What are you listening to now?

[SimonNZ]

Messiaen's Catalogue d'oiseaux - Yvonne Loriod, piano

[Wanderer]

Stormy weather...even a tornado watch.
Good day to stay inside and actually listen to something from the Opera Pile.
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I quite like this. One of my Recordings of the Year 2015.

The Sibelius Violin Concerto, the Bard, and the Wood Nymph- all on one cd?- heady stuff.

I imagine the Ondine engineered sound is good as well.

How are the performances?

Performances of all works (as well as the recorded sound) are excellent. Zimmermann is one of those performers that seem utterly devoid of bad taste. Not quite Kavakos-like intensity of purpose, of course, but definitely a winner rendition of the concerto and a favourite.

Thanks to amw I am listening to this cool piece for the first time: Piano Concerto no. 3 by Skalkottas.

And after that, the Second Piano Concerto and the Concerto for Two Violins and Two Pianos await you. The more you listen, the more the awesomeness creeps in.

[Madiel]

Symphony No.98

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[Wanderer]

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[Tsaraslondon]

Delius's A Mass of Life (a setting of parts of Nietzsche's Also sprach Zarathustra) has none of the guilt-ridden sinner's supplication attached to the Christian Mass, but is a celebration of life in all its ever changing glory, and makes a splendid start to the week in this excellent recording under the late Sir Charles Groves. This was only the work's second recording (the first under Sir Thomas Beecham) and is a work Groves was particularly associated with, having conducted it in Holland, at the Lucerne Festival, in Japan and at the 1988 Proms. Benjamin Luxon sings the important baritone solos with beautiful tone and keen insight, with superb contributions from Heather Harper, Helen Watts and Robert Tear.

Such a wonderful, life affirming work.

Coupled here with the lovely Songs of Sunset, with Dame Janet Baker and John Shirley Quirk its estimable soloists.

[Camphy]

String Quartets 1 & 3 yesterday evening, no. 4 this morning. Absolutely compelling.

[Tsaraslondon]

Exciting singing means the world to me- and Callas' "Giudici! Ad Anna!" from Anna Bolena just melts platinum with its incandescence. 





"Elegance is, as the French say, la réfus. But of course that has to be edited. If you refuse everything, you are as dry as a bone. Selection is the point. . . "

"No one demands great performances any more. You know I loved Callas, who animalized me, and there is Mick Jagger."

- Diana Vreeland, Editor and Chief, American Vogue magazine

Callas's Anna is one of her greatest creations, and has never been equaled, let alone bettered.

Someone once asked her why she phrased one of Anna's lines in a particular way. "Because she is a Queen," was her simple response, and it this simple truth that is at the centre of her portrayal. Callas's Anna never forgets that she is a Queen, and when she sings Giudice ad Anna, it is not just a reflection of the character's fears, but an expression of her outrage that a queen, any queen, should be treated in such a manner.

This was part of Callas's genius, that she would find the kernel, the central key from which that character would grow. Regality is at the centre of her Anna, just as touching, trusting innocence and simplicity is at the heart of her Amina, driving ambition at the heart of her Lady Macbeth and so on.

[Tsaraslondon]

I don't have a recording of The Fairy Queen. Do I need one, and would this one be the one to go for? As you know, I do like Bonney.

[Madiel]

Decided to give the only Bonn-era Beethoven I have a whirl. The Piano Trio in E flat (WoO 38), followed by the Variations for piano trio, op.44.

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I have to admit, I'm enjoying the WoO 38 a lot more than I remember from the first time around. I mean, it's not as if the music contains any surprises, but it's all very agreeable as a background to chopping vegetables for dinner... Then, weirdly, I'm enjoying op.44 a bit less than I remember. Perhaps there is a limit to how much relentlessly E-flat piano trio music one can take.

I have plans to embark on an exploration of Beethoven c.1795-1797 after this, most likely starting tomorrow.

[Tsaraslondon]

It may not be textually authentic, but this Barbiere has a sparkling, life-affirming authenticity all its own, fizzing like a vintage Louis Roeder Cristal. Callas is this time just one part of wonderful ensemble, a mettlesome, playful minx, she and Gobbi playing superbly off each other in their duet Dunque io son.

Goodall's Tristan und Isolde is, as you know, new to me. Linda Esther Gray sings one of the most beautiful, warm, womanly Isoldes you will ever hear (though I'm told her German is not great and she makes less of the words than some).

[Florestan]

Over the last few days and nights:







Now playing

[ritter]

Funny how different we all are.

Vickers is Uber-heroic to me.

The pleasant Dutoit recording was my introduction to Troyens- but when I heard the Davis, the emotional Richter scale for me was REV-EL-A-TORY. I had never experienced such exuberant joy in Berlioz before.

My only cavil with it is that the horns on his "Royal Hunt and Storm" don't have the heroic intensity of his later LSO remake- where they practically melt from the heat.

- Cheers to your acquisition.

<Clink.>

<Clink> as well, MMF, and sorry for the delayed response to your post (I couldn't post over the weekend due to IT problems). All in all, these Vickers/Lindholn/Veasey/Davis/ROH Tropyens are magnificent (and I really like Veasey's Didon--what a great singer she was!). Vickers may sound Uber-heroic to some, like a thug to others  . But I'd say the star of the set is the conductor...

Cheers,

[prémont]

And it's thrilling to discover my Danish has progressed in the last 7-8 months to the point where I can read about three quarters of the lyrics without recourse to the English translation.

Så kan jeg måske snart begynde at skrive til dig på dansk?

[Tsaraslondon]

Vickers may sound Uber-heroic to some, like a thug to others  . But I'd say the star of the set is the conductor...

Cheers,

Regarding Davis, I agree absolutely and without cavil.

But thuggish is just about the last word I'd use for Vickers's singing, except maybe his Grimes, which has a justifiable touch of the thuggish about it.

In all other roles I've heard him, Aeneas, Tristan, Otello, Don Carlo, Giasone (to Callas's Medea), Samson, Radames, Siegmund, Florestan etc, he is the thinking man's tenor par excellence, more the nobleman than the thug.

I accept that some don't take to his idiosyncratic voice, but the intelligence he brings to all his singing is almost unparalleled amongst dramatic tenors.

[Harry]

This composer gives me back some perspective when I need it most!

http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2016/01/fasch-johann-friedrich-1688-1758.html?spref=tw

[Florestan]

CD 1: SQs opp. 12 & 13

How can one seriously pretend these are not Romantic works is completely beyond me.

[Madiel]

Så kan jeg måske snart begynde at skrive til dig på dansk?

Måske. Let's just say reading is still a lot easier than writing! Jeg kan læse det, men kan jeg skrive det?

And I have to learn how to get the extra letters on my keyboard (instead of copying them from you)... the practice might be good for me, though!

EDIT: And I just found out how, which meant I could go back and fix læse. æ Æ ø Ø Å å

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

For MLK Day :

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[Harry]

For MLK Day :

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Well almost a first for me, an unknown composer in my collection. I am truly flabbergasted.
Pray tell me what to expect?

[Harry]

I keep playing this disc. These SQ fascinate me more and more. I need to get the scores for both quartets.


http://walboi.blogspot.nl/2016/01/mendelssohn-arnold-1855-1933-string.html?spref=tw