What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[karlhenning]

Hindemith
Ludus tonalis
Olli Mustonen

[karlhenning]

Jerry Goldsmith's THE 13TH WARRIOR

Thanks to Ben-G, methinks. 

Mogs ruleth!

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Ashkenazy blow through Piano Concerto No. 2 with such virtuosity. The Adagio movement is particularly moving.

[Scarpia]

Now:



Listening to Ashkenazy blow through Piano Concerto No. 2 with such virtuosity. The Adagio movement is particularly moving.

Oh, didn't know about that one.  I suspect I would like it.  My current favorite is Schiff:

[karlhenning]

This is wonderfully, and athmospherically, weird. Stunning sound (1970 live).

You remind me that I have a Partch DVD which I have yet to watch . . . .

[AndyD.]

Now:



Listening to Ashkenazy blow through Piano Concerto No. 2 with such virtuosity. The Adagio movement is particularly moving.

Checking this out (the Adagio from PC2). I never listened to it as close as I am now. Excellent, thank you!

[karlhenning]

Evening all 

Had a maiden run through these works earlier on :



Not convinced by Billy the Kid. Appalachian Spring had a great start then got a bit weirder. I will revisit those 2 later on.

Rodeo was great fun - I really liked the slow section in it too.

That recording (which I like, BTW) includes a section of Appalachian Spring which is not normally included in the orchestral suite as frequently programmed.

[karlhenning]

He has symphonies? Sure don't hear about them much.

At some point you might try the Short Symphony, which Copland later recast as a Sextet.

[karlhenning]

Checking this out (the Adagio from PC2). I never listened to it as close as I am now. Excellent, thank you!

All three of the piano concerti are old faves!

[Mirror Image]

Oh, didn't know about that one.  I suspect I would like it.  My current favorite is Schiff:

I do not own the Schiff, but that is only a matter of time! Kudos for mentioning it!

Anyway, I enjoy Fischer's conducting and Schiff's pianism, so I'm sure it's quite good.

[AndyD.]

All three of the piano concerti are old faves!

It's really cool, because I'd borrowed the cd Mirror Image showcased at the library last week. I only listened to it through once. Now I'm really listening.

[Mirror Image]

Checking this out (the Adagio from PC2). I never listened to it as close as I am now. Excellent, thank you!

You're very welcome Andy. Bartok has always been one of my favorite composers. I love everything about him. I even enjoy his SQs, which is unusual for me as I'm not usually one for chamber music.

Unfortunately, I only own one set of Bartok SQs and it's with the Takacs Quartet on Decca, which is supposedly one of the finest sets. How this measures up against the Emersons or others I do not know.

[AndyD.]

You're very welcome Andy. Bartok has always been one of my favorite composers. I love everything about him. I even enjoy his SQs, which is unusual for me as I'm not usually one for chamber music.

Unfortunately, I only own one set of Bartok SQs and it's with the Takacs Quartet on Decca, which is supposedly one of the finest sets. How this measures up against the Emersons or others I do not know.

The Takacs I think is good enough to stand on its own. I love the recording, performance. The Hungarian SQ has got a terrific take as well, maybe a bit more restrained.

I like the Emerson because at times it's even more feverish than the Takacs. The performance of the 4th is about as heavy metal as you're going to get, if you have any liking for that stuff.

But those are all that I've heard.

I'm going to buy that Bartok PC recording next month, thanks so much for helping me get into it!

[Mirror Image]

The Takacs I think is good enough to stand on its own. I love the recording, performance. The Hungarian SQ has got a terrific take as well, maybe a bit more restrained.

I like the Emerson because at times it's even more feverish than the Takacs. The performance of the 4th is about as heavy metal as you're going to get, if you have any liking for that stuff.

But those are all that I've heard.

I'm going to buy that Bartok PC recording next month, thanks so much for helping me get into it!

You're welcome Andy. I'm so happy that Bartok is giving you a lot of joy and happiness. I've loved his music from the very beginning even before I understood it.

This Solti 2-CD set is very fine. I also own the other Solti 2-CD set which contains more orchestral works like Concerto for Orchestra, Dance Suite, The Miraculous Mandarin for example. My obsession with Bartok has led me to purchase almost all available recordings of his orchestral works from Boulez, Solti, Fischer to Ozawa, Jarvi, Alsop.

The thing that is interesting is that even though Bartok is highly regarded, there seems to not be that many recordings of his music as say Strauss or Dvorak for example. I wonder why this is? I suppose Bartok's music is extremely difficult to play? I'm not sure, but he sure is incredibly fun to listen to!

Here is what that other Solti set looks like:



By the way, have you checked out Boulez's or Fischer's recordings of Bartok yet? They, like Solti's, are fantastic performances in my opinion.

[Conor71]

Morning all - A spot of Bach.
The Art of Fugue recording is one I recently had delivered and its a great performance but I still struggle a bit with this work as is just not as lively as some of Bach's others.
Following AoF up with works that have no shortage of liveliness - the Sonatas for Violin & Harpsichord! 0:).

[Sid]

I've been listening to these two (which I bought in the past fortnight) quite a lot lately:



The Stravinsky is such a brilliant piece - an expression of optimism, vigour, vitality. By contrast Prokofiev's Sonata No. 7 has parts that are brutal, dark, edgy, tense. It is one of his three war sonatas, which I am only now discovering. The Webern has much subtlety and delicacy - it's a bit like filigree. The to top it all off the scorching virtuosity of the Boulez Second Sonata -  the dynamic contrasts & tempo changes are thrilling to hear.



I'm just beginning to absorb this after many listens. The Piano Concerto No. 5 is really kaliedescopic - many things going on in that piece. & the Sonata No. 8, his final war sonata, has sudden mood changes which can be quite confronting. These two cd's are great value, because they give the listener much meat to chew on, listening to them can be quite intense...

[Mirror Image]

He does, and they are awesome each one. The first, Organ Symphony, is what we call in Scotland a pure belter. It's an amazingly colourful and unbelievably confident early work, from Copland when he was studying with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. It definitely has European sensibilities (and I use that word very loosely because it gets a little raucous at times!), but there is no mistaking the beginnings of the distinct Copland voice. I have four recordings - Saint Louis - Slatkin, a live BBCSO recording from the proms, Dallas Symphony - Litton, and NYPO - Bernstein with Edward Power Biggs on the organ - and the Bernstein is a country mile ahead of the competition. The playing is phenomenal - Lenny wrings every last bit of spectacle out of the work and, equally importantly, the organ contribution is powerful. The Saint Louis and Dallas efforts are let down by seemingly timid little organs (I will stand corrected if someone has organ facts to educate me!). The live performance from the proms is a good second place recording (you can get it dirt cheap on Amazon UK - it came free with a mag years back) - benefitting from the almighty Albert Hall organ (even though it pre-dates the 'recent' restoration - how i'd love to hear it now).

The Lenny performance is on this disc, which I can recommend without any reservation whatsoever:



It also has an awesome performance of the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Copland performing the Dance Symphony (another early work and personal favourite). Personally, whatever people say about Copland not being an exceptional conductor, I think Copland's performance of the Dance Symphony is the best i've heard (much better than the more widely touted Dorati performance I reckon).

AND...it also has Lenny and the NYPO doing the Music for the Theatre, which is sleazy and delicious and reminds me of my trip to New York so much for all the right reasons. As does the urban poetry of Quiet City, for different reasons, which Bruce recommends. That is, on most days, my favourite Copland piece.

Oh i'm ranting... apologies. Ben <3 Copland 

I, too, am much tuned into Copland's sound-world. He reminds me of an American Stravinsky of sorts, especially in the way he constructed rhythms and shifting meters.

I have many favorite Copland works: Billy the Kid, Appalachian Spring, Red Pony Suite, Symphony No. 3, Rodeo, Quiet City, Our Town, Concerto for Clarinet, Harp, and Strings, among others.

Copland was one of the first composers I got into and his music has resonated with me ever since.

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Revisiting this recording after some discussion about Berg over the weekend. This is damn good....that's all I'll say.

[listener]

SCHUMANN   Impromptus on a Theme of Clara Wieck  op. 5
                   Davidsbündlertänze    op. 6                first versions
    Charles Rosen, piano
HONEGGER   Chamber Music collection
    Sonatine for clarinet and piano; Rapsodie for 2 flutes, clarinet and piano; Dans de la chêvre for flute; Romance for flute and piano,celesta, violin, viola; Introduction and Dance for flute harp, violin, viola, cello; Intrada for trumpet and piano; Hommage... for trombone and piano; J'avais un fidèle amant, Chanson de Roland, 3 Chansons de la petite Sirène  for string quartet

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Canzonetta for Oboe and Strings, which was left unfinished. If I'm not mistaken this work was going to be his Oboe Concerto. Does this right Barber fans?