What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Mirror Image]

The cover of Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks" is enough to provoke interest in the disk. One of my favorite paintings.

The performance of Bernstein's Age of Anxiety was stunning. The Bolcom, which I just listened to, wasn't my cup of tea with its cut-up, hodgepodge of disjointed atonality and cliched tonal passages that even would make Copland or Harris vomit. Anyway, as expected, the Bernstein is the main attraction on this disc.

Now listening:



A stunning recording no question about it. Listening to Ballad of Heroes right now.

[Coopmv]

Now playing CD6 - The Art of Fugue from this set for a first listen.  This CD is identical to the following CD released on Arte Nova ...

[Sid]

Schnittke - Piano Quintet

     

That one is excellent, imo (& it was recorded right here in Australia, up in sunny Queensland). The Piano Quintet is one of my favourite chamber works of the C20th. It's fragmentary nature reminds me of a delicate ornament which has been dropped on the ground and broken into a thousand shards. An amazingly visceral work it is. I must get up to Townsville at some stage and attend that very festival of contemporary music in which it was recorded!...

[Sid]

Last night, mainly listened to string quartets:

Beethoven: String Quartets Op. 132 & H. 34
Kodaly Quartet
(Naxos)

Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 9 (Razumovsky No. 3) & 10 "Harp"
Hungarian String Quartet
Columbia LP
(No image)

Haydn: The Seven Last Words of Christ, Op. 51; String Quartet No. 68 Op. 103
Kodaly Quartet
(Naxos)
(No image because Amazon have got the wrong image for this!)

Xenakis: ST/4 for string quartet; Polla ta dinha for children's choir and orch.
Quatour Bernede
Notre Dame choir/Contemporary Music Ensemble, Paris/Simonovich
EMI

I'm beginning to devote some in-depth listening to the Beethoven late string quartet Op. 132, as I hope to see it live twice next year. I got the LP of the Razumovsky No. 3 and Harp quartets yesterday for $5, and this was my first listen to this recording. I had only heard the Harp quartet before. The Razumovsky No. 3 is undoubtedly a masterpiece - I loved how he opened the second (slow) movement with pizzicato on the cello, an almost jazzy sound. Speaking of plucking, the Harp quartet's first movement has it in droves, hence the nickname. I also like the third (presto) movement which is quite intense.

Haydn's Seven Last Words of Christ string quartet is an atypical work. It was composed for use in liturgical purposes by the monks of Cadiz. It has a short introduction, followed by seven "sonatas" (which are all slow movements) and a brief concluding fast movement, which was meant to symbolise the moment of Christ's death, when there was a storm. This is a very dramatic ending, and a kind of release after all the slowness of the rest of the work (mutes are removed before it is played). Even though most of the work is slow, there is an enormous amount of variety here. The accompanying String Quartet No. 68 was Haydn's last work in the genre, but he didn't finish it (it consists only of a slow movement and minuet). Here we are in more familiar Haydn territory, quite light, but both works on the disc have his trademark elegance and poise.

Then the Xenakis, which I got about a month ago & am slowly listening to, bit by bit. The choral work has a visceral impact. The children's choir intones thier phrases without much apparent change, with a shimmering, textured and sometimes dissonant backdrop provided by the orchestra. The string quartet is also interesting, it (may?) have echoes of the Beethoven above, at one stage, the plucking sounds exactly as if it was coming from a harp!...

[Lethevich]

The combination of oboe and piano is a very beautiful one. The most immediately appealing was the Nielsen, which while somewhat insubstantial makes up for it in sheer attractiveness.

[The new erato]

Now playing CD1 from this set - T4, which just arrived today for a first listen ...

The covers of Gergiev's discs continues to scare the s..t out of me.

[Conor71]

Dvořák: String Quartet No. 1 In A Major, Op. 2, B 8

This is a really beautiful recording - glad this set has finally arrived! .

[Christo]

Can find no objective reason for their general neglect, even contempt (`rather thin on substance and virtually unmemorable' writes one reviewer on Amazon).

Both of Gordon Jacobs' symphonies - the First from 1929 dedicated to his brother who was killed on the Somme in 1916, the Second from 1945 one of those other War Time Symphonies - are more than just fine. The style is also much more muscular than one would aspect from Jacobs. In short: I would place them in the same category as those by e.g. Walton, Bate, Bax, or Moeran.
                               

[Harry]

Can find no objective reason for their general neglect, even contempt (`rather thin on substance and virtually unmemorable' writes one reviewer on Amazon).

Both of Gordon Jacobs' symphonies - the First from 1929 dedicated to his brother who was killed on the Somme in 1916, the Second from 1945 one of those other War Time Symphonies - are more than just fine. The style is also much more muscular than one would aspect from Jacobs. In short: I would place them in the same category as those by e.g. Walton, Bate, Bax, or Moeran.
                               

I wholeheartedly agree. Its a fine example of British music at its best, the reviewer must have had a hangover:)

[val]

J S BACH:       Six Suites fr violoncello solo            / Anner Bylsma  (1992)

The second version recorded by Bylsma is, in my opinion, the best alternative to the old and sublime version of Casals. The dynamic contrasts, the characterization of the rhythms - in special some dances - and the sound of the instrument, with a good choice of the tempos (not far from those of Casals) have as result a really beautiful interpretation.

[The new erato]

Edit: Moved to the purchases thread!

[Marc]

Albert Bolliger going back in time on the sound of the nations .... it's a flashback!



ATTENTION! ATTENTION!

(Very) old reed stops!

BLANKY MARVELOUS!

[Harry]

This is really one of the CD'S from the box, that I like very much, everything seems to work in this performance, but then I only discarded 5 CD'S from it that were for me unlistenable, a record I would say, and I found a good home for those. 

[Harry]

Another winner, well sung, and played. Beautiful recording too, I am so spoiled today with fine music.

[springrite]

Another winner, well sung, and played. Beautiful recording too, I am so spoiled today with fine music.

I believe you can see the name Jay Bernfeld on that back cover?

[Que]

Lots of goodies in that Sony box set, Harry!

I'm continuing with disc 4 of this box set, which has been very rewarding sofar:



Isn't unfortunate that this rich English keyboard music tradition died out after Byrd's pupils Peter Philips and Thomas Tomkins?

Q

[Drasko]

Tantum ergo sacramentum

[George]

[Antoine Marchand]

I am also listening to some Haydn:



IMHO the best Haydn recorded by the Mosaïques. 

[Brian]

I am also listening to ... quartets?

BEETHOVEN | Razumovsky Nos 1-3
Endellion Quartet