What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[UB]

Noticing the page number I am listening to the 1812 overture!

My main listening today has been the music of Guus Janssen and Luc Brewaeys.

[Lilas Pastia]

And thank god for that    That pinched, nasal oboe is the reason I returned my Vienna Bruckner 8 and exchanged it for Cleveland's in 1973. Different taste, I suppose, but I prefer the sound of the Cleveland winds. And, contrary to what would undoubtedly be M's assertion, they play Schubert just as stylishly as the boys from Vienna.

Sarge

I was not referring to the oboe's tone (though it's obviously part of the equation), but to the sharp accenting of the chord and the swinging lilt imparted to the rythm. That is something that can't be replicated (by another orchestra) or learned (by a conductor foreign to the culture and tradition).  Compare this with Gardiner's WP version: in the same passage the accent is obviously 'pasted' on ("listen to this") and the lilt is artificial. And it's copied and pasted second time around. The youtube link I provided will allow you to hear exactly what I mean.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Very much appreciated, Johan

You will be delighted to know that the first music I am listening to since the surgery is the last movement of the Braga Santos 4th

As Jeffrey would say, "life-affirming" music

Belatedly renewing my acquaintance as I write...

[Dancing Divertimentian]

I was thrilled when I first heard that performance, don. 
It's the "golden standard" for this concerto to me.

Q

Yes, I couldn't agree more, Q. Although honestly this is the only recording of Schumann's piano concerto I've ever heard.

But all the ingredients are there for a most successful performance. The performers display total sympathy for the piece and just nail it!

[imperfection]

The Merry Widow excerpts
Franz Lehar

Hong Kong Youth Symphonic Band

[Harry]

From this box the last one.
CD X.
Hoboken XV/27/28/29/30.
Van Swieten Trio.

It will stay on my playing list the coming months. So much excellence must be heard on a regular basis.

[Que]

Disc 6: Kk 94-122 on a beautifull, bright sounding, French-style double-manual harpsichord by Anthoney Sidey

Interesting notes by Patrick Waller on his traversal through Scott Ross' Scarlatti cycle HERE.


Good morning!

Q

[Harry]

From this box.
CD IV.

Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, opus 66. Francesco Caramiello, Piano.
Canzonetta, opus 55, No. 1.
Gavotta, opus 55, No. 2.
Giga, opus 61, No. 3.
Serenata, opus 57, No. 1.
Minuetto, opus 57, No. 2.
Momento Musicale, opus 57, No. 3.

The Piano Concerto No. 2 is more approachable as the first, as least for me, with it beautiful second movement, dreamy and romantic. This concerto is less tight fisted, and more open, with longer lines, and better worked out melodies. The orchestral pieces are all gems, well recorded and performed.

[Lethevich]

Things from these:



Medtner is just brilliant. In the genres included in these discs, he is equal to other very late Romantics such as Rachmaninoff, Scriabin and Elgar, and his style is his own. I find the music less "overheated" than some of the creations of the other mentioned composers, and due to personal preference I find this trait to be very desirable. His mastery of sonata structure and melodic invention gives his works an intellectual quality (although not academic) in how extremely well knitted together everything is - it's engaging stuff, although perhaps not immediately accessable (I didn't enjoy his concertos at first).

I must say that there are fewer "blazing" themes in evidence than in the previously mentioned composers music, but this is repaid by Medtner's excellent structural qualities, as well as the most effective way in which he uses his material. If the music is not identical to the Romantics of his time, the mood is often very similar - frequently nostalgic and longing, but also with great inner fire. My favourite concerto is #2 at the moment, mainly due to the epic first movement.

[springrite]

Medtner is one of my favorite composers whom I personally prefer to Rachmaninov, Scriabin and Elgar by a huge margin. I wish I have the Milnes recording. I only have one LP of it.

Listening today:

Bach: Art of the Fugue
Leonhardt
Gould
Delmes Quartet (Simpson realization)
Fine Art Brass

[Que]

[mp3=200,20,0,left]http://www.analekta.com/data/audio/an_2_9823-4_1.1.1.mp3[/mp3]
[mp3=200,20,0,left]http://www.analekta.com/data/audio/an_2_9823-4_1.7.7.mp3[/mp3]

Q

[Harry]

From this box, CD V.

Symphony in C minor.
Landkjenning opus 31. Sung by Hakan Hagegard, & Men's Voices of the Gothenburg SO.
Olav Trygvason, opus 50, Sung by Hakan Hagegard, Anne Gjevang, Randi Stene, & Gothenburg Symphony Chorus.

This box has been a complete success all around, though I would have wished for a more livelier performance of the Symphony.

[mn dave]

My first Bax CD [?]



What's not to like?

[karlhenning]

That looks tempting, Dave.

[mn dave]

That looks tempting, Dave.

Very atmospheric so far. I feel as though a movie should be playing in front of it.

[karlhenning]

Nicolas Flagello
Theme, Variations and Fugue, Opus 20
Slovak Radio Symphony
David Amos

[Opus106]

I went to find out how Zelenka's music sounds like but now wound up to listening to Bach, instead.

Magnificat in D, BWV 243
Masaaki Suzuki and Team

[mn dave]

First listen. I'm excited.

[karlhenning]

Hindemith
Concerto for Clarinet
Louis Cahuzac, cl
Philharmonia
the composer conducting

[Brian]

My first Bax CD [?]



What's not to like?

Love that one, Dave. "Tintagel" kicks butt.