What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[TheGSMoeller]

Thread duty. First listen of this recording...

[asin]B003QLY5GK[/asin]


A ways back, someone on GMG recommended Jacobs' Die Zauberflote and described it as "magic". Quite right.
Close your eyes with this, and one could easily imagine the most fantastic production of Zauberflote. Amazing details in the music, singing and ambiance accentuate the enchanted story. Haven't read the booklet yet or done research on this performance, but I'm hearing some orchestrations that differ than what I'm used to. Also some liberties in the vocal lines that add to the theatrical element.

[North Star]

Thread duty. First listen of this recording...

[asin]B003QLY5GK[/asin]


A ways back, someone on GMG recommended Jacobs' Die Zauberflote and described it as "magic". Quite right.
Close your eyes with this, and one could easily imagine the most fantastic production of Zauberflote. Amazing details in the music, singing and ambiance accentuate the enchanted story. Haven't read the booklet yet or done research on this performance, but I'm hearing some orchestrations that differ than what I'm used to. Also some liberties in the vocal lines that add to the theatrical element.

I almost bought that in my last order.
Here's a 9 min making-of:
http://www.youtube.com/v/Ma_lzybg3Ak

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Superb performance of a highly atmospheric work.

[TheGSMoeller]

I almost bought that in my last order.
Here's a 9 min making-of:
http://www.youtube.com/v/Ma_lzybg3Ak

Win! Thanks for the video, North Star! 

[Lisztianwagner]

Excellent work and performance!

After listening to it twice in a row, I can certainly agree; Martinon's performance is amazing. Such a wonderful, powerfully expressive and beautifully atmospheric work, I incredibly love it! Like many other Ravel's compositions, I can't go without being impressed by the marvelous, colourful orchestration of Ma Mère l'Oye, especially of the second interlude and the 5th Tableau; Ravel's mastery of using all the expressive possibilities of the instruments is extraordinary!

About that set, I've also listened to Alborada del gracioso; delightful interpretation, although I prefer the Abbado.

[Mirror Image]

After listening to it twice in a row, I can certainly agree; Martinon's performance is amazing. Such a wonderful, powerfully expressive and beautifully atmospheric work, I incredibly love it! Like many other Ravel's compositions, I can't go without being impressed by the marvelous, colourful orchestration of Ma Mère l'Oye, especially of the second interlude and the 5th Tableau; Ravel's mastery of using all the expressive possibilities of the instruments is extraordinary!

About that set, I've also listened to Alborada del gracioso; delightful interpretation, although I prefer the Abbado.

Twice in a row?!?!? That's great, Ilaria. It's certainly one of Ravel's most magical works. The way he weaves the instrumental sections in and out and the way he uses the woodwinds to such great effect, it's all marvelous. I think I'll listen to this work after I get through listening to Symphony No. 2 from this incredible set:

[Bogey]

Now:



Listening to Symphony No. 4. Outstanding performance.

Understated.

[PaulR]

Some Walton:
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Viola Concerto

[Lisztianwagner]

Twice in a row?!?!? That's great, Ilaria. It's certainly one of Ravel's most magical works. The way he weaves the instrumental sections in and out and the way he uses the woodwinds to such great effect, it's all marvelous. I think I'll listen to this work after I get through listening to Symphony No. 2 from this incredible set:

Yeah, I suppose that listening to Mahler No.6 before put me in the right mood for great orchestrators. Sure, all those floating melodies perfectly woven together create an absolutely capturing atmosphere. What is Davis' Elgar box like?

[Mirror Image]

Understated.

[Mirror Image]

What is Davis' Elgar box like?

This 2-CD set has become my go-to performances for these symphonies. Also, Davis' new recording of Enigma Variations along with In the South and Serenade for Strings has proven to be equally as satisfying. I particularly like Davis' clear-headed way with Elgar and the fact that he knows this music so well now. He has become my favorite living Elgarian. He understands the arc and structure of this music. His usage of tempi are greatly judged. He gives each movement a remarkable clarity and shape. The emotion is felt, not manufactured in any way. This is a conductor who has championed Elgar for a long time. There's a lot of love put into these performances IMHO.

[Mirror Image]

As for Davis' early set on Warner with the BBC Symphony, I need to re-familiarize myself with those performances. The older set is 5-CDs and this collection is only 3-CDs.

[Mirror Image]

Now:

[asin]B000MRP204[/asin]

Listening to Ma Mere L'Oye. Haven't listened to this Haitink performance in a few years. Still sounds great to me.

[listener]

MYASKOVSKY` Symphony no. 3 in a op. 15
USSR State Symphony Orch.,    Svetlanov, cond.
KOECHLIN: Partita for Chamber Orchestra (c.1945)  op.205    IBERT: The Ballad of Reading Gaol
Louisville Orchestra   Jorge Mester, cond.
ARNOLD: Four Scottish Dances, op. 59   Symphony no.3, op. 63
London Philharmonic Orch.    Arnold, cond,

[Octave]

Now:

[asin]B000MRP204[/asin]

Listening to Ma Mere L'Oye. Haven't listened to this Haitink performance in a few years. Still sounds great to me.

I'm keen to hear his Ravel again (borrowed a friend's some time back, before Ravel made sense to me); do you happen to know if this Pentatone edition contains the same performances that were included in that Newton Classics 2cd reissue?  If so, I'm bummed that that whole set of performances wasn't given the Pentatone/SACD treatment.  I'm afraid I'm going to have to go with the normal CDs (with inferior mastering?) just to get all those performances.  I'm high on Haitink since listening to his Philips Debussy and his RCO/Philips Brahms; I heard some of his allegedly-pallid [?] Liszt symphonic poems recently and really liked those, but without any point of comparison.

[Mirror Image]

I'm keen to hear his Ravel again (borrowed a friend's some time back, before Ravel made sense to me); do you happen to know if this Pentatone edition contains the same performances that were included in that Newton Classics 2cd reissue?  If so, I'm bummed that that whole set of performances wasn't given the Pentatone/SACD treatment.  I'm afraid I'm going to have to go with the normal CDs (with inferior mastering?) just to get all those performances.  I'm high on Haitink since listening to his Philips Debussy and his RCO/Philips Brahms; I heard some of his allegedly-pallid [?] Liszt symphonic poems recently and really liked those, but without any point of comparison.

Same performances except the performance of Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 1, which wasn't included in the 2-CD release on Philips or the reissue on Newton Classics. Haitink's Debussy is fine, but I don't rank him too highly as a Ravel conductor and even though he as recorded the complete ballet of Daphnis et Chloe three times, none of these performances will ever make into my top 10 of this ballet. This just proves that one conductor who does well in Debussy won't always do well in Ravel and vice versa, which puts to rest the constant lumping together of these two composers by critics and scholars. The two composers couldn't be more different from each other.

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

And on with the Christmas Cheer, yet another fine BBC magazine release, with a gorgeous account of the Magnificat.

[Conor71]

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 11 In F Minor, Op. 122

Now playing Disc 5 of this set - the 3 quartets on this one are quite unusual in structure. The 11th was the first quartet of Shostakovich that I heard. Didnt know quite what to make of it at the time!

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

Christmas Cheer.

CD II of this fine set. Much better performance as I anticipated when I bought it.

[Rinaldo]

Spending the New Year in a place called the Vivaldi Apartments had a

[asin]B006J4AHM2[/asin]
devastating effect on me.