What are YOU listening to today?

Seán · Post by **Seán** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:00 am

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet Op 18, No. 6
Quartetto Italiano

Fergus · Post by **Fergus** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:31 am

Seán wrote:
bombasticDarren wrote:Beethoven - 'Die Geschopfe des Prometheus - Ouverture' & Symphony No.1 (Jos van Immerseel, Anima Eterna, Zig Zag Territories)

Hmmm, should I get it too, I wonder?

Definitely

Fergus · Post by **Fergus** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:32 am

The Salve Regina on this disc is particularly fine.

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 10:24 am

bombasticDarren wrote:
josé echenique wrote:

This is one of my favourite Beethoven piano concerto cycles. Serkin and Kubelik are ideally matched, a most fortunate combination of like-minded talents. These are serious but joyful readings, with superb pianism perfectly caught by the microphones. I heard Serkin live only once in Boston, at about the time these concertos were recorded in Munich in 1977, and I think very few of his studio recordings are as successful as this in presenting his real live sound, at least as I remember it.
These are adorable performances.
That looks like one for the ponder pouch

Oh yes Darren. You have no idea

Seán · Post by **Seán** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 10:37 am

Fergus wrote:
Seán wrote:
bombasticDarren wrote:Beethoven - 'Die Geschopfe des Prometheus - Ouverture' & Symphony No.1 (Jos van Immerseel, Anima Eterna, Zig Zag Territories)

Hmmm, should I get it too, I wonder?
Definitely

I was sort of hoping that you wouldn't say that.

Seán · Post by **Seán** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:03 am

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet Op 18, No. 6
Guarneri Quartet

Seán · Post by **Seán** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:06 am

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet Op 18, No. 6
Budapest String Quartet

Seán · Post by **Seán** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:12 am

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet Op 18, No. 6
Végh Quartet

I have four versions and in order of preference it's:
Quartetto Italiano; Végh Quartet; Budapest String Quartet & Guarneri Quartet

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 12:39 pm

Beethoven - Symphony No.2 (Jos van Immerseel, Anima Eterna, Zig Zag Territories)

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 12:42 pm

Fergus wrote:
Seán wrote:
bombasticDarren wrote:Beethoven - 'Die Geschopfe des Prometheus - Ouverture' & Symphony No.1 (Jos van Immerseel, Anima Eterna, Zig Zag Territories)

Hmmm, should I get it too, I wonder?
Definitely

The first disc is an absolute knockout. I had problems with the recording of the 9th I heard a while ago, but am putting that down to the problems HIP bands often seem to have with that particular piece. So far, this set is ridiculously good

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 12:44 pm

Seán wrote:
bombasticDarren wrote:Alfven - Swedish Rhapsody No.2 & Symphony No.1 (Neeme Jarvi, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Brilliant Classics)

Darren, I am very fond of Alfven's cycle, are you enjoying it?

What I have heard so far is very pleasing Sean. I am rarely disappointed by Scandinavian CM in all honesty - it seems to suit my listening needs very well

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 12:52 pm

bombasticDarren wrote:
Fergus wrote:
Seán wrote:
bombasticDarren wrote:Beethoven - 'Die Geschopfe des Prometheus - Ouverture' & Symphony No.1 (Jos van Immerseel, Anima Eterna, Zig Zag Territories)

Hmmm, should I get it too, I wonder?
Definitely
The first disc is an absolute knockout. I had problems with the recording of the 9th I heard a while ago, but am putting that down to the problems HIP bands often seem to have with that particular piece. So far, this set is ridiculously good

And even if some of the players are not familiar to you they are great masters of their instruments, like violinist Midori Seiler, oboist Hans Peter Westermann, clarinetist Eric Hoeprich and flautist Marc Hantai.
Jos van Immerseel who is an extremely rich man by marriage, obviously can afford la creme de la creme of period players.

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:42 pm

Sibelius - Symphony No.6 & No.7 (Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Melodiya)

Fergus · Post by **Fergus** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 2:24 pm

This is lovely music with gorgeous harmonies.

Jared · Post by **Jared** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 2:28 pm

an intriguing and rather pleasant charity shop find... if you like wind instruments alone in chamber style or with piano accompaniment, this might be for you...

Jared · Post by **Jared** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 2:31 pm

hmmm.. all I can say is that looking back over the past week I've been away, there has been some mighty fine music played by the members of CMG incorporated...

johnQpublic · Post by **johnQpublic** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 2:37 pm

Horneman - Aladdin Overture (Schonwandt/Chandos)
Borresen - Nordic Folk Tunes for Strings (Schmidt/cpo)
Norgard - Helle nacht: Violin Concerto (Astrand/Chandos)

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 2:55 pm

Listening to Mahler 7 in Sinopoli's reading with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

IMO, it's not very convincingly done. Too much 'stop and go' and sometimes fuzzy playing, which disturbs the mood and atmosphere. Especially the 1st movement suffers from this.

Certainly no threat to some of my cherished performances by f.i. Abbado (Chicago), Haitink (Amsterdam, 2nd recording) and Solti (Chicago again).

Bryn Terfel does a very good job in the Kindertotenlieder though.

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 3:05 pm

Ravel - Piano Concerto in G major (Jean-Efflam Bavouzet/Yan Pascal Tortelier, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Chandos)

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 3:06 pm

Marc wrote:Listening to Mahler 7 in Sinopoli's reading with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

IMO, it's not very convincingly done. Too much 'stop and go' and sometimes fuzzy playing, which disturbs the mood and atmosphere. Especially the 1st movement suffers from this.

Certainly no threat to some of my cherished performances by f.i. Abbado (Chicago), Haitink (Amsterdam, 2nd recording) and Solti (Chicago again).

Bryn Terfel does a very good job in the Kindertotenlieder though.

Although I like Sinopoli's conducting of Mahler 8, I have never felt the need to invest in any more of his Mahler cycle. I'm not sure why this is; am I missing something by taking this approach

Jared · Post by **Jared** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 3:08 pm

bombasticDarren wrote:Ravel - Piano Concerto in G major (Jean-Efflam Bavouzet/Yan Pascal Tortelier, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Chandos)

Chris Dingle, my BBC Music Mag reviewer friend... reviewed that disk for the Mag last winter and gave it 5 stars Darren... I say this because I think it's the ONLY 5 stars I've ever seen him give! usually he's quite frugal with his grading..

Len_Z · Post by **Len_Z** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 3:56 pm

Some may accuse Stutzmann of overinterpreting, but I don't mind.

Her Schubert cycles may be a stretch, but Schumann sounds delightful to my ears.

Donaldopato · Post by **Donaldopato** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 8:28 pm

Milhaud
La Creation du Monde
Le Boef sur le Toit
Saudades do Brazil

Bernstein Orchestra National de France
Milhaud Concert Arts Orchestra

EMI

alarickc · Post by **alarickc** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 1:00 am

Live concert last night:
Steven Zopfi, conductor
• Portland Symphonic Choir
•Oregon Symphony

• Stravinsky: Chorale-variations on “Von Himmel hoch”
• Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms
Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 1
• Beethoven: Choral Fantasy,
Renato Fabbro, piano

Symphonies #1-3,6&7
Tapola
Valse triste

Seán · Post by **Seán** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 2:09 pm

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 7 'Razumovsky', Op. 59 No. 1
Végh Quartet

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 2:13 pm

Mozart - Symphony No.41 'Jupiter' (Josef Krips, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Decca)

Jared · Post by **Jared** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 2:22 pm

I think these disks might be going round and round for quite a bit, while I figure them out!

Seán · Post by **Seán** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 2:44 pm

Jared wrote:

I think these disks might be going round and round for quite a bit, while I figure them out!

Very good.

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 3:04 pm

Vaughan Williams - Symphony No.8 (Leopold Stokowski, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Legends)

Len_Z · Post by **Len_Z** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 3:41 pm

It's been a while since I revisited these performances. Amazing set.

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 3:44 pm

Janacek - 'Sinfonietta' (Rafael Kubelik, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, DG)

Donaldopato · Post by **Donaldopato** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:43 pm

Pettersson Symphony # 7

Stephen Bell BBC Scottish Orchestra

(radio broadcast performance)

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:04 pm

bombasticDarren wrote: Although I like Sinopoli's conducting of Mahler 8, I have never felt the need to invest in any more of his Mahler cycle. I'm not sure why this is; am I missing something by taking this approach

Well, his approach might just not appeal to you. Regarding my own Sinopoli experiences, I always felt he's at his best when the human voice is involved. Opera's, songs .... and indeed: Mahler 8.

johnQpublic · Post by **johnQpublic** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:51 am

Kusser - Ouverture de theatre #2 (Zajicek/K617 )
Fux - Sonata for 2 Violins and Basso continuo [aka Synfonia a3, K.331] (Berliner Barock Compagney/Capriccio)
Bendinelli - Sonata #336 (Wallace Collection/Nimbus)
Picchi - Canzon #15 a 6, Toccata and Canzon #17 a 8 (His Majestys Sagbutts & Coenetts/Hyperion)
Telemann - La changeante (Ward/Naxos)

and with that, there will be no more listening for over a week as I'm traveling a far to hear of work of mine for chorus and orchestra, woo-hoo

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:54 am

This is another Solti recording that I really like. His conducting is very theatrical and you can feel that he loves the music. The cast is superb, especially Julia Varady´s sovereign Empress. Only Leonie Rysanek is her equal in this role. And you have to give credit to Domingo for learning this demanding role when he really didn´t have to. I also love both Böhm recordings, and there´s something to be said for the Sawallisch. The Sinopoli is heavily cut, and that´s a pity.

Len_Z · Post by **Len_Z** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 9:32 am

josé echenique wrote:

This is another Solti recording that I really like. His conducting is very theatrical and you can feel that he loves the music. The cast is superb, especially Julia Varady´s sovereign Empress. Only Leonie Rysanek is her equal in this role. And you have to give credit to Domingo for learning this demanding role when he really didn´t have to. I also love both Böhm recordings, and there´s something to be said for the Sawallisch. The Sinopoli is heavily cut, and that´s a pity.

I concur re: Varady 150%. She must be one of the most underrated singers of the late XX century and it's a crying shame. I also love Gundula Janowitz in the role of Die Kaiserin, even though I realize that she's probably not to everybody's tastes.

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 10:56 am

Isn´t it ridiculous that they recorded Mirella Freni in Ernani, Don Carlos, Aida, La Forza del Destino and TWICE in Manon Lescaut when she is evidently way out of her fach, while there were great sopranos like Julia Varady and Anna Tomowa-Sintow being ignored?
I was also very sad that Solti (or DECCA) passed on Varady for their recording of Lohengrin and chose Jessye Norman instead, especially because Varady sang the performances at the Frankfurt opera that served like kind of rehearsals before the recording. Jessye Norman would have been an obvious -and great- choice for Ortrud, because her voice is much too dark and mezzoish for Elsa, but go figure the people that decide these things.

Fergus · Post by **Fergus** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 1:19 pm

johnQpublic wrote:Kusser - Ouverture de theatre #2 (Zajicek/K617 )
Fux - Sonata for 2 Violins and Basso continuo [aka Synfonia a3, K.331] (Berliner Barock Compagney/Capriccio)
Bendinelli - Sonata #336 (Wallace Collection/Nimbus)
Picchi - Canzon #15 a 6, Toccata and Canzon #17 a 8 (His Majestys Sagbutts & Coenetts/Hyperion)
Telemann - La changeante (Ward/Naxos)

and with that, there will be no more listening for over a week as I'm traveling a far to hear of work of mine for chorus and orchestra, woo-hoo

I wish you the very best of luck John and I hope and trust that everything will go very well for you

Fergus · Post by **Fergus** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:12 pm

Seán · Post by **Seán** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:25 pm

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 7 'Razumovsky', Op. 59 No. 1
Takács Quartet

Why do I feel that the Takács' are always in a hurry? It is interesting but certainly not my favourite performance. The Végh are much better.

Seán · Post by **Seán** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:32 pm

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 7 'Razumovsky', Op. 59 No. 1
Budapest String Quartet

Superb music-making.

bombasticDarren · Post by **bombasticDarren** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:35 pm

Janacek - 'Taras Bulba' & 'Concertino' (Rudolf Firkusny/Rafael Kubelik, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, DG)

Seán · Post by **Seán** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:35 pm

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 7 'Razumovsky', Op. 59 No. 1
Quartetto Italiano

Beyond compare.

Fergus · Post by **Fergus** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 4:35 pm

Handel – Fireworks Music:

This is the original Wind version.

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 11:01 pm

Fergus wrote:Handel – Fireworks Music:

This is the original Wind version.

Why is he wearing an Apron?

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 10:13 am

This is Pollini´s 3rd try at this concerto. The first 2 were with the Vienna Philharmonic, Karl Böhm and Claudio Abbado. None was totally successful. Pollini has proven an outstanding Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann interpreter, so it´s kind of puzzling to understand what goes wrong with Brahms. There is of course some outstanding passage work here and there, and there is no lack of commitment, but he fails to hold the structure together. The marvelous Staatskapelle is pushed to the back and the piano is very prominent. Weird that they didn´t listen to the admirable balance of the Freire/Chailly recording.

Len_Z · Post by **Len_Z** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 10:49 am

josé echenique wrote:

This is Pollini´s 3rd try at this concerto. The first 2 were with the Vienna Philharmonic, Karl Böhm and Claudio Abbado. None was totally successful. Pollini has proven an outstanding Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann interpreter, so it´s kind of puzzling to understand what goes wrong with Brahms. There is of course some outstanding passage work here and there, and there is no lack of commitment, but he fails to hold the structure together. The marvelous Staatskapelle is pushed to the back and the piano is very prominent. Weird that they didn´t listen to the admirable balance of the Freire/Chailly recording.

Thanks! I was thinking about buying this, but had my reservations. Now I think I'll refrain.

Jared · Post by **Jared** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 3:49 pm

You have to believe me when I say that if you'd told me 5 years ago that I'd be listening to an album like this, I would have thought you were mad....

but 5 years on I am, and I absolutely love it...

Len_Z · Post by **Len_Z** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 3:53 pm

Jared wrote:

You have to believe me when I say that if you'd told me 5 years ago that I'd be listening to an album like this, I would have thought you were mad....

but 5 years on I am, and I absolutely love it...

Agreed - a true masterpiece

Fergus · Post by **Fergus** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 4:16 pm

Chalkperson wrote:
Fergus wrote:Handel – Fireworks Music:

This is the original Wind version.
Why is he wearing an Apron?

They are his boxers....the Wind instruments blew his pants off with their performance

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