What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Harry]

Allan Pettersson.

Symphony No. 16.

John-Edward Kelly, Alto saxophone.
Rundfunk SO Saarbrucken/Alun Francis.

The last symphony, the last temptation, the last road to chaos, to lost cities, and abandoned roads, never to be trodden anymore then by nature itself. The colors fade into grey's, the voice grows dimmer, and soon there will be no sound, no note to share, and the journey must come to a end in itself. And better it is, for he had said what there was to feel, and traveled up and down the realms of the soul. There is no more beyond, nor in retrospect, what was left unanswered, and so I let go.

[karlhenning]

The last symphony, the last temptation, the last road to chaos, to lost cities, and abandoned roads, never to be trodden anymore then by nature itself. The colors fade into grey's, the voice grows dimmer, and soon there will be no sound, no note to share, and the journey must come to a end in itself. And better it is, for he had said what there was to feel, and traveled up and down the realms of the soul. There is no more beyond, nor in retrospect, what was left unanswered, and so I let go.

Gosh, Harry, then why do I bother writing? 

[Haffner]

Todd! Schumann!

Listening to:

Schumann
Cello Concerto in A Minor, Opus 129
(Orchestrated by Dmitri Dmitriyevich, Opus 125)
Alexander Ivashkin, cello
Russian State Symphony
Valery Polyansky

I'm very curious as to the quality of this performance, Karl. The Cello Concerto became one of my favorite pieces the first week I heard it!

Chopin Nocturnes (Moravec)

[Harry]

Gosh, Harry, then why do I bother writing? 

I talked about Pettersson my friend, for I am sure by listening to your works, that you have still a lot to say, to me, and all others.

[Haffner]

I talked about Pettersson my friend, for I am sure by listening to your works, that you have still a lot to say, to me, and all others.

Seconded, and well put, Harry old chappy!

[karlhenning]

Good morning, Andy!

I am perfectly delighted by the piece, both as Schumann wrote it, and also in the colors of Shostakovich's re-scoring of the accompaniment.

This Ivashkin recording is a splendid performance, and unalloyed pleasure to listen to.  The disc is a bit oddly titled "The Unknown Shostakovich," since only a few oddments running less than 10 minutes in total properly answers that description (even allowing for the comparative obscurity of Shostakovich's orchestration of the Schumann Cello Concerto). The real eye-opener, though (since I already knew how well I like the Schumann) was the Shostakovich rescoring of a work by a student of his, Boris Tishchenko, his First Cello Concerto.

I find this an outstanding disc, and an excellent complement to Ivashkin's fine account of the Prokofiev Symphony-Concerto for Cello and Orchestra.

[Harry]

Jean Philippe Rameau.

Ballet Suites.
Platee
Pigmalion.
Dardanus.

European Union Baroque Orchestra/Roy Goodman.

If it is good, it is good!
And this recording is good, very good indeed.
Should I talk about the vigorous and energetic playing of these youngsters, or the fine direction, or the fine recording.
The Overture of the Platee Suite is a give away, in what you get there, you may expect elsewhere, and it will not leave you untouched.

[Harry]

O yes, for the record, today arrived more than 80 Naxos cd's with a big lorry!
So a lot of cd's from that label will pass the screen in the coming months.

[Haffner]

Good morning, Andy!

I am perfectly delighted by the piece, both as Schumann wrote it, and also in the colors of Shostakovich's re-scoring of the accompaniment.

This Ivashkin recording is a splendid performance, and unalloyed pleasure to listen to.  The disc is a bit oddly titled "The Unknown Shostakovich," since only a few oddments running less than 10 minutes in total properly answers that description (even allowing for the comparative obscurity of Shostakovich's orchestration of the Schumann Cello Concerto). The real eye-opener, though (since I already knew how well I like the Schumann) was the Shostakovich rescoring of a work by a student of his, Boris Tishchenko, his First Cello Concerto.

I find this an outstanding disc, and an excellent complement to Ivashkin's fine account of the Prokofiev Symphony-Concerto for Cello and Orchestra.

Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a terrific overview, Karl! Since I already adore that piece, this recording seems mandatory.


Shostakovich, Symphony no. 14 (Peter Mikulas)

[karlhenning]

O yes, for the record, today arrived more than 80 Naxos cd's with a big lorry!

Well, that cannot happen more often than once a month  

Good listening to you, mijn vriend!

[karlhenning]

Dmitri Dmitriyevich
Symphony No. 1 in F Minor, Opus 10
Prague Symphony
Maksim Dmitriyevich

[bwv 1080]

Ludwig Johannovich : String Quartet op 59 no. 2

[Harry]

Corelli

Violin Sonatas Opus 5, Nos. 1-6.

Lucy van Dael, Violin.
Bob van Asperen, Harpsichord/Organ.

Just this, it is fabulous, high calibre HIP.
The sound is 24 bit, the performance 100%.
I am mightily impressed.
Recommended.

[Harry]

Ludwig Johannovich : String Quartet op 59 no. 2

Another composer I never heard of, would you like to share some insights?

[George]

I continue to enjoy this one George.

Chopin Nocturnes (Moravec)

   



Me:

Shostakovich

Symphony 7

Kondrashin

My goodness, this is great! 

[bwv 1080]

Another composer I never heard of, would you like to share some insights?

He's a favorite, right up there with Wolfgang Leopoldovich

[Haffner]

He's a favorite, right up there with Wolfgang Leopoldovich

Und Johan Sebastian Bachovich

[dtwilbanks]

Thanks to the Don-inator, I'm listening to this awesome recording:

[Don]

Thanks to the Don-inator, I'm listening to this awesome recording:

Arnold and I do make a fine team.  I wonder if Arnold likes Bach's WTC - probably not.

[SonicMan46]

Johann Baptist Vanhal.  Symphonies, Volume III. Toronto Camerata/Kevin Mallon.

Delightful music, not that it will break the roof over your head, but pretty entertaining. Partly that has to do with this group that is playing them in a very reverberant Church in Toronto. The intimacy is somewhat lost, and the slow movements are somewhat plodding its way through the score. Energy is at a low level here. While the outer movements are quick enough, the inspiration is lost on them.
Crescendi and dimenuendi are badly judged, they try to hard to play pretty pretty. The Allegro's fare well enough, but not enough to keep it all together.
Norbert Kraft was the engineer on this recording, and he mostly makes good ones, but this is not one of them.
Not recommended. It simply needs a more dedicated group of people to play this.

Harry - thanks for the warning on this Vanhal set of symphonies; Naxos seems to have at least 3 Volumes released to date performed by different groups - I own Vol. 1 w/ Grodd & the Budapest Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia (good as I remember, but have not listened to it in a while); also have the Bamert disc on Chandos.