What are you listening to?

[paulb]

Vaughan Williams - Symphony No.6 (New Philharmonic), Concerto for two pianos & orchestra (London Philharmonic), Job:A Masque for Dancing (London Symphony Orchestra). All conducted by Sir Adrian Boult

Bryden Thomson is my favorite conductor in RVW. Though many others are good as well. But the edge to Thomson.

Listening to The Unknown Composer, Allan Pettersson.
The fact that he passed away more than 20 yrs ago, its getting time to precede his name with another title, The Forgotten Composer.
hummm I like that better, don't you.

The Forgotten Composer.

Or do you think

The Misunderstood Composer

The Undiscovered Composer.

Or a combination of all
The Unknown Undiscovered Misunderstood Forgotten Composer.

[jserraglio]

Listening to The Unknown Composer, Allan Pettersson.
... its getting time to precede his name with another title, The Forgotten Composer.

forgotten? not completely, I like what Ive heard ...

• 8 barefoot songs
• symphony 7

both with Dorati conducting

[paulb]

"with Dorati conducting the 7th"
I had fights over the issues of interpretation on that recording with a member on GMG, sold me his copy.
Though its the most famous and many feel the best,. it didn't fly with me. It didn't even get off the ground with me.

I dumped ASAP, could easily have garbaged it.
I've also had the Comissiona/Swedish RSO live, rare/OOP, Good, but sold it off.
You can read my reviews on amazon.

Glad you liked the 7th. I always recommend that sym first, If one doesn't like the 7th, its pointless to go any further.
Which sym are you going to next?

Btw, care to share you story as to how you came across Pettersson? And when?

[jserraglio]

• Shostakovich, Quartets 4 and 5 (Manhattan Quartet on Ess.a.y)
• Tchaikovsky, Romeo & Juliet (Previn/LSO on MFSL)
• Tchaikovsky, Serenade for Srings (Ormandy/PO on Columbia)
• Heroic Music for Organ Brass & Percussion (E. Power Biggs on Columbia)
• a mixed bag of Pettersson symphonies (on BIS and cpo)--whatever the library had

[Gary]

Listening to Susan Kagan's Mozart CD that I mentioned elsewhere.




Label: Vox

Suk Chamber Orchestra, Prague

Piano Concerto No. 11 in F major, K. 413 (K. 387a)

Piano Concerto No. 12 in A major, K. 414 (K. 385p)

Piano Concerto No. 14 in E flat major, K. 449

[david johnson]

mahler 1/giulini/chicago

[hautbois]

Beautiful recordings in my all honest opinion!

1. Berlioz's Romeo & Juliet - Sir Colin Davis/Bavarian Radio Symphony and Chorus on dvd.

2. Brahms Symphony No.3 & 4 - Nikolaus Harnoncourt/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

3. Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker (Complete) with Suites 3 & 4 - Antal Dorati/Concertgebouw Orchestra & New Philharmonia Orchestra.

4. Stravinsky's Les Noces and Mass - Leonard Bernstein/English Bach Festival Chorus, percussion ensemble, orchestra, with pianists Martha Argerich, Krystian Zimerman, Cyprien Katsaris, and Homero Francesch.

[Gary]

Earlier, I was watching & listening to Swan Lake done by none other than the Kirov Ballet & Orchestra. This is more or less the 1895 revised version, choreographed by Maurice Petipa and Lev Ivanov, the version on which all subsequent ones are based. Since Tchaikovsky had already been dead for about two years by the time of this revision, Riccardo Drigo, the resident ballet conductor of the Mariinsky (Kirov) theater, undertook the task of revising the score to fit the revised choreography. The result is a shorter score with two new numbers that Drigo transcribed from some of Tchaikovsky's solo piano music.



This is Yulia Makhalina who danced the dual role of Odette (White Swan)/Odile (Black Swan) in the production I just saw.

[hautbois]

What are some notable complete recordings of the Swan Lake Ballet on cd available in the market? (Closer to Tchaikovsky's original intentions.) I couldnt find any near me but one by Dutoit/Montreal.

[Wallingford]

Copland's A Short Symphony (Copland/LSO)

[Gary]

What are some notable complete recordings of the Swan Lake Ballet on cd available in the market? (Closer to Tchaikovsky's original intentions.) I couldnt find any near me but one by Dutoit/Montreal.

As far as I'm aware of, there are only two such recordings: the Dutoit you mentioned (on Decca) and Richard Bonynge (same label). Regarding the latter, there are two re-issues, one is a lone, 2-CD Swan Lake set and the other part of something like a 6-CD set (which includes the complete Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker). I suspect the lone version may be slightly cut. Both the Dutoit and the Bonynge contain absolutely every note that the composer wrote, including numbers that he later added. I haven't heard the Bonynge, but I have the Dutoit and I didn't like his interpretation. Having heard Bonynge's recordings of other ballets, I can say that he is a very good conductor of ballet music.

[miranda]

Today I listened to:

Lukas Foss--Complete works for Solo Piano, Scott Dunn, Piano (Naxos)

Erkki-Sven Tuur--Exodus, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Isabelle van Keulen, Paavo Jarvi (ECM)

Janacek-- Piano Sonata 1.X.1905 In the Mists on the Overgrown Path, Series 1, Leif Ove Andsnes, piano (Virgin Classics)

Currently listening to Lorraine Hunt Lieberson sing Bach Cantatas. May she rest in peace.

[Ralph]

Stephen Gunzenhauser and the Slovak band got my Sunday off to a nice start with a good performance of Dvorak's Symphony No. 2.

[lmpower]

I have been listening to Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus. This has to be one of the most gently soothing works of all time. I own the Neville Marriner version. I hope that meets with the approval of our experts.

[RebLem]

In the week ending Saturday, 5 AUG 2006, I listened to the following:

1 ) 10/10 Bach, J.S.: Well-Tempered Clavier, Bk II--Robert Levin, keyboardist. 2 CDs, Vol 117 of hanssler CBE. This CD tries to give a little bit to every interpretive faction. Levin alternates his instruments here, using harpsichord, clavichord, fortepiano, and organ. An interesting approach, to be sure.

2 ) 10/10 Mahler: Sym 7--Haitink, RCOA. One of the glories of the Haitink set. This performance is, per most critics, the best performance in the whole set, and a serious candidate for the best Mahler 7th ever recorded. Your reporter concurs with that consensus.

3 ) 9/9 Mahler: Sym 8--Haitink, RCOA. Probably the worst performance and recording in the Haitink set. The last complete symphony in the set to be recorded, in 9/71, it sounds like it might have been recorded well before the first recording in the set, the Sym 1 in 9/62. It sounds muffled, as if they had put a pure wool blanket over each microphone. I have an hypothesis about this, though I'm not sure. This work is so loud that I think the engineers may have been intimidated by it, and moved the miking to more distant points in the hall than usual. If so, they definitely overcompensated. A real shame. The performance itself isn't all that great shakes either.

4 ) 10/10 Shostakovich: Sym 2 |Sym 4 |Sym 10--Haitink, LPO (and choir in #2)--Sym 2 & 10 are on CD 2 of the complete set, Sym 4 on CD 3. These are magnificent interpretations, esp. # 10, in my view. # 4 is a great one as well. # 2 is a little more ordinary, but it is wonderfully played; perhaps my feeling is more about the work than the performance here. The 10th may well be the best performance of this work available.

5 ) 10/9 A Golden Melodram twofer called Robert Casadesus in Concert though only 3 of the 5 works feature Robert Casadesus. Actually, the one constant in all 5 works is the Bavarian Radio Sym Orch. CD 1 features Joseph Keilberth conducting the Beethoven PC 5 with Casadesus (1967) and the Brahms Sym 2 (1966). CD 2 has Eugen Jochum conducting Brahms Schicksalslied (1961) and the Mozart PC 24, K. 491 with Casadesus (1954) and Rafael Kubelik conducting the Mozart PC for 2 pianos, K.365 with Robert & Gaby Casadesus (1970). All recordings are close to state of the art sound for their respective recording years. Excellent performances, esp both works on CD 1 and the Mozart 24.

6 ) 10/10 The Art of Julius Katchen, Vol 4--2 CD Decca Double. CD 1--Liszt: PC 1 & 2--Ataulfo Argenta, cond, LPO (1957) |Grieg: PC in A Minor, Op 16--Kertesz, Israel PO (1962) || CD 2 is all solo piano performances. Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (29:06) (1950) |Liszt: Mephisto Waltz # 1 (1953), Funerailles (1953), Hungarian Rhapsody 12 (1954) |Balakirev: Islamey (1954). All recordings are state of the art for their respective years, and the Pictures from 1950, in particular, sounds much better than you might expect, more like something that might have been recorded 10-12 years later. Performances, as almost always with Katchen, are top-notch.

[miranda]

Today I listened to:

Handel Arias--Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Harry Bicket, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Avie)

J.S. Bach--The Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo, Gidon Kremer, violin (ECM)discs 1 and 2.

Ned Rorem--Chamber Music: The End of Summer, Book of Hours, Bright Music--The Fibonacci Sequence (Naxos)

Beethoven--String Quartets Opp. 95, 127, 130-133, and 135--The Takacs Quartet (Decca), discs 1-3.

[Ralph]

After a movie, Mendelssohn's octet and quintet on this fine release.

[CharmNewton]

Franck: Sonata for Violin and Piano--Mirijam Contzen, violin and Valery Rogatchev, piano (Arte Nova)

Brahms: Sonata No. 3 in D minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 108--Viktoria Mullova, violin and Piotr Andreszewski, piano (Philips)

Mozart: Sonatas for Piano (C major, K. 330, A major, K. 331, F major, K. 332)--Lars Vogt, piano (EMI)

The Contzen is a re-issue of a disc recorded in September, 1998 and is a dramatic reading. The disc includes the Saint-Saens Sonata in D minor, Op 75, No. 1 and the Debussy Sonata.

The Brahms is also intense and stormy. Mullova and Andresewski play exceptionally well, and details emerged from the piano that I'd never heard before. Exceptional, lifelike sound as well.

The Mozart is the first disc of a two-disc set (specially priced). Vogt plays with a light, crisp touch on a modern instrument. Tempi are lively, and the slow movements have warmth and delicacy. This is modern sounding Mozart without heaviness. The second disc has Fantasias and Rondos, which I haven't heard yet. I have a few other discs of this artist and enjoy them as well.

John

[Barry]

• Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 4
• Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5
• Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6

superb perfs by Ormandy/Phillly from the '50s

Just listened to these three over the weekend. Loved five and six. The fifth is one of the better recordings of that piece that I've heard and there are some really thrilling moments in the sixth. I wasn't nuts about the fourth though. Ormandy does some very odd things with the tempos in the first movement; not the kind of thing you expect from him.

[miranda]

Beethoven--Cello Sonatas, No. 3, Op.69 and Op.64--Maria Kliegel, Cello, and Nina Tichman, Piano (Naxos)

[Ralph]

I've always very much liked Mahler's Seventh Symphony. Here's a fine performance which I enjoyed after dinner.

[Barry]

Tchaikovsky 4th: Ormandy/Philly/1947

This one is head and shoulders above the '53 recording by the same forces that I listened to the other day. In fact, it's a hell of a fourth.

[jserraglio]

<img src="http://users.flxtek.net/~jserraglio/tchai-4th.jpg" width=105" height ="100"><img src="http://users.flxtek.net/~jserraglio/tchai-5th.jpg" width=105" height ="100"><img src="http://users.flxtek.net/~jserraglio/tchai-6th.jpg" width=105" height ="100">

• Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5
• Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6

superb perfs by Ormandy/Phillly from the '50s

Just listened to these three over the weekend. Loved five and six. The fifth is one of the better recordings of that piece that I've heard and there are some really thrilling moments in the sixth. I wasn't nuts about the fourth though. Ormandy does some very odd things with the tempos in the first movement; not the kind of thing you expect from him.

I agree about 5 and 6. I'll have to listen again to that '53 Fourth and pay close attention to the tempos in I. I recall really liking III with the pizzicato strings and woodwinds and that blazing yet soul-searching IV (what brass in there!)--but maybe its just that I love this symphony so much.

I havent listened closely to the '47 Fourth yet--the transfer was done from an incredibly dirty library copy--had to give the disc a warm water bath to remove 60 years of built-up grunge.

From the discs you generously sent me, I have now listened to the Bizet Symphony in C, the Ibert Escales, and the Ravel La Valse. All stimulating performances, especially Escales, which has to go right alongside Stokowski's on my shelf for atmosphere and sensitivity. I think Ormandy is pretty underrated in French repertoire.

I really am astonished at the sound quality the Columbia engineers achieved for this '50s mono series. In many ways I prefer it to the sound the celebrated Layton/Mohr team produced from the same period. And the Philadelphia Orchestra is amazing--w/o casting aspersions on the others in the 'big 5' of yesteryear, they are my template for what an orchestra should sound like.

[miranda]

L' Orchestre De Louis XIII 1601-1643, Recueil de plusieurs airs par Philidor L'Aisne--Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall (Alia Vox)



Joan Cabanilles 1644-1712--Batalles, Tientos, and Passacalles--Hesperion XX--Jordi Savall (Alia Vox)

[Barry]

I havent listened closely to the '47 Fourth yet--the transfer was done from an incredibly dirty library copy--had to give the disc a warm water bath to remove 60 years of built-up grunge.

Yes, it's really a shame we can't have the '47 performance with the '53 sound quality. The brass really does some incredibly exciting things in the first movement of both the '47 fourth and that Pathetique.

I agree with you about the overall sound of the orchestra. It's as close to an ideal orchestral sound as I can think of, with perhaps some of Karajan's EMI recordings from the 70s with the BPO also fitting into that category.

[Gary]

Mozart's 46 symphonies. Got these on the cheap.

Orchestra: Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana, Torino

Conductor: Alessandro Arigoni

[Ralph]

L' Orchestre De Louis XIII 1601-1643, Recueil de plusieurs airs par Philidor L'Aisne--Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall (Alia Vox)



Joan Cabanilles 1644-1712--Batalles, Tientos, and Passacalles--Hesperion XX--Jordi Savall (Alia Vox)

*****

Now THAT'S a terrific CD!!!!!

[miranda]

Ralph, are you jokin' with me?

They are both terrific cd's. I have yet to hear anything on Jordi Savall's Alia Vox label that isn't top-notch.

[Ralph]

Ralph, are you jokin' with me?

They are both terrific cd's. I have yet to hear anything on Jordi Savall's Alia Vox label that isn't top-notch.

*****

I meant both CDs. I was tired from lounging at the pool all afternoon. I'm a big Jordi Savall fan.

[miranda]

*****

I meant both CDs. I was tired from lounging at the pool all afternoon. I'm a big Jordi Savall fan.

Oh, me too, me too. (obviously!) I have a bunch of Alia Vox releases (they ain't cheap, but are well worth the price), and all of them have been such revelations for me.

Right now I'm listening to J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations, as played on the piano by Glenn Gould in 1955. This is the first piece of classical music that I ever listened to intensively, and I never fail to be enthralled by its beauty. My grandfather, a longtime Bach enthusiast, scorns Glenn Gould and says that he's a "showman", but I wholeheartedly disagree. I can't articulate exactly why, but I do.

[Wallingford]

Nielsen's Flute Concerto (Galway/DRSO)
Ravel's two Piano Concertos (W.Haas/Galliera)
ALSO:
a schlocky pop artist's desire to record live with orchestra--namely DAVID FOSTER, in an '88 Atlantic LP with the VANCOUVER SYMPHONY.

[david johnson]

mahler 9/barbarolli/bpo

dj

[karlhenning]

Nielsen's Flute Concerto (Galway/DRSO)
Ravel's two Piano Concertos (W.Haas/Galliera)

Great pieces!

Cheers,
~Karl

[dirkronk]

Just got a shipment from BRO a couple of days ago. Two nice stacks of things sitting here on my desktop. On the aged boombox now:

"Solomon in Berlin"--the 2-CD set on Appian of live concerts from 1956. He's wending his way through the Bach Italian Concerto now, in preparation for some Beethoven (sonata #3) and Chopin.

Dirk

[Haydnseek]

I've been waking to 30 to 60 minutes of Bach's keyboard music every morning for weeks now on my CD alarm clock; Andras Schiff's recordings to be precise. I feel unusually receptive to this music in the morning and Bach seems to stir the brain into action - I can use the help.

[hautbois]

Listz - Faust Symphonie - Domingo, Barenboim/BPO

Resphigi - Fountains, Pines, Festival di Roma - Muti/Philadelphia Orchestra

"Melodies" Debussy, Faure, Poulenc - Ian Bostridge, tenor/Belcea Quartet/ Julius Drake/Leon Bosch

Carl Orff - Carmina Burana - Jochum/Chor und Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin*

Absolutely marvelous solo performances of Janowitz, Dieskau and Stolze.*

[pardew]

J S Bach,three sonatas for Viola Da Gamba and Harpsichord.
Desmond Dupre and Thurston Dart.

Marvellous loose limbed performences,authentic before it was fashionable to be authentic.

Its criminal that the Thurston Dart set of the Brandenburg Concertos have never made it to CD.

[mourningstar]

Rossini - La cenerentola ouverture


Mozart - Violin concerto nr. 3

[Wallingford]

Rachmaninov's Third Concerto (Guindin/Ashkenazy)

[Tooreclusive]

Not so much listening as reading scores: I've just moved to a new city and am soundless at this point. But I'm spending quite a bit of time these past few days reading Shostakovitch's seventh quartet. It has a cryptic feel to it that I'm enjoying immensely, although to be honest its motivic unity 'feels' contrived; sure, x relates to y, but to what end? Perhaps I've been spoiled by the 'deep' structural relations characterizing Bartok's series.

All the same, though: beautiful piece.

[Ralph]

Not so much listening as reading scores: I've just moved to a new city and am soundless at this point. But I'm spending quite a bit of time these past few days reading Shostakovitch's seventh quartet. It has a cryptic feel to it that I'm enjoying immensely, although to be honest its motivic unity 'feels' contrived; sure, x relates to y, but to what end? Perhaps I've been spoiled by the 'deep' structural relations characterizing Bartok's series.

All the same, though: beautiful piece.

*****

Welcome to the board. We have an eclectic and interesting group of posters here. Hope you'll contribute often.

[Corlyss_D]

Welcome, Too. Kick your shoes off and set a spell. Where ya from and where did you move to? Are you a music student?

[RebLem]

In the week ending Saturday, 12 AUG 2006, I listened to the following:

1 ) 10/10 Bach: Cantatas 19, 20--Rilling & Co.--V. 6 of hanssler CBE.

2 ) 10/10 Bach: Sonatas for Viola da Gamba & Harpsichord, Bwv 1027-9.
Hille Perl, viola da gamba, Michael Behringer, hpsi. V. 124 of hanssler CBE. Timing only 37:47 total. Bach didn't write much for this particular combination of instruments.

3 ) 10/10 Telemann: 4 Triple Concerti.--Collegium Musicum 90, Simon Standage, dir. MHS

4 ) 10/10 Mozart: Cosi fan tutte--Barenboim, BPO+--3 CDs in 9 CD box of 3 operas on Warner Classics.

5 ) 9/5 Beethoven: Syms 4, 6--Mengelberg, cond, COA 4/1940--Grammofono 2000. Restored using CEDAR technology. These are decent MOR performances with no special quirks or insights. Although every effort has been made to restore the sound, it is still 1940 sound, of course. The restoration seems to have been made with the idea that when there is a choice between muffling the sound and letting some extraneous noise get through, they will keep the sound and allow the noise. This is, IMO, as it should be. High registers in the flute and other high pitched instruments sometimes sound a bit harsh and distorted. IMO, its not really worth putting up with the inferior sound for these rather ordinary performance unless you are a Mengelberg fanatic.

6 ) 10/10 Mahler: Sym 3--Abravanel, Utah SO, Univ of Utah Civic Chorale women's voices, Boys Choir of the Granite (UT) School District, Christina Krooskos, contralto. 2 CD MHS set, lic. from Vanguard. Excellent performance, esp by Krooskos and the boys choir.

7 ) 10/10 Shostakovich: Syms 5, 6, 9, 12--5 & 9 on one CD, 6 & 12 on another--Haitink, London Phil in 9, RCOA in the others. Philips. One of the most exciting 5ths around.

8 ) 10/9 The Art of Julius Katchen, Vol 8. A 2 CD Decca Double, all solo piano pieces from 1955-1961. CD 1--Schubert: Wanderer Fantasie |Schumann: Carnaval, Toccata in C, Arabeske in C |Debussy: Clair de lune |Manuel de Falla: Ritual Fire Dance from El amor brujo. CD 2--Chopin Piano sonatas 2, 3, Fantaisie-Impromptu in C# Minor, Op 66, Polonaise 6 in A Flat major, Op. 53 "Heroic" |Mendelssohn: Rondo capriccioso in E Major, Op 14 |Mendelssohn/Liszt: On Wings of Song, Op. 34 #2 |Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, arr. by Dame Myra Hess. Fine performances, state of the art sound for the years of the recordings.

For other things I listened to, see the Kubelik thread.

[Haydnseek]

Elgar:
Symphony No. 1 - Hurst, BBC Philharmonic
Symphony No. 2 - Downes, BBC Philharmonic
Enigma Variations - Hurst, Bournemouth Symphony

[Wallingford]

Not so much listening as reading scores: I've just moved to a new city and am soundless at this point. But I'm spending quite a bit of time these past few days reading Shostakovitch's seventh quartet. It has a cryptic feel to it that I'm enjoying immensely, although to be honest its motivic unity 'feels' contrived; sure, x relates to y, but to what end? Perhaps I've been spoiled by the 'deep' structural relations characterizing Bartok's series.

All the same, though: beautiful piece.

Just the other day, I checked out from the library some solo piano pieces by Canadian composers: including Robert Fleming's "Strolling," Oscar Morawetz's"Scherzino," John Weinzweig's "Waltzing," and and Lorne Betts' "Nocturne." Hope to sightread thru them soon.

[Tooreclusive]

Ah, plugged in again.
Lutoslawski's Third Symphony, Esa-Pekka Salonen directing the L.A. Phil. I'm listening to the release that pairs Lut's glorious work (albeit threadbare work, in some of the static sections, IMO) with Messiaen's "Turangalila Symphony". I've had mixed feelings about the Messiaen for years now. There are things about that piece that I think are amazing, and many things that seem to my eyes to represent the composer on autopilot.

I hesitate to criticize, though; my own efforts in composition are fumbling and childlike next to even the most bombastic parts of the Messiaen, or the most uneventful areas of the Lut. 3.

Not a student, no - I'm a dilettante and proud of it, up here in Vancouver, B.C..! I'll look forward to posting here quite often.

[Ralph]

A nice day for a good performance of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony.

[karlhenning]

Igor Fyodorovich
A Sermon, A Narrative, and A Prayer

[premont]

J S Bach,three sonatas for Viola Da Gamba and Harpsichord.
Desmond Dupre and Thurston Dart.

Marvellous loose limbed performences,authentic before it was fashionable to be authentic.

Its criminal that the Thurston Dart set of the Brandenburg Concertos have never made it to CD.

Agreed. We actually need a Thurston Dart revival. He was far ahead of his time, as well in performance as in his writings.

[Ralph]

Relaxing in my office before going out for dinner, Music for Trumpet and Strings by the great Pavel Josef Vejvanovsky.