What are you listening to now?

[EigenUser]

Ended up listening to all French music today, sort of by coincidence. Most were things that I either hadn't heard or things I forgot and have been meaning to hear again.

Franck's D Minor Symphony -- a disappointment
Roussel's Symphony No. 3 -- only listened to it because it was on the Franck album and LOVED it! Never heard any Roussel before.
Messiaen's Couleurs de la Cite Celeste -- great, as usual.
Dutilleux's 1st and 2nd symphonies -- I remember liking them awhile ago, and I still do.

[Mirror Image]

Roussel's Symphony No. 3 -- only listened to it because it was on the Franck album and LOVED it! Never heard any Roussel before.

Yep, Roussel's 3rd is quite a fine symphony. He's certainly my favorite French symphonist (not that there are many of them).

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Schubert's D.845. Goode.



[asin]B000005J0Z[/asin]

[San Antone]

Been enjoying listening to Liszt, Schumann and Rachmaninoff piano works.  Right now Horowitz playing the Schumann Fantasie, Op.17

[Karl Henning]

Is that Horowitz the 1932 performance that everyone thinks is great(est), or the much later one (1977?) that everyone thought was strange?

This is the 1977 recording.

[San Antone]

So today was the first round of the 15th Tchaikovsky Competition and I managed to watch/hear a some of the playing.  Today's program included these works (which everyone played):

Johann Sebastian Bach - The Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846-893 More information
Prélude and Fugue in G-sharp minor, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, BWV 863, No. 18 (I've never really liked this fugue subject)

Ludwig Van Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor ("Appassionata"), Op. 57
Piano Sonata, No. 23 in F minor, ("Appassionata"), Op. 57

Frédéric Chopin - Études
Op. 10, No. 12 in C Minor

Franz Liszt - Grandes études de Paganini, S. 141
No. 2 in E-flat Major

Sergei Rachmaninov - Études-Tableaux, Op. 33
No. 6 in E flat Minor

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Dumka, Op. 59 (Scenes from a Russian village) for solo piano

Interesting exercise.

[bhodges]

I didn't really connect with Gilbert's Nielsen for some reason. I don't think Gilbert really brought anything different to the table interpretatively. Oramo, on the other hand, has adopted some swifter tempi and really dug into those climaxes a bit more than Gilbert. I also think Royal Stockholm PO sounded much better in Nielsen than the New York PO. I have yet to hear Storgards' Nielsen cycle (it's in the mail).

Don't believe I've heard heard all of Davis' Nielsen, does he grunt a lot in those recordings? If he does, I'll pass.

Opinions I've heard on Gilbert's Nielsen so far are all over the map, with most on the positive side. I found this Third quite good. I do like Oramo in other repertoire, and will look forward to hearing him at some point.

As far as I can tell on Davis's recording (on LSO Live), there's no grunting - but maybe I was so entranced I didn't notice. 

--Bruce

[aligreto]

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 - Pollini/Bohm....

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

I nearly forgot for some reason how wonderful Liszt's keyboard work is.   That's all I need, another favorite composer...thanks a smegging buncharoonies (as Rimmer on Red Dwarf sez).

[asin]B000A7IJUG[/asin]

Bavouzet is tremendous here - too bad the piano's rather recessed (curiously un-MDG-like) but not enough to spoil the show.

[Mirror Image]

Opinions I've heard on Gilbert's Nielsen so far are all over the map, with most on the positive side. I found this Third quite good. I do like Oramo in other repertoire, and will look forward to hearing him at some point.

As far as I can tell on Davis's recording (on LSO Live), there's no grunting - but maybe I was so entranced I didn't notice. 

--Bruce

Cool, thanks for the feedback, Bruce.

[Mirror Image]

More Atterberg:



Listening to Alven (The River), Op. 33. I don't believe I've ever listened to this work before. Sounds quite nice.

[San Antone]

I nearly forgot for some reason how wonderful Liszt's keyboard work is.   That's all I need, another favorite composer...thanks a smegging buncharoonies (as Rimmer on Red Dwarf sez).

[asin]B000A7IJUG[/asin]

Bavouzet is tremendous here - too bad the piano's rather recessed (curiously un-MDG-like) but not enough to spoil the show.

There's so much there, too, and I totally agree with you.  I haven't heard Bavouzet play Liszt ... yet.  Has anyone actually bought the Leslie Howard 99-Cd really complete box?  I have about a dozen of the individual discs.

[Mirror Image]

More Atterberg:

Listening to Alven (The River), Op. 33 yet again. This is a fine work. Beautiful.

[San Antone]

What a surprise ...

[asin]B004M6UCPG[/asin]

A very good performance - not because of pyrotechnics, but her narrative command of the work is impressive.  After reading a little about this pianist, who was new to me, I found out she studied at the Liszt Academy, and so knows something about these works.

Very worthwhile.

[André]

Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice. Version in French with tenor soloist. Juan Diego Florez is the handsome but scholarly hero. Good performances by the female soloists (Amor and Eurydice). The baroque sounding prchestra was comducted by Jesus Lopez Cobos. A radio broadcast. I wonder if there's a disc?

I've always found this a tough nut to crack, being neither fish nor fowl. I suppose the old Fournet version with Simoneau is the one to have. Simoneau's diction is always perfect.

[André]

Madetoja's  symphony no 1. From the Chandos Encore twofer. Had not listened to it in at least 4, maybe 5 years. Nice, but not on the same level as his mentor.

[Mirror Image]

Now:



Listening to the Violin Concerto. This isn't one of my favorite Britten works, but I do enjoy it more than Walton's VC. The work that's next up is one of my favorite works from Britten: the Double Concerto. A youthful work, but shows a complete mastery.

[Mirror Image]

Madetoja's  symphony no 1. From the Chandos Encore twofer. Had not listened to it in at least 4, maybe 5 years. Nice, but not on the same level as his mentor.

To the comment in bold: certainly not! But that's quite a large yardstick to measure up to, wouldn't you say?

[PaulR]

.[asin]B005OV1NH4[/asin]
Piano Concerto in A Minor

Good evening all.

[Ken B]

Bach
Sacred Cantatas
Gardiner
Disc 5 of the big box.