What are you listening to now?

[Artem]

First time listening. Can't say it grabbed me right away, except the final movement, which is very beautiful.

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[Ken B]

Sibelius
Pohjola's Daughter
The Bard
LSO, Colin Davis

Not works I know very well.
A Hurwitzer CD form Hell. He calls it shameful.

[Mirror Image]

Sibelius
Pohjola's Daughter
The Bard
LSO, Colin Davis

Not works I know very well.
A Hurwitzer CD form Hell. He calls it shameful.

I don't know if I would call it 'shameful,' but I don't rate Colin Davis too highly as a Sibelian. I prefer the Finns (Berglund, Segerstam, Vanska, Salonen, Storgards, etc.), Bernstein, HvK, Ashkenazy, and I've been coming around to both of Maazel's cycles (Vienna PO and Pittsburgh SO).

[Ken B]

I don't know if I would call it 'shameful,' but I don't rate Colin Davis too highly as a Sibelian. I prefer the Finns (Berglund, Segerstam, Vanska, Salonen, Storgards, etc.), Bernstein, HvK, Ashkenazy, and I've been coming around to both of Maazel's cycles (Vienna PO and Pittsburgh SO).

I find Davis excellent. His third in this set is thest I know. This Pohjola is lovely. Maybe it needs a touch more rapture. My heart belongs to HvK in Sibelius, but I have Segerstam's Danish set and like it immensely. Those are my top two, and they are very different. Vanska is uniformly excellent. The Icelanders on Naxos are excellent because you can tell they are playing with commitment. Maazel's second set is cheap and tempts me.

[Mirror Image]

I find Davis excellent. His third in this set is thest I know. This Pohjola is lovely. Maybe it needs a touch more rapture. My heart belongs to HvK in Sibelius, but I have Segerstam's Danish set and like it immensely. Those are my top two, and they are very different. Vanska is uniformly excellent. The Icelanders on Naxos are excellent because you can tell they are playing with commitment. Maazel's second set is cheap and tempts me.

As long as we all love the music of Sibelius, then, in the end, that's all that truly matters. Everything else (performances, recording quality) is pure subjectivity. Some people like Davis, some people do not. I do, however, like his LSO Live cycle, but really wished he hadn't felt the need to sing along with the music.

Thread duty -

Now:



Listening to Symphony No. 6 in D minor, Op. 104. Excellent performance. Listening to these through a pair of Audio Technica ATH-AD500X Audiophile Headphones as I'm giving my Seinnheiser HD 598s a rest. Currently, I have an offer in for some Seinnheiser HD 600s.

[NorthNYMark]

Just finished:
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After having recently gone gaga over the first Brahms cello sonata, as well as listening to a lot of both Debussy and Shostakovich over the past few months, the program here was intriguing. The Schumann was pretty, though it seemed a bit out of place here.  The other three compositions, which were also new to me except for the Brahms, were top notch (for my tastes).  I enjoyed the elegantly fluid performances, though my favorite for the Brahms remains the somewhat more severe Starker/Sebok performance on Mercury. I'm weighing whether or not to invest in the vinyl version.

[NorthNYMark]

Listening to Symphony No. 6 in D minor, Op. 104. Excellent performance. Listening to these through a pair of Audio Technica ATH-AD500X Audiophile Headphones as I'm giving my Seinnheiser HD 598s a rest. Currently, I have an offer in for some Seinnheiser HD 600s.

I suspect you'll enjoy those HD 600s.  That was my main headphone for around 7 years or so, a period during which I had no speaker system.  They are pretty well balanced, and thus work well with most styles of music and mastering. Some people find them a bit dry or laid-back in some contexts, but their (reltatively) neutral character and (relatively) wide "headstage" makes them especially very good all-rounders for most types of classical recordings.

[Mirror Image]

I suspect you'll enjoy those HD 600s.  That was my main headphone for around 7 years or so, a period during which I had no speaker system.  They are pretty well balanced, and thus work well with most styles of music and mastering. Some people find them a bit dry or laid-back in some contexts, but their (reltatively) neutral character and (relatively) wide "headstage" makes them especially very good all-rounders for most types of classical recordings.

Good to hear, NorthNYMark. I prefer open-back headphones to closed and have really been happy with my HD 598s, but I would like to sample another model in the HD series. The 650s look really nice as well, but I'm sure there's not a whole lot of difference between them and the 600s.

[NorthNYMark]

Good to hear, NorthNYMark. I prefer open-back headphones to closed and have really been happy with my HD 598s, but I would like to sample another model in the HD series. The 650s look really nice as well, but I'm sure there's not a whole lot of difference between them and the 600s.

I haven't heard the 650s (or the 598s, for that matter), but what I've read over the years from people who have heard both is that the 650s are similar to the 600s, but with more emphasis on the bass and lower mids.  Since I always found the 600s to be more than adequate in that department, I was never particularly tempted by the 650s. My sense (again, from reading others' impressions) is that the 600s offer a more balanced, neutral sound, which tends to be especially preferable for classical, IMHO.

My current headphones are the Audeze LCD2, which are wonderful,with remarkably deep bass and a remarkably liquid, almost grainless (though arguably somewhat recessed) midrange, but i would never get rid of my HD600s, which are really great all-rounders. as I said, I'd be surprised if you weren't pleased.

[Mirror Image]

I haven't heard the 650s (or the 598s, for that matter), but what I've read over the years from people who have heard both is that the 650s are similar to the 600s, but with more emphasis on the bass and lower mids.  Since I always found the 600s to be more than adequate in that department, I was never particularly tempted by the 650s. My sense (again, from reading others' impressions) is that the 600s offer a more balanced, neutral sound, which tends to be especially preferable for classical, IMHO.

My current headphones are the Audeze LCD2, which are wonderful,with remarkably deep bass and a remarkably liquid, almost grainless (though arguably somewhat recessed) midrange, but i would never get rid of my HD600s, which are really great all-rounders. as I said, I'd be surprised if you weren't pleased.

Thanks for the feedback about the 600s. 'A balanced, neutral sound' is exactly what I love about the 598s. If my offer is accepted, I'll own the 600s for $210 brand new in the box. I just looked up those Audeze and those must be discontinued. They're very expensive.

[Que]

My first acquaintance with Boehm´s works was his harpsichord works, which maybe are more accessible and charming than a number of his organ works.. There are some fine recordings of his harpsichord suites: e.g. Leonhardt (Telefunken and Seon) and Alessandrini on Astrée. You might try these, before you immerse youself more into his organ works.

For the harpsichord works I would recommend Mitzi Meyerson - in a convincing Stylus Phantasticus style!
The jury is still out on his organ works, though Jean-Charles Ablitzer's single disc is quite good. I guess I'm waiting for Léon Berben to get to it.

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Q

[Que]

Morning listening:

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Q

[NorthNYMark]

Thanks for the feedback about the 600s. 'A balanced, neutral sound' is exactly what I love about the 598s. If my offer is accepted, I'll own the 600s for $210 brand new in the box. I just looked up those Audeze and those must be discontinued. They're very expensive.

That is a great price for the HD 600s!  Yes, the Audeze are very expensive. Along with my speaker system (which I had never had throughout my entire adult life until that point, listening exclusively to headphones) they were a gift to myself for a major life event--getting tenure at my university. Of course, for most people, the cost of the Senns is more than what they would ever consider for headphones.  In some ways, though, for a music lover who spends a lot of time listening to headphones (and doesn't intend to use them for portable listening), I think those Senns may be one of the best bargains in audio in terms of price/performance ratio.

[Mandryka]

For the harpsichord works I would recommend Mitzi Meyerson - in a convincing Stylus Phantasticus style!
The jury is still out on his organ works, though Jean-Charles Ablitzer's single disc is quite good. I guess I'm waiting for Léon Berben to get to it.

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Q

Yes it's frustrating because occasionally you get a glimpse of how good the music can be on organ. One Boehm organist I forgot about yesterday is Martin Neu, who, in the one partita he plays seems to me to have some excellent poetic ideas.

More generally, what Beek and Neu and Foccroulle bring to Boehm is seriousness, intensity, almost solemnity. I can imagine that some people would say that Stella and Mikkelsen (in vol 2) are predominently in touch with the lively, multicoiloured, highly changeable side of Boehm's music. I would say what they do is one sided, one dimensional. Those contrasting, almost contradictory, aspects of Baroque organ music are very much on my mind at the moment, not only in Boehm but also in Sweelinck and Laebègue  - I got a recording of Sweelinck on clavierorgan by Jean Luc Ho which almost makes it sound like music for a fair or a 16th century popular entertainment. And Thiery Maeder's Lebègue is really dancing and light. The great baroque organists are circle squarers, joyful and serious at the same time.

[prémont]

For the harpsichord works I would recommend Mitzi Meyerson - in a convincing Stylus Phantasticus style!
The jury is still out on his organ works, though Jean-Charles Ablitzer's single disc is quite good. I guess I'm waiting for Léon Berben to get to it.

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Q

Yes, for completeness Meyerson is to be preferred to Stella. But I still find Leonhardt´s and Alessandrini´s single Böhm-CDs unsurpassed.

Concerning the organ works the single CD by Christiaan Teeuwsen (Naxos) isn´t bad either.

[Marc]

Yes, for completeness Meyerson is to be preferred to Stella. But I still find Leonhardt´s and Alessandrini´s single Böhm-CDs unsurpassed.

Concerning the organ works the single CD by Christiaan Teeuwsen (Naxos) isn´t bad either.

It's frustrating that it was called Volume 1 and that there has never been a follow-up.

Thread duty: listening to Wim van Beek playing Bach on the Schnitger et al in Groningen's Martinikerk (BWV 565, 662, 663, 715, 564, 730, 731 and 768).

[Marc]

Piet Wiersma's final recording (Lohman organ in Eenrum, NL), just a few hours before his untimely death: Bach's Fantasia in C-minor BWV 562.

http://www.youtube.com/v/Uo4QdHvbsds

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

Haven't listened to the Horn Trio in a while.  Wonder if, in the Scherzo, I'll hear again the faint echo of Du Liegst mir im Herzen - a possible reference as that folk tune had been around in northern Germany at least since 1820.

[Todd]

https://www.youtube.com/v/tFv7V431l0k

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to Symphony No. 3 'Sinfonia Rustica'. Great stuff.