What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[mahler10th]

Now listening: Sonatas for solo cello by Ligeti, Crumb (Haimovitz)

Grim. 
How is your mental health doing after listening to those? 

[Opus106]

From CD 1 of Great Conductors of the 20th Century, Vol. 12: George Szell

Daniel-Francois-Esprit Auber
Fra Diavolo: Overture

Claude Debussy
La Mer

Frederick Delius
Irmelin: Prelude

Cleveland Orchestra
WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (Debussy)

First listen to the Delius, and it may quite well be the case for the Debussy, also.

[DavidRoss]

Bach, cello suites, Wispelwey  -- about as good as it gets on all counts

[springrite]

Grim. 
How is your mental health doing after listening to those? 

You need to know my state of mental health BEFORE listening to these works first. 

BTW, these are two of my favorite cello works of all time, along with the Bach suites.

[George]

Bach, cello suites, Wispelwey  -- about as good as it gets on all counts

I fully agree. My favorite recording of the suites. 

[Harry]

If you can do a good Lisa or Mi, we can do a mini house performance of it. I do a mean Prince Sou-Chang -- only in English, though.


Now listening: Sonatas for solo cello by Ligeti, Crumb (Haimovitz)

Let me do Lisa then, after al I have a fine counter......

[Lethevich]

How are those Spanish Classics CDs, Lethe?

The Escudero sounds Northern European in its mass and gravitas, and also its pretensions 1 hour liturgical work for large orchestra and choir, pretty much the standard "musical statement" format for many British and German composers of the late Romantic period. But there are also qualities which make it atypical of that school - the ritualistic qualities of the music, coupled with an effective lamenting style of choral writing give it a less creaky, slightly more contemporary feel. Pleasingly, it also did not outstay its welcome for me either - its coupling of large-scale orchestral drama and mourning passages contrast finely and avoid a sense of monotony.

The Orbón is very fine. It is mid-20th century tonal music almost to the point of cliché - colourful, light of tread, some neoclassical elements coupled with stripped down Romantic ones, some Brittenesque xylophones scored to take advantage of these thinner post-Strauss textures. I only listened to two of the three pieces on the disc before I got distracted with something else, but I will be coming back to this disc soon as it's spirited and fun. The recorded sound is clear but a little lacking in something - the music should sparkle more than it allows.

[DavidRoss]

Suite Bergamasque from Livia Rév's fine but under-appreciated Debussy--clips here on hyperion's website

[Fëanor]

I have written quite a bit about this CD, and read all the negative accusations of him being a new age composer. Needless to say, that I think it is totally pissing beside the pot. I have never read a coherent definition of what New Age really is, apart from being a label put on some music. For me its either you like the music, or you dislike it, period. No need to write extensive monologues about it.
For me Hovhaness is music for the soul to dream away in. Most of the time well composed, and thought out.
The compositions on this cd, charms the stars out of me, and that generally goes for all the works I have of him. Hovhaness is simply a entity to undergo. Take him as he is, and you will be rewarded thousandfold. The recording is superb, as are the performances.

Well said, Harry.  And you can take that from somebody who has said that Hovhaness sounds an bit New Age, and also that there is a certain sameness about many of his works.

This comment re. New Age from Wikipedia ... "The harmonies in New Age music are generally modal, consonant, or include a drone bass. The melodies are often repetitive, to create a hypnotic feeling, and sometimes recordings of nature sounds are used as an introduction to a track or throughout the piece. Songs of up to 30 minutes duration are common."

But whatever I might have said, I enjoy Hovhaness very much ... a great deal more so than, say, Bruckner;  (hummm ... did somebody mention repetitive?).

[Lethevich]

The Orbón is very fine. [...] I only listened to two of the three pieces on the disc before I got distracted with something else, but I will be coming back to this disc soon as it's spirited and fun.

To follow on from this, I just listened to the third suite (Three Symphonic Versions) on the disc which I missed last time, and it is perhaps the finest of the lot. The central movement is beautiful.

Now playing:

[ChamberNut]

Respighi

La Sensitiva

Janet Baker, mezzo-soprano
City of London Sinfonia
Richard Hickox
EMI Classics

[Keemun]

Pettersson: Symphony No. 7 (Leif Segerstam; Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra)

[Subotnick]

No you can't. Off to Guantanamo!

[ChamberNut]

Vaughan Williams

Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in C major

Vitya Vronsky, piano
Victor Babin, piano

London Philharmonic
Sir Adrian Boult
EMI Classics

[karlhenning]

Langgaard
Sfærernes Musik
Edith Guillaume, sop
Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra & Choir
Frandsen

[ChamberNut]

Vaughan Williams

Job: A Masque for Dancing

London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Adrian Boult

Fantastic! 

[The new erato]

HAYDN The Seven Last Words of Christ from the Cross. Sandrine Piau, Ruth Sandhoff, Robert Getchell, Harry Van der Kamp, Accentus, Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin / Laurence Equilbey. Naïve

Very fine stuff!

[ChamberNut]

HAYDN The Seven Last Words of Christ from the Cross. Sandrine Piau, Ruth Sandhoff, Robert Getchell, Harry Van der Kamp, Accentus, Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin / Laurence Equilbey. Naïve

Very fine stuff!

I've never heard the orchestral version of this work.  I should get on this!  0:)

[The new erato]

I've never heard the orchestral version of this work.  I should get on this!  0:)

Yes you should. This strikes me as a great performance of a very rewarding version (is it the original?) of this work. 

[ChamberNut]

Yes you should. This strikes me as a great performance of a very rewarding version (is it the original?) of this work. 

I thought the string quartet was the original version.  But I definitely could be mistaken.