What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Harry]

Lodovico Giustini da Pistoia. (1685-1743)

12 Sonate da Cimbalo di Pianoforte.
Andrea Coen, Pianoforte.
Recorded by Brilliant 2009.

Pianoforte copy by Kerstin Schwarz, after B. Cristofori 1726.
Disc I, sonate 1-4.

Quite a discovery! The music is heavenly, the recording intimate, and the playing exemplary.

[Opus106]

[img ]http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/B002JH8ISI/sr=8-1/qid=1269337062/rcf=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=229816&[ /img]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/B002JH8ISI/sr=8-1/qid=1269337062/rcf=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=229816&
wonder why I never succeed inserting images???  :(The URL is rather long....

I believe what you have done is put the URL of the page containing the image -- not that of the image of itself, which is http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41VCH8H4J0L._SS400_.jpg . Image URL endings are usually -- though not limited to -- jpg, jpeg, gif, png, and bmp.

EDIT: Oops. I didn't realise there was a whole page of posts after yours. 

[Harry]

The second Symphony by Prokofiev is by no means a easy work to approach, when new to the music by the composer and starting with this work, it might well put them off. When Prokofiev heard the symphony himself he also professed not understanding the music at all, and basically that is still my reaction too. However there is a marked difference between the two versions I am listening to, the complete cycle done by Kitajenko, highly praised on this forum, and Jarvi's cycle. Recently I listened to Kitajenko, and I found him to be analytical and as hard as steel as intended by the composer. I found his tempi to be too slow, and the inner movement missing at times the dynamics needed. Accents are strikingly different too, and although Kitajenko's recording is very good I miss a certain bloom around the brass, and could have done with more dept. Minor points, I know, but listening today to Jarvi's take, I heard what gave me a sense of being into the music, and of understanding the undercurrents in all the sections of the orchestra. The somewhat reverberant hall gives a enormous dept and space around all the instruments. I feel that Jarvi has the correct tempi, and he emphasizes the points that I miss with Kitajenko, who is also quite academic in his way of handling the first movement, difficult at best, it can be the downfall of many a conductor.  I think the sound on the Chandos recording of demonstration class, combined with the excellent sense Jarvi brings to this Symphony, this must be my version of the second. Kitajenko is good too, but in a totally different way.

[George]

Bach
WTC
Book One
Gould

[karlhenning]

The second Symphony by Prokofiev is by no means a easy work to approach, when new to the music by the composer and starting with this work, it might well put them off. When Prokofiev heard the symphony himself he also professed not understanding the music at all, and basically that is still my reaction too. However there is a marked difference between the two versions I am listening to, the complete cycle done by Kitajenko, highly praised on this forum, and Jarvi's cycle. Recently I listened to Kitajenko, and I found him to be analytical and as hard as steel as intended by the composer. I found his tempi to be too slow, and the inner movement missing at times the dynamics needed. Accents are strikingly different too, and although Kitajenko's recording is very good I miss a certain bloom around the brass, and could have done with more dept. Minor points, I know, but listening today to Jarvi's take, I heard what gave me a sense of being into the music, and of understanding the undercurrents in all the sections of the orchestra. The somewhat reverberant hall gives a enormous dept and space around all the instruments. I feel that Jarvi has the correct tempi, and he emphasizes the points that I miss with Kitajenko, who is also quite academic in his way of handling the first movement, difficult at best, it can be the downfall of many a conductor.  I think the sound on the Chandos recording of demonstration class, combined with the excellent sense Jarvi brings to this Symphony, this must be my version of the second. Kitajenko is good too, but in a totally different way.

I cannot answer to the Kitaenko version, Harry;  but Ozawa's account of the second is much better than Järvi's.

I wonder, if Prokofiev had heard the piece performed as well as in the Ozawa/Berliner Philharmoniker recording, perhaps he would not have suffered any doubt as to the worth of the Second Symphony . . . .

[SonicMan46]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/B002JH8ISI/sr=8-1/qid=1269337062/rcf=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=229816&
wonder why I never succeed inserting images???  :(The URL is rather long....

Hello Abidoful - your link is for that actual page (i.e. that's were I was brought on clicking the link) - for images, you first need to 'right-click' the actual picture desired and 'copy' its location, and then use the 'image' insertion icon in the second bar above your response box - then simply paste in the image location - quote this response and you'll see how I inserted the image - good luck. P.S. if this has been answered on subsequent pages (which I've not gotten to yet), then my apologies - 

[mc ukrneal]

I've been enjoying the set below (one appears to be a re-issue of the other, so I put both covers here in case someone had the other):

Very satisfying...If you like Brahms, you will probably like these. Well performed and in good sound.

[karlhenning]

First listen!

Scelsi
Canti del Capricorno № 1, for soprano & percussion
Hymnos, for organ & two orchestras (1963)
Canti del Capricorno № 2, for tenor
Canti del Capricorno № 18, for soprano & percussion
Hurqualia, for large orchestra (1960)
Pauline Villaincourt, soprano
Douglas Ahlstedt, tenor
The Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic
Juan Pablo Izqueirdo

Scelsi – Orchestral Works 1

[SonicMan46]

Bach, JS - Cello Suites w/ Queyras - listening to the second disc this morning - this set has garnered excellent reviews here & elsewhere - Jed Distler HERE & a Fanfare review from early 2008 attached as a text file!  The DVD is short but complements the two CDs - if one wanted a more recent recording of these works, then this one is certainly a 'top' consideration - 

Quantz, Johann (1697-1773) - Flute Sonatas w/ Verena Fischer on a period flute, along w/ Baroque cello & harpsichord - beautifully performed and recorded; flute 'up-front' and harpsichord well heard - excellent review by Jerry Dubins quoted HERE!

 

[Keemun]

[DavidRoss]

Bach, JS - Cello Suites w/ Queyras - listening to the second disc this morning - this set has garnered excellent reviews here & elsewhere - Jed Distler HERE & a Fanfare review from early 2008 attached as a text file!  The DVD is short but complements the two CDs - if one wanted a more recent recording of these works, then this one is certainly a 'top' consideration - 

Quantz, Johann (1697-1773) - Flute Sonatas w/ Verena Fischer on a period flute, along w/ Baroque cello & harpsichord - beautifully performed and recorded; flute 'up-front' and harpsichord well heard - excellent review by Jerry Dubins quoted HERE!

 

I like the new cover on the Queyras set...and I'm glad you're enjoying it, Dave.  I don't know the Quantz disc but my wife (the flutist) loves this repertoire and the period instruments sound appealing.  Guess I'll have to give it a listen on the Naxos site!

Thread duty:  Richard Strauss, Couperin Dance Suite, Staatskapelle Dresden, Rudolph Kempe -- on the radio, KXPR, though anyone can listen via streaming webcast here: http://www.capradio.org/programs/classicalmusic/

Not my usual sort of thing, but listening to the radio is one of the best ways I know to "discover" new music/recordings.

[Sergeant Rock]

Maiden voyage: Elgar 1, Barbirolli




Sarge

[jlaurson]

Bach, JS - Cello Suites w/ Queyras - listening to the second disc this morning - this set has garnered excellent reviews here & elsewhere

 

If anyone is interested in more re: Queyras and his Bach:

The Bach Cello Suites – Part I, The Bach Cello Suites – Part II,  The Bach Cello Suites – Part III, and The Cellos Suites, Bach – Post Scriptum.

Also: Between Boulez and Bach: Interview with Jean-Guihen Queyras and
Between Boulez and Bach: Interview with Jean-Guihen Queyras – The B Side

[karlhenning]

First listen!:

Taneyev
Overture to Oresteia, Opus 6 (1889)
Novosibisrk State Philharmonic
Thos Sanderling

Taneyev – Orchestral Works: Oresteia Overture, &c.

Wonderful, indeed!

(And incidentally, as this clocks in at greater than 20 minutes . . . I am reassured that my 11-minute overture to White Nights is not necessarily too long . . . .)

[abidoful]

Hello Abidoful - your link is for that actual page (i.e. that's were I was brought on clicking the link) - for images, you first need to 'right-click' the actual picture desired and 'copy' its location, and then use the 'image' insertion icon in the second bar above your response box - then simply paste in the image location - quote this response and you'll see how I inserted the image - good luck. P.S. if this has been answered on subsequent pages (which I've not gotten to yet), then my apologies - 

Thank's for your helpfullness- indeed my problem has finally been solved (thanks for other kind and helpful fellow good-music-guide-people) 

[karlhenning]

First listen!:

Taneyev
Canzona (rev. 1883)
Stanislav Jankovsky, clarinet
Novosibirsk State Philharmonic
Thos Sanderling

Taneyev – Orchestral Works: Oresteia Overture, &c.

[karlhenning]

First listen (this recording)!:

Liszt
La lugubre gondola (Troisième Élégie) S.134 (1882-85)
Emmanuelle Bertrand, cello
Pascal Amoyel, piano

Charles-Valentin Alkan – Sonate de Concert Liszt – La gondole lugubre (Works for Cello & Piano)

[karlhenning]

First listen!:

Alkan
Sonate de concert, Opus 47 (1857)
Emmanuelle Bertrand, cello
Pascal Amoyel, piano

Charles-Valentin Alkan – Sonate de Concert Liszt – La gondole lugubre (Works for Cello & Piano)

[bhodges]

Last night at Carnegie Hall, the Collegiate Chorale did The Grapes of Wrath (2007), written by Ricky Ian Gordon with his librettist, Michael Korie.  They have created what some have called "The Great American Opera."  Whatever the case, it is hugely enjoyable, especially in this 2-1/2 hour concert version (edited down from the original 3-3/4 hours).  The score combines American popular genres (e.g., ragtime, barbershop quartet, etc.) with classical "art music" to great effect.

--Bruce

[SonicMan46]

If anyone is interested in more re: Queyras and his Bach:

The Bach Cello Suites – Part I, The Bach Cello Suites – Part II,  The Bach Cello Suites – Part III, and The Cellos Suites, Bach – Post Scriptum.

Also: Between Boulez and Bach: Interview with Jean-Guihen Queyras and
Between Boulez and Bach: Interview with Jean-Guihen Queyras – The B Side

Jens - thanks for those links above; superb discussion(s), as usual from you!  Dave