What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Karl Henning]

An interruption of the queue. Maiden-Listen Mondays! (This recording):

Mennin
Canzona
Massachusetts Wind Orchestra
Malcolm W. Rowell, Jr

Which was, of course, the first ever I knew of Mennin, playing this piece in a jr high school region band . . . .

[asin]B00022FWWW[/asin]

[Karl Henning]

Mennin
« Moby-Dick » Concertato
Albany Symphony
David Alan Miller

[asin]B0000049RF[/asin]

[Karl Henning]

High time I revisited this 'un:

Wuorinen
Genesis
Minnesota Chorale & Orchestra
Edo de Waart

[asin]B000001SIX[/asin]

[PaulR]

I'm a follower, not a leader!

[asin]B0000049RF[/asin]

[Karl Henning]

More revisitation:

Lindberg
Clarinet Concerto
Kari Kriikku, cl
Finnish Radio Symphony
Sakari Oramo

[asin]B000ARHNHG[/asin]

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

Giovanni Battista Sammartini.
Late Symphonies, CD II.
Academia d'Arcadia, Alessandra Rossi Lurig. (On period instruments)

Delightful works, they sparkle modestly, and the tempi will not come in first, but they please nevertheless. It is well recorded, with plenty of air around the instruments. I refer to my review of CD I on 21-4-2012, which more or less tells you what I think of them. Would not like to be without them.

[Karl Henning]

More revisitation:

Schoenberg
String Quartet № 2 in f# minor, Op.10
Evelyn Lear, sop
New Vienna String Quartet

[asin]B00002DDWS[/asin]

[Karl Henning]

Maiden-Listen Mondays!

Schuman
Symphony № 10, « American Muse » (1975)
Seattle Symphony
Schwarz

[asin]B003NEQATA[/asin]

[Karl Henning]

Maiden-Listen Mondays!

Schuman
Symphony № 10, « American Muse » (1975)
Seattle Symphony
Schwarz

[asin]B003NEQATA[/asin]

Great, great piece.  I am experiencing something of a retroactive frisson at the thought that he was writing this at the time when I was in junior high school.  If only I had heard the piece, back then!, I am inclined to think . . . I do not think it would have changed me as a composer, or as a musician otherwise.  But I am certain that I should have responded to it just as warmly, then, as I do now.

Schuman has been somewhat easy to marginalize because of his day-job, easy to caricature as a musical bureaucrat.  But it is not only that the man clearly had chops;  in music throughout the course of his career (and perhaps he was entirely artistically right to withdraw the first two symphonies, feeling that with his Third he had at last caught hold of something), I exult in the invention and inspiration.

Now, I need to go back and listen to a couple of the Mennin symphonies . . . .

[Cato]

From deep deep DEEP in the vast Cato Archives:

[asin]B00000E4J0[/asin]

The Henze (Prison Song is unimpressive, sounding like an imitation of Stockhausen: it is supposed to be an homage to Ho Chi Minh.  (Remember him?  Anyone?  Anyone?       ) Certainly it is not part of Socialist Realism.

Seasons by Takemitsu has bells and woodchimes and a "glass trombone"      specially made for the work, which I recall is one of the reasons I got the CD.  Let's just say the expectation was greater than the result.

Turris Campanarum Sonantium  (Tower of Ringing Bells) by Maxwell Davies starts off very slowly, but builds in interest somewhat.  It is played on bells or metal surfaces of some sort.

Its Latin title also made me think I would give it a shot!     The last two works are what might be played as background music at an art museum for a gallery of abstract watercolors.

The player is Stomu Yamash'ta who must be in his 60's I would think.  Here he is 40 years ago, when these works were composed for him.

[Karl Henning]

Fascinating, Cato!

Meanwhile, again:

Mennin
« Moby-Dick » Concertato
Albany Symphony
David Alan Miller

[asin]B0000049RF[/asin]

[Karl Henning]

Mennin
Symphony № 5 (1950)
Albany Symphony
David Alan Miller

[asin]B0000049RF[/asin]

[Karl Henning]

Mennin
Symphony № 3 (1946)
NY Phil
Mitropoulos

[Lisztianwagner]

To and from the university today:

Richard Wagner
Der Fliegende Hollander, Act 3



Johannes Brahms
Symphony No.4

[Karl Henning]

Schuman
Symphony № 9, « Le fosse Ardeatine » (1968)
Seattle Symphony
Schwarz

[asin]B003NEQATA[/asin]

[Lethevich]

Omg all you Menin players, start talking about how the music sounds now~

[listener]

IRELAND Piano Concerto in E^b
Colin Horsley, piano     Royal Philharmonic O.,  Basil Cameron, cond.
- getting acquainted in prep. for hearing it live this weekend - coupled with G&S 'Trial by Jury' !
SIBELIUS  Symphony no. 2 in D
London Symphony Orch.,    Anthony Collins cond.
I can't decide between this or Beecham as a favourite - ans both are mono
DEBUSSY  Iberia (from 'Images pour orchestre')    IBERT Escales
RAVEL  Alborada del Gracioso
French Nat.. Radio Orch.    Stokowski, cond.
Fortunately there's an error on the cover: the Alborada does not take 14:03, ans Escales is not cut to get to 7:22, just the reverse

[Conor71]

Xenakis: Metastasis


Listening to this interesting Xenakis Disc and then I will listen to Disc 15 of the Secret Labyrinth set

[Lisztianwagner]

Thread duty

Sergei Prokofiev
Symphony No.5
[asin]B000068QRW[/asin]

[DieNacht]

I own that box set of British piano concertos too ! Bought it in London many years ago, don´t know if they still have those great second-hand LP shops near Notting Hill ...
Stokowski in Ibert´s "Escales" I don´t think I have ever seen, quite interesting ... !