What are you listening to now?

[jlaurson]

Now:

Béla Bartók
Bluebeard's Castle
Gergiev / LSO / Elena Zhidkova, Willard White
LSO Live
German link - UK link
[/quote]

Unpretentious, relaxed, very fine performance... a happy surprise. No need to have waited for years until finally listening to it. :-)

Not one to run and seek out, nothing to hide from... very lovely.

The intro is - as could be expected - in English... and while I prefer to not understand a word and get the (to my ears) strange, mood-setting sound of Hungarian... the klikking and klakking of those lines, at least it's not done in the horrid vernacular country fair traveling circus announcer voice that I've suffered through, all too often. "Laaaadies and Geeeeentlemen" Which reminds me of this, but that's getting off track.

Earlier:


C.M.v. Weber
Der Freischütz
Sir Colin Davis (RIP) / LSO / Brewer, Matthews et al.
LSO Live
German link - UK link

...which was REALLY good. Well sung... atmospheric... Nice way to go out on, as his penultimate recording. (Berlioz Requiem, fittingly, was his last. Sadly a snooze.)

[Geo Dude]

Second disc.

[Geo Dude]

[Gurn Blanston]

This very fine Op 77 #1, with that strange guy on the cover.   After reading the liner notes, I come away thinking that this is probably the 1st violin player. The picture on the inside of the booklet is captioned 'Franz Joseph Haydn'...   

No doubt about the music though, first rate music very well played.

[TheGSMoeller]

This very fine Op 77 #1, with that strange guy on the cover.   After reading the liner notes, I come away thinking that this is probably the 1st violin player. The picture on the inside of the booklet is captioned 'Franz Joseph Haydn'...   

No doubt about the music though, first rate music very well played.

My slip case has this image on one side, and a profile of Haydn on the other, perhaps that's the 'Franz Joseph Haydn' that is being mentioned, Gurn?

Anywho, mucho agreement, first rate. Might become my top choice for Op. 77/103. I've been listening to this quite a bit since its arrival.

[Bogey]

I'm not a big Handel fan, but I love his recorder sonatas. Then as I'm a bit obsessive, I have purchased several sets of this music, some of them quite expensive. The invariable result has been: this is the best available version. 

Good to know.  Thanks.

[TheGSMoeller]

Spoiler Alert - the final track is titled "Juliet's Death". Thanks for the heads up. 

[Todd]

[kishnevi]

This is an interesting interpretation alternating between tradition and newer HIP ideas.  It is a quite lush performance, swimming with vibrato, but doesn't become bogged down in sentimentality or slow, romantic tempos.  One reviewer on Amazon even (bizarrely) claimed that they merely play the notes!  It's not to my taste--too much vibrato--but I have to admit that this is great stuff that would be appreciated by people who like a more lush sound and point out their recording of the six Haydn Quartets since there is a copy on the marketplace going for $25 shipped.

I'm sure Sarge appreciates them a great deal.

Thread duty:
CD 10 of the DG Ravel Complete Edition box
Piano Concerto in G(1)
Piano Concerto pour le gauche (2)
Menuet antique
Le Tombeau de Couperin
Valses noble et sentimentales
LSO/Abbado
(1) Argerich  (2) Beroff

[TheGSMoeller]

Arrived for a first listen (recording only). Sinopoli's Inferno is fierce, not as heavy-footed as Barenboim, but with a quicker intensity. As usual the Staatskapelle Dresden sound phenomenal, although they could have used a little more separation between the mic close to the bass trombone, and it's rare I complain about brass being to present.

[Mirror Image]

Now:

Béla Bartók
Bluebeard's Castle
Gergiev / LSO / Elena Zhidkova, Willard White
LSO Live
German link - UK link


Unpretentious, relaxed, very fine performance... a happy surprise. No need to have waited for years until finally listening to it. :-)

Not one to run and seek out, nothing to hide from... very lovely.

The intro is - as could be expected - in English... and while I prefer to not understand a word and get the (to my ears) strange, mood-setting sound of Hungarian... the klikking and klakking of those lines, at least it's not done in the horrid vernacular country fair traveling circus announcer voice that I've suffered through, all too often. "Laaaadies and Geeeeentlemen" Which reminds me of this, but that's getting off track.

I was underwhelmed by Gergiev's Bluebeard performance. The comparisons I made with the Gergiev were Kertesz and Boulez (Sony). Like you said, it was a lovely account, but this opera requires so much more violence and tension than what Gergiev had to offer IMHO.

[Brian]

HIP wind music by Ignaz Pleyel:

[asin]B00B0X5DRG[/asin]

[HIPster]

Really enjoying this disc!

[asin]B00000E460[/asin]

[TheGSMoeller]

Really enjoying this disc!

[asin]B00000E460[/asin]

Way to go, Hipster! That's a great one. Reminds me it's time for a spin.

[HIPster]

Way to go, Hipster! That's a great one. Reminds me it's time for a spin.

Right on Greg!

[kishnevi]

First listen to this new release
[asin]B009P8LDSG[/asin]
Schoenberg: Verklaerte Nacht, Op. 4     Schubert: String Quintet in C D956
First rate performances,  rich and warm (both the playing and the audio engineering)
participants beyond Ms. Jansen herself
Boris Brovtsyn, violin
Amihai Grosz, viola
Torleif Thedeen, cello
Jens Peter Maintz, cello
Maxim Rysanov, viola (Schoenberg only)

Rysanov and Thedeen were her partners in her recording of the Bach 2 and 3 Part Inventions (as transcribed for string duo/trio)

[Wakefield]

[Gold Knight]

Vaughan Williams--Symphony No.7 {"Sinfonia antartica"}, performed by soprano Norma Burrowes, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Choir, all under Sir Adrian Boult.
Jean Sibelius--Symphony No.5 in E-Flat Major, Op.82, Symphony No.6 in D Minor, Op.104 and Symphony No.7 in C Major, Op.105. All three works feature the Maurice Abravanel led Utah Symphony.

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to the Piano Concerto. A very nice work. I can tell this will reward multiple listens.

[Wakefield]

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