What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[mc ukrneal]

I needed some music to put me in a good mood after a rough morning. So I picked this great disc with all sorts of nifty music by Lumbye (Odense Symphony Orchestra, Peter Guth). Outstanding! Some of it is exciting, some of it beautiful, but much of it is catchy, and played nicely by an orchestra I had never heard of until this disc.

[marvinbrown]

Some people really think Verdi wrote Tosca.   For instance, in a recent work of history written by a gentleman currently serving as provost of Georgetown U.

Which was only the capstone of my dislike of that book:
http://kishnevi.wordpress.com/2010/07/10/arrgh-moment-of-the-day/

  It is embarrassing when intellectuals make mistakes of this sort, and then go on to publish them.  I often hear people mistaking Schumann for Schubert and vice-versa (If I am not mistaken at one point stamps with Schumann's picture had Schubert's name on them!!)  but to confuse Puccini with Verdi?? Come on!  There is no excuse for that!

  marvin

[Conor71]

Listening to Mozarts Gran Partita and Nacht Music for Winds followed up by Mahler Symphony No. 3.

[Opus106]

Listening to Mozarts Gran Partita and Nacht Music for Winds followed up by Mahler Symphony No. 3.

Should have gone for the seventh, with the whole nachtmusik thing going on. Enjoy.

[Antoine Marchand]

  It is embarrassing when intellectuals make mistakes of this sort, and then go on to publish them.  I often hear people mistaking Schumann for Schubert and vice-versa (If I am not mistaken at one point stamps with Schumann's picture had Schubert's name on them!!)  but to confuse Puccini with Verdi?? Come on!  There is no excuse for that!

  marvin

I know a guy -without real musical interests, anyway- who always states that he loves Mozart's Fifth... Obviously, he is thinking in Beethoven's Fifth, but it's too embarrassing to correct him (especially considering he was my boss in the past ).

It's a good pretext to post this video (several known faces there):

http://www.youtube.com/v/8ow0EbXVbpM

Ton Koopman (Conductor)
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra

Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space May 20, 1991

[Opus106]

I know a guy -without real musical interests, anyway- who always states that he loves Mozart's Fifth... Obviously, he is thinking in Beethoven's Fifth

Obviously, Antoine? For all you know, he could have listened to K. 22 on the radio and might have fallen in love with a simple early Classical symphony from a teenage prodigy.

And thanks, I was wondering to start with on this evening; I was thinking some Beethoven sonatas, but K. 22 it will be.

[Antoine Marchand]

Obviously, Antoine?

Totally when he hums the opening theme of Beethoven's Fifth and then he states his love for Mozart's music. I insist, it's a bit embarrassing.     

[Opus106]

Totally when he hums the opening theme of Beethoven's Fifth and then he states his love for Mozart's music. I insist, it's a bit embarrassing.     

Gift him a recording of Beethoven's Fifth, this Christmas.

[Conor71]

Should have gone for the seventh, with the whole nachtmusik thing going on. Enjoy.

Now listening:
Mahler: Symphony No. 3 - movement II (Tennstedt/LPO)

[Brian]

Gift him a recording of Beethoven's Fifth, this Christmas.

But make sure it's HIP!

[Brian]

Gosh, this sounds like it was recorded in the early '60s. There's a big fat layer of tape hiss.

[karlhenning]

Hmm, all I want for Christmas is tape hiss! ; )

[Brian]

Gosh, this sounds like it was recorded in the early '60s. There's a big fat layer of tape hiss.

It's actually a much better performance than I expected. For a youth orchestra being recorded live, there are actually no botched wind/brass solos - which, in Mahler, is a minor miracle! Tintner conducts with his usual clarity and freshness. It's not Kubelik, but it's definitely no slouch either. The only real complaint is overprominent timpani in the final bars of mvt. i (you can't hear anyone else over them).

[karlhenning]

Jardim abandonado
Sérgio & Odair Assad



Includes arrangements for two guitars of Debussy, Milhaud and the Rhapsody in Blue.

[kishnevi]

It's actually a much better performance than I expected. For a youth orchestra being recorded live, there are actually no botched wind/brass solos - which, in Mahler, is a minor miracle! Tintner conducts with his usual clarity and freshness. It's not Kubelik, but it's definitely no slouch either. The only real complaint is overprominent timpani in the final bars of mvt. i (you can't hear anyone else over them).

Zander's website has MP3 downloads available in which he conducts the New England Youth Orchestra (I don't remember the exact name) in Mahler 5 and Shostakovich 5.  The SQ is not great, especially since they are MP3s, so I have only listened to them once or twice, but I don't recall any issues with intonation and similar aspects

Thread duty:  Shostakovich Violin Concerto No 2.  David Oistrakh/Moscow Philharmonic/Kondrashin.   Recorded in 1967.    an alto CD which pairs this with Symphony No. 15, also performed by Kondrashin and the Moscow Phil. in 1974. 

sparked by my reference to this recording in another thread.  SQ is better than I remembered.

[jlaurson]

It's actually a much better performance than I expected. For a youth orchestra being recorded live...

I'm not sure "Youth Orchestra" can so easily be tut-tutted. Sure, if it's an orchestra of 13-year olds, then that might deserve special mention (although a kids-included-orchestras like the NYOofGB easily manage professional standards). But if we are dealing with, say, the "Youth" orchestras like that of Juilliard [don't know the Canadian one] or Muti's outfit (Cherubini), Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, Deutsche Junge Philharmonie et al, those are groups that can outplay most professional ensembles on a good day. (And since they have so few 'days' in the limelight at all, and those days with great conductors [OK, Tintner isn't 'great', but still exciting for them] being really special, they tend only to have good days. Beats having to listen to the New York Philharmonic 9 times out of 10.

[DavidRoss]

Jardim abandonado
Sérgio & Odair Assad



Includes arrangements for two guitars of Debussy, Milhaud and the Rhapsody in Blue.

Oooh...looks like a must have.  Check for pm in near future, sir.

Now playing:



Nos. 4, 9, 11

[Père Malfait]

More seasonal listening:



This is quite possibly my favorite Christmas disc of all time.

[Conor71]

A spot of Dvorak - String Quintets # 1 & 3, Symphony No. 3

I have been looking forward to recieving and listening to Dvorak's complete SQ's but I am beginning to worry it may have been lost in the post as it is now 2 months since order date! .

[Brian]

First full listen to this symphony...



ZOMG AMAZING! I should have listened to this months years ago!
Oh wait years ago I was a fool and thought I hated it.