What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[BMW]

Just for that, I think I'll spin Chailly's Mahler 3rd, too!

Must be a Mahler 3 day -- I have Tennstedt's playing right now.  That first movement is something else!

[The new erato]

I just heard the Tallis live (Gesualdo, at the S'burg Festival)... believe me, you don't want to hear them perform Senfl, or anything else.
I don't know how they have recorded what they have and sounded so good doing it... in any case, now they're awful, awful, awful. The orchestra musicians next to me (they were up next, after the Gesualdo) just looked at each other aghast...

Perhaps they had a bad day, that is certainly not presentative of their recordings....

[Mirror Image]

I have difficulties with this run-through performance of the Lark as well

Do you know Gibson' 5th (reissued with Berglund's 4th and 6th on an EMI twofer - an absolutely essential RVW purchase)? I found it strong, in the objective Bould/Handley manner. I was probably subconsciously influenced by rehearing and enjoying Gibson's Sibelius cycle on Chandos prior to listening to the RVW, but I did pick up a few Sibelian vibes from that performance, although I am probably talking nonsense

Yes, I own this 2-CD recording. Gibson's 5th I found less memorable to the ones that I had heard before it (Barbirolli's stereo performance, Previn on Telarc, Haitink, etc.). The Berglund 4 & 6 steal the show as far as I'm concerned though. There were also some other orchestral works on this 2-CD set I think the Oboe Concerto and if I'm not mistaken The Wasps, but it's been so long since I heard it. I might need to break this back out.

[Père Malfait]

I just heard the Tallis live (Gesualdo, at the S'burg Festival)... believe me, you don't want to hear them perform Senfl, or anything else.
I don't know how they have recorded what they have and sounded so good doing it... in any case, now they're awful, awful, awful. The orchestra musicians next to me (they were up next, after the Gesualdo) just looked at each other aghast...

A small correction, if I may . . . according to the Salzburg Festival website, it was the Hilliard Ensemble you heard, not the Tallis Scholars.

[jlaurson]

A small correction, if I may . . . according to the Salzburg Festival website, it was the Hilliard Ensemble you heard, not the Tallis Scholars.

Ooops. According to myself, you are correct. http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2010/08/notes-from-salzburg-festival-6.html

[Lethevich]

Yes, I own this 2-CD recording. Gibson's 5th I found less memorable to the ones that I had heard before it (Barbirolli's stereo performance, Previn on Telarc, Haitink, etc.). The Berglund 4 & 6 steal the show as far as I'm concerned though. There were also some other orchestral works on this 2-CD set I think the Oboe Concerto and if I'm not mistaken The Wasps, but it's been so long since I heard it. I might need to break this back out.

The oboe concerto and wasps overture were very nice performances, but must bow to the prominence of their stablemates. The (Silvestri if I recall correctly) Tallis Fantasia included is also one of the best, with a great acoustic (if not modern sound quality).

[Scarpia]

All right.

Which are your favorite three recordings?

Perhaps paradoxically, I don't find wide variations in my level of satisfaction with different recordings of this symphony, particularly if the audio is good.  For top 3 I'd probably say Karajan '69, Jarvi, Kitajenko.  I've also listen to Jansons, Rostropovich, Karajan '81, Haitink, Previn and found them satisfactory factory as well, in varying degrees.  I have Barshai somewhere, and just got Mravinsky's recording on Erato and expect it to become a favorite as soon as I managed to find time to listen to it.  There may be a couple of others I'm not remembering at the moment.

[George]

In an effort to keep up with the Joneses Hennings and Sarges  -

Prokofiev
Symphonies 1 and 2
Rohdestvensky/USSR
Melodiya

I really dig his first symphony.

[Keemun]

Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 6
Muti
Philharmonia Orchestra

[Brahmsian]

Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 6
Muti
Philharmonia Orchestra

Oh yes! 

Beethoven

String Quartet No. 3 in D, Op.18
String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op.18

Quartetto Italiano
Philips

[karlhenning]

In an effort to keep up with the Joneses Hennings and Sarges  -

: )

[karlhenning]

Martinů
Polní mše (Field Mass), H. 279 (1939)
Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano & Timpani, H.271 (1938)
Les Fresques de Piero della Francesca, H.352 (1955)
Václav Zítek, baritone
Czech Philharmonic Chorus & Orchestra
Prague Radio Symphony
Mackerras

Martinů – Field Mass/Double Concerto/Les Freques de Piero della Francesca [cond. by Mackerras]

[not edward]

The 6th. Haven't listened to Vanska for a while--have been spending time with Blomstedt and Davis, and had forgotten what a fine performance this is.

Of late I seem to be drawn to symphonies that resist a straightforward description of their "meaning": this one, Mahler's 7th, Brahms' 3rd, Shostakovich's 9th....

[DavidRoss]

The 6th. Haven't listened to Vanska for a while--have been spending time with Blomstedt and Davis, and had forgotten what a fine performance this is.

Lovely.  Think I'll follow suit. 

[Saul]

Mendelssohn: Andante cantabile & presto agitato, Opus. 19

Vadim Chaimovich, piano

http://www.youtube.com/v/I9tb0f3ME7w&feature=watch_response

[George]

Review:

Single-disc compilations of favorite Beethoven Sonatas abound, but this is one of the best. The ravishing coloristic nuances and rhythmic acuity that make Moravec's Chopin and Debussy so special are here allied to a command of large-scale structure and a big, burnished tone. His articulation in the fast movements is awesome: slow movements are spare - just this side of understated - but as deeply moving as more sentimental readings. This is big Beethoven, with sweep and power: no "authentick" mincing here. It's hard to pick a highlight, but Moravec's "Appassionata" has become my favorite version. Audiophiles take note: these transfers of 1960s state-of-the-art analogue recordings offer the most realistic piano sound I've heard on a CD. Highly recommended.
--Dan Davis, June 1995

Damn shame it's OOP. (though you can PM me if you want to hear it) 

[Franco]

Concert Champêtre Pour Clavecin Et Orchestre En Ré Majeur (1928)




This 2-CD set is one of the best collections I have listened to lately.

[George]

Concert Champêtre Pour Clavecin Et Orchestre En Ré Majeur (1928)




This 2-CD set is one of the best collections I have listened to lately.

The cover makes it look like Poulenc plays on that one. Is that correct? If so, what does he play?

[Franco]

The cover makes it look like Poulenc plays on that one. Is that correct? If so, what does he play?

The Concerto for Two Pianos, with Jacques Fevrier.

[George]

The Concerto for Two Pianos, with Jacques Fevrier.

Niiiice. I'll have to get that one.