What are you listening 2 now?

[classicalgeek]

Over the last few days:

Mahler
Symphony no. 2
Barbara Hendricks, soprano
Christa Ludwig, mezzo-soprano
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein
(on CD)



Maybe not my absolute favorite Mahler 2, but very well-done. A great scherzo in particular. I'd consider this symphony probably my favorite peace of music overall, but I can only listen to it every few years or so, because of its emotional impact!


Beethoven
String quartets op. 18 nos. 1, 4, and 5
String quartets op. 18 nos. 2, 3, and 6
Prazak Quartet
(on CD)

[Todd]

This marks the first time I have heard Mozart's rejiggering of Handel's Messiah.  It doesn't work for me.

[Que]

[vers la flamme]

Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No.6 in B minor, op.54. Vasily Petrenko, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Not bad for a Stalinist stooge.

[Symphonic Addict]

Graener: Symphony in D minor 'Schmied Schmerz'

Good stuff.

[vers la flamme]

Arnold Schoenberg: 5 Orchestral Pieces, op.16. Simon Rattle, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

A better recording than I remembered.

[Lisztianwagner]

A late-late - romantic (1959) Belgian pianoconcerto . Rachmaninov lovers may enjoy it....

I didn't know this composition, it's really beautiful! Especially in the first movement, that's true it reminds a bit of the sweeping lyricism and the poetical melancholy of Rachmaninov.

[Lisztianwagner]

Arnold Schoenberg: 5 Orchestral Pieces, op.16. Simon Rattle, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

A better recording than I remembered.

I'll join you, but with a different recording:

Arnold Schönberg
Five Pieces for Orchestra

Alban Berg
Three Pieces for Orchestra

Hans Rosbaud & Südwestfunk-Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden

[Linz]

Sibelius Kullervo, Op.7 Usko Vitanen baritone
Helsinki University Male Chor
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

[brewski]

Cowen: Symphony No. 5 in F major

Sometimes one has the privilege of coming across composers or works that reward with ideas that catch the ear or leave you thinking for good, but on other occasions the situation is completely opposite (and somehow ineludible) as in this case. Frankly, this is one of the most predictable, boring, formulaic, down-watered, forgettable, bland symphonies I have ever heard, and I don't blame the performance which sounded serviceable and committed enough. A genuine snooze fest. Even conservative symphonies like the ones by Parry or Stanford have much more to say. The remark that some composers deserve oblivion is true here.

Well, your description was intriguing, and my curiosity got the better of me, so I listened to the first movement. Alas, I will never get those 14 minutes back. But now and then, good to hear something that reminds you of why other composers succeeded using similar language.

Anyway, on a day that I discovered Johannes Tinctoris, it all evens out.

-Bruce

[brewski]

Particularly for those who like Berio and Stravinsky, this box of live recordings from Chailly and the Concertgebouw is a treasure.

CD 8

Webern: Passacaglia (recorded Feb. 2, 1992)
Schoenberg: Kammersymphonie No. 1 (Jan. 16, 1992)
Stravinsky: Petrouchka (Oct. 21, 1993)



-Bruce

[Symphonic Addict]

Well, your description was intriguing, and my curiosity got the better of me, so I listened to the first movement. Alas, I will never get those 14 minutes back. But now and then, good to hear something that reminds you of why other composers succeeded using similar language.

Anyway, on a day that I discovered Johannes Tinctoris, it all evens out.

-Bruce

You did yourself a favor by not listening to the rest of the piece. 

[vers la flamme]

Morton Feldman: Triadic Memories. Alfonso Gómez

Definitely the most interesting of the three works in this 3CD set, I think.

[Mapman]

I re-listened to a couple of my favorite discoveries so far this year:

Coleridge-Taylor: Ballade


Romberg: String Quartet Op. 2/2

[JBS]

Recorded in Tokyo almost exactly 4 years ago this week: July 16, 2019

SQ 9 in C Opus 59/3 [Razumovsky 3]
SQ 13 in B Flat Opus 130 with the original Finale ["Grosse Fuge" Opus 133

[vers la flamme]

Bit of LvB for me as well:



Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No.6 in F major, op.68, the "Pastoral". John Eliot Gardiner, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique

Pretty decent performance of my second-or-third favorite Beethoven symphony.

[JBS]

Bit of LvB for me as well:



Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No.6 in F major, op.68, the "Pastoral". John Eliot Gardiner, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique

Pretty decent performance of my second-or-third favorite Beethoven symphony.

In the days when I had few CDs I played Bruno Walter's recording of the 6th over and over...until eventually I got bored by it, and it became my least favorite Beethoven symphony. It's only in the last few years that I've started to like it again. But I still don't play it very often.

Gardiner's cycle is one of my favorite LvB cycles.

TD

[AnotherSpin]

An obvious point is that Shostakovich became famous, including in the West, when he was very young and when the environment was very different. Before at least some of the composers you're mentioning were even born.

Anyway, all of this sheds no light on your original silly transformation of a comment about musical style into a political statement. Having said that a composer couldn't possibly have heard and copied Shostakovich (which was not the claim in the first place), you're now declaring that Shostakovich's music was everywhere. MAKE UP YOUR MIND.

I guess you think a sentence written in capital letters is supposed to reinforce what is being said? I think it's just a sign of a lack of culture. Moreover, accusing your opponent of silliness, i.e. taking a personal tone, means that you have nothing to say. It's sad.

I have nothing against anyone liking Shostakovich. There is no doubt that he is a remarkable composer. And there is no contradiction in the fact that he was Stalin's loyal servant. There have been many such cases in history, when talented people made a deal with the devil.

That there are people in the West who idolise composers from the totalitarian regimes seems strange but normal to me. Not natural, but normal. Some people like to be extravagant.

[Harry]

Gardiner's cycle is one of my favorite LvB cycles.

Mine too!

[Que]

Morning listening:



Thanks Harry, for bringing this to my attention.