What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Harry]

Ferdinand Ries.

Symphony No. 3, opus 112, in D minor.

Zurcher Kammerorchester/Howard Griffiths

A constant success story for me my friends. I am hooked stock and barrel to Ries.

[BachQ]

I am hooked stock and barrel to Ries.

What about the "lock" ........

[BachQ]

Beethoven, Symphony no. 6 (Zinman) ........... Can you say "sublime" .........?

[karlhenning]

Bruckner
Mass № 3 in F Minor
Heather Harper
Anna Reynolds
Robt Tear
Marius Rintzler
New Philharmonia Chorus & Orchestra
Barenboim

[beclemund]

Only 46 minutes on a full-priced CD. I want more material!

[pjme]

Lot of listening time today  

Milhaud - Les Choephores - Lamoureux Orch. / Markevitch
Honegger - 5th Symphony - Lamoureux Orch. / Markevitch
Honegger - 3rd Symphony - Leningrad  / Mravinsky
Ravel - Le Tombeau de Couperin - Montreal / Dutoit
Ravel - Daphnis et Chloe (Suite No.2) - Montreal / Dutoit

to be continued ...

Ah, great recordings - powerful music! I have them all . But I'm listening to Gabriel Pierné 'Cydalise et le chèvre-pied"-complete on Timpani records. if only I could dance!

[pjme]

Are those Honeggers part of a complete set? I'm looking for a second set, and so far Baudo seems to one to go for (I already have the Dutoit, Bavarian RSO).

These recordings have been remastered and are now available in a cheap twofer.  Michel Plasson & the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse
Peter

[Drasko]

Are those Honeggers part of a complete set? I'm looking for a second set, and so far Baudo seems to one to go for (I already have the Dutoit, Bavarian RSO).

No, neither Markevitch's 5th nor Mravinsky 3rd are parts of sets, those are actually only Honegger recordings those conductors made, which is really a shame since both are excellent and Markevitch's Milhaud/Honegger/Roussel disc is absolutely essential for anyone interested in french musuc of that period or in french orchestral culture before uniformity started setting in. Unfortunately it is oop and pretty expensive.

http://www.amazon.com/Milhaud-Choéphores-Honegger-Symphony-Roussel/dp/B000001GXH

http://www.amazon.com/Paul-Hindemith-Arthur-Honegger-Symphony/dp/B000001HCC

As for sets of Honegger symphonies Baudo is lovely and my preferred set but recordings are mostly from 60s and do show their age. I've recently found out that there is relatively new (few years old?) set with Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Fabio Luisi (new Music Director of Dresden Staatskapelle) on Cascavelle. I haven't heard it but I did read some very good reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/Arthur-Honegger-Symphonies-Mouvements-Symphoniques/dp/B00005MJX0

Ah, great recordings - powerful music! I have them all . But I'm listening to Gabriel Pierné 'Cydalise et le chèvre-pied"-complete on Timpani records. if only I could dance!

You know I was actually thinking what to play next when I read your post and it's now going to be Pierne's Ramuntcho with Philharmonie de Lorraine / Jacques Houtmann on BIS 

[M forever]

Man, this is really great, enormously stylish!

[Maciek]

IT may not be the best idea to judge from one (or perhaps two here) performances only, but I was not very much impressed by the PC recordings.

ps-just visited his website, and there is a Scarlatti playing in the background. I guess he can't be faulted with poor technics 
http://www.drewnowski.pl/SITE/discographie.php?langue=en

Thanks for the link, didn't know he had a site. I don't hear any music though.

Which recording of the Concertos have you heard (he has recorded the two of them 5 times!)? Has anyone heard his Brahms PC with Bernstein (BSO)?

The Scarlatti Sonatas was a breakthrough recording for him (legend has it Bernstein first heard it on the radio while shaving). Judging by the recordings I have he is rather hit-and-miss. The Kisielewski PC, for instance, is excellent (he was the first performer and this remains the only composition in the history of Warsaw Autumn to be encored in its entirety on first performance). But, another example, his Szymanowski Sinfonia concertante is rather uninteresting. Still, I have to admit he does have wonderful sound, even if his interpretations vary.

[orbital]

I have the chamber versions (Amazon does not have a picture, but there is a painting of an old city on the cover). Too straightforward, with not much to remember it by.

-The Scarlatti should play automatically. It is playing on my computer right now. It may take a few seconds to load though. He blazes through K 20 (particularly compared to say Pogo). It sounds like a fortepiano I think.

[Lilas Pastia]

Not true, Lilas, not true. But one of his pieces not mentioned by you today is available. And I shall add another one (a short song cycle) soon enough.

Oh, dear, I got confused again. It must be something in those pierogis I eat before bedtime ...
No wonder then the sound is so good! So what other Perkowski goody have you got up your sleeve, Maciek?

Next I'll be enthusing over the extraordinary chamber music of Krzysztof Meyer. Towards week's end. I gotta  listen to it a few more times.

Yesterday, another go at an old favourite, Colin Davis' classic version of Berlioz' gigantic Te Deum. Man, this is such an immense opus, and it's wonderfully done by Davis and his London forces (plus the excellent italian tenor Franco Tagliavini. Davis re-recorded the work in Dresden (of all places) on Hänssler. I'm very curious to find out if anyone has heard this??

[mahlertitan]

Schumann Symphony No. 2 Bernstein WP

[Maciek]

I have the chamber versions (Amazon does not have a picture, but there is a painting of an old city on the cover). Too straightforward, with not much to remember it by.

-The Scarlatti should play automatically. It is playing on my computer right now. It may take a few seconds to load though. He blazes through K 20 (particularly compared to say Pogo). It sounds like a fortepiano I think.

Nope. It's silent on my computer. I'd be very curious to sample - maybe I'll try on another browser later. I have a CD of his Scarlatti Sonatas from the early 90s (I think). Mine are on a modern piano. And it's not the same recording as the one Bernstein got excited about (I like it all the same ). But there might be yet another (third) one, I don't know.

Of his Chopin, I only own the La ci darem la mano variations (both with and without orchestra) - I'm very fond of it. But I only have one other recording to compare it with, so this is not a very well informed opinion. I'd like to get one of his PC sets - I'll stay away from the one you mention.

Oh, dear, I got confused again. It must be something in those pierogis I eat before bedtime ...

LOL!

So what other Perkowski goody have you got up your sleeve, Maciek?

Some late songs. I recorded them this weekend.

[bhodges]

Music of Ernesto Lecuona (Morton Gould and his Orchestra) - Very enjoyable, on a warm summer evening.



--Bruce

[orbital]

Nope. It's silent on my computer. I'd be very curious to sample - maybe I'll try on another browser later. I have a CD of his Scarlatti Sonatas from the early 90s (I think). Mine are on a modern piano. And it's not the same recording as the one Bernstein got excited about (I like it all the same ). But there might be yet another (third) one, I don't know.

Here you go Mr Osa:
http://download.yousendit.com/0FC1D48E7FE10E0D

Now that I can listen to it with the volume properly up (during the day it was way down so as not to disturb others) this one is indeed modern piano as well. With the volume down, there seemed to be very little resonance and clearly the need for some very soft keys  in order to play at that speed. That's why I felt like it was a fortepiano, but obviously it isn't.

[Maciek]

That's great, thanks! I'll dig up my CD and compare it with this tomorrow.

[Drasko]

Late night fare

Shostakovich -String Quartet No.1 - Borodin Qtet
Ravel - String Quartet - Galimir Qtet of Vienna
Martinu - String Quartet No.5 - Emperor Qtet
Janacek - Lachian dances
            - The Danube
            - The Fiddler's Child - Brno RSO / Bretislav Bakala

[Lilas Pastia]

Mahler, symphony 5, Gewandhaus Orchester, Vaclav Neumann. This is from an old Supraphon release, ca. 1967. Although 40 years old, it's excellent in sound and magnificent in both conception and execution. Strings are excellent, with that typical east german separation of choirs (also heard in Amsterdam and Boston, so maybe it's just a matter of orchestral culture?) - Trumpets and horns are very vocal: vibrato and tone expansion give the playing personality without attracting too much attention (as might be the case in Prague or Leningrad).

Neumann's is one of the fastest 5ths I've heard (65 minutes) and yet it's never rushed. Superb articulation from the orchestra and fastidious care with balances ensure that everything comes through with great clarity. This interpretation has spendid forward thrust yet it expands with great force without ever sounding fierce or battered into submission. It sings, it breathes, it roars and soars. I should make a couple of comparisons to make sure the "long-absent factor" is not fooling me, but I wouldn't be surprised if this became a favourite.

Next in line will be the Rozhdestvensky-Moscow version. Its timings are the closest I could find and IIRC it's a grand and theatrical affair.  As the french saying goes, 'comparaison n'est pas raison' , but it's always instructive if one knows better than to expect revelations form the exercise.

[Gurn Blanston]

The Septet in Bb for Wind & Strings - Franz Berwald - The Nash Ensemble. This is a fine example of Berwald's mastery of chamber music. Circa 1820, IIRC. An era when large chamber ensembles were at their peak of popularity (septets, octets and nonets are far more numerous from this era than any other). Great work for the clarinet and horn!