What are you listening 2 now?

[Traverso]

Messiaen

Vingt Regards sur L'Enfant-Jésus

[j winter]

It's great. Definitely check it out.

Thanks, I may well do so

[vandermolen]

Liszt is a composer whom I've never had the slightest interest in. However on the EMI Great Conductors of the 20th Century devoted to the recordings conducted by Nikolai Golovanov, one and a bit of the two CDs is devoted to his recordings of Liszt and I decided to hear them. I actually did like 'Festklange' and am playing it for the second time now. Who knows - I may even become a Liszt enthusiast! 

[listener]

It's Thanksgiving today in Canada (we're not Americans...)
so I have time for BARTOK and LUTOSLAWSKI    Concertos for Orchestra
BRAHMS  Symphony no.1, SCHUMANN: "Faust" Overture, EISLER Kleine Sinfonie
on a pair of BBC Music Magazine discs
and for organ music
vol.1of the works by Marco Enrico BOSSI (1861-1925)
Maija Lehtonen, Kangasalen organ (1932) in Kuusankoski
and DURUFLÉ: (almost complete)
Olivier Latry, organ of Saint Étienne -du - Mont

[Symphonic Addict]

Liszt is a composer whom I've never had the slightest interest in. However on the EMI Great Conductors of the 20th Century devoted to the recordings conducted by Nikolai Golovanov, one and a bit of the two CDs is devoted to his recordings of Liszt and I decided to hear them. I actually did like 'Festklange' and am playing it for the second time now. Who knows - I may even become a Liszt enthusiast! 

Liszt is better in dark and/or pensive works, methinks. His celebratory orchestral music tends to be a little banal and empty, or at least that's been my impression thus far.

[Brian]

I've decided to go through my own music collection in a thorough way and reacquaint myself with stuff I haven't listened to in a long time. Not going to listen to everything - that would take forever - just stuff that hasn't gotten played in a while. Music marked with a * is music I have never heard before, in any performance.

The approach: alphabetical, from Z to A. Hoping that this offers up a relatively randomized and diverse assortment of music. Starting off with everything after Tchaikovsky.

Playlist for Monday-Wednesday of this week:
Zemlinsky - Lyric Symphony (Gielen, Arte Nova) (paired with works by Alban Berg)
*Zelenka - Trio Sonatas (Holliger, ECM)
Zelenka - Missa votiva (Luks, Alpha)
Witt - Symphonies 6 and 9 (Moesus, MDG)
Wieniawski - Violin Concertos (G. Shaham, DG)
Weiner - Violin Sonatas and folk dances (H. Shaham, Hyperion)
Weber - Violin sonatas and piano quartet (Faust/Melnikov, Harmonia Mundi)
Wagner - bleeding chunks conducted by Munch (RCA)
*Vycpalek - Cantata of the Last Things of Man (Ancerl/Supraphon) (paired with a suite by Ostrcil)
Vivaldi - concerti for two violins (Beyer/Carmignola, Harmonia Mundi)
*Vaughan Williams - Flos Campi and Viola Suite (Power/Brabbins, Hyperion) (paired with a concerto by McEwen)
*Tippett - Concerto, Corelli fantasia, Ritual Dances (Andrew Davis, Teldec)
A. Tcherepnin - two volumes of solo piano music (Koukl, Grand Piano)

Starting with only my third or fourth listen to the Zemlinsky since 2011, when I got to see it live in London (LPO, Jurowski, awesome).

Only made it to Witt 6 today, but it was a good day. Holy cow the Zelenka trio sonatas are amazing and so was the playing on that set (highlights being No. 3 with Holliger and Zehetmair dueling, and the insane bassoon solo in the finale of No. 5). Inserting another album to the upcoming list: Villa-Lobos guitar concerto with Bream/Previn on RCA.

[Papy Oli]

The more the merrier, Olivier.

Wasn't listening to the Koechlin disc too attentively (had it on while reading), but did enjoy it.

I enjoyed it, just bar one of the sonatinas. Definitely the best connection to Koechlin I had today 

sampling this now:

[Papy Oli]

[Symphonic Addict]

Arnold: Symphony No. 2
Sulek: Symphony No. 5



Arnold's 2nd is one of his most solid, and optimistic too. This man was a hell of a composer!

It's been a long while since my last listen to any symphony by the Croatian Stjepan Sulek. Dramatic, angry, somber, and how well all that mixes with some late-Romantic gestures.

[Karl Henning]

Music by Charles Koechlin for piano four hands or two pianos, played by the Tal & Groethuysen duo:

Very intrigued.

[André]

TD (emphasis on the second word): cd 8, orchestral music by Webern from the Sinopoli box.

[vers la flamme]

This sounds excellent! Too bad almost nothing about the composer is known—where he composed, when he composed, etc. Then again, that just makes me all that much more curious.

[vers la flamme]

John Dowland: Lachrymae, or Seaven Teares. Paul O'Dette, David Douglass, The King's Noyse

[Symphonic Addict]

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 6
Dvorák: Symphony No. 7



On his birthday I wanted to hear this symphony. Is it me or is this performance pure fire? The Philharmonia has the best timpani I've ever heard in any orchestra, and how potent they sound here! It could be my favorite performance of this stunning symphony. That Scherzo is something else!

This performance of the Dvorák is nice but it's not among my favorites. For some reason I didn't feel too excited.

[Karl Henning]

Liszt is a composer whom I've never had the slightest interest in. However on the EMI Great Conductors of the 20th Century devoted to the recordings conducted by Nikolai Golovanov, one and a bit of the two CDs is devoted to his recordings of Liszt and I decided to hear them. I actually did like 'Festklange' and am playing it for the second time now. Who knows - I may even become a Liszt enthusiast! 

Could happen!

[JBS]

Elgar
String Quartet in e minor Op 83
Piano Quintet in a minor Op 84
Maggini Quartet with Peter Donohoe piano

[Karl Henning]

Elgar
String Quartet in e minor Op 83
Piano Quintet in a minor Op 84
Maggini Quartet with Peter Donohoe piano

Excellent!

[vandermolen]

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 6
Dvorák: Symphony No. 7



On his birthday I wanted to hear this symphony. Is it me or is this performance pure fire? The Philharmonia has the best timpani I've ever heard in any orchestra, and how potent they sound here! It could be my favorite performance of this stunning symphony. That Scherzo is something else!

This performance of the Dvorák is nice but it's not among my favorites. For some reason I didn't feel too excited.

Nice to hear some praise for Slatkin's VW as they generally get a poor press. I must have another listen to Symphony No.6. I remember thinking highly of symphonies 8 and 9.

Now playing: Ranjbaran: 'Seven Passages' (from 'Persian Trilogy'):

Exciting and atmospheric music - a bit 'Star Wars' in place but interspersed with some reflective sections of considerable beauty. Reminds me a bit of Karayev's 'Seven Beauties'.

[T. D.]

[Que]

Yesterday morning, I didn't have much time so giving this another run:



Q