What are you listening 2 now?

[Todd]

[Harry]

Kurt Schwertsik (b. 1935).

Orchestral Works.
See back cover for details.
BBC Philharmonic, HK Gruber.
Recording venue, Studio 7, New Broadcasting House, Manchester, 2010.

Very approachable, with tonality that goes places, without disrupting harmonies. At times it feels like Neo romantic music, and has a spiritual depth that captivates, but also humor and sentimentality after a long gone era. His orchestration surprises me, by all the twists and turns, but it never gets out of shape. It is well performed and recorded. Worth a try for anyone feeling adventurous.

[Harry]

Leevi Madetoja (1887–1947).
Orchestral Works.
See back cover for details.
Recording, Helsinki Music Centre, 2012.

This is by all means a fine performance of all three pieces. SOTA sound too.

[DavidW]

I loved it!

[Pohjolas Daughter]

This set is bookended by two recordings of Dido and Aeneas. This one from 1962

Original LP issue

Current independent CD incarnation

I'll be interested to hear how you like Baker's later recording of it (which I haven't heard).  I have the earlier one in this incarnation:



PD

[Harry]

Louis Theodore Gouvy.
Symphony No.1 & 2.
See details on back cover.

A am a great fan of Gouvy's oeuvre, and especially the Symphonies, and other orchestral works. A composer with a creative streak for melodies that never seems to end. Melodic richness, natural sovereignty in dealing with the harmonics and a completely effortless originality make Gouvy's music an unadulterated listening pleasure. Elegance, is the key word, orchestrated in fascinating colors and interpreted in an exemplary manner.  The recording is also topnotch.

[Mandryka]

Strange though it may seem, this was the cd which made me decide to explore lute music more seriously. Still sounds good today! Lot's of Neusidler and a real rare composer - Hans Judenkünig.

[Spotted Horses]

I saw foxandpeng's mention of Schuman Symphony No 8 and decided to have a listen. I have started with Bernstein's recording, which documents the premier of the work in 1963.



A vibrant work. Probably I will follow up with the Schwarz recording on Naxos.

As an aside, I haven't listened to much Schuman over the years, but my fist exposure was an LP I found in a second hand shop (back in the days when I had a turntable).



The latter has never been released on CD by Mercury, but seems to be available in a digital release by Naxos.

[foxandpeng]

I saw foxandpeng's mention of Schuman Symphony No 8 and decided to have a listen. I have started with Bernstein's recording, which documents the premier of the work in 1963.



A vibrant work. Probably I will follow up with the Schwarz recording of Naxos.

As an aside, I haven't listened to much Schuman over the years, but my fist exposure was an LP I found in a second hand shop (back in the days when I had a turntable).



The latter has never been released on CD by Mercury, but seems to be available in a digital release by Naxos.

I am dividing my time between Schuman and Brucker at the moment, and finding it very worthwhile. Schuman, in particular, has grabbed my attention. Glad #8 has proven enjoyable... I love it already after only half a dozen listens.

Thread duty:

William Schuman
Symphony 7
Gerard Schwarz
Seattle SO

There is something about #7 that fits hand in glove with a grey February day. This isn't a bleak symphony, but it has austerity and seriousness in its bones. From my office window, the last fingerprints of winter haven't yet been erased in the trees and landscape, and this symphony is made all the better for it. I am surprised how quickly I've taken to Schuman but what a great discovery.

I'm not one to elevate new (to me) music with overly effusive praise, because sometimes it doesn't bear the longevity and enduring impact I originally expected, but I suspect Schuman might be poking a nose into the top 5 or certainly the top 10 of my preferred American composers.

I haven't yet figured the criticisms of Schuman as being academic. Is that to do with how his writing is structured? More competent music listeners than myself might be able to increase my understanding of that... I would be more inclined to put him in a group with Simpson and Hindemith, than I would with Hovhaness and Antheil, but that is intuitive and emotional rather than anything else...

[classicalgeek]

Penderecki
Symphony no. 5
Symphony no. 1
Polish National Radio Symphony
Antoni Wit
(on CD)




Berlioz
Symphonie Fantastique
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa
(on CD)

[foxandpeng]

Penderecki
Symphony no. 5
Symphony no. 1
Polish National Radio Symphony
Antoni Wit
(on CD)

These are great. Kudos to you.

[DavidW]

Penderecki
Symphony no. 5
Symphony no. 1
Polish National Radio Symphony
Antoni Wit
(on CD)

The fifth is my second favorite Penderecki symphony!

[Brian]

Ozawa's Lutoslawski remains valuable for the recording's unusually clear capturing of the bass instruments. Double bass plucks, trombone pedal notes, and percussion really come through in a way you won't hear anywhere else.

[Daverz]

This is something rather wonderful......



HDTT have been trailing for sometime the release of a new version of the classic Horenstein/LSO Mahler 3 recorded back in 1970 on the Unicorn label.  "New" because at the orginal sessions, very unusually, there was a 2nd complete/quite independent recording rig set up by American sound engineer and Mahler afficionado Jerry Bruck.  Whereas the original Unicorn version was engineered by the great Bob Auger using (for the time) state of the art multi-tracking techniques, Bruck was an early proponent of a simple 4 microphone array (set up in a pyramid shape) to create an early surround-sound.  But until now this "experiment" has never been commercially avialble.  HDTT got themselves into some hotwater with a previous release of the 'standard' version for which they had not acquired licencing rights so it had to be removed from sale.  I also seem to remember reading that there was some question about how they had manipulated the original sound in a way that was not approved of.

Sadly, I do not have access to a playback system that will allow me to enjoy Bruck 4 channel experiment.  But I have to say the straight 2 channel 24/96 download sounds really very good indeed.  This is anyway a version of the symphony I have always enjoyed (pace a certain online reviewer who made it part of his "mediocre Mahler" series recently).  I like Horenstein's 'big picture' long-arc approach.  For sure there are fewer neuroses on display and its not as overtly drammatic as some readings but I still find it powerful and moving.  Hard to believe its a 54 year old recording.  It genuinely sounds excellent.  In the past I have found some of HDTT's 'renovations' to sound artifically boosted and tweaked.  The revelation of this new recording is its naturalness.  Adding Horenstein's/Strauss/Death & Transfiguration recorded at the same sessions is a nice bonus too!

I'm intrigued by the alternate tapes they found, but I'll probably pass on this. Too many great Mahler Thirds in the intervening 54 years make this a historical curiosity, I think.

As for HDTT, I find their hawking of stupid formats like DSD128 -- mostly for transfers of commercial 1/4-inch tapes -- distasteful. Either they are idiots or think their customers are idiots.  I've only bought things from them when I could find no other alternative, e.g. the Munch recordings of the Bizet Symphony in C and Tchaikovsky Francesca di Rimini with the RPO.

Thread duty...

Brahms: Serenade No. 1 - Belohlavek/Czech Philharmonic

Recommended by Hurwitz in a video about great woodwind playing.  I love the sound of the Czech winds from back when they still had a very distinctive sound.

Searle: Symphony No. 1 - Alun Francis/BBC Scottish Symphony

The Fanfare reviewer compared Searle to Roger Sessions, which I think is a good comparison, though I think this work is more accessible than all but the earliest Sessions.

Rawsthorne: Clarinet Concerto

First listen to this work.

[Linz]

Bruckner Symphony No. 8 in C Minor, 1890 Version. Ed. Leopold Nowak and The Präludien, Bamberger Symphoniker, Eugen Jochum

[Pohjolas Daughter]

The fifth is my second favorite Penderecki symphony!

Which is your favorite one?

PD

[springrite]

Which is your favorite one?

PD

My guess would be #3...

Now listening: William Schuman Symphony #3 and New England Tripych

[Bachtoven]

[Pohjolas Daughter]

My guess would be #3...

Now listening: William Schuman Symphony #3 and New England Tripych

Well, we'll find out! 

Is that your favorite one springrite?

PD

[springrite]

Well, we'll find out! 

Is that your favorite one springrite?

PD

Probably, but I only know the first three.
Recently I have seen lots of publicity about his, I think last symphony which has a Chinese theme. I am curious...

Just checked. Not his last symphony. It is Symphony #6, "Chinese Songs".