What are you listening 2 now?

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Ippolitov-Ivanov: Caucasian Sketches - Borodin: Polovtsian Dances. Dimitri Mitropoulos & New York Philharmonic.

[Linz]

Wolfgang Fortner Bluthochzeit, Anny Schlemm, Ernst Gratwohl, Natalie Hinsch-Gröndahl, Hildegunt Walther, Anita Westhoff, Chor der Oper der Stadt Köln, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Günter Wand The Radio Recordings Box 4 the last 2 CDs

[vandermolen]

Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony
BBC SO, Andrew Davis

[Iota]

Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit
Seong-Jin Cho (piano)

This set continues to astound. Despite the wealth of wonderful recordings of Gaspard out there, this one has struck me like no other. The degrees of nuance Cho achieves are breathtaking, the endless shimmering variations of light and shape in the first piece, Ondine, are brought to life more vividly than I've ever heard.
His touch throughout the whole piece indeed has an extraordinary transparency, that allows for the smallest detail to have great power. The accents that open Scarbo for example are often (deliberately) played as a harsh, stabbing shock, more like an sfff (Scarbo is after all hardly the fluffiest of little bunnies), but Cho's touch is such that his accent is just that, an accent, less harsh, but to me delivers a jolt of far greater power and mesmeric effect, a stab from deep within.
Anyway, put a fabulous pianist in a room with fabulous music and miracles occur, it shouldn't be a surprise I guess, but it is.

[ritter]

I haven't listened to Webern in quite some time. Turning tonight to Giuseppe Sinopoli's Staatskapelle Dresden recordings of the Six Orchestral Pieces, op. 6, the Five Orchestral Pieces, op. 10, the Symphony, op. 21, the Concerto, op. 24, and the Variations, op. 30.

From CD 8 of this set:

[VonStupp]

George Lloyd
Symphony 9
Symphony 10 'November Journeys'
BBC PO - George Lloyd

These two are much more concise, with the Tenth written for brass only.
VS

[ritter]

A vintage Domaine Musical programme:



Berio: Serenata 1 (Severino Gazzelloni —fl.—, Boulez —cond.—). Edgar Varèse: Densité 21,5 (Gazzelloni), Hyperprisme, Octandre, Intégrale (all conducted Boulez), Offrandes (Christiane Eda-Pierre —sop.—, Gilbert Amy —cond.). Debussy: Syrinx (Gazzelloni). Boulez: Strucures- Livre 1 (Alfons & Aloys Kontarsky, pianos)

[North Star]

Prokofiev
Violin Concerto No. 2*

Rachmaninoff
Symphonic Dances

Geneviève Laurenceau (vn)*
Orchestre National Du Capitole De Toulouse
Tugan Sokhiev



Brahms
Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny) for Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 54
Alto Rhapsody, for Alto, Male Chorus & Orchestra, Op. 53
Warum Ist Das Licht Gegeben Den Mühseligen?, Motet for Chorus, Op. 74/1
Begräbnisgesang ('Nun Lasst Uns Den Leib'), for 5-Voice Chorus, Winds & Timpani ('Funeral Hymn'), Op. 13
Gesang Der Parzen ('Es Fürchte Die Götter'), for Chorus & Orchestra ('Song of the Fates'), Op. 89

Ann Hallenberg (alto)
Collegium Vocale
Orchestre Des Champs Elysées
Philippe Herreweghe

[hopefullytrusting]

Rudolf Wagner-Régeny's Klavierbüchlein (1940)
Rudolf Wagner-Régeny's Three Orchestral Sets (1952)
Johann Cilenšek's Piano Concerto (1966)

Regeny's Klavierbuchlein is a passable work, but not notable - like a flaccid Schumann. The pieces are nice enough, but not nice enough to warrant a recommendation.

Regeny's Three Orchestral Sets is a bit more interesting, as he was striving to stretch his orchestral language, and some of the sections are rich with that new vocabulary, but, unfortunately, from my perspective, fell back to formulaic tonality.

Cilensek's Piano Concerto - Ravelian spanning into the spectral, percussive - rippling - and with a heavy use of suspension. Also, gives me vibes of Shostakovich with how independent each instrument is when deployed, at least until they accumulate into a block chord structure. The strings sound as if they are from a horror film. It is tonal, thankfully, only when it needs be; it is much more free with its dynamics. This was definitely the highlight of this mini-set, and it was worth my time (I may even revisit).

[Karl Henning]

CD 44 of the Robt Craft box. Remembering all over again what a fun piece the Capriccio is! The parakeet participated most in the two Balmont poems and the Danses concertantes.

[André]

Bach

A wonderful series, possibly today's reference in Bach cantatas realizations.

[Karl Henning]

CD 43
Laurence Harvey narrating The Flood!

[brewski]

In honor of Leontyne Price, who celebrated her 98th birthday yesterday , listening to this 1968 recital from Paris, which I've never heard.

[AnotherSpin]

I've had it in the car for about 40 years -- it is an excellent driving recording.

Was it the same car?

[André]

In honor of Leontyne Price, who celebrated her 98th birthday yesterday , listening to this 1968 recital from Paris, which I've never heard.

Thanks for this, Bruce! I didn't know this recital in what must have been her finest period. Price is my favourite singer, with an unmatched pair of vocal cords. The beginning of Dovè sono shows how much 'juice' is held in reserve.

Much as I worship Callas' genius and drool over Caballé's superhuman breath control, Leontyne Price is the epitome of what a lyrico spinto should sound like: dark and phosphorescent in the low register, fleshy and slightly breathy in the middle (where words translate into emotions), silvery and shiny, powerful yet vulnerable in the high Bs and Cs.

Price seemed to have three distinct registers, unlike Caballé, Nilsson or Sutherland, but not unlike Callas. Understanding the art behind the melding of seemingly disparate registers is to understand the fusion between mind (the words) and flesh (the sound).

Price made that fusion physically tangible. Hearing her innocent, wide-eyed 'Knoxville: Summer of 1915', her sultry 'Summertime' or her increasingly anguished 'O Patria mia' is a lesson in vocal artistry.

Thankfully she resisted the temptation to sing the heavier Puccini or Wagner roles, probably adding a decade to her years as an opera singer.

[André]

Not sure if I mentioned how much I enjoyed Fritz Brun's symphonies 3 and 4. The latter especially. This is the beginning of Brun's artistic maturity.

Right now listening to cd 3, with symphonies 5 (1929) and 10 (1953). The fifth must have seemed awkward and intractable to many. It's blocky, angular, spastic, harsh, jarring. I kept expecting some kind of resolution, never mind a catharsis: this is gnawing, gnarly stuff. It ends abruptly and inconclusively. It certainly held my attention.

The 1953 10th symphony is more amiable and amenable - at least at first. The harmonies are still very recognizable (like Nielsen, unlike Brahms). The orchestration is still blockish, each section coming to the fore in turn, as if distinct characters in a play.

For some reason Brun's language brought to mind Delius, if only as a complete contrast. Delius never let any doubt that a certain line could only have sounded right on the oboe, or a certain melody on massed strings, etc. Timbral instrumentation. True, Delius was the ultimate orchestral colorist. Brun's music gives me that feeling as well, but in a much rougher way.

[brewski]

Much as I worship Callas' genius and drool over Caballé's superhuman breath control, Leontyne Price is the epitome of what a lyrico spinto should sound like: dark and phosphorescent in the low register, fleshy and slightly breathy in the middle (where words translate into emotions), silvery and shiny, powerful yet vulnerable in the high Bs and Cs.

My favorite part of your lovely description, thank you. PS, I am no expert in any of these singers' careers, but I did really enjoy this Paris recital. And not incidentally, the sound quality is quite good, for the time period.

[brewski]

Hindemith: Five Pieces for Strings (Ensemble Spes / Ganghyeon Park, conductor)

[brewski]

And again, and even better. (I mean, why not, the whole thing is scarcely 13 minutes. )

[JBS]

All six sonatas


This is yet one more recording I have not listened to in ages.