What are you listening 2 now?

[Harry]

Are those on period instruments or modern?

K

Period

[Harry]

Are those on period instruments or modern?

K

Period

I really struggle with these discs.  For sure the playing and the engineering IS absolutely top drawer.  And the HIP instruments ensures real clarity of texture.  BUT, once those elements are stripped out - is there really any interpretation going on at all??  To my ears they are just a speed fest played with brilliance and technique.  Where is the warmth, where is the humanity, where are those little moments of elegance and grace that make this extraordinary music breath and smile.  Literally the only set of the Beethoven symphonies I have bought and then sold!  Sorry Harry!!

No problem my friend, we all have different ears and emotional platforms. I think there is an interpretation going on, a highly individual one, in which, at least for me, is warmth, and absolute humanity. Van Immerseel is too much of a emotional man to let that slip, and he is certainly not a technician playing music for effects. But it happens sometimes, that one can be contraire about interpretations. And that's alright, nothing wrong with that. I have almost all period releases of Beethoven's orchestral works, and Immerseel is high on my list, as is Gardiner, to name another.

[Harry]

Anton Bruckner (1824–1896)
Symphony No. 2 in C minor (1877).
Northern Sinfonia Mario Venzago.
Recording: Hall One, The Sage Gateshead, November 22–25, 2011.

Never before have I listened so spellbound from the first second to an interpretation of the Second Symphony with its numerous and interwoven ideas and themes as Venzagos take.  No one can ignore this Bruckner perspective, at least not me. Venzago's courage to interpret Bruckner as romantic rather than post-romantic makes sense, because the Second suddenly develops a life of its own and inspires with its own, stylish musicality. For me this is certainly one of the best recordings of the second symphony.

[Linz]

Bruckner Symphony No. 3 in D Minor, 1890 Thorough revision Bruckner with Joseph and Franz Schalk Ed. Theodor Raettig, Wieneer Philharmoniker, Carl Schuricht

[71 dB]

J. S. Bach - Suite No. 4 in Flat Major, BWV 1010
Csaba Onczay, cello
Naxos 8.550678

[NumberSix]

Mahler: Symphony No. 4
Kubelik, BRSO

[DavidW]

Mahler: Symphony No. 4
Kubelik, BRSO

This is my favorite recording of the 4th.

[NumberSix]

This is my favorite recording of the 4th.

I was building Mahler cycle playlists for future easy reference, so I figured I would listen to one I had not heard yet.

[Symphonic Addict]

Schnittke: Symphonies 6 and 7

An important change came with these two works, which are more austere, rawer, even nihilistic. Bearing in mind the trajectory of this cycle, these two symphonies make a special impression.

[Lisztianwagner]

Charles Ives
Symphony No.1

Michael Tilson Thomas & Chicago Symphony Orchestra

[Todd]

[Spotted Horses]

Martinu, String Trio No 2, Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola. The string trio, in particular, is a fantastic work.



The original Bayer release, shown, is nla. The set is currently available on Brilliant Classics.

[SonicMan46]

Beach, Amy - Piano Music w/ Kirsten Johnson in 4 volumes - reviews attached; also a description of Beach's amazing musical skills as a young child (more at the Wiki link for those interested?)  Dave

...while Amy showed every sign of being a child prodigy. She was able to sing forty songs accurately by age one, she was capable of improvising counter-melody by age two, and she taught herself to read at age three. At four, she composed three waltzes for piano during one summer at her grandfather's farm, despite the absence of a piano; instead, she composed the pieces mentally and played them when she returned home. She could also play music by ear, including four-part hymns. These extraordinary musical talents at such a young age can be associated with certain innate conditions she possessed. Firstly, she possessed perfect pitch, which enabled her to play music entirely by ear. Additionally, she experienced synesthesia, a condition where each key was associated with a particular color.... (Source)

[Linz]

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach The Solo Keyboard Music, Vol. 17, Miklós Spányi

[Mandryka]

Pi-Hsien Chen, a live performance of Schubert K566, the first time I can remember hearing the sonata. I think Chen is a real good musician, she's making this sound like excelptional music. The whole set, six CDs of concert recordings, is very rewarding.
 

[ritter]

Pi-Hsien Chen, a live performance of Schubert K566, the first time I can remember hearing the sonata. I think Chen is a real good musician, she's making this sound like excelptional music. The whole set, six CDs of concert recordings, is very rewarding.
 

I was very favourably impressed by that set (I bought it when it was released in 2018). Great stuff!

[Mandryka]

Schnittke: Symphonies 6 and 7

An important change came with these two works, which are more austere, rawer, even nihilistic. Bearing in mind the trajectory of this cycle, these two symphonies make a special impression.

6 is still real challenging for me.

[Linz]

Bruckner Symphony No. 8 in C Minor, 1887 Original Version. Ed. Paul Hawkshaw, Bruckner Orchester Linz, Markus Poschmer

[Todd]

Some cuts from this set for the first time in about eleven years.

[Symphonic Addict]

6 is still real challenging for me.

It certainly is the sparest and most strange of the two. There's this idea in the booklet notes that suggests some possible influences:

Then we have the extraordinary stammering/stuttering speech of this symphony's rhetoric – here is a broken language that finds its pre-echoes in such landmarks of the twentieth century as Sibelius' Fourth Symphony, Schoenberg's A Survivor from Warsaw or Shostakovich's Fifteenth Symphony – all three works written in the shadow of impending death.