What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Wakefield]

Your comments made me think back to the days I explored the Haydn SQts for the 1st time - I had six or so discs from that set. Must confess that they appealed at first and later disappointed. Don't recall them as overly Romantic but certainly not as emotional and intense either... They do make big gestures, but I found them rather empty and generic. Middle of the road interpretations aided by an authentic Hungarian sound, but ultimately lacking in proper Classical phrasing, articulation and Haydnesque wit. That was my verdict back then. I sold them off and looked elsewhere, drifted off into the realms of period performances...and the rest is history.

Q

Well, that's approximately the same description I'd have done some months ago. For many years, I also owned just three discs by the Kodály and I thought that they didn't have a distinctive voice at all. I even described here - several times - their style as quite anonymous and "functionary". But today when I have listened to all the Festetics, all the Mosaïques, all the Tátrai and a lot of single recordings of different string ensembles, I thought it would be an interesting experience to give a new chance to the Kodály, especially considering that it's very highly considered for several members on this board... And it has been quite an interesting experience so far, what only includes the very early works (pre-Op. 9) and the Op. 9 (the first set of proper string quartets)... And yes, I'm quite sure if you listened to the Op. 9 today, you would also detect a sort of overdose of emotion and intensity in this set. 

[Lisztianwagner]

Claude Debussy
Berceuse héroïque/Marche écossaise

[asin]B000BUEGEU[/asin]

[madaboutmahler]

Encouraged by John's return, now:


Concerto for Double String Orchestra

Such a great piece!

[madaboutmahler]

Now:

[asin]B000MM0CCC[/asin]
Symphony no.3
Such a great piece!

And, Karlo - you must listen to this!

[Lisztianwagner]

Now:

[asin]B000MM0CCC[/asin]
Symphony no.3
Such a great piece!

+1

Now, on youtube:

Maurice Ravel
Sheherazade

Leonard Bernstein
L'Orchestre National de France
Soloist: Marilyn Horne

[Sergeant Rock]

First listen to this version of Dvorak's D minor Serenade for Winds, a yummy performance...or so I'm told 




Sarge

[TheGSMoeller]

Beethoven: Fantasy in C minor for piano, chorus and orchestra.

I love Beethoven's fantasy. Wait, I meant to say one of my favorite fantasies is Beethoven. Or, when I want to enjoy a fantasy, I look for Beethoven.

[Lisztianwagner]

On BR-Klassik, via internet:

Arnold Schönberg  A Survivor from Warsaw, op.46
Igor Stravinsky  Symphony of Psalm
Samuel Barber  Adagio for Strings
Edgar Varèse  Amériques

Mariss Jansons
Concertgebouw Orchestra

[The new erato]

3 very fine string quartets:

[asin]B007K0PSZU[/asin]

Slightly in the style of the early Tippett quartets, though with some very interesting Shostakovich references in no3.

[listener]

rather light music for a session
ENESCU  Roumanian Rhapsodie 1 & 2
DVORAK:  Carnival Overture     TCHAIKOWSKY: Francesca da Rimini
The Philadelphia Orchestra      / Ormandy
1957 mono disc, must have been out in stereo though.  Rhapsody 2 was not easy to get on record, but I see I have an Erato lp with both in stereo
GRAINGER: Shepherds Hey, Country Gardens, Handel in the Strand....
QUILTER: Children's Overture    TOYE: The Haunted Ballroom
GIBBS: Dusk    GARDINER Shepherd Fennel's Dance
The Light Music Society Orch.,  Sir Vivian Dunn, cond.

[mc ukrneal]

First listen to this version of Dvorak's D minor Serenade for Winds, a yummy performance...or so I'm told 




Sarge

Smacks lips together....

[Brian]

Mussorgsky's "Night on Bare Mountain" is so much better than the Rimsky-Korsakov remake. I love Rimsky, but have no idea why he thought his version was worthy.

[Conor71]

Mahler: Symphony No. 4 In G Major


Now listening to Karajans excellent M4 - after this I will listen to the 5th Symphony

[madaboutmahler]

Great to see you having a Mahler day, Conor!

And for me, to bring the night to a close.

[asin]B00000E4M5[/asin]
The Seasons

Such brilliant, joyous, uplifting, great music!!
Good night everyone!

[Lisztianwagner]

Even greater to see you listening to Karajan!

Now:
Maurice Ravel
Daphnis et Chloe - Deuxmiéme partie

[asin]B000065TUZ[/asin]

[mahler10th]

I listen to Bruckner on a daily basis.   



Big and very big indeed too.  Celibidaches Bruckner.

[Lilas Pastia]

First listen to this version of Dvorak's D minor Serenade for Winds, a yummy performance...or so I'm told 




Sarge

Believe it or not it's my favourite Dvorak work. I can't resist to that opening march. It was also one of the very first works I heard in concert way back when, played by a czech ensemble that also played the Martinu Nonet.

[Coopmv]

Now playing the following CD, which arrived yesterday for a first listen ...

[Lilas Pastia]

Vissarion Shebalin: string quartets, volume I. This is disc 1 of a set of 3 (available singly on the Olympia label). I've had discs 2 and 3 for a few years, but never got my hands on # 1. A bummer, since I Love the Shebalin quartets I owned already. Thanks to the Eruditos blog site I was able to download the music and confirm the opinion I had so far harboured: these are among the most satisfying string quartets I have heard.

I don't know how to describe them. Each is as classical as a Haydn quartet. Practically all cast in the proven 4 movement structure. All movements approximately equal in duration. No extremes of tempi anywhere. No extremes of emotion. No raging allegrettos, no searing adagios, no desolate or triumphant passages. Sounds like a recipe for boredom? Not at all. Everything is laid out with the precision of a swiss clockwork, yet it never sounds fabricated. It's all totally natural as if the music poured out of a mountain spring to form a calm, refreshing stream. It's very deceptive, but the feelings add up to a great listening experience.

Lest this description make you think this is placid, uneventful music, I hasten to add that there is plenty of feeling in every single movement. It's just that it's so totally warm and satisfying, like the Milhaud and Villa-Lobos quartets. You never get a big wow, just accumulate satisfaction from one movement to the next. When the quartet is over I want to push the 'repeat' button - which I did a few times

Highly recommended.

[Lilas Pastia]

From the Stokowski Stereo Recordings collection, the New World symphony plus Bartered Bride Overture and Moldau. The smaller works stem from 1960 New York sessions and are splendidly played. I had my doubts about Stokowski's Moldau in the first half of the work. Too big, too warm. It reminded me of the remark that the Beautiful Blue Danube is actually a brownish, gooey, lazy watery mess. Things pick up when the river enters the bohemian plains and becomes a powerful stream. The orchestral sound swells to mighty proportions and the last few minutes are heroic indeed. Breathtaking actually. In the end I mentally applauded. Not my favourite Moldau (that's Toscanini), but an impressive expereience.

The New World: exhilarating but slightly strange. Some instrumental accretions - a gong stroke here, a cymbal clash there. But overall a very musical, fiery, thoroughly musical experience. The Largo is a transcendent moment of collected emotion and sonic refulgence. Stokowski has recorded the work 5 or maybe 6 times. This is with the Philharmonia Orchestra, 1973. By that time, sonic experiences were over, the phonographic medium having come of age and the conductor's wisdom and innate musicality having taken over any desire to wow and impress audiences. This is a concentrated, inward-looking New World that looks outward as the composer would have liked it to. This is the essence of Dvorak: an outspoken, communicative artist expressing himself in a most organized and collected language. No wonder Brahms admired him so much.