What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Mark]

Thanks to a recommendation by Mark a couple of pages back:



It really is quite good so far (I'm on the second movement). 

And how was it once you reached the end? I'm so impressed with this recording, that I'm going to download Saint-Saens' Third Symphony by the same forces on the same label. Far be it from me to side with David Hurwitz, but he went nuts for Nezet-Seguin's reading of the old 'Organ' symphony. Very soon, I may be following suit (at any rate, I have about a dozen other recordings of the work to use as reliable yardsticks ).


I've been 'experiencing' (there's really no better word to describe it) this:



Now, I must own about five or six recordings of this work, and I've heard at least two or three others, but none has hit me quite like this one. Not that I say this as a glowing, spellbound endorsement, mind you. My heart is still in a tug-of-love between Hough's reading on Hyperion, and Wild's on Chandos. But neither of these - nor any of the others I've heard - struck me as being so intensely or so astonishingly personal.

Helfgott did (in part) injury to his mental health getting under skin of this work, so this live performance can't have been an easy thing to attempt. He opens with flurries of notes that make it sound as though his fingers are tripping over themselves (not a good thing, I might add), but regains composure and gives a reading that seriously forced me to rethink how I hear this masterpiece. With some interpretations of a familiar work, it's sometimes easy to go on auto-pilot; not so with this one. My concentration was pushed to its limits as I sat quite astounded by what Helfgott does the notes I thought I knew. And by the end, I could only conclude that, on its own terms at least, this performance works. The sound isn't demonstration quality, the piano is a little further forward in the picture than is ideal, and the orchestral accompaniment is certainly not the finest I've heard. But Helgott's playing is compelling, rightly or wrongly. If you see this going cheap, get it.

[George]

Haydn String Quartets Op. 77
Tátrai String Quartet 
Hungaroton 

Now that I have most of their set, I'd be interested in your take on these guys.

[Peregrine]

[Bogey]

Now that I have most of their set, I'd be interested in your take on these guys.

Love 'em George.  Absolutely love 'em.  I am missing 4 cds (sets) to complete their run of Haydn Quartets.
Op. 76
Op. 9
Op. 1,2,42,and 103
Seven Last Words of Christ

Each of these four cd sets are pretty pricey, but I really should finish them off.  

If you want their complete run of Haydn's Quartets you can grab them in one swoop for about $240 (that's 23 discs worth of music).

[PaulR]

Ives: Symphony #1 Litton/Dallas Symphony Orchestra

[Mark]

Ives: Symphony #1 Litton/Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Thanks for mentioning Ives. Up next: Central Park in the Dark.

[Kullervo]

Tonight *deep breath*:

[Bogey]

Susato Dansereye 1551
Pickett/New London Consort
L'oiseau Lyre

[PaulR]

Thanks for mentioning Ives. Up next: Central Park in the Dark.

No Problem!  I'll eventually get to that piece.  Symphony #4 is next on the disc

[FideLeo]

The recording is now released on DHM label rather than Conifer which no longer exists.

[Kullervo]

So that is standard costume and not the result of unfortunate graphic design? Silly me!

[FideLeo]

So that is standard costume and not the result of unfortunate graphic design? Silly me!

It's an update on the original costume design used by Rameau.  
See Minkowski's DVD for another version.

[prémont]

It's an update on the original costume design used by Rameau.  

Designed for a "Fools festival"?

[The new erato]

It's an update on the original costume design used by Rameau.  
See Minkowski's DVD for another version.

A faboulous DVD - and the depicted costume is absolutely correct for this comic opera. This is Paul Agnew in a hilarious performance as the Frog Princess. If you know the opera this cover is funny, not ugly.

[FideLeo]

A faboulous DVD - and the depicted costume is absolutely correct for this comic opera. This is Paul Agnew in a hilarious performance as the Frog Princess. If you know the opera this cover is funny, not ugly.

Yes - one of those lucky instances where a postmodern staging is perfect for Baroque music.

[Brian]

One of the most beautiful discs I own.

[Todd]

I revisited Boulez's take on the great Lulu for the first time in a long time, and I was reminded anew of how truly great both the work and the recording are.  I should probably revisit the Davis and Bohm (live) recordings again soon.

[Wanderer]

Wanderer, I got it from a local shop which does special imports.
But it has been reviewed and is available in France (it received a Diapson d'Or) - saw it on Fnac and Alapage, and an Italian on-line shop (la Bottega) as well.
For members in the US: It has also been reviewed in Fanfare, so there has to be an US-source as well.

But the price of the Czechs - €11 - seems pretty attractive to me.

Q

Indeed... It's on the wish list all right. Thanks for the heads-up! 

[Brian]

Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst
Six Polyphonic Studies for Solo Violin
Ruggiero Ricci


You can tell something is difficult when Ruggiero Ricci has trouble with it! 

[Brian]

Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst
Six Polyphonic Studies for Solo Violin
Ruggiero Ricci


You can tell something is difficult when Ruggiero Ricci has trouble with it! 

Goodness gracious, he's just about fallen apart twice in the first of the six studies. This may be the most technically bad playing I've heard on disc in a long while.