What I listened to today

[jserraglio]

Verdi: Requiem. 1949, Karajan/VP0. Salzburger Festspieledokumente.

Soloists: Hilde Zadek, Margarete Klose, Helge Roswaenge and Boris Christoff.

Recorded shortly after the war so the mournfulness of the soloists comes thru thru loud and clear. I have never heard another performance of the Manzoni Requiem quite like this one.

There is also a listenable restoration here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b7ckcPL5LLk

Classics Today review:

This live Verdi Requiem from the 1949 Salzburg Festival presents a wholly different Karajan than the conductor heard on his later, duller studio recordings. Here is the younger Karajan caught in the moment of performance with all its attendant spontaneity and excitement. There’s an improvisatory air about the reading–the hesitant gestures in the opening Requiem, the blistering Dies irae, the ethereal Lux aeternam, the near manic Libera me–that Karajan all but banished from his Deustche Grammophon recordings (especially the last one). In those, the conductor’s slow tempos and overall suffocating heaviness makes Verdi’s piece sound like a prayer of the dead rather than for them. The Vienna Philharmonic is equally inspired on this occasion, though not especially in tune, as evidenced by the strings’ embarrassing playing at the start of Offertorium.

The four soloists give impassioned if occasionally superheated performances. Tenor Helge Roswaenge’s attempts at Italianate fervor in the Ingemisco sound almost buffoonish, while Margarete Klose and Hilde Zadek possess robust voices that, while both beautiful, don’t always blend seamlessly (the Agnus Dei is a mite imprecise). The standout is Boris Christoff, who sounds completely in the service of the music (his Rex tremendae is marvelous). The Wiener Singverein sounds appropriately menacing and angelic as Verdi requires.

The vintage recording has impressive dynamic range for 1949 (the voices dominate the aural image), but gets grungy at climaxes. You won’t be amazed by the sound, but neither will you be distracted by it. Karajan collectors who only know his studio Verdi Requiems owe it to themselves to hear this striking, impression-altering performance.

Recording Details:

GIUSEPPE VERDI - Requiem

Soloists: Hilde Zadek (soprano)
Margarete Klose (mezzo-soprano)
Helge Roswaenge (tenor)
Boris Christoff (bass)

Conductor: Karajan, Herbert von
Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic
Orchestra: Wiener Singverein
Record Label: Audite - 23.415
Medium: CD

[jserraglio]

Puccini: Manon Lescaut. Antonicelli-Met 1949. Kirsten, Bjorling. Naxos

[Lance]

WHAT a glorious cast. How's the sound on this one?

Puccini: Manon Lescaut. Antonicelli-Met 1949. Kirsten, Bjorling. Naxos

[jserraglio]

WHAT a glorious cast. How's the sound on this one?

Puccini: Manon Lescaut. Antonicelli-Met 1949. Kirsten, Bjorling. Naxos

Sound is good broadcast mono of the period. The transfer was done around 2001. Bjorling is magnificent. You can judge for yourself right here. Just hit FLAC on the right under Download Options. https://archive.org/details/antonicelli-49

[Belle]

This evening, after an exhausting day, it has to be Ravel: "Daphnis and Chloe". One of the most mystical works you'll ever hear with extraordinary colouration from one of my top 10 composers. Ravel was one of the supreme orchestrators.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tDTDAyXNmU

[Belle]

Radu Lupu in a previously unreleased concert recording from 1974 of Schubert, D960. Sound quality not great but what an interpretation!! I know this work backwards but I felt I'd heard it for the first time when listening to this great musician. It's an unfolding drama, this work, under his fingers.

I'm wanting more and more from this wonderful pianist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCjKBPkvHPU

[jserraglio]

50 years of Hungaroton Singers 1951-2001

[Febnyc]

One of the two Mahler Firsts on my shelves. (The other is Solti/CSO).

[Lance]

This is one I never got but should have. Hungaroton is a very interesting label. Can you highlight who some of the best-known singers are on this set? Not sure if it is still available but still might seek it. Thanks!

50 years of Hungaroton Singers 1951-2001

[Febnyc]

This is one I never got but should have. Hungaroton is a very interesting label. Can you highlight who some of the best-known singers are on this set? Not sure if it is still available but still might seek it. Thanks!

50 years of Hungaroton Singers 1951-2001

Lance: Amazon has it: https://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Years-Hung ... 212&sr=8-1

[Lance]

Thanks for that. Yes, I recognize some great names thereon. No doubt this is a compilation set based on recordings Hungaroton already issued - or maybe not all issued on CD previously.

[jserraglio]

Thanks for that. Yes, I recognize some great names thereon. No doubt this is a compilation set based on recordings Hungaroton already issued - or maybe not all issued on CD previously.

I listened to all three discs yesterday. excellent

Hungaroton and Supraphon are two of my very favorite labels. I kept all of their LPs.

[Belle]

A glorious prayer!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28ggVtkZsdY

Beethoven; even when he's in prayer mode will always deliver the unexpected. Hemiolas, dissonances, syncopations, surprising modulations, an ostinato which seems more than is!!

This beloved genius had all the tools in his kit, and more.

[jserraglio]

Simon Preston - Handel Organ Concertos op.7 1984 DGG Archiv LP

[jserraglio]

Simon Preston - Handel Organ Concertos op.4 1984 DGG Archiv LP

[Febnyc]

I have a number of CDs of the music of Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968). He wrote some beautiful late-romantic works, including about 20 operas - however remaining quite conservative in an age of change. Of all my recordings, I think this disc is the oddest, but in a way the most intelligent coupling of two pieces. Pizzetti wrote his Violin Sonata and his Cello Sonata only three years apart, and each marking a cataclysmic event in his life.

The Violin Sonata was composed in 1918, just after the end of WWI. It mostly is evocative of the exuberance-in-the-wake-of-horrors feeling of the times but the middle movement is a deep, touching prayer for the "innocents" lost in the war (Preghiera Per Gl'innocenti).

And then, in 1921, Pizzetti's young wife succumbed to typhoid. This crushing loss is described in the Cello Sonata. Its three movements are slow and sombre. But it is an uplifting work of mourning.

Very satisfying.

[Belle]

Martha Argerich playing the Schumann 2nd Piano Sonata. She's a bit too fast here, which is a characteristic of this musician. It's an interesting work, though I feel the Scherzo movement is somewhat weak, with the first movement the strongest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I-zm_b ... rt_radio=1

[jserraglio]

Boston Symphony Orchestra – 8 Great Symphonies:



Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 In E-Flat, Op. 55 /
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 In A, Op. 90 &
Symphony No. 5 In D Minor, Op. 107 /
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 In C Minor, Op. 68 &
Symphony No. 4 In E Minor, Op. 98; Charles Munch /
Franck: Symphony In D Minor; Charles Munch /
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 In E Minor, Op. 64 &
Symphony No. 6 In B Minor, Op. 74 ("Pathétique"); Pierre Monteux.

RCA VICTOR LSC 6902 (1959)

[Seán]

Franz Schubert
Symphony No. 8
Symphony No. 9
B’Rock Orchestra
René Jacobs conducting

[Lance]

You dig up some really interesting material. I did a research to see what I have of Pizzetti on CD ... nothing on major labels but found four listings of his music performed by Elmar Oliveira (violin sonata), something performed by conductors Cantelli and/or Ghedini (live/NYP), songs sung by Angelica Tuccan, and Toscanini conducting in the acoustic era and some material on the Tactus label. Pizzetti, a composer you don't hear about much.

I have a number of CDs of the music of Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968). He wrote some beautiful late-romantic works, including about 20 operas - however remaining quite conservative in an age of change. Of all my recordings, I think this disc is the oddest, but in a way the most intelligent coupling of two pieces. Pizzetti wrote his Violin Sonata and his Cello Sonata only three years apart, and each marking a cataclysmic event in his life.

The Violin Sonata was composed in 1918, just after the end of WWI. It mostly is evocative of the exuberance-in-the-wake-of-horrors feeling of the times but the middle movement is a deep, touching prayer for the "innocents" lost in the war (Preghiera Per Gl'innocenti).

And then, in 1921, Pizzetti's young wife succumbed to typhoid. This crushing loss is described in the Cello Sonata. Its three movements are slow and sombre. But it is an uplifting work of mourning.

Very satisfying.

[Febnyc]

You dig up some really interesting material. I did a research to see what I have of Pizzetti on CD ... nothing on major labels but found four listings of his music performed by Elmar Oliveirea (violin sonata), something performed by conductors Cantelli and/or Ghedini (live/NYP), songs sung by Angelica Tuccan, and Toscanini conducting in the acoustic era and some material on the Tactus label. Pizzetti, a composer you don't hear about much.

Hyperion did three CDs of some of Pizzetti's music: https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/find.asp?f=pizzetti

However, Marco Polo (and now its offshoot, Naxos) introduced Pizzetti to a general audience with quite a few discs some time ago (in the 1990s). Mostly more chamber music - but also a Piano Concerto Canti Della Stagione Alta, which is a winner. And his so-called masterpiece, Concerto dell'estate.

[jserraglio]

Stereo for the Joy of It RCA LSC-9300 LP set

LSC 1901 -- TCHAIKOVSKY "Pathétique" Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by PIERRE MONTEUX.
LSC 1903 -- BRAHMS Concerto in D. JASCHA HEIFETZ, Violinist, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by FRITZ REINER.
LSC 1984 -- RAVEL Boléro, La Valse, Rhapsodie espagnole & DEBUSSY, Prélude to the Afternoon of a Faun, Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by CHARLES MUNCH.
LSC 2100 -- ROSSINI "William Tell" Overture, etc., Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by ARTHUR FIEDLER.
LSC 2150 -- PROKOFIEFF, Lieutenant Kije, STRAVINSKY Song Of The Nightingale, Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by FRITZ REINER.
LSC 2195 -- COPLAND Billy The Kid Suite, MORTON GOULD and his Orchestra.
LSC 2201 -- MOUSSORGSKY-RAVEL Pictures At An Exhibition, Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by FRITZ REINER.
LSC 2214 -- DVORAK "New World" Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by FRITZ REINER.
LSC 2233 -- BEETHOVEN "EROICA" Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by CHARLES MUNCH.
LSC 2234 -- SAINT-SAËNS Concerto No. 2. ARTUR RUBINSTEIN, Pianist, with the Symphony of the Air conducted by ALFRED WALLENSTEIN.

[Rach3]

I have a number of CDs of the music of Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968)...
Very satisfying.

Many thanks for this !! A new composer and works for me.


At YT I heard his Piano Concerto “Stagione Alta”, Concerto ( for orchestra ) “ dell Estate”, Cello Concerto,Violin Concerto, complete solo piano including his 1943 Piano Sonata and Canti di ricordanza Variations , and powerful Cello and Violin Sonatas. All very attractive and interesting, often in part for his relatively reserved Late Romaticism, lyrical, impressionistic at times, spartan at times, yet with passionate and dramatic touches.I shall revisit from time to time at YT the Cello and Violin Concertos ,Piano Sonata, Variations, perhaps Concerto “ dell Estate”, but others may wish to hear all mentioned and others as tastes differ.I will acquire a recording of the Violin Sonata. I may acquire recordings of the Piano Sonata,Cello Concerto and Cello Sonata . There are other works of his at YT I have not heard.

Thanks again, Febnyc !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5r3jCbTCN4 Piano works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebuqOEXmj0U Cello Concerto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvqDmSEm8ag Violin Sonata
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gUeXsWtr-c&t=73s Cello Sonata

[Febnyc]

Thanks again, Febnyc !

I'm flattered that you so enthusiastically picked up these works by Pizzetti.

There are so many composers, like him, whose music languishes in the shadows of the front-line masterpieces but, nevertheless, have so much to offer us. From time to time, as I listen each day (I have hundreds of them), and also acquire new recordings of unknown or little-known works, I'll take the liberty to post about them here (at the risk of being too tedious ).

[Rach3]

I have a number of CDs of the music of Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968)...
Very satisfying.

Many thanks for this !! A new composer and works for me.

I will acquire a recording of the Violin Sonata. I may acquire recordings of the Piano Sonata,Cello Concerto and Cello Sonata . There are other works of his at YT I have not heard.

Thanks again, Febnyc !

PS : I have acquired a recording of the Violin Sonata. Fww, after re-hearings of all the works mentioned in my earlier post, all of which merit hearings,I have added the magnificent Cello Concerto to my acquire-a-recording list.

[jserraglio]

Wonderful 19th-century Vienna school, pre-Fritz Kreisler violin playing from Arnold Rosé and the Rosé String Quartet (Biddulph LAB 056-57, 1992).

The Rosé Quartet was a string quartet formed by Arnold Rosé in 1882Its members changed over time.
Rosé was first violin throughout. Julius Egghard Jr. played the second violin at first; then it was Albert Bachrich, until 1905 when Paul Fischer joined. Violist was initially Anton Loh, then Hugo von Steiner until 1901 when Anton Ruzitska came on; after 1920, Max Handl played the viola. Eduard Rosé, Arnold's brother, had been a founding member of the ensemble playing the cello, but left after one season to get married and was replaced by Reinhold Hummer, who was in turn replaced by Friedrich Buxbaum; cellist Anton Walter joined in 1921, but later on Buxbaum rejoined.
The group's peak period was between 1905 and 1920, with Rosé, Fischer, Ruzitska, and Buxbaum.

Tracklisting :
01. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - Sonata for solo violin No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001: Adagio
02. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - Concerto for 2 violins, strings & continuo in D minor ('Double'), BWV 1043: Vivace
03. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - Concerto for 2 violins, strings & continuo in D minor ('Double'), BWV 1043: Largo ma non tanto
04. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - Concerto for 2 violins, strings & continuo in D minor ('Double'), BWV 1043: Allegro
05. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068: Air on the G string
06. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18/4: Allegro, ma non tanto
07. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18/4: Scherzo, Andante scherzoso, quasi Allegretto
08. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18/4: Menuetto, Allegretto
09. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18/4: Allegro
10. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - String Quartet No. 10 in E flat major ('Harp'), Op. 74: Poco Adagio - Allegro
11. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - String Quartet No. 10 in E flat major ('Harp'), Op. 74: Adagio ma non troppo
12. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - String Quartet No. 10 in E flat major ('Harp'), Op. 74: Presto
13. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - String Quartet No. 10 in E flat major ('Harp'), Op. 74: Allegretto con Variazioni
14. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131: Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo
15. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131: Allegro molto vivace
16. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131: Allegro moderato
17. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131: Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile
18. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131: Presto
19. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131: Adagio quasi un poco andante
20. Arnold Rose and the Rose String Quartet - String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131: Allegro

Listen to the entire album on YT. https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLA ... fWYCKHZ-4g

[Rach3]

Fww,New Harmonia Mundi 2-cd set by young English viola phenom Timothy Ridout, I heard per Spotify the Viola Sonatas by York Bowen and Rebecca Clarke, my first hearings of each, both worth the hearing especially the Clarke.Several other shorter works on the cd I did not hear.

https://www.nporadio4.nl/klassiek/album ... elebration

[jserraglio]

Arnold Rosé: First Violin of Vienna (1909-1936 Recordings) Arbiter 148.



https://music.apple.com/us/album/arnold ... /918289574

[Rach3]

Fww,New Harmonia Mundi 2-cd set by young English viola phenom Timothy Ridout, I heard per Spotify the Viola Sonatas by York Bowen and Rebecca Clarke, my first hearings of each, both worth the hearing especially the Clarke.Several other shorter works on the cd I did not hear.

https://www.nporadio4.nl/klassiek/album ... elebration

After re-hearings, I acquired an mp3 of the Clarke Sonata.

[Febnyc]

Great performances, and superb sound quality. My Boston Acoustic speakers got a workout this evening! Kudos to a 30-year old CD engineered by Ralph Couzens at Chandos.

[Belle]

I listened to one piece from this CD on YouTube just now; from an opera I'd never heard of - "Betrothal in a Monastery"! Don't you just love Prokofiev and all those Diminished chords!!!

[jserraglio]

[Febnyc]

Those of us who know the music of the Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) would enjoy this CD of transcriptions of his own approach to the classic tango. Piazzolla went beyond its dance form and pushed it into a concert-like medium - lush, luxuriant and sometimes edging toward atonality. He was a progressive who assimilated jazz elements into his works.

I'm a fan and I have a number of orchestral recordings of Piazzolla's music - but this piano disc is a special treat. The major piece on the CD is Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas (The Four Buenos Aires Seasons) - and it is in tango form - four movements/four seasons, expressive and colorful. The arranger and soloist - Aquiles Delle-Vigne (Argentinian himself) - gets it all just right.

The eleven other tracks are transcribed from Piazzolla's tangos, milongas, etc.

[Belle]

I watched a discussion with Wynton Marsalis earlier today, from 2017, and he rapturously spoke about JS Bach. After that I felt compelled to watch this performance of the St. Matthew Passion from the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin with the Thomanerchor Leipzig, performed at Thomaskirche. One thing struck me; three keyboards for continuo - two positive organs and a harpsichord. You could certainly hear it!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moC6QNHPzzw&t=8273s

I was actually brought to my knees with this chorale, Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden (at 2:06:09). I've never heard it performed like this, with a kind of organ extempore.

If there's really no God or heaven then JS Bach gave a pretty poor account of that position!!

[jserraglio]

Tannhauser
Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Bernard Haitink
1985
EMI

[Rach3]

Some of pianist Martin James Bartlett's new "Dance" cd, on Spotify (I have a free account ), namely the Rameau and Couperin works, part of Ravel's "Tombeau" and the "La Valse", fine playing all:

https://www.nporadio4.nl/klassiek/album ... t-la-danse

[jserraglio]

Schoenberg: A Survivor from Warsaw. Sherrill Milnes, Narrator. Erich Leinsdorf/Boston SO 1969 RCA Red Seal LP LSC-7055.

https://archive.org/details/lp_a-surviv ... thoven-eri

A terrifying work, just as topical today as it was in 1947.

[jserraglio]

Noseda-BBC - Beethoven Cycle 2005.

[jserraglio]

Fausto Romitelli: The Poppy In The Cloud. (1999) for women's choir & ensemble.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CvrT1i7ghEA

[jserraglio]

Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Karl Bohm Bayreuther Festspiele 1967.

One of the very best, in my view.

[jserraglio]

Wagner Parsifal Knappertsbusch-Bayreuth 1962 Decca 2006

[maestrob]

Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Karl Bohm Bayreuther Festspiele 1967.

One of the very best, in my view.

Totally agree here.

[jserraglio]

The Kna. 1962 Parsifal vinyl issue is streaming at https://archive.org/details/lp_parsifal ... -orchest_0

[Febnyc]

A pleasant hour of Alfredo Piatti (1822-1901) - cellist (with a fine Stradivari cello named for him), teacher and composer.

This disc is of interest to those of us who love the sound of the cello. The pieces are sentimental, and take one back to the antimacassar-lined drawing rooms of the nineteenth century.

Piatti composed songs, too, and a couple of them are included here. The piano accompaniment is excellent and that makes for a delightful program. Just very nice.

[Belle]

The Music of Faure: Pavane, Elegie, Psalm Super Fulmanis Babylonis, Cantique de Jean Racine, Requiem. Orchestra & Choir of Paris/Paavo Jarvi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4xvMgrkI2U

This is sumptuous, gorgeous music; the way the melody line weaves in and out of the harmonic line in beautiful counterpoint.

Today I was watching a documentary from DW on YouTube about the history of Aachen Cathedral and a singer there was singing a requiem chant and I realized it was the Pie Jesu which formed the basis of Faure's Requiem. (I presumed from this that Faure was a Catholic.)

Charlemagne is buried in the crypt of Aachen Cathedral and he was responsible for a great deal of cultural renewal during the Carolingian Renaissance. I want to know everything about the Carolingian dynasty, Charlemagne and the first Holy Roman Empire but life is too short for all the things I want to know and do!! Alas.

[jserraglio]

Maazel/Cleveland & NPO - Strauss and Brahms 2017 reissue of 1976-77 Columbia recordings on a Dutton Epocb Historic SACD.

[jserraglio]

From TodOpera …

Wagner: Lohengrin 1982. Heinrich Hollreiser/San Francisco Opera. Peter Hofmann, Pilar Lorengar, and Lonnie Rysanek.

Also on YT https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XhVVoGzpiCA

[Rach3]

The 3 books of Liszt's " L'Annes " played live by 3 young pianists, a reminder how forward-looking is Year 3 , three separate "Lunchtime" concerts this Wed. thru today starting here, all archived for hearing on demand:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w1xw

[jserraglio]

New York Baroque Incorporated performs Vivaldi's "La Follia"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGQWHafmIFo

[jserraglio]

Handel - Opera: "Julius Caesar" ("Va tacito") Dame Janet Baker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZZwZnlfDaU