What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

Francis Poulenc.

Aubade.

The New London Orchestra, Ronald Corp.
Julian Evans, Piano.
Recorded in 1989.

In general I like Poulenc's chamber music very much and have it all, apart from his song cycles. This rare orchestral piece with piano, is for me a mixed blessing. On the one hand I like it and and the other hand I don't. The somewhat bombastic piano parts makes me shy away, and a strange sort of sadness pervades this piece, that makes it sound quite uncomfortable to me. It could be that Evans has little subtlety in his playing and uses the instrument more like a penetrating percussion device, that weakens the structure of the orchestral writing quite considerably. And a pity that is, for his Sinfonietta, another detour for Poulenc in the shunned area of orchestral writing, is a masterpiece, that makes me stand in awe. Not so with Aubade. Sound is good, and the orchestra is playing fluently.

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

Reynaldo Hahn.

Le Bal de Beatrice d'Este.

The New London Orchestra, Ronald Corp.

A very fine work by this composer, it has the fingerprints of late French impressionism, with a romantic veil covering it all. But it also has a magical colourful side to it, with a optimism that is revealing in its openness. Its well written, within a intimate context, with a occasional bang by the piano. A good performance, with fine sound.

[Lethevich]

.[asin]B00000462E[/asin]

I consider this CD which I bought in 2010, as a very special one. Not at all fond of a recorder, I nevertheless bought this one, since I am a keen admirer of Gordon Jacob, in my view a underrated composer, who writes in a idiom that appeals to me greatly. Coupled with some top notch musicians, and you have pure magic in your ears. Every piece on this CD is a gem. And the sound is great too. Annabel Knight is a player of great gentleness, with no shrill tones at all. As always the Maggini SQ is superb in sustaining a beautiful tone throughout, very much focused on the notes.

This one looks cool - I think the only Naxos Maggini disc I don't yet have.

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

.[asin]B00000462E[/asin]

The Flem is a fine disc, a worthwhile composer that has staying capacity.

[karlhenning]

JSB
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
Konstantin Lifschitz

[Brahmsian]

JSB
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
Konstantin Lifschitz

How many versions do you have of the Goldberg's, Karl?

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to La Tragedie de Salome. Remarkable performance. Beautiful music.

[not edward]

Been playing this one quite a bit, because I'm really really impressed with some of the music here.

[asin]B004Z34N74[/asin]

The title Hungarian Historical Portraits sounds so unpromising--the last place you might find a neglected masterpiece. But with their simplified language, rather sparse textures and extremely effective use of repetition, they're almost Janacek's piano music waiting to be born. Amazing stuff.

(Honestly, I have no idea why late Liszt has such a low profile--multiple strands of 20th century music clearly grow out from these works.)

[Lethevich]

Been playing this one quite a bit, because I'm really really impressed with some of the music here.

[asin]B004Z34N74[/asin]

The title Hungarian Historical Portraits sounds so unpromising--the last place you might find a neglected masterpiece. But with their simplified language, rather sparse textures and extremely effective use of repetition, they're almost Janacek's piano music waiting to be born. Amazing stuff.

(Honestly, I have no idea why late Liszt has such a low profile--multiple strands of 20th century music clearly grow out from these works.)

Thanks for your words on this - Brilliant have been releasing a few intriguing Liszt items over the past few months (including the Campanella studies and transcriptions box), but this one seems the most must-buy of the lot.

[prémont]

Nice additions to the general picture, indeed. Anyway, I tend to consider more successful the attempts of Monteilhet and Nigel North than the set by Pandolfo. I have still not gathered up enough courage to face Verbrüggen's transcriptions for recorder. 

Most successful I consider Leonhardt´s transcriptions for harpsichord. Unfortunately he did not transcribe (or record?) but no. 4,5 and 6.

BTW, did you listen to the gamba sonatas by Pandolfo?

Yes, once. Didn´t strike me as special, but sometimes the first listening is more kind of screening, and appreciation grows out of the subsequent listenings.

[Robert]

SHOSTAKOVICH

Symphonies 1 & 7

Bernstein

C. S. O

DG

A favorite for many years.....never tire of it.....

[prémont]

I agree again. I even prefer some aspects of this recording, compared with his second recording. It's incredible to see how Leonhardt (this recording is from 1963) invented/rediscovered the harpsichord from almost zero. This is stupid, but the only case that I know of a modern musician so influential regarding a particular instrument (I mean in order to define how to play it properly) is Jimmy Hendrix. 

No, it is not stupid at all.

Frydén was a good violinist, but his modern style and specially his vibrato are quite uncomfortable, in particular when you hear these discs for the first time, like I did.

The first time I heard the Frydén/Leonhart set (quite many years ago) his vibrato annoyed me somewhat, but to day it annoys me rather much. But when to day I hear these works played on "modern" violin and 20th century harpsichord (e.g. Suk/Ruzickova or Lautenbacher/Galling) the vibrato, which in these examples is at least as pronounced as Frydén´s  does not bother me much. Strange, isn´t it?

[karlhenning]

How many versions do you have of the Goldberg's, Karl?

Maybe 8 or 9, Ray.

[Lisztianwagner]

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No.4
Berliner Philharmoniker
Herbert von Karajan



Ilaria

[Antoine Marchand]

Most successful I consider Leonhardt´s transcriptions for harpsichord. Unfortunately he did not transcribe (or record?) but no. 4,5 and 6.

I have just one of those transcriptions: the cello suite No. 4, included in a Seon 2-CD set. I have not heard that transcription in a long time, so I supposse it's time for a new listen. 

Yes, once. Didn´t strike me as special, but sometimes the first listening is more kind of screening, and appreciation grows out of the subsequent listenings.

I don't have this disc, but after a listen at NML I decided to buy it. I liked the broad, fleshy and sensual tone of Pandolfo and a certain (and very Baroque) improvisatory feeling in his interpretation. Although I was particularly impressed by Pandolfo, I think Markus Hünninger also does a great job, getting an interesting balance with Pandolfo, although the soundstage is a bit viola da gamba oriented.

[Antoine Marchand]

Maybe 8 or 9, Ray.

2 favorites, please? 

[listener]

COPLAND  Piano Variations
SESSIONS   Piano Sonata 2
CARTER   Piano Sonata
   Beveridge Webster, piano
MASSENET    Le Cid - ballet music from the opera
MEYERBEER-LAMBERT     Les Patineurs ballet
   Israel Philharmonic Orch.    / Jean Martinon

[SonicMan46]

Ries, Ferdinand (1784-1838) - Flute Quartets w/ Oxalys; for those interested check out the too short thread on the composer HERE - just left a longer post there w/ some links to an excellent Fanfare review and some additional information -

[bhodges]

Over the weekend saw another episode of the San Francisco Symphony's Keeping Score, "Mahler: Origins & Legacy," which was excellent. Michael Tilson Thomas is (as usual in this series) a very thoughtful, informative guide, and the show has excerpts from the orchestra (sounding great) in Mahler's Symphony No. 1. Makes me want to get their recording...

[asin]B004Q3P6HE[/asin]

--Bruce

[bhodges]

Rzewski: De Profundis (1992) (Lisa Moore, piano, on YouTube) - Originally written for a male performer (the spoken part is from Oscar Wilde's prison diary), the Australian pianist Lisa Moore does it beautifully. I usually don't like works with speech mixed in, but this is quite moving.

http://www.youtube.com/v/gCwtDY2Kntk

--Bruce