What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Harry]

Oh, I only own two, school library has 4 or 5 more ... 

Moving on to this disc, which for whatever reason is immensely appealing to me, even after just a minute or two:



What awesome stuff! 

And with good reason, this is the best available recording of these Bassoon concertos. Another one on ASV with Daniel Smith is a dud.....

[George]

Okay George, I will not.
You can be so lucid some times......

[SonicMan46]

Brian - I've owned that one for a while, but after your comments, I must give the disc another listening!  BTW, available from BRO for $7 for those who use this outlet - 

[bhodges]

I simply love your new Avatar......

Why thanks, Harry!  I ran across a few examples of Elizabeth Murray's work, most of which didn't seem to work so well when you shrink them down to avatar size, but this one I liked a lot.  She died just last August (a nice New York Times obit is here) and has been on my mind in the last few months.

--Bruce

[M forever]

And with good reason, this is the best available recording of these Bassoon concertos. Another one on ASV with Daniel Smith is a dud.....

What about Thunemann?

[Harry]

What about Thunemann?

Good also, but no match for the Naxos recordings, IMO.

[The new erato]

Long time since I've listened to Falla. El amour brujo now. Blood-curdling stuff.

[M forever]

Good also, but no match for the Naxos recordings, IMO.

I never heard the Naxos recordings, how does the playing style compare to Thunemann? I always liked his playing but found his general style and the accompaniment (I Musici) while highly cultivated, OTOH too unspecific.

[Wanderer]

That's right, all of it. 

[ragman1970]

Good morning, Harry!     A beautiful Alcyonide day here (an ancient name for nice and sunny winter days). All is well, I hope?

Listening to:



Most splendid! 

Bychkov is a great DSch conductor

[rubio]

I finished the Ring borrowed from the library. For me Gotterdammerung has the most beautiful moments of the Ring, and if I should have one Ring cycle I would go for Keilbert instead of Solti or Karajan (of these I have heard). I think this Ring has the most wonderful singing, atmosphere and lyric beauty.

[Haffner]

Yes

[Harry]

I never heard the Naxos recordings, how does the playing style compare to Thunemann? I always liked his playing but found his general style and the accompaniment (I Musici) while highly cultivated, OTOH too unspecific.

The Bassoon player on Naxos has, let me say a more natural approach towards his instrument and a deeper intrinsic insight into the gaiety of Vivaldi's music, Thunemann is for my taste to academic, highly cultivated so you will.
He plays all the notes but his understanding of the music is somewhat bleak and uninvolved, or unspecific, as you mentioned.

[Harry]

That's right, all of it. 

Naturally I have to swallow.........

[not edward]

Good coupling, and both performances certainly whip up a fair level of excitement, though I don't count myself as wholly convinced by either. I find the Bruckner too choppily phrased for my taste (I guess I'm looking for more of a legato line and long-breathed phrasing), while I don't think the Hartmann quite matches the RIAS/Fricsay for rhythmic articulation or long-term structural control.

[Brian]

I never heard the Naxos recordings, how does the playing style compare to Thunemann? I always liked his playing but found his general style and the accompaniment (I Musici) while highly cultivated, OTOH too unspecific.

Hello M,

I have not heard any other performances of the Vivaldi concerti; if you would like to listen to a bit of the Benkocs for yourself here is a sample track (from Volume 4: the D minor concerto RV 481).

[M forever]

Nice track. Yes, Thunemann more or less just plays the notes very nicely, more nicely than most other bassonists, but as nice as that is, it isn't really that interesting to listen to after just a short while. It's more like something you can have play in the background while cooking.

This Hungarian bassonist seems more interesting, from what little I have heard (well, basically only that clip). I would like to hear one of the slow movements, too.

[hautbois]

Nice track. Yes, Thunemann more or less just plays the notes very nicely, more nicely than most other bassonists, but as nice as that is, it isn't really that interesting to listen to after just a short while. It's more like something you can have play in the background while cooking.

This Hungarian bassonist seems more interesting, from what little I have heard (well, basically only that clip). I would like to hear one of the slow movements, too.

Tamas Benkocs was principal bassoonist with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra during its formative years (1997-2003). He was known for his utmost clarity, energy (which seems to be a Hungarian trait), and a certain quality of "loudness" that was not usually associated with a bassoon, and that was of course a compliment. According to Naxos, he studied with Brian Pollard (Concertgebouw Orch) and Milan Turkovic (Concentus Musicus Wien etc.) among others, and they themselves are till now, some of the greatest names in the history of bassoon playing. He played often as guest principal with the Budapest Festival Orchestra during his tenure with the MPO, and left for higher ground soon after. It was a loss for the MPO woodwind section i would say, though they still have quite a brilliant bassoon section! The Vivaldi concertos are very highly recommended, what Naxos is doing with Benkocs is quite a historical feat, recording the complete concerti for bassoon and the results, up until now, have been obviously musically and sonically successful performances.

Howard

[PaulR]

Atterberg:  Symphony #1 Rasilainen/Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra

I like this....

[orbital]

Caught Live from Lincoln Center telecast of Verklarte Nacht on PBS which was very informative with the first half devoted to explaining the piece excerpt by excerpt and the second part to the performance.

The rest of the program is Brahms' String Sextet No.2 which can be watched here:
http://www.lincolncenter.org/load_screen.asp?screen=webcast