What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Antoine Marchand]

Every time when I hear something played by Miklós Perényi, I immediately get the sensation that I need more music played by this master cellist:

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This set, for instance, begins with a wonderful "Arpeggione Sonata", played on cello as usual.

[Opus106]

This set, for instance, begins with a wonderful "Arpeggione Sonata", played on cello as usual.

And Schiff used a fortepiano?

Thread duty: Mahler 2. Chailly LGO. 17 May 2011.

[DavidW]

Oh yeah I forgot, I watched The Marriage of Figaro last night.  Loved it.  I've listened to it on cd for too long, it's good to have the whole experience.

[Antoine Marchand]

And Schiff used a fortepiano?

No, he plays a modern piano, although - as usual too - the piano maker is not specified.

BTW, I also have this box (with the consequential duplications derived from a galloping CDCDCD):



Here you find the set commented above and also a beautiful disc devoted to Mozart's piano trios and played on period instruments which previously existed under this cover as a single disc:

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[not edward]

Are these two of Brian's stronger symphonies, or just two of the better-performed ones on record? I'd incline to the former, particularly as regards the 6th.

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Cooke's rather Hindemithian 3rd symphony, though it's well executed, interests me somewhat less. (There are moments in the slow movement where it feels to me as if the performance is dragging a bit rather than the work itself.)

[Opus106]

No, he plays a modern piano, although - as usual too - the piano maker is not specified.

BTW, I also have this box (with the consequential duplications derived from a galloping CDCDCD):



Here you find the set commented above and also a beautiful disc devoted to Mozart's piano trios and played on period instruments

Thanks, Antoine. I suppose I must have confused myself the Schubert for the Mozart regarding the use of period instruments.

[Coopmv]

Nice! - I am quite interested in Karajan's Bruckner and have considered buying his set a few times!.
Is K's Bruckner good Coop and are some of the symphonies split over 2 discs like the stand-alone Bruckner cycle?.

First of all, the current Amazon price on this set is astronomical and the set is likely OOP but hopefully you can get a lucky break elsewhere, perhaps at one of your local B&M stores.  Second, I have not had the chance to listen to any of the Bruckner Symphonies in that set yet.  In fact, I probably had 75% of the CD's before I bought that box.  The purchase was purely based on simple economic analysis: It would have cost me a lot more to buy the Bruckner and Haydn Symphonies that I did not already have separately ...

[Coopmv]

Sibelius: Symphony No. 4 In A Minor, Op. 63

Continuing with my recent Sibelius re-listens 

I have seen many people knocking this set for EMI overuse of NR.  I also happen to have this set.  Your thoughts?

[Lethevich]

@ the passacaglia: too late did I realise how long 75 minutes of music feels while unfolding compared to during the momentary decision it takes to begin the playing of a CD of this length. I planned to sleep after this, but found myself tired halfway through. But I kept postponing this because the music was too compelling to leave, and now it's almost finished. I found myself experiencing a whole splurge of unanimously positive reactions from it, although may give it a second listen tomorrow before I dare to write a few off the cuff sentences...

Are these two of Brian's stronger symphonies, or just two of the better-performed ones on record? I'd incline to the former, particularly as regards the 6th.

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Cooke's rather Hindemithian 3rd symphony, though it's well executed, interests me somewhat less. (There are moments in the slow movement where it feels to me as if the performance is dragging a bit rather than the work itself.)

Hehe, me and Vandermolen found that slow movement to be the most attractive part of the work I didn't notice performance issues, but I tend to get carried away by the entertainment quality of Cooke's music and perhaps this deflected by attention.

I can't speak for more knowledgable Brianians, but it is hard to de-tangle whether these two commonly-recommended symphonies are done so because they stand out in terms of quality, or simply because these recordings of them are miles better than the rest. If they do stand out, it can't be by much at all - several other favourites of mine are available in sub-optimal performances, or in the case of one, not commercially released

[Coopmv]

I guess this would be one and the same???

The Beethoven Symphonies included in that Karajan Symphony Edition mega box were from the 77 cycle.  I am not familiar with this box.  I have every Beethoven cycle by Karajan ...

[Coopmv]

I'm so taken by Chiara Banchini's typical Italianate highly spirited playing with a the same time a mellow and sensuous tone (like Enrico Gatti or Enrico Onofri) that I bought this blindly. I'm glad I did.



EDIT: Oh wow, this scores high on the ranking of Italian Baroque violin solo repertoire! (Continuo accompaniment here) And a magnificent performance.

Q

Morning Q.

I have owned this Bonporti set for a number of years.  IIRC, it was an excellent recording of some rarely performed works.



My Sweelinck set arrived from JCP yesterday - my very first order from this German outfit.

My set also did not come in shrink-wrap though the sumptuous hardcover booklet and the CD envelopes all look new.  I hope the booklet has English translation since I do not read Dutch.

Now playing CD1 from the above Sweelinck set for a first listen ...

[Mirror Image]

Now:

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Listening to Le buisson ardent. I prefer this performance to Segerstam's on Marco Polo. Holliger takes a broader approach to the music and breathes more life into the music than Segerstam. The audio quality also is much better than the Marco Polo recording.

[Que]

I have owned this Bonporti set for a number of years.  IIRC, it was an excellent recording of some rarely performed works.

Great.

My Sweelinck set arrived from JCP yesterday - my very first order from this German outfit.

[...] I hope the booklet has English translation since I do not read Dutch.

That made its way rather quickly across the pond! 

Not to worry - there is an English translation.

Q

[Todd]

This is one of the finest Debussy recordings I have heard.  The Nocturnes is ravishing and crystal clear.  One of my purchases of the year so far, no doubt about it.

[Marc]

My fave collection of Bach's 18 Leipzig Chorales (with add-ons):

Bram Beekman, Schnitger/Timpe organ, Der Aa Kerk, Groningen, NL.

Such a pity that the Lindenberg label went bankrupt.

[Coopmv]

Great.

That made its way rather quickly across the pond! 

Not to worry - there is an English translation.

Q

Thanks for the heads up on the Sweelinck set.  JCP appears to have a deeper catalog than both MDT and Presto Classical.  I regularly receive email notifications of sales from the two UK etailers though I am not sure if JCP does the same.  Perhaps I do not know the bag of tricks for searching on the JCP website.  To locate that Sweelinck set last weekend was easy since you already posted the sale - 20 Euro for this set was definitely a steal compared with $141 used on Amazon US ...

[Ric]

Maybe, in my feel this recording is the greatest one in the history of the phonography. Such a deep emotion. It's difficult to describe using words.

Regards.

[Coopmv]

Now playing the following CD, which arrived from Presto Classical late last week for a first listen ...

[haydnguy]

The Beethoven Symphonies included in that Karajan Symphony Edition mega box were from the 77 cycle.  I am not familiar with this box.  I have every Beethoven cycle by Karajan ...

This one is the 1963 version and got 4 out of 5 stars by reviewers by got knocked by a few reviewers because of the mastering.

[Coopmv]

This one is the 1963 version and got 4 out of 5 stars by reviewers by got knocked by a few reviewers because of the mastering.

The Beethoven cycle in the Karajan Symphony Edition is the 1977 version, which I also have in a sumptuous 9-LP box set.  The set includes some breath taking photos of the BPO and the concert hall ...