What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Que]

Wow! Four posts in a row on the busiest thread!  

Hello? anybody home?



Very nice. And it's fascinating to hear music from the Classical period specifically composed for a instrument from the Renaissance & Baroque!

Some quibbles with the acoustics which sound a bit to resonant/"hollow" for both instruments. The booklet doesn't tell us where this recording ,licensed from Italian Tactus, has been recorded but my guess is that it was a church.

Q

[karlhenning]

Palestrina masses ...

One of the first Naxos discs I ever bought.

[jlaurson]

A Moment of Silence
as we remember Joseph Haydn, who died today, 200 years ago.



Kodaly Quartet:  Haydn, String Quartet ("Quartetdivertimenti") op.1, No.3

The Kodaly's can't really stand up to the Auryn, for example, when it comes to complete cycles. (Though perfectly well to Tatrai & the Aueloeaouaeuen) But in op.1 their relative disadvantage is small and the gains of listening to this stuff are manifold.

[ChamberNut]

Last night.....

DVD

Shostakovich

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

Katerina Lvovna Ismailova - Eva-Maria Westbroek
Sergey - Christopher Ventris
Boris Timofeyevich Ismailov & Old Convict - Vladimir Vaneev
Zinovy Borisovich Ismailov - Ludovit Ludha
Aksinya & Female Convict - Carole Wilson

Chorus de De Nederlandse Opera
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Mariss Jansons
Opus Arte

Pretty awesome! 

[ChamberNut]

and now...

Schubert

Winterriese, D.911

Russell Braun, baritone
Carolyn Maule, piano
CBC Records

[Novi]

Hi Novi!

How is that set? Is it consistent?

I've only heard Andas Bartok and Mozart concertos, both of which I love.

George, I was listening to just the Schumann yesterday. Maybe not my top pick for some of the pieces, but certainly near the top (his Davidsbündlertänze and Kreisleriana are up there just below Cortot's for me - I like Cortot's contrasts in the latter better; having said that, I don't have a lot of recordings to compare with). He can be a bit wayward in tempos at times, but waywardness isn't necessarily a bad thing in Schumann, and there's a clarity and crispness I like. The Symphonic Etudes are very good (both - the set includes a 1943 mono and a 1963 stereo version); he lacks the raw power of a Richter or a Sofronitsky, but there's a kind of piquancy in some of the variations that I found very attractive.

I have more reservations about his Fantasy in C. The faster pace works well in the first movement to create a sense of agitation and urgency. I also really like how he draws out the motifs in the different voices here – I'm not sure what to call them – the retrospective An die ferne Geliebte-esque bits? I'm ok with the snappier tempo in the second movement: there's a nimbleness here that I found very persuasive. My problem is largely with the last movement – I think I'm too used to Fiorentino's much slower interpretations and prefer a more tender approach. One of the things I like the most about Fiorentino's is his take on the 'Etwas bewegter' melody – there's an exquisite smidgeon of belatedness in the right hand. Anda does the opposite and chooses to rush through these sequences. It's an interpretative choice but it doesn't work for me and I can't seem to get past it . I also think that the build-up to the fortissimo climax (both times) needs a bit of more breathing space as well. Hmm, this comes across more negatively than I intended - I'm merely pointing out the idiosyncrasies of preferences . Perhaps I'll return to this recording when I don't want to wallow in the final movement ...

I think these recordings might be available in the Brilliant box that was released recently, although I'm not certain .

[George]

Thanks Novi, your post was very helpful, as I also love Cortot's Schumann. 

[George]

I think these recordings might be available in the Brilliant box that was released recently, although I'm not certain .

Do the dates match up? It would certainly be a much cheaper way to get the performances.

[Novi]

Do the dates match up? It would certainly be a much cheaper way to get the performances.

Yes, they seem to.

[Bogey]

Late last night:

Beethoven
HvK/BPO
Symphony No. 9
Recorded 1962
DG

The rest of today will be an all-Haydn template.

[ChamberNut]

The rest of today will be an all-Haydn template.

Ditto. 

[Coopmv]

A Moment of Silence
as we remember Joseph Haydn, who died today, 200 years ago.



Kodaly Quartet:  Haydn, String Quartet ("Quartetdivertimenti") op.1, No.3

The Kodaly's can't really stand up to the Auryn, for example, when it comes to complete cycles. (Though perfectly well to Tatrai & the Aueloeaouaeuen) But in op.1 their relative disadvantage is small and the gains of listening to this stuff are manifold.

RIP ...

[Opus106]

First listen two-days-after-Friday

Jean Sibelius
Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 105
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra|Herbert Blomstedt

Live at the Konzert und Kongresshalle, Bamberg
21 December 2008

[George]

Yes, they seem to.

Very cool. That set is dirt cheap at MDT. 

[Opus106]

First listen two-days-after-Friday

Jean Sibelius
Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 105
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra|Herbert Blomstedt

Live at the Konzert und Kongresshalle, Bamberg
21 December 2008

That was awesome! Jean's music, especially the symphonies, are growing on me by leaps and bounds. Although only twenty minutes in length, and with the odd dark passage here and there, I found this particular work very uplifting. I think there will be a second listen later in the night.

[stingo]

More of the Messaien boxed set. 8 Preludes, The Garden-Warbler.

[ChamberNut]

That was awesome! Jean's music, especially the symphonies, are growing on me by leaps and bounds. Although only twenty minutes in length, and with the odd dark passage here and there, I found this particular work very uplifting. I think there will be a second listen later in the night.

I'm in the same boat Navneeth.  The 7th symphony really hit me hard.  Very uplifting work! 

[owlice]

Buchbinder playing the last three Beethoven piano sonatas.

[owlice]

... of which the ending of the Op. 110 caught the attention of the little cat, who stared intently in the direction of the speakers until well into the Op. 111. Though he's on the sofa cleaning himself now, he still has his ears oriented toward the stereo.

[Novi]

... of which the ending of the Op. 110 caught the attention of the little cat, who stared intently in the direction of the speakers until well into the Op. 111. Though he's on the sofa cleaning himself now, he still has his ears oriented toward the stereo.

Unsa kätz häd kaz'ln g'habt ...