What are you listening 2 now?

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Mindru Katz, French piano music. A little hard touch.

[Mapman]

Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumblebee, arr. Cziffra
Tchaikovsky: Symphony #6, movement 3, arr. Feinberg
Arcadi Volodos

Volodos is technically excellent, but his playing is almost completely expressionless. For example, the opening of the Tchaikovsky is played at a uniform dynamic instead of emphasizing certain notes, as an orchestra would. (I'm listening to Mravinsky/Leningrad to clear Volodos' attempt from my mind.)

[andolink]

Pierre Boulez:  Structures for two pianos - Book 2
Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Forent Boffard, pianos

[andolink]

Arnulf Herrmann - Ensemblestücke

Nina Janßen (clarinet) & Hermann Kretzschmar & Jürgen Kruse (keyboards)
Ensemble Modern, Franck Ollu & Johannes Kalitzke

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

De Falla: El Amor Brujo. Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Ataúlfo Argenta and Ana-Maria Iriarte.

[Mapman]

Prokofiev: Symphony #7
Ozawa: Berlin

RIP Seiji Ozawa. The 2nd movement is wonderfully colorful.

[steve ridgway]

Ives: Symphony No. 2

[steve ridgway]

Szymanowski: Stabat Mater

One of the February free download choices from Naxos, chosen to celebrate Antoni Wit's 80th birthday. I'm finding it a pleasant listen, like the combination of singer, choir and orchestra.

[foxandpeng]

No such thing as an idiotic question and likewise no "right" way to listen to or respond to any piece of music.  That is the glory of music - the infinite number of possible ways of engaging with it where none is the right way and none is the wrong. 

My personal feeling is that if a composer has conceived a work as a whole, whenever possible it is preferable to engage with it in the manner in which it was created.  However, clearly there will be times when an excerpt might be more practical/preferable.  This is certainly - for me - the case with operas when time simply does not allow 2+ hours in one go.  But for multi movement symphonic works I do tend - almost without exception - to try and listen to the complete work.  Any composer worth their salt will have tried to create a piece where the whole conveys a greater message than the sum of its parts.  Not every moment of the piece can work on the same exaulted level of musical inspiration - there will be natural highs and lows but that is simply the musical topography of the work.  Accept that and go with the flow.  But even then - don't worry if a piece still doesn't engage you.  Everyone on this forum will have blank spots with supposedly "great" works or composers that leave them cold.

There is much wisdom here. Thank you.

[andolink]

Listening to this, this evening was nothing short of cathartic. An amazing piece performed with utmost care for every nuance and detail.

MORTON FELDMAN -
FOR JOHN CAGE

PAUL ZUKOFSKY, violin
MARIANNE SCHROEDER, piano

[vandermolen]

Am enjoying 'Theme and Variations' from this new release:
I wrote the booklet notes for this one. I say 'wrote' but I really edited them as I used Rozsa's own writings throughout. I especially enjoyed his account of his meeting (for advice) with Honegger and his huge collection of pipes:
'...he had a large piano covered with hundreds of scores, manuscript paper and all sorts of different coloured pens and pencils. The only thing in perfect order was his collection of pipes which were displayed around the walls, at a rough guess at least a hundred. Every imaginal design was represented. He would go to his pipe rack and consider first one and then another as if trying to resolve a problem of counterpoint. Eventually he would take one from the rack, and that would be his pipe for the day.'
I love that story. Honegger gave Rozsa good musical advice and Rozsa remembered Honegger 'with warmth and gratitude'.

[Que]

Absolutely and unreservedly.

Thnx! 


Morning listening:

   

[Irons]

Frank Martin: Polyptyque - for solo violin & two string orchestras.



A suite of 6 episodes of the Passion. A concise note by the composer of each episode (Image) is most helpful in fully appreciating and understanding inspiration behind the work.

I   Image des Rameaux (The Palms)
II  Image de la Chambre haute (The Upper Room)
III Image de Juda (Judas)
IV  Image de Gethsémané (Gethsemane)
V   Image du Jugement (The Judgement)
VI  Image de la Glorification (The Glorification)

[Harry]

Venetian mirror.
Giovanni Battista Reali (1681-1751).
Sinfonias I,II,IV,IX,X,II.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Sonata prima I in G minor, Opera I, RV 73.
Sonata terza per due violini e basso opzionale in F major, RV 68.
Follia, opera I, rv 63.

Johann Sebastian Bach.
Concerto in D Major BWV 972 after Violin Concerto in D Major (op.3 no. 9, RV 230) by Antonio Vivaldi.

Recorded in march 2021 at Galerie Dorée, Banque de France (Paris)

Fast and Furious, but who minds. Reali is a fine composer, and hardly recorded, being somewhat in the shadow of Vivaldi. So this is a real treat. Brilliant, virtuosic and almost always intonation perfect. In effect the delicately placed harmonies, with their spicy dissonances, captures my imagination. More of this music and playing. Very good sound.

[Harry]

Louise Farrenc.
Piano trios & Sextet.
See back cover for details.

Wonderful music, and well performed. Excellent sound.
Purity of style, perfection of form, charm, elegance, and a noble understanding of art. The music is full of energy, dynamic power, and surprising, original, and witty details. For those that like Farrenc's music, this is a must buy.

[foxandpeng]

Helvi Leiviskä
Symphony 1
Ari Rasilainen
Staatskapelle Weimar
Hänssler Classic

Tuneful and pleasant first roll of the dice for Saturday.

[foxandpeng]

Am enjoying 'Theme and Variations' from this new release:
I wrote the booklet notes for this one. I say 'wrote' but I really edited them as I used Rozsa's own writings throughout. I especially enjoyed his account of his meeting (for advice) with Honegger and his huge collection of pipes:
'...he had a large piano covered with hundreds of scores, manuscript paper and all sorts of different coloured pens and pencils. The only thing in perfect order was his collection of pipes which were displayed around the walls, at a rough guess at least a hundred. Every imaginal design was represented. He would go to his pipe rack and consider first one and then another as if trying to resolve a problem of counterpoint. Eventually he would take one from the rack, and that would be his pipe for the day.'
I love that story. Honegger gave Rozsa good musical advice and Rozsa remembered Honegger 'with warmth and gratitude'.

Reason enough to place it on the listening list!

And then his love of pipes.

[Iota]

Very, very good. Levanon has ample technique and vision enabling him to bring out all manner of simultaneous happenings within the music, and to find lost/dreamy, frenetic/volatile extremes on the spectrum with great poetry and flair. Highly impressive, I was left with an overwhelming feeling of 'thank goodness for Sergei R.', and perhaps there's no higher praise than that.

[VonStupp]

Dmitri Shostakovich
Piano Concerto 1 in C minor, op. 35
Piano Concerto 2 in F Major, op. 102
Piano Quintet in G minor, op. 57

Thomas Stevens, trumpet
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Juilliard Quartet
Los Angeles PO - Esa-Pekka Salonen

VS

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Time for my kind of "extremely long piano composition," in a recording I've been waiting to hear for literally a decade based on the enthusiastic recommendation of @SurprisedByBeauty -

Ah, so glad you are getting around to it! It changed the way I listen to Liszt. It changed the way I think about Liszt, in fact. I hope it tickled your ears, as well!