What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[madaboutmahler]

First listen to some of this Debussy set that John sent me as a present a little while ago:

[asin]B000BL99UK[/asin]
Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune
La Mer
and
Nocturnes

Absolutely amazing music, so incredibly beautiful! Such brilliant colours, and so full of passion and power! Never before have I enjoyed Debussy so much... I am very keen to continue listening my way through this set and am very excited to do so!
Will resume tommorow. Next up, as planned: Nielsen 5.

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

First listen to some of this Debussy set that John sent me as a present a little while ago:

[asin]B000BL99UK[/asin]
Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune
La Mer
and
Nocturnes

Absolutely amazing music, so incredibly beautiful! Such brilliant colours, and so full of passion and power! Never before have I enjoyed Debussy so much... I am very keen to continue listening my way through this set and am very excited to do so!
Will resume tommorow. Next up, as planned: Nielsen 5.

That is a pre-eminent set my friend! Performances are top notch, as is the sound. John meant well with you!

[madaboutmahler]

Actually, I did, Daniel. I was surprised I was even listening to it myself, but there's something about Klemperer's approach to Beethoven, especially in the 9th that just works for me. It's a darker hued approach.

Even though I don't hardly listen to Beethoven, I own quite a few sets of his symphonies: Bernstein, Abbado (2nd cycle on DG), Klemperer, Karajan (the 60s/70s cycle I believe on DG), Zinman, and Harnoncourt.

So glad that you enjoyed it, John! Are you going to listen to some more Beethoven more often now then?
The Beethoven sets I have are the two Karajan, Haitink (LSO), Rattle, Zinman and Goodman. Thinking of getting the Chailly, Gardiner and Harnoncourt soon, were recommended to me a while ago... So much to buy!

That is a pre-eminent set my friend! Performances are top notch, as is the sound. John meant well with you!

Completely agree with you, Harry. Really brilliant performances.

[Opus106]

First Listen (composer)

Rodion Shchedrin: Piano Concerto No. 2

http://www.youtube.com/v/wwrC_g3tAjc

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

First Listen (composer)

Rodion Shchedrin: Piano Concerto No. 2

http://www.youtube.com/v/wwrC_g3tAjc

My admiration for this composer knows no bounds. He is a excellent orchestrator and composer.

[Opus106]

My admiration for this composer knows no bounds. He is a excellent orchestrator and composer.

That's good to know, Harry. The occasional 'wild' moment in this concerto is not going to help me with sleep tonight, so I better round things up after this with some Chopin.

Do you have any recommendations (of his works) beyond this PC?

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

That's good to know, Harry. The occasional 'wild' moment in this concerto is not going to help me with sleep tonight, so I better round things up after this with some Chopin.

Do you have any recommendations (of his works) beyond this PC?

[asin]B00005KBJR[/asin] [asin] B0037TTQDI[/asin]

Two very good recordings.

[Opus106]

Much appreciated, Harry. (I remember being captivated by the painting on the cover on DG album recently on the Purchases thread while not paying much attention to the works. )

The piano writing in the second concerto is certainly exciting at places... and what's with those jazzy bits?!

[Opus106]

Not Chopin; opted for Dowland instead. (Oh, and do you also have the habit of typing Download then backspacing to correct it? ) Although I have heard a lot about him, this is still as good as a first listen of his works for me.

Vol. 1 of the complete works for lute, played by Paul O'Dette.

[Todd]

Superb singing, superb orchestral support, outstanding sound.  A rather nice disc.

[The new erato]

  A rather nice disc.

Containing what?

[Todd]

Containing what?

Arias by Strauss, Handel, Bellini, Ambroise Thomas, Bizet, Verdi, Schoenberg, and Messiaen.

[The new erato]

Arias by Strauss, Handel, Bellini, Ambroise Thomas, Bizet, Verdi, Schoenberg, and Messiaen.

Thanks. Certainly a varied programme.

[Wanderer]

Today's listening included Mozart Symphonies (SD/C.Davis), Poulenc concertos and Cherubini Masses (Muti).

[Coopmv]

Now playing CD1 from the following set, a recent arrival for a first listen ...

[not edward]

Talking of the Jarvi Prokofiev 7th, I don't understand why he included that horrible tacked-on 'Wake up Stalin' flourish at the end, which completely destroys that wonderful fadeout ending. (It's not like like Prokofiev was a big fan of optimistic endings; for example the catastrophes at the end of the 3rd and 6th and the way the brutal hammering in the coda of the 5th completely destabilizes the heroic narrative of the rest of the symphony.)

Talking of catastrophe and Soviet symphonies:

[asin]B000023YQF[/asin]

Despite the very worst of Russian engineering, my favourite 4th; Rozhdestvensky's slow tempi build the menace of the work inexorably, while the more dance-like passages flow with quiet elegance. The end is as cataclysmic as I've heard in this work, without overwhelming the question the final celesta notes pose.

[Sadko]

[asin]B00005KBJR[/asin]

Two very good recordings.

This Carmen Suite with Pletnev was my first Shchedrin - a very nice starting point for me.

[Robert]

Schoenberg

String Quartets  1 - 4

Arditti Quartet

[Conor71]

Brahms: Symphony No. 1 In C Minor, Op. 68


wonderful performance!

[nesf]

Symphony No. 5