What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Que]

Beethoven
Violin Concerto, Op. 61
Huberman/Szell/Vienna Philharmonic
APR
Recorded 1934

Thank you Que for steering me to the APR recording as opposed to the Naxos.  Terrific sound here.

Good!



Lisening NOW (it's morning here - I usually start the days with Early Music):



Another winner from the Ensemble Gilles Binchois under Domenique Veillard - top of the pops in EM IMO!

Q

[Harry]

Musically, a very fine discovery.

[Harry]

Finally started with the works by Aulis Sallinen, which cd's are lying around in my room for almost two years now!
Well this first disc is a awesome introduction, I must say, wonderful music and performances.

[George]

Isn't it nice to hear Richter in SOTA sound for a change?

Yes, it is.

These are some late-career performances that on their own terms (no, this isn't 1963 Leipzig) are wonderfully communicative.

Any thoughts on the disc, George?

The slow movement of the Mozart sonata was beautifully played. The slowish finale didn't work very well for me, though. I didn't have time to hear the Beethoven last night, but will try to get to it today.

[pi2000]

Bronislav Gimpel
Excellent,but highly underrated violinist

[Henk]

Henk - I purchased the four volumes over the last 6-8 months; these are recent releases which were well reviewed - I would not 'hold my breath' over an upcoming 'box set' - as long as these are selling well by Chandos standards, then I suspect 'separate' discs will be your only choice - but, these are superb recordings.  However, who knows in the present economy - all that I can say is if these come in a BOX at half the price that I paid - SIMPLY, don't hesitate!  Dave 

Thanks Dave.

[imperfection]

Not the Japanese, but the West German pressing. Found this rare gem today in the bins. 

That's Chinese on the sleeve, not Japanese. 

[Lethevich]

Not really understanding the Rota. It's just so light, I've heard sinfoniettas with far more drama.

Another winner from the Ensemble Gilles Binchois under Domenique Veillard - top of the pops in EM IMO!

That's a great disc, and EGB do kick butt, they have a kind of old-school sound, not dogmatic in the least - simply very musical.

[DFO]

Eduard Franck, two string sextets

[karlhenning]

Not really understanding the Rota. It's just so light, I've heard sinfoniettas with far more drama.

I cannot answer to the Rota, Sara . . . but in principle, I do not object to the aim of reclaiming the 'light symphony'.

[karlhenning]

Thread duty:

Dvořák
Symphony № 8 in G Major, Opus 88
Berliner Philharmoniker
Kubelik

[George]

That's Chinese on the sleeve, not Japanese. 

It's all Greek to me. 

[George]

[Lethevich]

I cannot answer to the Rota, Sara . . . but in principle, I do not object to the aim of reclaiming the 'light symphony'.

Indeedie, I'm probably not in the mood for it at the moment.

[Drasko]

Did the VSOO/Scherchen Ilya Murometz ever make it to CD?

It's very typical of that conductor/orchestra competition; yes the performance is perpetually on the verge of falling completely to pieces, yet somehow Scherchen's vision of the work shines through all the flaws. Last time I heard it half of me was saying "the music is rubbish and the orchestra sounds like it's sightreading" and the other half was completely gripped by it.

It was at one time available from one of those LP to CD labels, but no official release to my knowledge.

[SonicMan46]

Eduard Franck, two string sextets

Enjoy the Franck Duo of father & son - started a Thread HERE last June, but lasted just a page - obtained about 5 CDs of their music around that time; Audite seems to be the label bringing them back into public view.

However, the Sextets mentioned were not available at the time (and still are not at least on Amazon USA) - is you recording an old or recent purchase, and if the latter, where might it be found?  Thanks - 

[Elgarian]

Listened to this while eating lunch. This is the bargain I bought from Hyperion, which caused Lethe to issue timely warnings about the dangers of collecting light English music that no one else wants. When I was about 17 I'd have loved this - like finding an hour's worth of extra music from the Wasps suite that I didn't know about. I'd have dreamed dreams of cricket on the green, white cumuli scudding over the downs, the watercolour landscape vision of England.

And sure it's still pleasant enough, but these days a little of it goes a long way, and I couldn't really give it my attention for long without drifting off somewhere - though to do it justice, it did keep pulling me back from time to time when a new piece started, and a new tune popped up. So why, I ask myself, would I want to listen to a Vaughan Williams derivative, instead of Vaughan Williams himself? Well, the dark side (which admittedly must be faced) doesn't have to be faced all the time. Sometimes I want Trumpton and Camberwick Green just to cut myself a bit of slack. But there's a bigger question here, to do with the changes that take place in us as we grow older, and the unrealistic tug that pulls backwards towards the less cynical times of our youth. And it's not just the RVW-and-water Gibbs that's in question for me right now, but the whole of sprawling expressionistic formless 'romanticism' that seems a bit tiresome, and I find myself wondering, soaked in Handel as I am these days: 'If it can't be said in a 5 minute da capo aria, is it really worth saying at all?'

[Sergeant Rock]

Ohhhhh, if, why not order the Chandos recordings, they are by far better.

It might be better, Harry...but I'm intrigued by extreme interpretations, and this Faberman Ilya Murometz sounds like something I'll enjoy. Besides, it costs 8 Euro compared to 20.

Listening now to this:



Sarge

[SonicMan46]

Concerto Köln - Collection - 6 CDs - works of Dall'Abaco, Locatelli, Vanhal, Kozeluch, Cannabich, & Eberl - just arrived today in the mail and have listened to the first disc tonight - excellent (but this has been a fave group of mine for years!) - will continue on in the morning (half day off) - this set has been touted in the forum, so expect to enjoy - 

Locatelli, Pietro (1695-1764) - disc 2 in the set shown above; now I have about 10 discs of this composer's work, including the complete Opus 1 Concerto Grosso compositions - 2 are repeated on this disc w/ the remaining 3 being from Op. 4 & 7.

Disc 3 coming up next and entitled The Golden Age of the Court of Mannheim, a mixture of composers including Carl & Johann Stamitz - 

[Opus106]

Disc 3 coming up next and entitled The Golden Age of the Court of Mannheim, a mixture of composers including Carl & Johann Stamitz - 

Ooh... that sounds wonderful. *Pushes disc further up wishlist. *



For the next hour or so of this evening,

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550

Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat major, K. 271 'Jeunehomme'

Franz Schubert

Impromptu in G minor, D. 899

Symphony No. 4 in C minor, D. 417


Alfred Brendel
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Charles Mackerras

Live at Vienna Musikverein's Grosser Saal
18 December 2008


I don't remember ever listening to Schubert's No. 4. Even if I have, I remember nothing of it.