna Diana"

-interlude for dinner-

KALLIWODA | String Quartet No 1
Talich Quartet

and now:

BEETHOVEN | Symphony No 2
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Herbert von Karajan (1962)
Believe it or not, I apparently haven't listened to this symphony since January, according to iTunes!

Tried to send you a PM but your Inbox is full!

[Maciek]

Yes, it has been so for about 2 weeks now (or else it's constantly getting re-filled). I wonder if you ever got my e-mail, Brian?

[Brian]

'Fraid not, Maciek.    I will check the "spam" folder though. A few weeks ago M forever told me my box was full, so I deleted 20-30 PMs, but it's still full. That makes no sense 

EDIT: Found your e-mail, as well as a spam Viagra advertisement which said it was from John McCain. 

[Dundonnell]

'Fraid not, Maciek.    I will check the "spam" folder though. A few weeks ago M forever told me my box was full, so I deleted 20-30 PMs, but it's still full. That makes no sense 

Just sent you an email instead, mate(as they say in Great Britain!)

[donaldopato]

One of the great Berlioz recordings:

Berlioz Requiem and Te Deum
Colin Davis London SO and Chorus
Philips 464 689-2 in the 24 bit transfer release

The 1969 sonics are a bit dim even enhanced, but the performance is great.

But then there is the Munch on RCA.... I am torn between the two!

[Brian]

And now, because I am a very strange person, I will be mixing Richard with Johann in an evening Strauss-fest. Beginning with Don Juan and meandering through "Roses from the South", a death and transfiguration, the csardas from Ritter Pasman, the Dance of the Seven Veils, the Kaiserwalzer, an Alpine Symphony, a Radetzky March, and, of course, tales from the Vienna woods, as spoken by Zarathustra. Performers to include SOBR/Ormandy, Dresden/Kempe, the Vienna Philharmonic and Carlos Kleiber, and the Vienna Symphony with Yakov Kreizberg.

[mahler10th]

Walton - Symphony No. 1 (Ashkenazy/Royal Phil), Violin Concerto (Previn/LSO/K.W. Chung)

Sensors are detecting hints of Sibelius in the first.

Walton - Symphony No 1
Bryden Thomson
London Philharmonic Orchestra

How curious.  I was listening to this tonight and thought exactly the same thing.  If I didn't know better this could be Sibelius's fried 8th symphony.  The similarities with the use of the horn motif and the general tone of things in the glorious first movement is closer to Sibelius than anything I know of.  I note elsewhere that Beethoven was also a strong influence on this Symphony - yes, structurally perhaps, it's big theme being so often repeated - but Sibelius came to mind before anything else.
It's a masterful work.

[Daverz]

Berlioz Requiem
Colin Davis London SO and Chorus
The 1969 sonics are a bit dim even enhanced, but the performance is great.

But then there is the Munch on RCA.... I am torn between the two!

Have you seen Tepper's Berlioz Requiem page?

http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/berlioz.html

[Dundonnell]

Walton - Symphony No 1
Bryden Thomson
London Philharmonic Orchestra

How curious.  I was listening to this tonight and thought exactly the same thing.  If I didn't know better this could be Sibelius's fried 8th symphony.  The similarities with the use of the horn motif and the general tone of things in the glorious first movement is closer to Sibelius than anything I know of.  I note elsewhere that Beethoven was also a strong influence on this Symphony - yes, structurally perhaps, it's big theme being so often repeated - but Sibelius came to mind before anything else.
It's a masterful work.

It is indeed "a masterful work" in which the combination of savage ferocity and spine-tingling menace never fail to make me react in two ways- firstly, to wonder at the self-assured mastery of the medium and of the orchestral resources and secondly, to regret that-in my opinion-Walton was never to scale such heights again. In the future lay the Violin Concerto, the Cello Concerto and Symphony No.2 and there are people here who will indignantly proclaim the virtues of each of these works. The Violin Concerto is a fine piece-no doubt-but nothing compares to the 1st symphony in terms of energy, dynamism and power

[donaldopato]

Have you seen Tepper's Berlioz Requiem page?

http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/berlioz.html

No I had not, but just glancing at it looks quite informative. Thanks!

[Brian]

And now, because I am a very strange person, I will be mixing Richard with Johann in an evening Strauss-fest. Beginning with Don Juan and meandering through "Roses from the South", a death and transfiguration, the csardas from Ritter Pasman, the Dance of the Seven Veils, the Kaiserwalzer, an Alpine Symphony, a Radetzky March, and, of course, tales from the Vienna woods, as spoken by Zarathustra. Performers to include SOBR/Ormandy, Dresden/Kempe, the Vienna Philharmonic and Carlos Kleiber, and the Vienna Symphony with Yakov Kreizberg.

It's been pretty fun/interesting so far. I'd never heard Ein Heldenleben before, and it (Kleiber/VPO) was a pretty rough slog, honestly, but the payoff was worth it when the last movement faded out and Johann's "Perpetuum Mobile - A Musical Joke" started playing (Bernstein/New York). Hilarious! 

Now the "Rasch in der Tat" Polka is being usurped by Till Eulenspiegel.

[M forever]

are you saying it seriously?

I read that on the internet - so it must be true.

[Brian]

Okay, I'm posting a picture of my playlist just to prove I was able to survive it. Eventually it got boring as hell, though, listening to the same eclectic blend of molten iron and bubble bath over and over.

[Florestan]

Вольфганг Амадей Леопольдович Моцарт

String Quintets KV 595 & 614

Hausmusik London