What are you listening 2 now?

[Madiel]

I predict that @Traverso will finish the Bach Suzuki cantatas before I do. And I started in 2012...

But I can temporarily increase my lead with BWV 192, which is Bach's version of Nun danket alle Gott (Now thank we all our God).



PS I have the 5 boxes like this that were the first way of collecting the volumes, which are now pretty redundant.

[Madiel]

Haydn: keyboard sonata no.43 in E flat



Much sparkle and virtuosity to be had in this one.

[Traverso]

I predict that @Traverso will finish the Bach Suzuki cantatas before I do. And I started in 2012...

But I can temporarily increase my lead with BWV 192, which is Bach's version of Nun danket alle Gott (Now thank we all our God).



PS I have the 5 boxes like this that were the first way of collecting the volumes, which are now pretty redundant.

Hi Madiel,as you may have noticed I am currently listening to two sets.I expect to have listened to the Harnoncourt-Leonhardt in its entirety by the end of February and the Suzuki set sometime in March.I don't know how far you have got,it's not that I am in a hurry I just love Bach and the cantatas.

[Madiel]

Hi Madiel,as you may have noticed I am currently listening to two sets.I expect to have listened to the Harnoncourt-Leonhardt in its entirety by the end of February and the Suzuki set sometime in March.I don't know how far you have got,it's not that I am in a hurry I just love Bach and the cantatas.

Well, I've got to volume 51. But it wasn't so much suggesting that you were in a hurry, just that your speed and mine are VERY different. And I'm very patchy.

2024: 5 cantatas
2023: 23 cantatas
2022: 1 cantata

[Madiel]

Mahler: Symphony no.1



Getting to know the Mahler symphonies better is on my "to do" list, though I'm starting off with one of the ones I know relatively well already. And arguably one of the less challenging ones too, though the 1st movement fascinates me.

[Number Six]

Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
Bernstein, New York Philharmonic

[Number Six]

Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
Teodor Currentzis & MusicAeterna

[Daverz]

I wish I had something positive to report here. OK, one thing: the balance between cello and piano in the sonata is perfect and the recorded sound natural. Other than that, I'm afraid this Don Quixote never takes off the ground (there's no way this earthbound knight could take flight as Strauss intended).

It's not sluggish. It's just too damn objective. Don Quixote exists only if you conceive his adventures as a fantasy - like Gulliver's or Sindbad's. If conductor and solo cellist start treating them like like a Jacques Cousteau or Haroun Tazieff documentary, you're doomed. Well, DQ is doomed. And it's not just Haitink's fault. Hornung should have taken the lead here and shaken the old man waving the stick. Compare his introduction to Pierre Fournier's (multiple recordings), Tortelier's or Rostropovich's to hear what's missing. Who leads and who follows here ? Honeymoon in a heart-shaped bed at Niagara Falls doesn't guarantee there'll be fireworks under the satin sheets. Someone must have a plan for the night, non ?

I thought this was hard to kill music, but it's apparently not so.  

My current favorites are the Tortelier/Kempe (either one, but the first one in Berlin sounds best on a Tower Japan CD), and Fournier/Karajan.

[AnotherSpin]

I wish I had something positive to report here. OK, one thing: the balance between cello and piano in the sonata is perfect and the recorded sound natural. Other than that, I'm afraid this Don Quixote never takes off the ground (there's no way this earthbound knight could take flight as Strauss intended).

It's not sluggish. It's just too damn objective. Don Quixote exists only if you conceive his adventures as a fantasy - like Gulliver's or Sindbad's. If conductor and solo cellist start treating them like like a Jacques Cousteau or Haroun Tazieff documentary, you're doomed. Well, DQ is doomed. And it's not just Haitink's fault. Hornung should have taken the lead here and shaken the old man waving the stick. Compare his introduction to Pierre Fournier's (multiple recordings), Tortelier's or Rostropovich's to hear what's missing. Who leads and who follows here ? Honeymoon in a heart-shaped bed at Niagara Falls doesn't guarantee there'll be fireworks under the satin sheets. Someone must have a plan for the night, non ?

A strict plan – exactly what can destroy everything before it even begins

[Que]

[Mandryka]

So you listen with a bias, very understandable and often unavoidable. I had that very strongly with the performances of Café Zimmermann with their Bach recordings. It is all very skillful but a lot  gets lost. 

In my opinion, that does not apply to the Bach cantata "Widerstehe doch der Sünde" which does not feel fast, but yes, sometimes you are like a dog that wants to sniff everything first, and then it often goes too fast.

I listened again to the Suzuki on a proper hifi, in a more relaxed state of mind. I think what you say is fair actually- it's a satisfying performance.

Here's another lovely oldie, Scherchen, which I just discovered in my collection, I must have had it for 20 years without ever playing it!

sometimes you are like a dog that wants to sniff everything first, and then it often goes too fast.

Is this another one of your quaint Dutch expressions, or just Traverso speak?

[Madiel]

It's always a mistake when I haven't listened to this work in a while. And apparently it's really been a while.

Beethoven: String Quintet in C, op.29



Last listen to the work according to my records: July 2019
Last listen to this performance: February 2011?!?? Oh my goodness, I'm a Philistine.

[Traverso]

I listened again to the Suzuki on a proper hifi, in a more relaxed state of mind. I think what you say is fair actually- it's a satisfying performance.

Here's another lovely oldie, Scherchen, which I just discovered in my collection, I must have had it for 20 years without ever playing it!

Is this another one of your quaint Dutch expressions, or just Traverso speak?

Hard to say, it came to me spontaneously. The idea that the dog was being pulled along by its owner while it wanted to sniff around longer seemed like a funny image to me, certainly not meant with an insulting intention.

If it feels that whay I will avoid such expressions in the future.

[Cato]

At first glance, I thought I was looking at...



Gort, the alien robot, for The Day the Earth Stood Still.   

Then I saw Josquin Desprez and was really confused!    

Right now, Theodor Berger: Homeric Symphony.


Rafael Kubelik in a concert performance, it would seem (audience noises), with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.


I cannot find a recording anywhere.  Echoes of early Stravinsky here and there: a fascinating work.

[Traverso]

Bach

[Iota]

Ich Hatte Viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21

Hat tip to @Mandryka for the mention of Leusink and Co. Had a listen to BWV 21 this morning, and I like pretty much everything about it, though it may not be for everybody.
There's a certain rough and ready quality to it that whether deliberate or not, has the effect of making the music feel less ex cathedra, more like a fresh offering straight out the box, an interesting quality with its own potency. I liked the sound of the boys choir too for similar reasons, listening to Bach knock together a rehearsal in the local church rather than a performance in a grand setting. Plenty of approaches possible with these marvellous pieces, but I must say these ones have caught my ear.

[ChamberNut]

Revisiting this marvelous box set of Italian string quartets, performed by the Quartetto D'Archi Di Venezia. Disc 1 - Boccherini Opus 8 - 6 quartets (G.165-G.170)

[Traverso]

Does anyone know which performance this is of Ravel's piano concerto?  22.30

[AnotherSpin]

[Traverso]

Bach

Weihnachtsoratorium

Soloist of the Wiener Sängerknaben, Paul Esswood, Kurt Equiluz, Siegmund Nimsgern
Wiener Sängerknaben
Chorus Viennensis
Concentus musicus Wien

Nikolaus Harnoncourt