What are you listening to?

[jserraglio]

Penderecki
Utrenja: Parts 1 and 2
"The Entombment of Christ" and "The Resurrection of Christ." (2 LPs-Philips) . . . The Shining, stunningly complete! has this ever made it to CD? if not, why not?
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--to be followed by listening to my favorite avantgardist Eugene Ormandy, his version of Part 1 on RCA vinyl. temptingly reissued on CD in Japan coupled with the Persichetti 9th symphony. http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BVCC-38303#

[CharmNewton]

Borodin: Symphony No. 2
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6, the Pathetique

Jean Martinon conducting the LSO (Borodin) and VPO (Tchaikovsky)

From the new Decca Original Masters box. Slashing, highly detailed readings of these two works. A nicely packaged set with rarely seen photos. Martinon posessed an aristocratic bearing in his photos that reminds me a bit of Giulini.

John

[mourningstar]

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6, the Pathetique

Mozart; Violin concerto no. 5

Beethoven - Moonlight sonata

Bach - English suite no. 3

[Wallingford]

Oops....I found that I left out a brand-new LP of the original cast of A Chorus Line (Columbia CK-33581) from the above-mentioned pile of vinyl.

[PJME]

--to be followed by listening to my favorite avantgardist Eugene Ormandy, his version of Part 1 on RCA vinyl. temptingly reissued on CD in Japan coupled with the Persichetti 9th symphony. http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BVCC-38303#

Thanks for the information Serraglio! I just ordered that Japanese CD!
The Persichetti symphony ("Janiculum") is a great work.

[Sisyphus]

I am listening to Beethoven's "Pastoral" with Leopold Stokowski and the New York City Symphony Orchestra from a 1945 recording. It is coupled with a 1940 Sinfonia Concertante with Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra. The soloists are Marcel Tabuteau, oboe; Bernard Portnoy, clarinet; Sol Schoenbach, bassoon; and Mason Jones, horn. This is just plain old good stuff. It is on CALA 0523. Good stuff.

[Ralph]

Van Cliburn performing the Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1, a staple in his limited repertoire.

[jserraglio]

Villa Lobos Quartets Nos. 2, 12, and 16 on Dorian

[Ralph]

Bruckner, Symphony No. 5, Tintner and his Nova Scotia band on NAXOS. Part of the cycle he completed before his death.

[jserraglio]

John Ogdon I and II in Philips' Great Pianists of the 20th Century series.

[Ralph]

It's one of those mornings when only a violin concerto by Karol Lipinski will satisfy. Fortunately CPO has again served music lovers well by recently releasing a fine recording of several Lipinski works.

Check it out.

[Ralph]

Fantastic, wonderful. Another great gift from NAXOS to TRUE music lovers!

[Ralph]

*****

Now listening to the glorious music of this too obscure, brilliant composer. Think I'm kidding? Spring for the disc. A bargain at $7.99.

[jserraglio]

Thanks for the information Serraglio! I just ordered that Japanese CD!
The Persichetti symphony ("Janus") is a great work.

... and thank you for the tip about the Persichetti (wonderful composer!) 9th symphony. Have never heard it--Ormandy / Philadelphia, RCA LSC 3212, coupled with the Schuman 9th--just ordered this vinyl version from our library--yeah, they actually let you check out these rare recordings. Now if I could only hear Col ML 4413, Ormandy's recording of the Wm Schuman 3rd symphony.

------

--listening to Cuarteto Latinoamericano's impressive Villa Lobos string quartet series--vols. 2, 3, 5, and 6 on Dorian.

--also Persichetti, Symphony for Strings (Muti) and Piano Concerto (Taub/Dutoit) with the great Philadelphia Orchestra on New World.

[Ralph]

Eyblerians everywhere are thrileld with this exciting CPO release of several symphonies by this virtually unknown composer. Strongly original, they are well-constructed and pleasurable to hear.

[Ralph]

*****

Now time for this recent NAXOS Mahler release. So far, interesting.

[Corlyss_D]

Walton's Sym. #1. I'm surprised at how . . . Russian it sounds.

[Wallingford]

Well, I've had nice luck recently in finding old recordings of the conductor Fabien Sevitzky....just found his discs of Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony. I'm hoping to burn it to CD tonight.

[Ralph]

A very nice recording of seldom heard solo piano pieces by Sibelius.

[Ralph]

Listening a third time in a week to this outstanding performing version of Mahler's Tenth Symphony. Eugene Ormandy has the orchestra playing beautifully. Gustav would have been proud!

[Ralph]

Here's a fine recent recording of Beethoven's Triple Concerto on the resurrected Arte Nova label. Just listened to it while drying off from the pool. Very nice performance.

[RebLem]

In the week ending Saturday, 8 JULY 2006, I listened to the following:

1 ) 10/9 Rachmaninoff: PC 2--Solti, cond., LSO |Rhapsody on a theme of Pagainini--Boult, cond., LPO |Dohnanyi: Variations on a Nursery Theme--Boult, cond., LPO--Katchen, piano. CD 2 of Vol 5 of "The Art of Julius Katchen." Decca Double.

2 ) 10/10 Vivaldi: Complete works for the Italian lute (2 concerti & 2 trios)--Jakob Lindberg, lute, Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble members--MHS, lic from BIS

3 ) 10/10 Bach: Cantatas 80, 81, 82--Rilling, Bach-Ensemble, Stuttgart, V 26 of hanssler CBE. I took this one out of cycle because, in the commentary on the death of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, I found out she had recorded Cantata 82, and I wanted to hear a recording of it, as it was described as a very sad piece about death. Cantata 80, of course, is Ein Feste Berg (A Mighty Fortress is our God), one of Bach's most famous cantatas. But the usual suspects recorded 80 and 81 here, whereas for 82, they splurged and went out and hired Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as their singer. Superb performances all the way around. And I think I will put that Lieberson CD on my wants list.

4 ) 10/10 Schumann: Complete Symphonies--Masur, London Phil, rec 1990-1. 2 CD Teldec Ultima budget issue. Superb performances.

5 ) 10/10 Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde; Kindertotenlieder; Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen; Des Knaben Wunderhorn--Haitink, RCOA with Janet Baker, James King, Hermann Prey, Jessie Norman & John Shirley-Quirk. Superb performances, esp Janet Baker in Das Lied. 2 CD Philips DUO

6 ) 10/9 Pfitzner: Palestrina, Musical Legend in 3 Acts--Keilberth, cond Bavarian State Orch & Opera Chorus--3 CD Orfeo set (201:02) from live performance of 17 AUG 1963. Fine performance, excellent sound for the period, quiet audience except at acts' ends. German, French, and English texts, good synopsis, detailed tracking with timings listed, all the basic booklet goodies. This is a wonderful opera with good arias and ensemble work, but its very unusual in that it begins and ends with whispers. The excitement is in the middle 90% of the opera.

7 ) 10/10 Shostakovich: Piano Quintet, Piano Trio 2, Violin Sonata, Viola Sonata, Cello Sonata, Piano Sonatas 1 & 2--3 CD Brilliant set, various artists. Very fine performances, but only 4 artists are listed for the Piano Quintet--Edward Auer, piano, Paul Rosenthal, violin, Marcus Thompson, viola, & Gottfried Hoogeveen, cello. There is a space between the listing of Auer and Rosenthal, and it looks a little darker than the surrounding black background (its white type on a black or dark charcoal background), as if a name had been put there, but then deleted. It sounds like five musicians. Anybody know what is going on here?

[RebLem]

Bruckner, Symphony No. 5, Tintner and his Nova Scotia band on NAXOS. Part of the cycle he completed before his death.

Yeah, but the cycles conductors complete after their deaths are invariably more interesting.

[miranda]

Yesterday, I listened to:

Trois Soeurs--Songs from 13th century France, performed by Stevie Wishart, Vivien Ellis, and Jocelyn West, on the Glossa label. Their voices can be a little thin at times, but overall a good, if not great, performance.



Plaisir d' Amour: Chansons and Romances de la France d' autrefois, performed by Le Poeme Harmonique and Vincent Dumestre, on the Alpha label. This is a truly exquisite album, that I return to again and again.

Guillaume de Machaut--Les Motets, perofrmed by Ensemble Musica Nova, on the Harmonia Mundi label. Beautiful performances on this 2-cd set of his complete motets.

Anonymous 4--American Angels--Another gorgeous album by the 4. Their voices are so compelling for me.

[Ralph]

A fine album. Furtwangler conducts the Viena P.O. in Beethoven's Third Symphony and the Berlin P.O. in the composer's Fifth and Ninth symphonies. Fairly good sonics for a remastered album taken from the earlier ages of classical symphony recording.

[premont]

Guillaume de Machaut--Les Motets, perofrmed by Ensemble Musica Nova, on the Harmonia Mundi label. Beautiful performances on this 2-cd set of his complete motets.

On Zig Zag territoires, I think. Is on my wish list.

[mourningstar]

Modest Mussorgsky - Night on Bald Mountain

[Ralph]

This was a great work to listen to at my pool today while ogling an endless number of bikini-clad lassies. A very good performance well recorded.

[Ralph]

Rattle and his German orchestra do a fine job with this wonderful symphony.

[Ralph]

A terrific release:

Dittersdorf's double bass concertos.

[Ralph]

Mozart, symphonies 39, 40 and 41 in an excellent remastering. Bruno Walter does a fine job with the World's Greatest Orchestra.

[Ralph]

A good album of works by the one and only Hildegard of (North Central) Bingen.

[PJME]

Bruckner, Symphony No. 5, Tintner and his Nova Scotia band

I know, it's hair splitting ..but

Scotland - Nouvelle Ecosse.... !?
The Royal Scottish Orchestra : see

http://www.rsno.org.uk/cms/

73 Claremont Street
Glasgow
Scotland
UK
G3 7JB

[PJME]

Thanks for the information Serraglio! I just ordered that Japanese CD!
The Persichetti symphony ("Janiculum") is a great work.

... and thank you for the tip about the Persichetti (wonderful composer!) 9th symphony. Have never heard it--Ormandy / Philadelphia, RCA LSC 3212, coupled with the Schuman 9th--just ordered this vinyl version from our library--yeah, they actually let you check out these rare recordings. Now if I could only hear Col ML 4413, Ormandy's recording of the Wm Schuman 3rd symphony.

------

--listening to Cuarteto Latinoamericano's impressive Villa Lobos string quartet series--vols. 2, 3, 5, and 6 on Dorian.

--also Persichetti, Symphony for Strings (Muti) and Piano Concerto (Taub/Dutoit) with the great Philadelphia Orchestra on New World.

I recently received the Persichetti discs on Albany: Symphonies no 3, 4 & 7 / Miller, Albany SO CD ( 2 for one)
Finally one is able to make a better assessment of this composer.He wrote definitely "music of his time" - bold, strong,no-nonsense -poetical. The ninth "Janiculum" ( bells from the Janiculum hill in Rome) is a very powerfull statement - with prominent percussion for the dark face, and tense lyricism for the lighter one....or is it the other way round?

[DavidRoss]

Soile Isokoski recital disc with Marita Viitasalo: songs by Schubert, Schumann, Grieg, and Sibelius. I tend to forget what lovely songs Grieg wrote. I really should explore more of his works.

[mourningstar]

Debussy - Arabesque

[Wallingford]

I just listened to the 6 songs that Grieg left out of Haugtussa--sung by Marianne Hirsti (Victoria 19040).

Interesting songs, though they DO seem to slow down the story in this song cycle; the 8 numbers that made it do a much more efficient job of propelling the plot.

[jserraglio]

I recently received the Persichetti discs on Albany: Symphonies no 3, 4 & 7 / Miller, Albany SO CD ( 2 for one) Finally one is able to make a better assessment of this composer.

That Albany set is awesome (Albany's the unsung hero of American music) as is the New World recording of the 'Symphony for Strings' (Sym # 5, a very fine composition). I am slated to pick up the RCA LP with the Ninth today from the library--oh, the wonders of university libraries--most of the stuff I check out of the library comes from Ohio University 250 miles away and arrives in mint unplayed condition--education is definitely wasted on the young--anyway, Persichetti is rapidly becoming one of my favored few among American composers. Persichetti's Symphony No. 8 is on Louisville First Edition (CD and LP) with Jorge Mester conducting and I have placed a library order for the vinyl version also.

Currently listening to:

Andre Previn, A Streetcar Named Desire (DG) with Renee Fleming.

William Bolcom, A View From the Bridge (New World).

Charles Ives: Orchestral Set No. 2, Putnam's Camp, Robert Browning Overture. Morton Gould / CSO on a RCA stereo LP.

• this was my my 1st hearing of this amazing record--from now on Gould is my guy, and the CSO is my band, for showing me what Ives was all about. With this one and Gould's take on the First Sym, Unanswered ?, and America Var. I think I have the essential Charles Ives. I first read a rave about this rec here on CMG--then almost ordered it from eBay for $25--then while rifling thru a box, I found I had bought it for a buck at Half Price Books and forgotten it. It will never be far from hand hereafter.

[Wallingford]

Last weekend, it was Szell doing Strauss' Symphonia Domestica.

Tonight, I'll likely put on one of my 2 recordings of Grieg's choral work At The Cloister Gates: either the one led by Per Dreier, or the one by Neeme Jarvi.

[Ralph]

I came home in a desperate-for-bassoon concertos mood. And this NAXOS disc did the trick nicely. The Kalliwoda is especially nice.

[Ralph]

Libor Pesek and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic do a fine job with Dvorak's Symphony No. 4 on this Virgin disc.

[Gary]

Obviously, I cannot not post pics. As for bandwith theft, I will post pics from Amazon only; hopefully they won't get angry at me.

[Gary]

Puccini's attempt at composing an operetta. More of Alagna and Gheorghiu.

[jserraglio]

Obviously, I cannot not post pics. As for bandwith theft, I will post pics from Amazon only; hopefully they won't get angry at me.

Bandwidth theft be damned! Let's go for it. Maybe they allow iPods where we're headed.



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Listening to the incomparable Eugene Ormandy conducting The Amazing Philadelphia Orchestra in American repertoire on Columbia and RCA LPs:

• Persichetti, Symphony No. 9
  Schuman, Symphony No. 9
  Schuman, Credendum
  Persichetti, Symphony No. 4
  Gesensway, Four Squares of Philadelphia

[Ralph]

As usual, a terrific album by Jordi Savall. Tobias Hume was a fine composer.

[Ralph]

Tschaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 always gets my blood moving. This is a terrific performance by Gergiev with a less well known orchestra than those he usually conducts.

[Gary]

Bandwidth theft be damned! Let's go for it.

That's the spirit!

[Ralph]

Bandwidth theft be damned! Let's go for it.

That's the spirit!

*****

My son tells me that commercial websites that post items like CD covers expect to be copied, want it and won't be hurt by what we do here.

[Ralph]

The Ancerl edition has very many fine performances including this one of Shostakovich's famous "Leningrad" symphony.

[jserraglio]

My son tells me that commercial websites that post items like CD covers expect to be copied, want it and won't be hurt by what we do here.

Thanks to your son for clearing this up for me. I wasnt entirely sure and wouldve felt terrible if this cool site got hammered and I had never voiced the concern.

I was going to create a special webpage on my own site as a repository for images & directlink to them rather than the site of origin--actually I might just do that for the occasional small noncommercial site whose graphics I use. It'd be a pain in the butt to have to do it all the time for Amazon's thumbnails tho.

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Currently listening to:

Boulez conducts Boulez in the DG 20/21 series, recommended right on this thread, I believe. I enjoyed it--it's a little far out for my tastes but I keep going back to it. "The Masterless Hammer" work reminds me a lot of Messiaen.

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• THE PRESIDENT: I just thought for a minute you might have known more than I do about--when you say, definitively say he's increased the number of weapons. I don't think we know that.
  Q Maybe you know, but you're not telling.
  THE PRESIDENT: That's an option. (Laughter.)
  Q Mr. President, you said some time ago that--
  THE PRESIDENT: Maybe I don't know and don't want to tell you I don't know. Anyway. (Laughter.)
  Q You said some time ago that you wanted Osama bin Laden dead or alive. You later regretted the formulation, but not the thought.
  THE PRESIDENT: I regretted the formulation because my wife got on me for talking that way.
  Q We suspected as much, sir. (Laughter.)