What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Coopmv]

What does SOTA sound mean?

I thought it referred to the sound of the SOTA turntable ...   

[Dundonnell]

An interesting disc of three Australian Piano Concertos by Ross Edwards, Peter Sculthorpe and the Concerto for Two Pianos and Strings by Malcolm Williamson.

The Williamson is the composer in his more astringent vein, the Sculthorpe is actually the first piece of music by this composer I have heard(I had previously steered clear of Sculthorpe) but is actually quite an attractive work in what might be described as a  'modern eclectic neo-romantic' idiom, while the Edwards is pleasant but unmemorable. I have heard good things(from vandermolen) about Edwards's Symphony No.1 but have not yet heard the work myself.

The booklet note(by the pianist Dennis Hennig) agonises over what exactly an Australian Piano Concerto should sound like and comments that many Australian critics have engaged in such a debate. That seems to me to be an astonishingly pointless exercise but perhaps terribly 'Australian'(hope I am not being insulting!)

[Dr. Dread]

Tchaikovsky Symphony No.. 5 - Ormandy/Philadelphia

[Oh, boy. There's a melody in the second movement that sounds like John Denver's "You Fill Up My Senses".  ]

[Coopmv]

She recorded Frank Martin's Petite symphonie concertante and the Harpsichord concerto.

Christiane Jaccottet (Harpsichord)
Born: 1937 - Lausanne, Switzerland
Died: 1999

The Swiss harpsichordist, Christiane Jaccottet, came from a musical family and began studying piano at the age of four. She continued her studies at the Conservatory at La-Chaux-de-Fonds and then the Viennese Musical Academy. At the age of 20, she won a competition sponsored by ARD Television in Munich. She developed her approach to performing on period instruments under Gustav Leonhardt. In 1964, she won the Soloist's Prize from the Swiss Music Society, and the following year she won the prize for harpsichord and basso continuo at the First International Music Competition in Bruges.

Christiane Jaccottet has toured the USA, Candada, Europe, and Australia, and has performed at major international music festivals. Her collaborators have included Heinz Holliger, Aurèle Nicolet, Michel Corboz, and Frank Martin. From 1975 until her death in 1999, she was a professor at the Geneva Conservatory.

Christiane Jaccottet participated in over 100 recordings; especially notable are her interpretations of the Bach English Suites and Frank Martin's harpsichord concertos.

 


from http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Jaccottet-Christiane.htm

I thought she made a number of recordings with Arthur Grumiaux and I have those recordings on Philips LP's.  I need to pick up some of her CD's.  Harpsichord music has been much overshadowed by piano music in recent years and it seems that few new recordings of Bach keyboard works performed on harpsichord have been released the last few years ...

[Lilas Pastia]

Historic performances of Brahms symphonies 1-3. Herman Abendroth in 1 and 2 (London Symphony 1930, Breslau Orchestra, 1944) and 3 (Clemens Krauss, VPO 1928). Despite obvious sonic reservations, these interpretations come out quite sharply and have  a strong personality. Portamento was still very much part of the musical language of string sections of the day (esp the 1928 and 1930 symphonies 1 and 3 - interestingly of obvious different culture). Also, one notices how flowing these interpretations were: 43, 36 and 32 minutes (no first movement repeat), compared to some 5 minutes more for just about any contemporary traversal. And yet there is never any sense of haste. Phrases connect to one another, paragraphs flow seamlessly, and each movement has an impetus and arch-like structure that makes the work start and end in a seamlessflow.

Symphonies 1 and 3 are the oldest recordings but come out quite good (studio efforts, both). The Abendroth 2nd is from December 27, 1944, when the Reich was already crumbling and Allied Forces had started invading Grosses Deutschland. I wonder how all that D major serenity and joy must have sounded to those Breslau folks.

[Daverz]

I thought it referred to the sound of the SOTA turntable ...   

With the vaccum hold-down, close to it!

[Harry]

Now playing disc 1 from this 2-CD set ...

I found this to be a horrible performance and recording in all respects.
It was bin material for me.

[RussellG]

Recorded 2000:

[Harry]

Tchaikovsky.
Complete Piano Music, volume IV.
Les Saisons opus 37b.
Sonata No. 1 in C sharp minor, opus 80.
Viktoria Postnikova, Piano.

[Sean]

Historic performances of Brahms symphonies 1-3. Herman Abendroth in 1 and 2 (London Symphony 1930, Breslau Orchestra, 1944) and 3 (Clemens Krauss, VPO 1928). Despite obvious sonic reservations, these interpretations come out quite sharply and have  a strong personality. Portamento was still very much part of the musical language of string sections of the day (esp the 1928 and 1930 symphonies 1 and 3 - interestingly of obvious different culture). Also, one notices how flowing these interpretations were: 43, 36 and 32 minutes (no first movement repeat), compared to some 5 minutes more for just about any contemporary traversal. And yet there is never any sense of haste. Phrases connect to one another, paragraphs flow seamlessly, and each movement has an impetus and arch-like structure that makes the work start and end in a seamlessflow.

Symphonies 1 and 3 are the oldest recordings but come out quite good (studio efforts, both). The Abendroth 2nd is from December 27, 1944, when the Reich was already crumbling and Allied Forces had started invading Grosses Deutschland. I wonder how all that D major serenity and joy must have sounded to those Breslau folks.

Big Abendroth enthusiast here, he's informed by an element of expressionist angst giving his insight a certain intensity: I first came across him in an incredible wartime bayreuth Meistersinger and more recently one of the Brahms (2 or 3, sorry can't recall): tremendous grip over the canvass, the antithesis of today's attention deficit pink fluff conductors.

[Wanderer]

Beethoven: Themes with Variations for piano & flute op.105 and op.107 (Gallois/Licad).

Rather obscure but utterly delightful.  0:)

[val]

GRIEG:      Piano Concerto; Ballade opus 24; Lyric Pieces            / Andsnes, BPO, Jansons

Not a very enthusiastic recording of the Concerto. Rubinstein/Ormandy remains my favorite. The best of this CD is the Ballade: Andsnes plays it, if not with passion, at least with a perfect articulation.

[Drasko]

[Opus106]

It one of a number of Bach bits which appear on his Perpetual Motion CD . . . the Presto which closes the G Minor solo violin sonata (BWV 1001).

Your reply is much appreciated.

Thread Duty

Celebrating a birthday, not a conductor's but a composer's.

Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for violin and strings in E major, RV 271 'l'amoroso' (one of the so-called 'Concertos for the Emperor')
Andrew Manze leading the English Concert

[George]

[karlhenning]

Dvořák
Symphony № 6 in D Major, Opus 60
Berliner Philharmoniker
Kubelik

[karlhenning]

Your reply is much appreciated.

Al vostro servizio!

[DavidRoss]

[re. Boulez's Das Lied von der Erde] I am generally a fan of Boulez' Mahler (riveting, passionate in the orchestral works, analytical and clear in the choral ones--to simplify it very much) and this is the only one of his I don't yet have.

Just get it.  Not as lush as MTT's recent release, with Boulez's approach more insistent (none would accuse him of "wallowing") yet just as passionate but in a different way--more contemplative than sensual.  The WP is flawless consistent with their other recordings in the series and Ms Urmana's creamy dreaminess more than makes up for Mr Schade's slightly thin tone and even competes with Ms Ludwig for my favors.

I'm reminded that I haven't heard this recording at least since acquiring MTT's last Fall, so I'll start my morning with it.

[karlhenning]

Start the morning with Das Lied von der Erde? My dear chap, you've nerves of steel! 

[Dr. Dread]

Because I don't do Mahler in the morning.