What are you listening to now?

[Brian]

Friday afternoon, none of my coworkers will notice.

[Karl Henning]

Дмитрий Дмитриевич [ Dmitri Dmitriyevich (Shostakovich) ]
Concertino for two pianos in a minor, Opus 94 (1953)
The Composer & Son

[Karl Henning]

Дмитрий Дмитриевич [ Dmitri Dmitriyevich (Shostakovich) ]
Prelude & Fugue in g# minor, Op.87 № 12
Olli Mustonen

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[ritter]

Claude Debussy: 12 études pour piano...

...from this set:

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Debussy at his most impressive, and surely one of the all-time summits of piano literature...

[André]

Michael Nyman: String Quartets 1 - 3. The Balanescu Quartet, on Argo. Strangely, the sequence on the disc is quartet 2, then, 3, then 1. Well, it was a perverse idea to start the disc with # 2. This has to be the shittiest piece of music I've heard in many a moon. Total skata, lemme tell you. Last on the disc is quartet 1, and it's at least listenable - although distinctly uninteresting.

Schumann: Kindesrszenen, by Clara Haskil. On Philips. Old, hissy and scrawny recording, but an excellent interpretation. The disc ends with Beethoven's 4th concerto. More hiss and some distortion to boot, and another very good interpretation. I don't think it was worth including this in that Haskil compendium. At a certain point, the minuses far outweigh the artistic plusses.

[psu]

The number 40 here is just perfect.

http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Symphonies-Nos-35-Haffner-Jupiter/dp/B000VHPX4U

[kishnevi]

Well performed in its own right, and a good baseline to measure Monteverdi's achievement in L'Orfeo

79 minutes in prologue and one act.  There is also a DVD with a film about the performance and recording.

[Mirror Image]

Solid on all counts but does not dislodge Mullova from the top spot for VC 1.

I felt the same way but only substitute Mullova for Batiashvili.

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Symphony No. 6 'Sinfonia semplice'. A symphony that gave me some trouble years ago, but I've really come full circle with it over the past year or so. Fantastic!

[kishnevi]

I felt the same way but only substitute Mullova for Batiashvili.

I need to get that Batiashvili.  I got her new Bach CD the other day, nicely done....and not all the usual suspects.  Her oboist husband is co-soloist in a double concerto and a transcription of Ebarme dich. 

Thread duty
Debussy Preludes Book 1 Images Paul Crossley piano

[Mirror Image]

I need to get that Batiashvili.  I got her new Bach CD the other day, nicely done....and not all the usual suspects.  Her oboist husband is co-soloist in a double concerto and a transcription of Ebarme dich.

Yeah, she's one of my favorite violinists. I think one thing she brings to the musical table is a purity of tone that I find so inviting and soothing. Even her Shostakovich sounds beautiful. The way she played the Passcaglia for example is the best I've heard. No joke, she's amazing. She treated this movement more as a lament or a requiem of sorts. Extremely gorgeous. She seems to bring a sense of refinement to the music she performs. I wouldn't mind getting her Brahms Violin Concerto recording with Thielemann. Have you heard that one?

[TheGSMoeller]

Really enjoying this recording. Already a fan of Currentzis and his Dido & Aeneas and DSCH 14th, so I've been really interested in hearing this.
I love the MusicaEterna and the clarity and balance they offer from the score, the singers are excellent and very expressive.
I admit I was skipping through a bit, and have to mention the one moment that really stopped me in my tracks. The Contessa perdono right before the ending. I can't remember if it was the NPR review I heard or a written review, but someone referred to this moment performed here like a "hushed prayer", it's sublime and more effective than I've ever heard it.

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[Todd]

Hot damn!  The Vorisek D Major symphony is new to me, and Hengelbrock makes this Mozart/early LvB/Bizet-ish blend rock.  The usual afterthought that is Schubert's D Major symphony comes alive, too, sounding more vivacious than either Bohm or Barenboim (the only two versions I've heard). Supremely well executed and in superb sound, this is another knockout from Hengelbrock, who has emerged as one my major finds this year.

[kishnevi]

Yeah, she's one of my favorite violinists. I think one thing she brings to the musical table is a purity of tone that I find so inviting and soothing. Even her Shostakovich sounds beautiful. The way she played the Passcaglia for example is the best I've heard. No joke, she's amazing. She treated this movement more as a lament or a requiem of sorts. Extremely gorgeous. She seems to bring a sense of refinement to the music she performs. I wouldn't mind getting her Brahms Violin Concerto recording with Thielemann. Have you heard that one?

No. Brahms is low on priorities at the moment.  I think the only other CD I have from her is the Lindberg/Sibelius.  IIRC, you like that Lindberg as much as I do.

[Mirror Image]

No. Brahms is low on priorities at the moment.  I think the only other CD I have from her is the Lindberg/Sibelius.  IIRC, you like that Lindberg as much as I do.

Ah, okay. Yep, that Lindberg was a fine performance.

[Madiel]

Without having known what Karl was up to, String Quartet No.2

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[Brian]

sounding more vivacious than either Bohm or Barenboim (the only two versions I've heard).

Good grief! You have to hear Harnoncourt or maybe Immerseel, though not as much as I have to hear Hengelbrock.

The Schubert symphonies are still the best Harnoncourt I've heard, with his Dvorak a close second.

[Todd]

Good grief! You have to hear Harnoncourt or maybe Immerseel, though not as much as I have to hear Hengelbrock.

I'm not that big of a Harnoncourt fan, though maybe one day the Immerseel may find its way to my ears.  I must say that Bohm is one of the great Schubertians.  His live 9th is monumental.  His First may not be the best, but then who buys Schubert for the First?  Okay, I did with Hengelbrock, but that's the first time.

Anyway, revisiting a disc I haven't heard in a while:

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Job, A Masque for Dancing. Such a masterpiece.

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Flos campi. Gorgeous piece.