What are you listening 2 now?

[Mister Sharpe]

(No, not tired of Sir Arnold yet). From Dusk Till Dawn, evocative ballet music which was long thought lost, until the early 80s. A whirling amalgam of influences here, from Delius to Ravel and, of course, Russian music, yet all most thoroughly and convincingly and marvellously Baxian.  Perhaps you can hear the music - I can! - just from some of the titles of the movements: Prelude: Summer Night at the Window; the Wind Dances in the Garden; Midnight Strikes; the Wind Dances Through the Room; The Dancer Falls Weeping into the Clown's Arms... It would all be a bit embarrassing, actually, if the music weren't so interesting.  Still, not recommended except for already confirmed Bax fans.

[AnotherSpin]

Horn Concertos

The initial reason I put the recording on was, frankly, because it featured Alan Civil, who played that magical horn part in the Beatles' For No One. And to be fair, he's quite good under Klemperer as well. Although, I did feel the orchestra sounded a bit thin.

[SonicMan46]

Marais, Marin (1656-1728) - Pieces for Viol, 5 Books over the last 3-4 days - own the first 4 books released separately w/ Francois Joubert-Caillet and his group + book 5 on the Brilliant 4-disc set - recently Joubert-Caillet has been boxed and is on pre-order for $60 USD (Amazon); these works were composed over about a 40-year span - Dave

 

[VonStupp]

Anton Bruckner
Symphony 00 in F minor 'Study', WAB 99
Philharmonie Festiva - Gerd Schaller

I guess I might as well go full Bruckner now. It has been such a long time, and I'm not sure if I have even heard his earliest symphony before now.
VS

[Florestan]

Symphonies
--66 in B Flat
--69 in C "Laudon"
--67 in F

An excellent incomplete set.

[Daverz]

Well, clearly, Discogs doesn't want to be in the morally precarious position of inspiring wanton thoughts about tiny faeryland creatures. While over in their Rock Dept., Bob Welch's French Kiss gets a free pass with partial nudity, drug use, and lusty behavior.  I hope classical fans aren't being singled out for lessons in morality! But maybe they think we need it. 

Wait'll they see those pre-Raphaelite nudes that Hyperion loves so much.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/feb/04/manchester-pre-raphaelite-soft-porn-painting-hylas-and-the-nymphs-back-on-view-after-outcry

Finishing up this Eleanor Alberga CD with her orchestral suite Mythologies.

[Mister Sharpe]

Bax bears his soul in the first Violin Sonata, a serious must-hear for all Bax dis-believers.  BTW, I like Gibbs and Wu's recording on ASV but the engineering is a bit dry and unpleasant, not ruined but rather unappealing despite their sensitive and intimate readings.

[Linz]

Anton BrucknerSymphony No.3 in D Minor, 1878 Version Ed. Fritz Oeser (Scherzo coda not included) Based on 1880 Stichvorlage
Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Lovro von Matacic

[Florestan]

websites that may host adult content

Ah, yes, all those Renaissance, Baroque and Classical purveyors of pornography should be cancelled out. Louvre, Prado, National Gallery webmasters, take notice and be warned —- or else. 

[Florestan]

Ah, yes, all those Renaissance, Baroque and Classical purveyors of pornography should be cancelled out. Louvre, Prado, National Gallery webmasters, take notice and be warned —- or else. 

No, really: in a world where hardcore porn is one free click away from children, to label a pair of naked boobs and a thinly veiled pussy as 'inappropriate content" on a website where the vast majority of visitors are adults is the top of hypocrisy.

[Karl Henning]

In a friend's car this afternoon, a first listen:

Sergei Bortkiewicz (given the spelling, I should have taken him for a Pole, but he seems to have been Ukrainian)
Symphony № 1 in D "Aus meiner Heimat", Op. 52 (1935)
The Wikipedia article tallies Liszt, [early] Skryabin, Tchaikovsky and Rakhmaninov among Bortkiewicz's influences, and here and there in this symphony, one certainly hears echoes of this or another composer. All in all, good music and more than capably written. I'm glad to have heard the piece, but I don't see him becoming a favorite composer, nor am I inclined to seek out more of his work. But for a listener of different musical temperament, I could see Bortkiewicz inspiring enthusiasm.

[Florestan]

In a friend's car this afternoon, a first listen:

Sergei Bortkiewicz (given the spelling, I should have taken him for a Pole, but he seems to have been Ukrainian)

Bortkiewicz always identified himself as a Russian. Granted, he lived in an era when ethnicity was not a stigma and people were judged by what they did, not by what nation they claimed to belong to.

FWIW, he's one of my favorite Russian, 20th C composers.

[Lisztianwagner]

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No.4

Mariss Jansons & Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

[Florestan]

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No.4

Mariss Jansons & Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

To be both an unabashed cultural Russophile and an intractable political Russophobe is the bane of my life. 

[Karl Henning]

Bortkiewicz always identified himself as a Russian.

Aye, the grand Arrival at the end of the fourth movement is the Tsar's Hymn. My friend who was driving experienced a perking up of ears when that tune came in.

[Lisztianwagner]

To be both an unabashed cultural Russophile and an intractable political Russophobe is the bane of my life. 

You can always leave these Russian problems aside and become a hardcore Wagnerian.

[Linz]

Johannes Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor op. 15
Piano Cocerto No. 2 in B flat major op. 83, Emil Gilels, piano
Berliner Philharmoniker, Eugen Jochum

[Florestan]

You can always leave these Russian problems aside and become a hardcore Wagnerian.

As a Romanian proverb goes, that would be like falling from the lake into the  well. 

[Karl Henning]

You can always leave these Russian problems aside and become a hardcore Wagnerian.

(* chortle *)

(* ho-jo-to-ho! *)

[Madiel]

...and we're back!

Just watched on OperaVision: Verdi, Giovanna d'Arco (Joan of Arc).

Not one of his best I suspect, and the production didn't help, casting a Joan of Arc who was older than her own father. He was definitely too young (um, he gets called "old man" in the libretto more than once and they made no effort to hide that the singer is in his 30s) as well as her being too old.

The libretto just isn't very good. There are effectively only 3 characters and they don't do a lot. Joan of Arc doesn't even get burned at the stake in this version of the story.