What are YOU listening to today?

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Tue Oct 19, 2010 8:05 pm

val wrote:JANACEK: The Excursions of Mr. Broucek

/ Jan Vacik, Peter Straka, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Belohlavek (2008)

In spite of the music's quality, I never liked this opera very much. The first part, "in the Moon" is perhaps the most inspired. But this opera has not the strong dramatic coherence of Janacek's masterpieces and the characters are not convincing, Broucek included.

This interpretation is splendid.

Oh, I love that opera!
Sure it´s kind of silly, but that´s part of it´s charm. The Belohlavek recording is certainly splendid. Hope one day I can catch a performance in the theatre. With an imaginative producer it could be a ton of fun.

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Tue Oct 19, 2010 8:10 pm

I think I have one too many Tafelmusiks, but how could I pass a recording with the Freiburger Barockorchester? Not a chance.
The performance and the sound quality are exquisite...as expected.

johnQpublic · Post by **johnQpublic** » Tue Oct 19, 2010 10:55 pm

S. Arnold - Overture to "Polly" (Mallon/Naxos)
F.J. Haydn - Piano Sonata #59 (McCabe/London)
Rossini - Andante con variazioni (Rampal & Nordmann/Sony)
Beethoven - Symphony #5 (Dohnanyi/Telarc)

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 12:22 pm

J.S. Bach - Cantata BWV 24 'Ein undefarbt Gemute' & BWV 167 'Ihr Menschen, ruhmet Gottes Liebe' (Midori Suzuki/Robin Blaze/Gerd Turk/Chiyuki Urano/Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan, BIS)

Roussel - Symphony No.2 (Charles Dutoit, Orchestre National de France, Erato) below

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 12:48 pm

Jared wrote:^^ where would you say it rated in your list of 9s, Darren?

Not one of my favourites tbh - still a good recording though. I sometimes feel underwhelmed by Sinopoli - except in opera where he has consistently impressed me

Fergus · Post by **Fergus** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 3:31 pm

Jared · Post by **Jared** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 3:51 pm

^^ I see you've been giving some of your old Naxos collection a bit of a dust off recently, Fergus..

I'm still on Mahler: 7 (Maazel) at present...

Donaldopato · Post by **Donaldopato** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 5:01 pm

Inspired by the recent discussion about Hendrik Andriessen:

Ricercare
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Edo de Waart

Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Johann Kuhnau for Strings
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Jaap Van Zweden

Both of these wonderful pieces deserve new recordings (although these are quite fine) and to be heard more often.

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:14 pm

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 10:02 am

josé echenique wrote:

Did you enjoy this disc Jose?

I am very tempted by it - but I find the price very offputting

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 11:35 am

In Anglophile mode this morning:

Also: Aida LIVE with Arroyo, Domingo, Cossotto, & Capuccilli, led by Abbado at La Scala

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 1:09 pm

J.S. Bach - Cantata BWV 148 'Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens' (Frances Bourne/Mark Padmore/John Eliot Gardiner, The Monteverdi Choir/The English Baroque Soloists, Soli Deo Gloria)

Schubert - Piano Quintet 'Trout' (Alfred Brendel/Donald Weilerstein/Martha Strongin Katz/Paul Katz/James van Demark, Philips) below

Vivaldi - 'The Four Seasons' (Guiliano Carmignola/Andrea Marcon, Venice Baroque Ochestra, Sony Classical)

Fergus · Post by **Fergus** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 3:27 pm

Jared wrote:^^ I see you've been giving some of your old Naxos collection a bit of a dust off recently, Fergus..

I do that at regular intervals throughout the year Jared before I sell them off with other CDs that are surplus to requirements

Fergus · Post by **Fergus** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 3:28 pm

Jared · Post by **Jared** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 3:33 pm

Fergus wrote:
Jared wrote:^^ I see you've been giving some of your old Naxos collection a bit of a dust off recently, Fergus..

I do that at regular intervals throughout the year Jared before I sell them off with other CDs that are surplus to requirements

even I, at this early stage in my collecting, sell off a small handful occasionally when I find better recordings...

anyway, I haven't posted in here much, because its all been Mahler run throughs, which gets monotonous for everyone to read... (although NOT monotonous on the ear, I hasten to add!

)

ContrapunctusIX · Post by **ContrapunctusIX** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 6:13 pm

Bartok: Kossuth; Concerto for Orchestra
San Francisco Symphony & Herbert Blomstedt
Decca

Bartok: Violin Concertos 1 & 2
Budapest Festival Orchestra & Ivan Fischer
Thomas Zehetmair, violin
Berlin Classics

Brahms: Cello Sonatas; Trio Op. 114
Gilbert Kalish, piano; Joel Krosnick, cello;
Samuel Rhodes, viola (op. 114)
Arabesque

I really enjoyed this arrangement of the Clarinet Trio. I think I may prefer it with viola, much like the Op. 120 sonatas.

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 6:58 pm

bombasticDarren wrote:
josé echenique wrote:
Did you enjoy this disc Jose?

I am very tempted by it - but I find the price very offputting

I didn´t comment in my first post because I only heard the violin concerto, but now I´ve heard the symphony as well. I don´t know if this is the first Szymanowski recording by the VPO, but I believe it is, and he suits them very well. The textures are rich and sensuous, like Gucci leather, and Boulez doesn´t shy away from the luxury, both the symphony and the concerto are lovely performances but perhaps the Concerto stands out thanks to some exquisite playing by Tetzlaff. On first hearing I enjoyed his performance far more than Chantal Juliet´s with Dutoit on Decca, but yes, it is a very expensive recording at some 38 bucks, and the playing time is only 48 minutes!!!
But after years of listening Szymanowski with fine but not outstanding Polish orchestras, it is really a revelation to hear the Vienna Philharmonic in this music.

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 7:02 pm

ContrapunctusIX wrote:Bartok: Kossuth; Concerto for Orchestra
San Francisco Symphony & Herbert Blomstedt
Decca

Bartok: Violin Concertos 1 & 2
Budapest Festival Orchestra & Ivan Fischer
Thomas Zehetmair, violin
Berlin Classics

Brahms: Cello Sonatas; Trio Op. 114
Gilbert Kalish, piano; Joel Krosnick, cello;
Samuel Rhodes, viola (op. 114)
Arabesque

I really enjoyed this arrangement of the Clarinet Trio. I think I may prefer it with viola, much like the Op. 120 sonatas.

DECCA was really stupid to delete Blomstedt´s Concerto for Orchestra, it´s one of the finest of the digital era. I know a few people who are very angry that they didn´t buy it when it was available, that´s why my motto is: BUY IT WHEN YOU SEE IT!!!!!!

ContrapunctusIX · Post by **ContrapunctusIX** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 7:11 pm

josé echenique wrote:
ContrapunctusIX wrote:Bartok: Kossuth; Concerto for Orchestra
San Francisco Symphony & Herbert Blomstedt
Decca

DECCA was really stupid to delete Blomstedt´s Concerto for Orchestra, it´s one of the finest of the digital era. I know a few people who are very angry that they didn´t buy it when it was available, that´s why my motto is: BUY IT WHEN YOU SEE IT!!!!!!

It's an excellent performance josé. As always, Blomstedt manages to clearly delineate everything without sounding clinical. The recorded sound is magnificent, and I don't think I've ever heard as much inner detail in the fugato of the Finale in any other recording. My only misgiving is that he takes the beautiful 4th movement string melody a little too hastily for my liking.
My guess as to why it was deleted? Same reason Ivan Fischer's was: it wasn't tied to the conventional MFSP&C, but rather the relatively obscure Kossuth. Kossuth is actually quite enjoyable though, albeit derivative in a Richard Strauss kind of way; but done very well in that style.

ravel30 · Post by **ravel30** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 7:42 pm

Symphony in 3 movements Igor Stravinsky/George Solti/CSO/Decca
Symphony no. 2 Mahler Vonk/Hague Residencie orchestra of Halle/Brilliant Classics
Symphony no. 5 Peterson-Berger/Jurowski/Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra / CPO
Piano Trio Maurice Ravel/Nash Ensemble/Virgin Classics
Goyescas Granados/Alicia De Laroucha/RCA Classics
Children's Corner / Pour le Piano Claude Debussy/Werner Haas/Phillips
The Three Cornered Hat De Falla/Ansermet/Orchestre de la Suisse Romande/Decca

Matt

Seán · Post by **Seán** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 7:30 am

ContrapunctusIX wrote:Bartok: Kossuth; Concerto for Orchestra
San Francisco Symphony & Herbert Blomstedt
Decca

I really like Blomstedt's work but I don't have this recording. In fact all of his work with the SFSO and the Staatskapelle is probably worth getting.

johnQpublic · Post by **johnQpublic** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 8:14 am

LPs

J.S. Bach - Orchestral Overture #1 (Harnoncourt/Telefunken)
Handel - Pastorale, Theme & Variations from "Keyboard Sute in a" (DeCray/Coronet)
F. Couperin - 5 Pieces from "Mass for the Parishes" (Carkeek/private label)
Torelli - Sonata a 5 for Trumpet, Strings & Continuo (Wobisch/Bach Guild)

ContrapunctusIX · Post by **ContrapunctusIX** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 10:29 am

Bartok: Divertimento for Strings
Britten: Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge
Polish Chamber Orchestra & Jerzy Maksymiuk
MD&G

Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
Pittsburgh Symphony & William Steinberg
EMI

A friend of mine also is ripping the Command Classics complete Steinberg cycle from the original vinyl for me. Can't wait to hear that.

Rodrigo: Fantasia para una Gentilhombre; Ponce: Concierto del Sur
Symphony of the Air & Enrique Jorda
Andres Segovia, guitar

Followed by some Bach works transcribed for Guitar, all from the Segovia Collection on DGG:

a lovely set.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 11:26 am

A friend of mine also is ripping the Command Classics complete Steinberg cycle from the original vinyl for me. Can't wait to hear that.

Those are great recordings, made originally (mostly) on 35mm magnetic film, with great sound quality. A few of them were issued on MCA & EMI back in the 1980's, IIRC. The Rachmaninoff II and Brahms Symphonies are personal favorites, not so much the Bruckner VII, which could have used a retake in the finale.

Steinberg was a very fine conductor.

ContrapunctusIX · Post by **ContrapunctusIX** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 11:43 am

maestrob wrote:
A friend of mine also is ripping the Command Classics complete Steinberg cycle from the original vinyl for me. Can't wait to hear that.
Those are great recordings, made originally (mostly) on 35mm magnetic film, with great sound quality. A few of them were issued on MCA & EMI back in the 1980's, IIRC.

I'm quite looking forward to him finishing the process. It's slow-going though, from what I understand. As mentioned elsewhere, 2, 4 & 7 were released on CD by MCA, but the rest of the cycle has languished in the vaults for no good reason.

Steinberg was a very fine conductor.

I enjoy everything I've heard from Steinberg. Agree with you on the Brahms cycle (which I own, and which was released on CD in its entirety), and I would add that his Dvorak and Glazunov violin concertos with Milstein are some of my favorite performances of those two works. He also had some excellent discs on DGG, one featuring Hindemith's Mathis der Maler and Konzertmusik op. 50, and another featuring excellent renditions of Strauss' Also Sprach and Holst's Planets, both with the BSO.
As mentioned in the Munch thread, it's a real travesty that he was passed over for Leinsdorf in the early 60s when the BSO was looking for Munch's successor. That would most certainly have been a fruitful partnership. By the time Boston rectified the mistake in the late 60s, Steinberg was getting old and the tenure was destined to be short-lived.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 11:57 am

I just listened to Rudolf Serkin's version of Brahms I recorded with Szell in 1979, and had to return to the Fleisher version just to remember how the piece should go. Tempi spot-on, and pure poetry in the playing with Fleisher, both sadly lacking from the perfunctory playing and vaguely egotistical tempo choices in the Serkin version.

Jared · Post by **Jared** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 1:16 pm

my present, post-Mahler project:

Op.59 No 2 in E minor 'Rasumovsky'
Op.127 in E flat major

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 1:40 pm

J.S. Bach - Cantata BWV 114 'Ach, lieben Christen, seid getrost' (Katharine Fuge/Charles Humphries/Mark Padmore/Stephan Loges/John Eliot Gardiner, The Monteverdi Choir/The English Baroque Soloists, Soli Deo Gloria) below

Barber - Piano Concerto (John Browning/Leonard Slatkin, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, RCA)

Brahms - String Sextet No.1 (The Raphael Ensemble, Hyperion)

ContrapunctusIX · Post by **ContrapunctusIX** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 5:02 pm

Finally getting around to listening to this:

Bruckner: Symphony No. 5
Berlin Philharmonic & Gunter Wand
RCA

I forget who on this forum made me aware of this disc, but whoever it was, thank you. This was a most enjoyable 5th. Perhaps not my favorite, but then I have too many 5ths to count.

arthound · Post by **arthound** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 6:57 pm

^^^^

I think that may have been me Contra and I am glad to hear that you enjoy it.

The Munch thread inspired me to listen to the first CD on this set - mainly Berlioz overtures and some Ravel. I like broadcast recordings but if sound quality is an issue then it would be best to stick to his studio recordings - still there is something very special about these 'live' performances.

arthound · Post by **arthound** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 7:00 pm

josé echenique wrote:
arthound wrote:
josé echenique wrote:
maestrob wrote:
ContrapunctusIX wrote:Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5; Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra & George Szell
Sony

This performance of Prokofiev's 5th is excellent, one of the best I've heard. Unfortunately, in the Bartok Szell makes a devastating cut in the Finale (bars 426 to 555), which ruins what could have been an all-time great Concerto for Orchestra. Frustrating!
Agree with you about the Bartok! Unfortunately, I find the first movement of the Prokofiev suffers from Szell pushing the tempo ever so slightly: it ends up feeling slightly rushed to me. Better would be Bernstein, HVK, Temirkanov or Rozhdestvensky.
How do you guys feel about Celibidache in this symphony?
To me either in Stuttgart (DG) or Munich (EMI) he would be numero uno, though I also like Szell and Karajan.
Hi Jose

I have the Celi EMI recording of Prokofiev's 5th and like it a lot - he takes his time but alllows the work to build steadily in each movement. It is interesting to compare this to Bernstein's second recording with the Israel PO. I understand how this recording sounds mannered to some listeners but I love the way Bernstein builds the climax of the first movement - the impact of that wall of sound is amazing!

Have you heard Szell on Orfeo? - not great sound and he pushes hard but he is a master. I have been collecting quite a few recordings of this symphony in the last year. I also enjoy Levine, Levi, Kuchar, Muti and this one:

Yes, I also have the Szell/Wiener Symphoniker in a 7 CD Salzburg Festival box. Fascinating, but I prefer the Cleveland version because it´s better played and much better recorded.
If you´re really into Prokofiev´s 5th you should add to your collection the Stuttgart Radio version with Celi. It complements the Munich version, the idea is the same but there are differences, it´s also very well played and excellently recorded, I just couldn´t live without either.
I have reservations about Celi in Beethoven, Brahms and even Bruckner, but in a work like Prokofiev´s Fifth, he was really a genius.

Hi Jose. I have the Szell box set as well but have only dipped into it now and again. What do you think of the Bruckner 7th and the Eroica on that set? I am keen to hear your thoughts on it in general as well!

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 8:00 pm

arthound wrote:
josé echenique wrote:
arthound wrote:
josé echenique wrote:
maestrob wrote:
ContrapunctusIX wrote:Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5; Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra & George Szell
Sony

This performance of Prokofiev's 5th is excellent, one of the best I've heard. Unfortunately, in the Bartok Szell makes a devastating cut in the Finale (bars 426 to 555), which ruins what could have been an all-time great Concerto for Orchestra. Frustrating!
Agree with you about the Bartok! Unfortunately, I find the first movement of the Prokofiev suffers from Szell pushing the tempo ever so slightly: it ends up feeling slightly rushed to me. Better would be Bernstein, HVK, Temirkanov or Rozhdestvensky.
How do you guys feel about Celibidache in this symphony?
To me either in Stuttgart (DG) or Munich (EMI) he would be numero uno, though I also like Szell and Karajan.
Hi Jose

I have the Celi EMI recording of Prokofiev's 5th and like it a lot - he takes his time but alllows the work to build steadily in each movement. It is interesting to compare this to Bernstein's second recording with the Israel PO. I understand how this recording sounds mannered to some listeners but I love the way Bernstein builds the climax of the first movement - the impact of that wall of sound is amazing!

Have you heard Szell on Orfeo? - not great sound and he pushes hard but he is a master. I have been collecting quite a few recordings of this symphony in the last year. I also enjoy Levine, Levi, Kuchar, Muti and this one:

Yes, I also have the Szell/Wiener Symphoniker in a 7 CD Salzburg Festival box. Fascinating, but I prefer the Cleveland version because it´s better played and much better recorded.
If you´re really into Prokofiev´s 5th you should add to your collection the Stuttgart Radio version with Celi. It complements the Munich version, the idea is the same but there are differences, it´s also very well played and excellently recorded, I just couldn´t live without either.
I have reservations about Celi in Beethoven, Brahms and even Bruckner, but in a work like Prokofiev´s Fifth, he was really a genius.
Hi Jose. I have the Szell box set as well but have only dipped into it now and again. What do you think of the Bruckner 7th and the Eroica on that set? I am keen to hear your thoughts on it in general as well!

Well, it´s been a while since I last heard them. I remember the Bruckner 7th to be fine but not outstanding, maybe the VPO was not crazy about Szell, although they did record in the studio a very fine Egmont. The funny thing about that performance is that Orfeo claims it´s in mono but I thought there was some channel separation, mind tricks? perhaps when you listen to it you can tell me. The crispy Eroica is more exciting. Maybe it was a bigger deal for the Czech Philharmonic to play in Salzburg. Still, I don´t think either matches the Cleveland standards, obviously the careful preparation and rehearsals that Szell could afford at home were not available to him in Salzburg, all the same it´s fascinating to hear the old man with other fine orchestras.

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 8:13 pm

This is the genuine article: a tenor with a magnificent voice, musicality and imagination.
The big surprise is how good he is in Italian repertoire, in fact I can´t remember another German tenor who sounds so idiomatic in Italian. There are a few problems with the higher notes, he has to prepare for them, but once the voice is settled they ring loud and true. In this repertoire his voice reminds me a little bit of Mario del Monaco, his voice is also dark and baritonal, but thank God, he can also sing softly and color the voice. I really want to hear this guy as Alvaro and Radames, a thrilling tenor.

arthound · Post by **arthound** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 9:35 pm

Mahler's 2nd from Russia with love [and a touch of reverb].

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 4:11 am

josé echenique wrote:

This is the genuine article: a tenor with a magnificent voice, musicality and imagination.
The big surprise is how good he is in Italian repertoire, in fact I can´t remember another German tenor who sounds so idiomatic in Italian. There are a few problems with the higher notes, he has to prepare for them, but once the voice is settled they ring loud and true. In this repertoire his voice reminds me a little bit of Mario del Monaco, his voice is also dark and baritonal, but thank God, he can also sing softly and color the voice. I really want to hear this guy as Alvaro and Radames, a thrilling tenor.

Some of his recordings are worthwhile, the Wagner disc with Abbado for example, I find that others tire the ear rather quickly...

val · Post by **val** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 4:39 am

WEBER: Clarinet Quintet / Variations on a theme from "Silvana"

Janet Hilton, Lindsay String Quartet

To me this is the great version of this works (with the old version of the Melos Ensemble). A good example would be the way Hilton phrases the Adagio ma non troppo of the Quintet, a sublime aria of belcanto. In the Variations her instrumental technique is very impressive

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 5:55 am

J.S. Bach - Cantata BWV 47 'Wer sich selbst erhohet, der soll erniedriget werden' & Motet BWV 226 'Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf' (Katharine Fuge/Stephan Loges/John Eliot Gardiner, The Monteverdi Choir/The English Baroque Soloists, Soli Deo Gloria)

Barber - Violin Concerto (Isaac Stern/Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Sony Classical) & 'Adagio for Strings' (Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, Sony Classical) below

Beethoven - Piano Sonata No.26 'Les Adieux' (Paul Lewis, Harmonia Mundi)

Jared · Post by **Jared** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 6:13 am

^^ Darren, I think that Sony have brought out an excellent range of CDs basic repertoire, generally with top class performances and recording, at a bargain price, recently, haven't they? I hope you enjoy...

meanwhile, I've been listening to these disks at work this morning:

before returning to my new recordings of Britten's Piano Concerto...

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 7:08 am

Jared wrote:^^ Darren, I think that Sony have brought out an excellent range of CDs basic repertoire, generally with top class performances and recording, at a bargain price, recently, haven't they? I hope you enjoy...

Yes Jared, they have some good bargains on the market for sure. I personally like to dip into the Sony back catalogue primarily for a US perspective. Worthwhile if you consider they worked closely with Szell, Ormandy and Bernstein (plus others) in order to explore the classical repertoire

Now listening to:-

Beethoven - Symphony No.5 & No.7 (Andre Cluytens, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, EMI)

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 8:52 am

Chalkperson wrote:
josé echenique wrote:

This is the genuine article: a tenor with a magnificent voice, musicality and imagination.
The big surprise is how good he is in Italian repertoire, in fact I can´t remember another German tenor who sounds so idiomatic in Italian. There are a few problems with the higher notes, he has to prepare for them, but once the voice is settled they ring loud and true. In this repertoire his voice reminds me a little bit of Mario del Monaco, his voice is also dark and baritonal, but thank God, he can also sing softly and color the voice. I really want to hear this guy as Alvaro and Radames, a thrilling tenor.
Some of his recordings are worthwhile, the Wagner disc with Abbado for example, I find that others tire the ear rather quickly...

I didn´t find him monotonous at all, quite the contrary, his Andrea Chenier projects a different personality from his Canio or Enzo, he seems to be well aware of what he´s singing about. But most important, his is an important voice, the real thing, in his fach we haven´t had anything of this quality in a long time.

johnQpublic · Post by **johnQpublic** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 9:02 am

Lyon - Joie de Vivre Overture (Sutherland/ASV)
Rubbra - Symphony #3 (Del Mar/Lyrita)
G. Benjamin - At First Light (composer/Nimbus)

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 10:24 am

For those who love Jonas Kaufmann, try this exquisite disc: he's as expressive as any singer I've ever heard in this repertoire, a simply amazing recital of the best Richard Strauss songs:

Jared · Post by **Jared** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 10:36 am

^^ an interesting recommendation, mb, which I'll bear in mind for the future...

meanwhile, these disks have been getting quite a workout this week at chez Butcher...

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 10:42 am

maestrob wrote:For those who love Jonas Kaufmann, try this exquisite disc: he's as expressive as any singer I've ever heard in this repertoire, a simply amazing recital of the best Richard Strauss songs:

I have that recital and it´s certainly lovely. And it´s really marvelous to have a tenor who can be touching in Die Schöne Müllerin one moment and thrilling and spectacular as Andrea Chenier the next. He is in his early 40´s and in his absolute prime, may he have a long career!

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 10:45 am

Richter, the Master, playing Bach at the Concertgebouw.....simply magnificent.

Fergus · Post by **Fergus** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 10:55 am

ContrapunctusIX · Post by **ContrapunctusIX** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 12:08 pm

Hindemith: String Quartets 0, 3, 4 & 5
Kocian Quartet
Praga

(can't find the image for the actual set, which is the complete quartets 0 - 6.)

While I like this set best overall for their work with the excellent middle and late quartets, I find their rendering of the Brahms-influenced Quartet Op. 2 (No. "0") to be inferior to the Danish Quartet's performance on CPO.

Fergus · Post by **Fergus** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 2:56 pm

Donaldopato · Post by **Donaldopato** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 4:19 pm

Hindemith 4 Sonatas for Solo Viola

Nobuko Imai Viola

BIS 571

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 4:53 pm

josé echenique wrote:
Chalkperson wrote:
josé echenique wrote:
This is the genuine article: a tenor with a magnificent voice, musicality and imagination.
The big surprise is how good he is in Italian repertoire, in fact I can´t remember another German tenor who sounds so idiomatic in Italian. There are a few problems with the higher notes, he has to prepare for them, but once the voice is settled they ring loud and true. In this repertoire his voice reminds me a little bit of Mario del Monaco, his voice is also dark and baritonal, but thank God, he can also sing softly and color the voice. I really want to hear this guy as Alvaro and Radames, a thrilling tenor.
Some of his recordings are worthwhile, the Wagner disc with Abbado for example, I find that others tire the ear rather quickly...
I didn´t find him monotonous at all, quite the contrary, his Andrea Chenier projects a different personality from his Canio or Enzo, he seems to be well aware of what he´s singing about. But most important, his is an important voice, the real thing, in his fach we haven´t had anything of this quality in a long time.

I did not mean monotonous, just that my ears don't find him as interesting/enjoyable as yours do, I can listen to the odd song or aria but not full blown Operas or Bleeding Chunk discs...in the Wagner Recording with Abbado he is really secondary to the Music in a time ratio so there is less singing than on the disc you are writing about......

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