What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[nesf]

So it is, with Caballe as Liu. I had it as LP and have it now as CD.  The only problem with having a highlights disc of this opera is that there are no highlights--the whole thing is pretty darn good all the way through.  It might conceivably be the best recording of Turandot.  My particular favorite section is not any of the solos but the choral sections which take up a considerable portion of Act I, and the riddle scene in Act II.

I'd agree about the limitations of highlights discs with opera in general but since this is my first exposure to more than a little of Puccini (I'm a complete opera newbie!) I'm quite happy with it as a sampler. I might pick up the full thing at some point but for the moment this disc is very pleasant.

[listener]

KORNGOLD    Violanta
Eva Marton, Walter Berry, Siegfried Jerusalem...
Bavarian Radio Chorus     Munich Radio Orch.,     Marek Janowski, cond.
What a remarkable achievement for a seventeen-year-old! - right up there with good Puccini IMHO

[Que]

.[asin]B0037W391K[/asin]

Maiden voyage. An absolute delight so far.

Q

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

A third run through and it gets better all the way. These musicians clearly love what they are doing, plus the period instruments sound lovely. This is a fine introduction to this composer, and you will hardly find better recordings.

[springrite]

Dietrich Erdmann:
Cello Concerto
Saxophone Concerto
Spektrum
Serenita Notterna
(Berlin Radio Symphony)
Surprisingly good music.

Next up:
Portrait of Olli Mustonen (as composer), a FINLANDIA CD.

After that:
Eduard Erdmann Symphony #1 and #2

[Conor71]

Liszt: Piano Sonata In B Minor, S 178
Chopin: Nocturnes

Some Piano Music - first up Brendels version of the B Minor Sonata followed up by a shuffle of the Nocturnes: Disc 1.

[springrite]

Dietrich Erdmann:
Cello Concerto
Saxophone Concerto
Spektrum
Serenita Notterna
(Berlin Radio Symphony)
Surprisingly good music.

Next up:
Portrait of Olli Mustonen (as composer), a FINLANDIA CD.

After that:
Eduard Erdmann Symphony #1 and #2

In the battle of the Erdmanns, Dietrich is winning by a landslide.

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

Not too long ago I wrote in detail about this recording (27-3-2012), and I can only add that it is one of the finest Baroque CD'S I bought in 2011. The performance is exemplary as is the sound. The period instruments sound gorgeous. The music by Dietrich Becker, Nikolaus Adam Strungk, Johann Adam Reincken, Dietrich Buxtehude, Kaspar Forster, Johann Theile, is to be treasured, a fine selection of the best! Mostly for Viola da Gamba and BC.
CordArte, a ensemble unknown to me, that has its base in Germany are of a very high level. Recommended without hesitation.

[North Star]

Schumann
Symphony no. 1
Zinman & Tonhalle Zürich
[asin]B0007PLKS4[/asin]

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

I finally came to the second CD of this set, and as with the first, Howell is a revelation, in sheer uniqueness. His compositions are always approachable, very well written, and pleasing to your ears, certainly when it comes in such a good recording as the present one, and with musicians that play their way into your heart, and let it overflow with amazement. Such is the influence of his music, overwhelming and heart warming. He is fastly underrated and should stand together with his famous compeers, but posterity would not have it alas. Three works on the second CD, beginning with the "The B's"opus 13, and completed in 1914 just weeks before the first WW. Its his second orchestral work, and he is so sure footed and assured of himself, that without fail he delivers a work of great beauty, dedicated to his college friends. Its a happy work, brilliantly orchestrated, with many felicitous details that emit great artistry.  The second work "Three Dances, opus 7 for Violin and orchestra", has a mesmerizing second movement, that sears very deep. It was written for his college friend George Whittaker and completed it in 1915. Howell had not yet been touched by tragedy due to the war, so its glorious wide spanning melody is a balm to your mind and soul, very beautifully orchestrated. The third work, "In the Green Ways is a set of five songs, in which he wanted to capture the different moods of the countryside. In his time and still people tend to find it exactly that, but for me the main attraction is in the gorgeous orchestration of the orchestral parts. The songs themselves, neither the text impress me much.
I was never a lover of English vocal music after 1800, so even though Yvonne Kenny sings without screaming, her diction is muddy, and the emotional content is missing. Her voice is not what Howell opted for, he specified a high voice, and I think a more bell like voice, brittle even. Nevertheless I like them purely for the orchestral parts.   

[jlaurson]

D. Shostakovich, B. Britten, S. Prokofiev
Cello Sonatas
Jamie Walton, Daniel Grimwood
signum Classics
From my favorite this-generation-British-musician and the pianist of my far-and-away-favorite Liszt recording (Années de pèlerinage, sfz music) - the natural companion to Walton's British-Soviet Concerto Cycle on Signum.

[Lisztianwagner]

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No.1 "Titan"

[asin]B0000041Z6[/asin]

[Sergeant Rock]

Shostakovich String Quartet #9 E flat Op.117 (1964) played by the Borodin Quartet




Sarge

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

From this set, CD II, with some fine concerti for Harpsichord, Fortepiano and Organ. They get a superb treatment on this recording.

[Karl Henning]

One of Harry's recs:

Buxtehude
Assorted harpsichord music (Disc 4)
Simone Stella

[asin]B006AZKHJI[/asin]

[bhodges]

Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra (Skrowaczewski/Concertgebouw, live recording Feb. 18, 1993) - From the set below, a taut, energetic reading, with exacting playing from the orchestra - gets a few "bravo's" at the end, well deserved.

[asin]B0056WOZQM[/asin]

--Bruce

[Karl Henning]

Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra (Skrowaczewski/Concertgebouw, live recording Feb. 18, 1993) - From the set below, a taut, energetic reading, with exacting playing from the orchestra - gets a few "bravo's" at the end, well deserved.

[asin]B0056WOZQM[/asin]

--Bruce

Did you see my note, Bruce? : )

[Sergeant Rock]

Wagner Rienzi Overture and Lohengrin Preludes, Welser-Möst conducting the Cleveland




Sarge

[springrite]

Franz Schmidt Symphony #1 and Interlude and Carnival Music from Notre Dame (Budapest Symphony, Lalasz)

[Karl Henning]

Wagner Rienzi Overture and Lohengrin Preludes, Welser-Möst conducting the Cleveland




Sarge

Measha Brueggergosman is meshugga Mars green Boa spelled inside-out . . . .