Recent posts

#1

Great Recordings and Reviews / Re: Favourite pianist who emer...

Last post by Florestan - Today at 07:03:43 AM

No love for Yuja Wang?

Oh, yes, of course, she's lovely indeed. And she can play the piano, too. Dynamite combination. 

#2

General Classical Music Discussion / Re: Musical depictions of the ...

Last post by Brian - Today at 07:03:33 AM

Thank you so much for sharing those! It's very interesting relating the landscapes to the works in this case because while those photos capture great natural beauty, it's a very clear, austere beauty - not romanticized, nowhere to hide, just the stark primary colors of the water and land, and the blue or gray of the skies. Between the shorter vegetation and coolness of the water, there's a sort of harshness to the sunlight that is captivating...like a very cold version of Texas 

[Barth]

#3

Classical YouTube Video Library / Re: Beethoven + God - Op. 27 N...

Last post by Florestan - Today at 06:58:27 AM

Oh, that's the source!

Not 100% sure but most probably. There's also a Barth essay on Mozart contained within this (see the reading thread):



but on quick perusal I could not spot that famous quote. Yet I am absolutely sure it is not apocryphal, I did read a Barth essay which ended with those lines, I just couldn't find it today. Be it as it might, he was spot on.   

#4

General Classical Music Discussion / Re: Musical depictions of the ...

Last post by Luke - Today at 06:57:02 AM

Like his Orcadian home. Works I have grown to enjoy a lot lately.

PMD-related sea pictures from my recent Orkney trip (for my book):

Top left: The view of the Pentland Firth from the composing window of PMD's house on Hoy. This precise bit of sea and the mathematics behind the workings of its waves inspired works such as the Second Symphony and A Mirror of Whitening Light.

Top right: The two islands (the Ires of Holm) which inspired many of his later pieces. They are just outside the house on Sanday where he lived after Hoy for the rest of his life.

Bottom left: The view to Stromness as you leave on the ferry - the route which is imagined in his most famous work, Farewell to Stromness.

Bottom right: The cliffs at uranium-rich Yesnaby, recalled in Farewell to Stromness's companion piece, Yesnaby Ground.

#5

The Diner / Re: Pictures I like

Last post by Todd - Today at 06:54:41 AM

I assume the meme is years old, but I did not see it until today.

#6

Classical YouTube Video Library / Re: Beethoven + God - Op. 27 N...

Last post by Karl Henning - Today at 06:52:13 AM

Oh, I was referring to this book only:



whose final lines read:

It may be that when the angels go about their task praising God, they play only Bach. I am sure, however, that when they are together en famille they play Mozart.

Oh, that's the source!

[Runciman]

#7

The Diner / Re: What are you currently rea...

Last post by Florestan - Today at 06:51:16 AM

Googling earlier today "Karl Barth Mozart" led me to this very interesting collection of essays, which I plan to read over the next few days, taking a break from Runciman.



Starting, of course, with Barth's Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

(Free on Archive.org, requires registration)

#8

The Diner / Re: What are you currently rea...

Last post by Florestan - Today at 06:31:29 AM

consciousness, selfhood and free will are what define us as human beings, and raise us above all other creatures.

Amen!

[TchaikovskySymphony no. 6Leningrad PhilharmonicYevgeny Mravinsky]

#9

General Classical Music Discussion / Re: What are you listening 2 n...

Last post by DavidW - Today at 06:30:41 AM

Tchaikovsky
Symphony no. 6
Leningrad Philharmonic
Yevgeny Mravinsky
(on CD)



Until watching Hurwitz's video today, I wasn't aware there were two versions of Tchaikovsky 5 and 6, and that the one I have is not the legendary stereo set, but the earlier mono set. Still a historically valuable recording to have, and while it's not my first choice, I still enjoyed it.

There is actually more than two.  There are some other recordings on other labels.  Anyway out of those DG, the stereo has better sound, but the mono is I think slightly more driven and colorful.

#10

General Classical Music Discussion / Re: What are you listening 2 n...

Last post by Florestan - Today at 06:28:28 AM

This twofer is a treasure trove. Donizetti was a pupil and protege of Giovanni Simone (Johann Simon) Mayr and it shows. He and Rossini were probably the only Italian composers of their time who were thoroughly versed in German music; the difference being that Rossini was an autodidact in this respect, albeit a genius one, whereas Donizetti absorbed it from Mayr's rigorous teaching. His SQs are very accomplished works, full to the brim with interesting, often arresting, ideas and gorgeous melodies, interlocked within a compelling structure and a gripping musical discourse. They are all excellent but if I were to single out one, it must be the SQ No. 14 in D major, which is almost Schubertian in the way Donizetti makes a major key sound as turbulent, distressing and dissonant as a minor one.

The recording is sonic bliss, the instruments placed in genuine stereo manner (to my ears, the order is, from left to right, cello, violin I and II, viola --- which is unusual but highly interesting and effective) and clearly and vividly audible at all times.

This --- and the second volume, also a twofer, which I can hardly wait to begin listening to  --- is highly recommended for fans of both Donizetti* and Classical string quartets. Unqualified Florestan's Stamp of Approval.

* @Tsaraslondon @ritter @nico1616 @JBS