What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[PaulR]

.[asin]B000003D2J[/asin]
Musica Dolorosa

[madaboutmahler]

Compared to this one, all other versions sound like English pastoral music.


Now listening:
Yngve Skold: Poem for Cello and Piano; Cello Sonata (Ehde, Dominique)

Well, it certainly is the most consistently thrilling version I know. My personal favourite out of the all the recordings I have heard so far, hence the hammering of the table!

Glad to see Skold's name come in the listening thread by the way! A composer who deserves much more attention! I love his music, especially the symphonies and concerti.

Hah! : )

[Sergeant Rock]

Nothing quite like the cover art from those days, either, Sarge.

Indeed. I should have photographed the entire thing. It's a gatefold. When unfolded, the front and back combine to show the entire orchestra.

Sarge

[Karl Henning]

Maiden-Listen Mondays! Although you hear Marc-André Hamelin puttering with this on In Search of Haydn.

“Papa”
Piano Sonata in e minor, Hob.XVI:34
Tom Beghin

[asin]B0000502AH[/asin]

[Karl Henning]

Indeed. I should have photographed the entire thing. It's a gatefold. When unfolded, the front and back combine to show the entire orchestra.

Sarge

Just had a Mad Magazine flashback . . . .

[PaulR]

Turning to another symphony that I have neglected over the years:

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[Sergeant Rock]

Just had a Mad Magazine flashback . . . .

Wow...that takes me back 

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No.6
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Compared to this one, all other versions sound like English pastoral music.

Well, it certainly is the most consistently thrilling version I know. My personal favourite out of the all the recordings I have heard so far, hence the hammering of the table!

That was my first Mahler Sixth (bought in 1972)....and 28 versions later, it still rules my collection 

Sarge

[Karl Henning]

Maiden-Listen Mondays! Although you hear Marc-André Hamelin puttering with this on In Search of Haydn.

“Papa”
Piano Sonata in e minor, Hob.XVI:34
Tom Beghin

[asin]B0000502AH[/asin]

The Tafelklavier reveals, especially in the Adagio, occasional hints of either banjo or zither . . . not that that's a bad thing ; )

[Lisztianwagner]

*hammers the table*

I've been wanting to say that to this piece for so long!

Glad to have given you the chance to say so, then!

Compared to this one, all other versions sound like English pastoral music.

Well, I agree Solti's version is absolutely beautiful and thrilling, one of the best I've ever heard, but it's not the only excellent performance recorded....what about the Karajan or the Bernstein then?! Those are masterpieces too!

That was my first Mahler Sixth (bought in 1972)....and 28 versions later, it still rules my collection 

28 versions later? Amazing!

[Todd]

Late career Bernstein in Sibelius and Elgar.  Indulgent, slow, possibly bloated.  But I can't help liking it.  Is that so wrong?

[Sadko]

Schumann

Fantasie op. 17
Bunte Blätter op. 99

Matthias Kirschnereit

[madaboutmahler]

Late career Bernstein in Sibelius and Elgar.  Indulgent, slow, possibly bloated.  But I can't help liking it.  Is that so wrong?

As you mentioned Bernstein's Elgar, I just thought I would say that his performance of the Enigma Variations is by far my favourite. I find this performance the most powerful, beautiful and moving I have ever listened to!

That was my first Mahler Sixth (bought in 1972)....and 28 versions later, it still rules my collection 

Sarge

If you could give your 5 favourite Mahler 6ths, Sarge, which would they be? And three least favourite as well?
Certainly very impressive that you have 28 recordings of it! Yes, Solti's 6th is one of my favourite recordings in my collection too!

[North Star]

Bach
Trio Sonatas
Palladian Ensemble
[asin]B001CJYJXM[/asin]

[Bogey]

[Sergeant Rock]

If you could give your 5 favourite Mahler 6ths, Sarge, which would they be? And three least favourite as well?

Solti/Chicago: ferocious, fast, and one of the few recordings that has three hammerblows--the way it was meant to be  A small point, perhaps, but one I find extremely important is the agogic distortion he inserts just before the launch of the first movement coda. Brilliant!

Szell/Cleveland: Classically restrained, emotions held in check (especially in the Andante, which is paced very swiftly) but with the most devastating, most gut-wrenching final A minor chord I've ever heard ( because so unexpected given what precedes it--even when you know it's coming  )  I admit too there is a nostalgic factor involved. I was in the audience.

Karajan/Berlin: especially for that ravishing Andante

Chailly/Concertgebouw: Slow, grim and stoic, a performance like I imagine Klemperer would have given had he conducted the work

Eschenbach/Philadelphia: This might be, both as an interpretation and sonically, the best Sixth. I need to live with it a bit longer to come to  a final decision.

Also love Sinopoli and Bernstein DG.

Three least favorites: Boulez, Bertini and Kondrashin. That I responded so negatively to Boulez surprized me. His Sixth was (still is?) much favored here but I felt nothing listening to it.

Sarge

[springrite]

Of the less ferocious ones, I like Abbado's Lucerne performance. Almost the opposite as Solti, but the tension is maintained better than most. It is surprisingly effective.

[madaboutmahler]

Solti/Chicago: ferocious, fast, and one of the few recordings that has three hammerblows--the way it was meant to be  A small point, perhaps, but one I find extremely important is the agogic distortion he inserts just before the launch of the first movement coda. Brilliant!

Szell/Cleveland: Classically restrained, emotions held in check (especially in the Andante, which is paced very swiftly) but with the most devastating, most gut-wrenching final A minor chord I've ever heard ( because so unexpected given what precedes it--even when you know it's coming  )  I admit too there is a nostalgic factor involved. I was in the audience.

Karajan/Berlin: especially for that ravishing Andante

Chailly/Concertgebouw: Slow, grim and stoic, a performance like I imagine Klemperer would have given had he conducted the work

Eschenbach/Philadelphia: This might be, both as an interpretation and sonically, the best Sixth. I need to live with it a bit longer to come to  a final decision.

Also love Sinopoli and Bernstein DG.

Three least favorites: Boulez, Bertini and Kondrashin. That I responded so negatively to Boulez surprized me. His Sixth was (still is?) much favored here but I felt nothing listening to it.

Sarge

Thanks for the reply, Sarge!
Out of your favourites, the two I do not know are the Szell and the Eschenbach, so I shall definitely make sure to listen to those in the future. I can imagine the Szell being particularly excellent.
My favourite M6s at the moment would be Solti, Bernstein DG and possibly the Rattle. At the moment, I have the Sinopoli, Bertini, and very soon the Tennstedt cycles on my listening pile, so I am excited to hear all of those. I also still have the Pappano M6 on the listening pile. Another M6 I am keen to get is the Levi. 

So many to get!

Ah yes, I also quite ilke the Abbado Lucerne performance, far more than his BPO recording.

[The new erato]

Another 6th here:

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Edit: I have known the Kondrashin recording of this since I bought it on LP in the 70-ies, and later on a Olympia CD. This is very fine; perhaps less searing than Kondrashin, but the very fine sound more than makes up for it. Anybody with and interest in Soviet music should spend some money on it.

[Sergeant Rock]

Of the less ferocious ones, I like Abbado's Lucerne performance. Almost the opposite as Solti, but the tension is maintained better than most. It is surprisingly effective.

I should make an effort to hear that. Many swear by his Lucerne performances. But y'all know my allergy to Abbado's Mahler. I did hear him conduct the Sixth once, with the Cleveland many, many years ago, and was suitably impressed then. But, hey, I was young and ignorant 

Thanks for the reply, Sarge!
Out of your favourites, the two I do not know are the Szell and the Eschenbach, so I shall definitely make sure to listen to those in the future. I can imagine the Szell being particularly excellent.

Just remember to remember that Szell conducts Mahler 6 like he would Haydn...but Haydn that ends very, very badly

Eschenbach literally came out of nowhere for me a couple of years ago. Never paid any attention to him, thinking, well, a pianist trying to be a conductor...boring. He's anything but. His Strauss, Zemlinsky, Mahler, Brahms...just great stuff. One of my favorite conductors now in my favorite late Romantic repertoire. Don't overlook him (or any of the other thousand recommendations you're bombarded with here  )

Sarge