What are you listening 2 now?

[Symphonic Addict]

Tonight

The Fourth Symphony
Crackling with energy, but Solti remains the best in this symphony: he knew how to put the fuoco in allegro con fuoco.

I think my favorite could be the famous Mravinsky, but I don't discard Solti as a formidable Tchaikovsky conductor either.

[Symphonic Addict]

Rejoicing in a livestream from Thomas Søndergård, Ingrid Fliter, and the Minnesota Orchestra, in Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Mozart, and R. Strauss, all in excellent audio and video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOuvod5Vfw0

--Bruce

Oh yessss.

A killer symphony for sure.

Haven't heard this in awhile, and speaking of "killer."

--Bruce

Very good! 

[Symphonic Addict]

Carl Nielsen: Symphony No.4, op.29, "The Inextinguishable". Herbert Blomstedt, San Francisco Symphony

Damn, what a killer symphony this is. I must confess that sometimes I struggle with Nielsen's music, but sometimes it really makes sense to me.

And I must admit I connected with Nielsen instantly because of the spiteful wit in the music. It's a kind of quirkiness, actually, There is malice in the works, in his creations. That tells me the music, and I hear attentively.

[classicalgeek]

Rejoicing in a livestream from Thomas Søndergård, Ingrid Fliter, and the Minnesota Orchestra, in Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Mozart, and R. Strauss, all in excellent audio and video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOuvod5Vfw0

--Bruce

Caught the end of a GORGEOUS 'Heldenleben'. Thanks for sharing!

TD:

Wrapping up this workday with a sublime Bruckner 9:

Bruckner
Symphony no. 9
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Carlo Maria Giulini
(on Spotify)

[Symphonic Addict]

Shostakovich
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
Boris Timofeyevich Izmailov—Aage Haugland
Zinovy Borisovich Izmailov—Philip Langridge
Yekaterina Lvovna Izmailova—Maria Ewing
Sergei—Sergei Larin
Orchestre et chœurs de l'Opéra Bastille
Myung-Whun Chung

I've intended to hear the whole thing someday. The title sounds suggestive and sinner.

[Symphonic Addict]

Alf Hurum and his utterly lovely Symphony in D minor. What a gem!!! Strongly recommended if you enjoy composers like Koch, Bloch (without the Jewish voice, of course ) maybe, Vaughan Williams, Sibelius, Atterberg, Glass (Louis), Bax. It's indeed an endearing and charming piece.

[bhodges]

Caught the end of a GORGEOUS 'Heldenleben'. Thanks for sharing!

Lovely, wasn't it!

--Bruce

[bhodges]

I've intended to hear the whole thing someday. The title sounds suggestive and sinner.

It is fabulous. Sordid story, incredible music, which conquers all.

--Bruce

[JBS]

I think my favorite could be the famous Mravinsky, but I don't discard Solti as a formidable Tchaikovsky conductor either.

Mravinsky is on my wishlist at the moment. But my recent purchases have meant a big pile to be listened to: by the time everything arrives I'll have about 100 CDs of piano/piano centered music, plus the Warner Saint Saens box and other tidbits.

[kyjo]

I think your description of the quartets is the perception of all of Berkeley's music, he always seems damned by faint praise. Not without foundation, but some of the later music is quite "knotty", the 3rd Symphony? With the 2nd Quartet I felt he was attempting at least to throw off the shackles.

I didn't mean to damn Berkeley with faint praise! I really enjoy a number of his works, like the Symphonies 1 and 4, Concerto for 2 Pianos, Serenade for Strings, and SQs nos. 1 and 2. His music has a sort of inner logic that is quite satisfying, and it doesn't lack color or emotion like some may suggest.

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Mahler
Symphony No. 9 in D
Czech Philharmonic
Neumann

From this set -

[kyjo]

Bliss
Cello concerto
Meditations on a Theme by John Blow
Robert Cohen, cello
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Barry Wordsworth
(on Spotify)



The Cello Concerto certainly contains some lovely music; I hear some echoes of Elgar's Cello Concerto, and I'm thinking Bliss used that as a model. It didn't really "stick with me" on first hearing, but I do want to listen again. I wanted a chance to hear the Meditations in a different performance, and I think I prefer the Andrew Davis recording, even though Wordsworth is just fine. I think there's a little more polish to the playing in Davis's recording, though I do like Wordsworth's "sheep bells" better.

FWIW, the Cello Concerto isn't really one of my preferred Bliss works. His Piano Concerto, on the other hand, is a scorcher!

[kyjo]

Finn Mortensen Symphony No.1

A pity there was not to be a No. 2, or 3!

[kyjo]

Superb!

Some of my very favorite solo piano works are contained on that album!

[Symphonic Addict]

Speaking of killers, the astonishing and moving 7th Proserpine? It could convey magic and vivid sceneries, enjoying a fascinating and stimulating musical experience, like evoking a pantomime in a sea valley from the old Greece. The recording is excellent despite it's a broadcast.

[kyjo]

Kabalevsky: Piano Concerto no. 1



Absolutely superb stuff! One of the great Russian PCs, for sure. The "funeral march-like" procession variation in the slow movement gave me chills up and down my spine!


Dvorak: Symphony no. 1 The Bells of Zlonice



The first movement and scherzo contain some really marvelous music, bold, energetic, and often quite surprising. I'm less convinced by the slow movement and finale, the latter of which sounds like it has like 5 or 6 different endings ( ), but that's okay - Dvorak's always a composer I can "trust" no matter what.


Pijper: Piano Concerto



Woahhhh, this is cool! Pijper's style is modernistic without being harsh, and is quite "quirky" and original. He packs a lot of material into just 12 and a half minutes! Yet another interesting Dutch composer to explore.


Ries: Piano Quartets nos. 1 and 2



The first piano quartet, in F minor, is enjoyable but not especially memorable. However, the second quartet, in E-flat major, is a superb find, in particular the melancholy slow movement and the folksy, incredibly catchy finale. His third piano quartet (in E minor) and Piano Quintet (available on a Camerata CD) are also excellent and substantial works, well worth seeking out. Ries is one of the most interesting lesser-known composers of the early romantic period IMO.


Hahn: Piano Concerto in E major



What an utterly sparkling, delightful concerto! I had previously listened to an inferior recording of the work, and my impression was not that positive. I'm glad I took the effort to hear this Hyperion recording to revise my opinion!

[vers la flamme]

Johannes Brahms: Alto Rhapsodie, op.53. Jard van Nes, Herbert Blomstedt, San Francisco Symphony & Chorus

[kyjo]

Speaking of killers, the astonishing and moving 7th Proserpine? It could convey magic and vivid sceneries, enjoying a fascinating and stimulating musical experience, like evoking a pantomime in a sea valley from the old Greece. The recording is excellent despite it's a broadcast.

Pounds the table!! One of my very favorite symphonies of all time. Isn't the climax of the first movement just absolutely thrilling and crushing?!

[Linz]

Janos Starker Cello Suites BMW 1008, 1010 & 1012

[kyjo]

Ulvi Cemal Erkin: Symphony no. 1

https://youtu.be/8NlJjJasJaU

Though there's no commercial recording of the work, fortunately this one on YT is a very good performance in good sound. This member of the "Turkish Five" knew how to imbue his music with a cinematic sense of drama and exotic color. The scherzo and finale are particularly exciting - the coda is one of those "doomed processionals" that I know Jeffrey (vandermolen) would love!


Gardner: Symphony no. 1



For those who enjoy their mid-20th century British symphonies (), this is very worthwhile listening. The first movement is rather wayward, but fortunately each movement improves in quality, with the slow movement being an impassioned elegy and the finale quite dynamic and riveting!


Mozart: Symphonies nos. 31 Paris and 34



Two absolutely delightful works which I had previously overlooked. They're given superb performances by the Danish National Chamber Orchestra under Adam Fischer - full of freshness and verve and not too HIP for my tastes.


Saint-Saens: Cello Sonata no. 2 in F major



I enjoyed this work much more than the last time I listened. It's quite different from the stormy, dramatic 1st sonata in C minor, being more expansive in scale and "intellectual" in content (perhaps somewhat "academic" in places but that's a slight quibble). On can sense S-S exploring a more advanced harmonic palette than is perhaps typical of him. Needless to say, I couldn't imagine this performance by Isserlis and Devoyon being bettered!


Vaughan Williams: Concertos for 2 Pianos in C major



A firm favorite of mine. The ineffably beautiful Romanza slow movement provides a perfect foil to the rumbustious energy of the outer movements.