What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Wanderer]

I don't post much on this thread, at least not about my own listening. So when I am roused to do so perhaps it means...um...something. Anyway. This:



An utterly awesome recording. Get it for the Scriabin, which you will not hear better played, but the Tchaikovsky is phenomenal too. Haven't enjoyed it so much for years (though I rarely listen to it, to be fair).

The Scriabin, of course, is a sublime piece. One of those perfect, not-a-note-out-of-place pieces which I have never seen anything other than the deepest praise for, even from those who don't really like Scriabin (me, I love him, I feel a real musical affinity for him as I feel very rarely for any composer; compositionally speaking, I feel very close to him at times). The Concerto, as I'm sure most of you know, is a supremely romantic piece, as heart on sleeve as any Rachmaninov concerto and with, dare I say, more concision and less waste. The slow movement is a set of variations built on a theme as stunningly heavenly as that of comparable movement of the Ravel Concerto in G - and that is saying a great deal. Demidenko is awesomely committed and poetic in this reading; the disc is a winner.

Hey, maybe I'm just under a bit of a spell right now, but I'm always in love with this piece when I've just heard it, you'll have to forgive me!

This is no hyperbole, it's simply a stunning recording. The Scriabin is one of my most beloved romantic piano concertos and in my view Demidenko's rendition has not yet been surpassed. The Tchaikovsky is also one of the best, if not as celebrated, interpretations known to me (and I know a lot), romantic and virtuosic but not overbearingly so. Definitely a desert island recording.

Demidenko's renditions of Prokofiev's second and third piano concertos on Hyperion are also well worth seeking out.

[Sid]

Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 with a twist - played (or rather performed) by the inimitable Victor Borge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcV19rylSZc

[listener]

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS   Riders to the Sea       opera in 1 act, after J.M. Synge
                                   Magnificat
Ambrosian Singers,   Orchestra Nova of London        Meredith Davies, cond.
the claviorganum  a combined upright harpsichord and small organ  intended for domestic use,   played by Michael Thomas
Gottlieb MUFFAT  Suite no. 6 in G      BACH  Fantasia and Fugue in a, BWV 904  + HANDEL, GIBBONS, BYRD
------
GUILMANT  Organ Sonata 5 in c, op. 80      MACMILLAN  Cortège Académique
LANGLAIS  Fantasy on two old Scottish themes      STANFORD  2  Preludes from op. 88
Fantasia and Idyll op.121 nos. 1&2
Jane Watts
Lewis organ at Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Edinburgh

[Sergeant Rock]

Scriabin Piano Concerto F#minor, Nikolai Golovanov conducting the Symphony Orchestra of the All Union Radio, Heinrich Neuhaus pianist. Recorded in 1946




Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Taneyev Overture to Oresteia



Addendum: There is, thankfully, no caterwauling in this Oresteia 


Sarge

[karlhenning]

Not exactly music for a Royal Wedding, but . . .

First-Listen Fridays!

Schnittke
Cello Concerto № 1 (1986)
Aleksander Ivashkin, vc
Russian State Symphony Orchestra
Polyansky

[Sergeant Rock]

Havergal Brian Symphony #11 (1954)




Sarge

[DavidW]

Bach's Magnificat. 0:)

[Sergeant Rock]

Havergal Brian, Dr Merryheart: a comedy overture for orchestra (1912), Newstone conducting the LSO


Sarge

[Brahmsian]

Good morning to all!   

Haydn

String Quartet in B flat major, Op.76/4 'Sunrise'
String Quartet in D major, Op.76/5
String Quartet in E flat major, Op.76/6

Kodaly Quartet
Naxos

[Brahmsian]

Taneyev Overture to Oresteia



Addendum: There is, thankfully, no caterwauling in this Oresteia 


Sarge

I highly recommend this disc to everyone.  Karl, do you hear me?  There is a wonderful piece for Clarinet and string orchestra included on here.   

[karlhenning]

First-Listen Fridays!

Schnittke
Cello Concerto № 2 (1990)
Slava, vc
LSO
Ozawa

[DavidW]

My first listen Friday listening has turned back to those Haydn masses again.

[karlhenning]

I highly recommend this disc to everyone.  Karl, do you hear me?  There is a wonderful piece for Clarinet and string orchestra included on here.   

Ray, I own it : ) Cato bespoke it earlier.

[Brahmsian]

Ray, I own it : ) Cato bespoke it earlier.

Hi Karl, where was the mention by Cato? 

[The Diner]

All I have on my iPod is rock music, right when I need some classical. 

[Brahmsian]

All I have on my iPod is rock music, right when I need some classical. 

Are you a reincarnation of MN Dave? 

[The Diner]

Are you a reincarnation of MN Dave? 

Indeed.

[Brian]

In tangential celebration of the Royal Wedding:

HAYDN | Symphony No 104 "London"
Cleveland Orchestra
George Szell

[The Diner]

Okay, I'm listening to Venice Classical Radio.

Whatever that is.