What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Sadko]

And now:

Martinu: Julietta (Krombholc)



I didn't listen to this for maybe 15 years, but it is as good as I remembered.

[The new erato]

CESTI, ANTONIO Le disgrazie d'Amore.

What a marvellous performance of some extraordinary moving music!

Panned by the reviewer in Gramohone who obviously had no understanding whatever of the style and no feeling at all for the intensity of the story, and another reason why I let my subscription lapse and never will touch the magazine again.

I rather believe the blogger behind newolde.com "Indeed, this is one of the best recordings to date of a 17th Century Italian opera" or Brian Robins in Early Music Review "This set is not only an artistic triumph in its own right, but also one of the most important additions to the catalogue we're likely to see this year." .

Stupidities like the review in Gramophone however carries more weight and is a reason that Hyperion probably has lost lots of money on this set - and have reduced the probablity that we will see more releases like this.

Burn in hell, and goodbye, Gramophone. You can market the latest Rattle release without the help of my money.

[listener]

the 1955 Vlado Perlemuter recordings of RAVEL - the 2 concertos (with Horenstein conducting) and the major solo piano works.
mono, but I don't need separate channels for each hand. 
IBERT   Escales, Ouverture de fête,  Tropismes pour des amours imaginaires
ORTF Orch.   Jean Martinon, cond.

[Marc]

I know, it's only library stuff but I like it:



Johann Sebastian Bach auf den Orgeln seiner Heimat, Volume 1:
Belgian organist Jozef Sluys playing some young Bach's stuff on the very appropriate instrument made by Gottfried Silbermann, in the Friedenskirche zu Ponitz.

[bhodges]

Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 (Hai-Kyung Suh / Alexander Dmitriev / St. Petersburg Academic Symphony Orchestra) - Very fine versions of these, part of her set of the complete concertos (plus the Rhapsody), all taken at tempi somewhat slower than one might expect (this is not Argerich ), and apparently recorded in very long takes, with little editing.

--Bruce

[stingo]

At this very moment from my ipod:

BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 1
Karin Lechner, piano
Berliner Symphoniker
Eduardo Marturet, conductor

From the Brilliant Brahms Complete set. Very much liking the entire set so far (the Serenades are a favorite), but this concerto is particularly good to my ears as well.

[mc ukrneal]

Bruckner 6 Jochum on Brilliant with Dresden Staatskapelle (was on EMI). Excellent. Not the best thing to listen to before bed, but wowsers, was it good. I had been thinking of getting a new version of 6 in modern sound (Hatink on Profil, partially because I thought the 8 could have sounded better, but 6 sounds pretty good), but having listened to it, I'm not so sure. I found the interpretation here invigorating. Well, I already ordered a replacement 8 in better sound (the Wand so much discussed), so too late there.
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[Brian]

Listening to mere mortals play Piazzolla's Seasons just serves as a reminder that Tianwa Yang is not one of us.

[prémont]

I know, it's only library stuff but I like it:



Johann Sebastian Bach auf den Orgeln seiner Heimat, Volume 1:
Belgian organist Jozef Sluys playing some young Bach's stuff on the very appropriate instrument made by Gottfried Silbermann, in the Friedenskirche zu Ponitz.

Yes, but the advantage about library stuff is, that you may get the possibility to hear some since long OOP recordings, which I suspect this is. What does he actually play on the disc?

[Drasko]

CESTI, ANTONIO Le disgrazie d'Amore.

What a marvellous performance of some extraordinary moving music!

Noted!

IBERT Escales, Ouverture de fête, Tropismes pour des amours imaginaires
ORTF Orch.   Jean Martinon, cond.

Such a great title.

[Keemun]

Wow!  That set looks like a steal.  I'm not usually a Karajan fan, nor a huge Bruckner lover, but I'm a great fan of Karajan's Bruckner!  Tempting, even though I already have a few of the singles....

Yes, the price is great.  I received it as a Christmas gift and I still need to dedicate some time to listen closely to each symphony.

[Mirror Image]

Stravinsky: Jeu de cartes (Volkov)

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How is this recording, Sadko? I've been looking at both Stravinsky Hyperion discs with Volkov conducting and they both look interesting. How would you rate the performances with say a conductor like Abbado, Craft, or Salonen? Thanks in advance.

[Mirror Image]

Now:

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Listening to Schemerhorn's passionate reading of Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2. His tempi, especially in the third movement (Dansa Lembrança do Sertão), are a little swift in this particular work compared to Minczuk and Mata. This is a still a fine performance and one I wouldn't want to be without.

[Sid]

I have that Villa-Lobos set & have enjoyed it quite a lot...

Schubert - works for piano trio

Schnittke - Piano Quintet & other chamber works (some great Australian chamber musicians on this disc recorded right here in oz - members of the Goldner String Quartet, who do us proud playing alongside the Russian musicians)

Piazzolla - Songs, tangos, Maria de Buenos Aires suite

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[Mirror Image]

I have that Villa-Lobos set & have enjoyed it quite a lot...

Yes, it is a great set, but the Bachianas Brasileiras are far from my favorite VL, but they are fine works and deserve the attention they receive, because I realize that, in many people's cases, these will be their introduction to VL. For me, my introduction were the much more kaleidoscopic sound worlds of the Choros. I think it was these works that turned my once jaded opinion of his music upside down, but then again, I blame part of this opinion on my own ignorance of his music in general. I was blown away by these compositions. In fact, I'm still trying to wrap my head around many of the Choros as they're so vastly different from each other.

I'm still in the process of becoming more familiar with his string quartets and symphonies, which are quite vast in their stylistic scope.

[Sid]

Yes, it is a great set, but the Bachianas Brasileiras are far from my favorite VL, but they are fine works and deserve the attention they receive, because I realize that, in many people's cases, these will be their introduction to VL. For me, my introduction were the much more kaleidoscopic sound worlds of the Choros. I think it was these works that turned my once jaded opinion of his music upside down, but then again, I blame part of this opinion on my own ignorance of his music in general. I was blown away by these compositions. In fact, I'm still trying to wrap my head around many of the Choros as they're so vastly different from each other.

I'm still in the process of becoming more familiar with his string quartets and symphonies, which are quite vast in their stylistic scope.

Yes, the Choros are more complex (I've got nums 8 & 9 on Naxos) but the work which really impressed me was Rudepoema for piano solo. It was written for his friend & promoter Artur Rubinstein & sounds so hard to play that it's just not funny...

[Mirror Image]

Yes, the Choros are more complex (I've got nums 8 & 9 on Naxos) but the work which really impressed me was Rudepoema for piano solo. It was written for his friend & promoter Artur Rubinstein & sounds so hard to play that it's just not funny...

Yes, Rudepoema from what I've read is an extremely difficult work to perform. I love VL's solo piano music actually. I have this box on Naxos that is just excellent:

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He's the only composer where I actually wanted to hear the solo piano music. Any other composer I have less interest in when it comes to this genre, but there's something about listening to VL's music where I feel like I'm one with the universe. I'm not sure if his music does this for anyone else on this forum, but that's how strongly I feel about it.

[Mirror Image]

Now:

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This is the third recording I bought of this massive oratorio. It's still a work that is confusing to me, not because of it's size, but because of it's lack of a clear direction, which, for me, is unusual in VL's music. There are some moments, though, that are absolutely sublime like the beginning of the second movement. The first and second movements are essentially orchestral, although the second movement has some great choral singing in the middle section, whereas the last two movements contain the most singing.

[Que]

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Morning.

Q

[Antoine Marchand]

Johann Sebastian Bach - Suites for Violoncello Solo BWV 1007-1012
Plus: Cello version of Partita BWV 1013, First recording
Morten Zeuthen, cello
Recorded in Store Heddinge, Denmark 1992-1993



A generous gift from a friend who is a member of this forum.

This 2-CD set contains an inspired and passionated survey by the Cello Suites, plus the Partita BWV 1013, this last piece played in Zeuthen's own transcription. Zeuthen plays this music in the most singable and fervent way and you get the sensation of the whole set being played in just one breath, with no pauses and with nonstop intensity. Zeuthen's fervor for this music is almost physically palpable, as a sort of electricity through the entire recording. His tempi are generally alert, even sometime plainly fast, but always strongly characterized according to every dance involved. Excellent!