What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Brian]

mdt to the rescue. To quote the blurb:

SHOSTAKOVICH Complete Symphonies

Beethoven Orchestra Bonn / Kofman

This set of world class performances has been extremely well reviewed and is now available as a limited edition. "This superbly realistic and spectacular new recording from the unlikely source of the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn rather sweeps the board." Penguin Guide

MDG 11cds MDG3371200

Boy, the MusicWeb and ClassicsToday reviewers tell a different story. (That CT is from Carr; there are more from Hurwitz.)

[karlhenning]

We've got the hard copy Penguin guide at the museum shop, and I've browsed through it from time to time.  Effusive praise from a Penguin reviewer, I take with a small boulder of salt.

[Antoine Marchand]

My impression was that it simply couldn't touch Brautigam... especially not as regards the sound of the piano.

I checked samples of the Tuma recording and the fortepiano sounds pretty excellent to my ears. It is also a copy after a Walter BTW, but indeed not as sonorous as McNulty's. Actually, most Walter fortepianos or copies after Walter sound much more like the one on Tuma's recording than the McNulty copy on Brautigam's.

Well, I also agree about Brautigam; his Seven Last Words are superlative, one of the best moments of his excellent cycle.

That said, I can also say that Tuma's set has excellent recorded sound and a beautiful period instrument. I like his approach because it is a kind of stylish treatise on the slowness. If you compare the duration of his disc, it is notoriously longer than the all the other interpretations on period instruments (I have not compared with performances on modern instruments), but IMO it's a strongly recommendable approach. 

[Père Malfait]

Another delightful disc from the big HM box. Excellent sound and fine contributions from the singers and orchestra alike.

Soloists: Marta Almajano, Mieke van der Sluis, John Elwes, Mark Padmore, Frans Hulits, Harry van der Kamp.
Choir and Barockorchestra of the Dutch Bach society, Gustav Leonhardt.

I have that disc, but haven't listened to it in years. I'll have to dig it up when I get home and give it a listen.

[jlaurson]

I do agree with your high esteem for Brautigam!
But I hope you don't mind if I don't take your word for it when period instruments - especially fortepianos - are concerned.

The quote below confirmed my hunch that you prefer an as rich, sonorous and full sound as possible - basically as close to a modern piano as possible.

well... yes, to some degree, but not to the degree of making the fortepiano choice pointless. I do think there are inherent flaws with the fortepiano that don't add character but are just that: flaws. And I do like instruments that manage to reduce those while retaining the characteristics of the fortepiano that I (admittedly subjective) consider salient. Overtones, decay, transparency... that sort of thing. Perhaps I should pull the Tuma out of the discard pile and give it another spin...

[karlhenning]

Disc 10 of the Brilliant Tallis box

This last disc runs just 26 minutes (but, as the box contains the complete works, it is hard to complain of a short-running final disc).  A lovely Litany in English, a couple of brief versets for organ, and keyboard variations on a plainchant Felix namque . . . which I saw Alexander Waugh mention in his book Classical Music: A New Way of Listening.

[Antoine Marchand]

Buxtehude was a Baroque composer who was known in some circles at "the Danish Bach"...

... which is rather curious considering that Buxtehude -a highly respected and recognized composer- died in 1707, when Bach was 22 years old and was, at best, a young promise. 

[karlhenning]

Yeah, when did these circles who called him "The Danish Bach" circulate, anyway? : )

[MN Dave]

Yesterday, I listened to some classical radio and a tiny bit of a Jorge Bolet encores disc.

[Harry]

Just arrived in my mail box this morning, and it is a surprising disc in many ways. Lovingly done, perfectly recorded, and although I keep having problems with the likes  of Montserrat Figueras, the music is too interesting to let go. Cover art is to my liking

[DavidW]

... which is rather curious considering that Buxtehude -a highly respected and recognized composer- died in 1707, when Bach was 22 years old and was, at best, a young promise. 

Well that makes Buxtehude a middle baroque era composer, different style.  He might excel in vocal and organ like Bach but he's not high baroque.  You might as well compare Mozart to Berlioz, and declare Berlioz' operas so magnificent that he is the French Mozart! But it wouldn't make any sense.

[Conor71]

Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 In Eb Major, Op. 55, "Eroica"
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 In C Minor, Op. 37

Some listens from this excellent box-set .

[Que]

Q

[bhodges]

Love that Lully cover, Rego!

--Bruce

[marvinbrown]

Dude, you're immersed in Bach these days, right? : )

  Indeed BACH, more BACH, BACH, BACH!  COMPLETE IMMERSION, I WOULD SAY! CD 8 FROM THIS SET:

 

  Koopman takes us to Amsterdam, to the organ of the Walse Kerk where he plays the Preludes, Fantasia, Fugues and Allabreve (BWV 533, 535, 537, 546, 549, 550, 568, 569, 575 and 589).
   
  I like to listen carefully because there is much to learn from the master. The motifs, the harmonies and variations on these harmonies are astonishing!) Bach is unique in that I actually learn from him as much as I enjoy hearing him. I can not think of any other composer (not even Wagner!) that I can say this about.

  marvin

[SonicMan46]

Boccherini, Luigi (1743-1805) - String Quartets, Op. 32 & 58 on different labels and with different groups; really enjoying the Op. 32 works at the moment - published in 1780 (couple of years before Haydn's Op. 33) - these are a reissue recorded in 1976 by the Esterhazy Quartet w/ Jaap Schroder using PI techniques according to this old review from Gramophone HERE - both new arrivals! 

 

[not edward]

mdt to the rescue. To quote the blurb:

SHOSTAKOVICH Complete Symphonies

Beethoven Orchestra Bonn / Kofman

This set of world class performances has been extremely well reviewed and is now available as a limited edition. "This superbly realistic and spectacular new recording from the unlikely source of the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn rather sweeps the board." Penguin Guide

MDG 11cds MDG3371200

I'd actually rather like to hear this. Kofman's been very much on my conducting radar ever since I heard his Lutoslawski disc on cpo; to my mind he's the only conductor I've heard make proper sense of the thorny 2nd symphony (I think he even leaves the composer far behind in terms of what he gets out of the score).

As for my listening: Sandor playing Prokofiev's 9th sonata and the sonatinas, keeping tempi relaxed and allowing the emotionally ambiguous nature of these scores full play.

[Harry]

Second run this day

[Antoine Marchand]

Well that makes Buxtehude a middle baroque era composer, different style.  He might excel in vocal and organ like Bach but he's not high baroque.  You might as well compare Mozart to Berlioz, and declare Berlioz' operas so magnificent that he is the French Mozart! But it wouldn't make any sense.

I don't know if your example applies in this case, David.

Buxtehude was deeply admired by Bach, who even traveled hundred of miles on foot to know him and -more importantly- to listen to Buxtehude to play his compositions, I suppose particularly his organ music. And not just that, Bach spent three months in Lübeck, risking his own job. I mean to say: Buxtehude was not the "Danish Bach", but simply one of the most important Bach's masters. 

[Conor71]

Mahler: Symphony No. 9 In D Minor
Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 In D Minor, WAB 103, "Wagner"

Some EMI Budget-Box choices: 2 Symphonies in D Minor - Excellent performance of the Mahler though the SQ could have been better!. Have listened to the Bruckner Wagner Symphony a fair few times but still not that familiar with it .