What are YOU listening to today?

RebLem · Post by **RebLem** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 12:34 am

On Monday, Jan. 20, 2014, I listened to a CD of the music of David Maslanka, born 1943, a living American composer, on BIS.

Wind Quintet 3 (1999) 26:43
Wind Quintet 2 (1986) 23:00
Wind Quintet 1 (1984) 20:58

Bergen Woodwind Quintet--Gro Sandvik, flute, Steinar Hannevold, oboe, Lars Kristian Holm Brynildsen, clarinet, Hene Chanon, horn, and Per Hannevold, bassoon

This is lovely, enchanting, romantic music. One hears echoes of Dvorak, Prokofiev, and Copland, especially in the 3rd Quintet. Here is a performance of the first movement of the Quintet 3 by a Buffalo, NY ensemble-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPApOf90hIo
Highly recommended.

ContrapunctusIX · Post by **ContrapunctusIX** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 12:09 pm

Brahms: Clarinet Sonatas Op.120; Trio Op.114
Martin Frost, clarinet; Roland Pontinen, piano; Torlief Thedeen, cello
BIS

Beautiful, idiomatic performances, somewhat classicist interpretations; plus the recorded sound is simply outstanding. A fine compilation, one I like better than the usual overly romanticized interpretations one expects in this repertoire.

RebLem · Post by **RebLem** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 4:25 am

On Tuesday, Jan 28, 2014, I listened to

Disc 11 of the 11 disc hyperion set of the complete sacred music of Henry Purcell which includes ten anthems.

Disc 34 of the 36 disc EMI set of the complete recordings of pianist Samson Francois:

Liszt: Piano Concerto 1--Tokyo Sym Orch., Masashi Ueda, cond. (17:40)
Schumann: Papillons, Op 2 (13:35); Kinderszenen, Op. 15 (16:22)
Chopin: Polonaise 3, Op. 40/1 (3:44); Four Mazurkas--5, 6,& 7, Op 7/1,2,3 ;20, Op.30/3; Ballade 4, Op. 52 (10:08)

Wallingford · Post by **Wallingford** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 3:21 pm

Well, over these last couple of weeks I heard:

Strauss' Don Juan (Inbal)
Tchaikovsky's Second (Johnson)
Brant's Concerto For Alto Sax (Rascher/Johnson)
Sibelius' Pohjola's Daughter (Johnson)
Mozart's "Jupiter" (Ansermet)

Seán · Post by **Seán** » Sat Feb 01, 2014 2:49 pm

A sample of today's listening fare follows:

After this morning's very informative and hugely enjoyable BAL on BBC Radio 3 I just couldn't resist listening to this performance of Grieg's Piano Concerto:

Edvard Grieg
Piano Concerto in A minor
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Noriko Ogawa - piano
Ole Kristian Ruud - conducting.

Some Albert Roussel:

Albert Roussel
Piano Trio in E flat major, Op. 2
Divertissement for piano & wind quintet, Op. 6

Albert Roussel
Symphony No. 3
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
André Cluytens - conducting.
This is a great starter set to get a flavour for Roussel's orchestral music and the performance of the Third is simply sublime.

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 3
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Women of the Chicago symphony Chorus
Glen Elyn Children's Chorus
Marilyn Horne (mezzo soprano)
Adolph Helseth - post horn solo
James Levine - conducting.
This is simply wonderful music-making, it is impossible to describe just how good this performance really is.

ContrapunctusIX · Post by **ContrapunctusIX** » Sat Feb 01, 2014 4:42 pm

Schubert: Piano Sonatas; Impromptus; Moments Musicaux
Ingrid Haebler, piano
Decca

RebLem · Post by **RebLem** » Tue Feb 04, 2014 1:34 am

On Monday, Feb 3, 2014, I listened to

Brahms: Sym 4 in E Minor, Op. 98 (46:41); Tragic Overture, Op. 81 (15:29)--Giulini, VPO

So, now I have completed my traversal of the Giulini Brahms Symphonies set. All in all, these are solid, MOR performances which can serve as a introduction to the Brahms symphonies for anyone. Not a weak performance in the bunch.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Sun Feb 09, 2014 12:13 pm

This is Britten at his compositional best: original. exciting, never a dull moment. Knussen conducts like a house on fire, better than Britten's own recording. Highly recommended. The orientalisms remind me strongly of his opera Death in Venice, esp. the opening to the second act, which I had the privilege to attend the premiere in 1976 at the MET. Outstanding pieces, both the ballet and the opera.

Wallingford · Post by **Wallingford** » Sun Feb 09, 2014 6:02 pm

Shostakovich's First (Mitchell)
Prokofiev's Violin Concerto #1 (Mutter/Rostropovitch)
Sibelius' Seventh (Stokowski--live,w/Helskinki Phil.)
Borodin's Polovetsian Dances (Ansermet)
Strauss' Till Eulenspiegel (Inbal)

Wallingford · Post by **Wallingford** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 9:47 pm

Sibelius' Second, as done by Szell and the Clevelanders in Tokyo, May '70.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Mon Feb 17, 2014 12:23 pm

This could be the greatest tenor album of my lifetime. Kaufman's diminuendo to pp Bb in Celeste Aida puts even Corelli to shame, and the rest of the selections are full of tasteful colors that no other voice can manage as well. Just outstanding singing. Grab this one while you can........

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Tue Feb 18, 2014 1:01 pm

I grew up with this album on LP (issued by RCA in 1962), and it is finally being made available on CD by Sony. Why this has never before been reissued is a mystery to me. Here is some of the greatest Verdi singing you will ever hear: Moffo is the only soprano I have ever heard take the passage around the high C in O patria mia as Verdi actually wrote it.

Magnificent!

Tarantella · Post by **Tarantella** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 6:38 am

It's nearly 10.40pm on a balmy summer night here in Sydney and I'm listening to:

Haydn: 'Heiligmesse', John Eliot Gardiner, EBO/Monteverdi Choir

This mass brings back beautiful memories of a particular Sunday mass at Augustinerkirche, Wien. What magnificent works these late masses of Haydn are!! I can only tell you how affective they are in that magnificent church.

Life is good.

Wallingford · Post by **Wallingford** » Wed Feb 26, 2014 9:34 pm

Messiaen's Le reveil des oiseaux (Aimard/Boulez)

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Thu Feb 27, 2014 12:04 pm

This is truly a fine contemporary version of Prokofiev V. What it lacks is either the throw-weight of Ormandy's Philadelphians, or the electricity of Rozhdestvensky's Leningradians, but it does have moments of transparency and beauty of tone that are not present in the earlier versions. Alsop has made a major contribution to the recorded literature here. Bravo! .....and Bravo to the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra for a disc filled with exquisite playing.

Thomas J · Post by **Thomas J** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:03 pm

Thomas J · Post by **Thomas J** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:06 pm

The above post was from earlier today. This evening I sat down and played this for the first time in what seemed to be ages. I was really glad to revisit an old friend.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:46 am

This is first-rate Schubert: ignore the negative review on Amazon & if you love Schubert done with love and good taste, grab this issue before it disappears. Wonderful!

Thomas J · Post by **Thomas J** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 1:31 pm

Thomas J · Post by **Thomas J** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:27 am

Disc 27 of the 60 cd Living Stereo box set.

maestrob · Post by **maestrob** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 10:47 am

This album features Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht for string sextet that brought a lump to my throat. Beautiful playing. Hope it stays in the catalogue....

Thomas: That EMI/Boult/Planets is the best version ever recorded, IMHO, out of 17 versions I currently possess.

Thomas J · Post by **Thomas J** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 4:42 pm

Disc 31 of Living Stereo box set.

Thomas J · Post by **Thomas J** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 7:32 pm

Disc 26

Ted Quanrud · Post by **Ted Quanrud** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 10:05 pm

Just arrived, my sixth recording of this massive, colorful symphony. My first -- the old CBS-Melodiya LPs with Natan Rahklin and the Large Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio and Television, acquired in the 1980s -- has remained my favorite, although I've enjoyed versions by Sir Edward Downes, Leon Botstein and Harold Farberman. This new recording, however, may end up taking the honors. Falletta has full measure of the work; Buffalo Phil is in top form, and the recording is spacious, detailed and beautifully balanced.

Thomas J · Post by **Thomas J** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 8:42 pm

Disc 4 of Living Stereo box set.

Thomas J · Post by **Thomas J** » Thu Mar 06, 2014 5:39 pm

Disc 17

Wallingford · Post by **Wallingford** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 8:29 pm

Boult conducting Sibelius (Pohjola, Tapiola, Oceanides, Swan)

Wallingford · Post by **Wallingford** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 8:30 pm

Bizet's Roma (P.Jarvi)

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 11:06 am

Paul Crossley playing the Debussy Images (both books I & II), and the Ančerl recording of the marvelous Stravinsky Mass.

Cheers,
~Karl

Wallingford · Post by **Wallingford** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 8:11 pm

Artur Schnabel's First & Third Symphonies.....conducted by Paul Zukovsky

Ted Quanrud · Post by **Ted Quanrud** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:10 pm

Just arrived from the U.K. As expected, utterly splendid.

Wallingford · Post by **Wallingford** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 11:08 pm

Tchaikovsky's Fourth (van Zweden....live, w/SFSO)

RebLem · Post by **RebLem** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 4:53 am

Dittersdorf: Requiem in C Minor for Soli, Choir, and Orch. (29:02); Offertorium zu Ehren des Heiligen Johann von Nepomuk (10:39); Laurentanische Litanei (22:27)--Georg Ratzinger, cond., Regensburger Domspatzen, Consortium Musicum Munchen, Hanna Farinelli, soprano, Birgit Calm, alto, Heiner Hopfner, tenor, and Nikolaus Hillebrand, bass.

http://www.amazon.com/Karl-Ditters-von- ... +ratzinger

scififan · Post by **scififan** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 5:24 pm

I decided to work through the Beethoven String Quartets again. My complete set is that of the Vegh Quartet {Valois V 4400} on CD but I have their famous recordings of the late quartets on Vinyl. I also have the Busch series, Th Guarneri Quartet, the Hollywood Quartet's recordings, the Cleveland Quartet {vinyl}, The Hungarian Quartet {stereo, vinyl} and some of the performances of the Italian Quartet. What I am certainly missing are the more recent performances.

My heart is with the Vegh set but I probably should experience more recent approaches too.

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Tue Mar 25, 2014 9:00 am

Birthday boy!

Bartók
Cantata profana, Sz.94 (1930)
2013 Lucerne Festival
Pablo Heras-Casado, conducting

I had nearly forgotten what a cool piece this is!

Cheers,
~Karl

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 8:55 pm

Now, this is strange, very strange. SONY has just released in a beautiful 300 page book/with cds this Nozze di Figaro. The conductor new to me is Greek and the period orchestra is Russian. The conductor, who is very young, already has a Dido & Aeneas and a Mozart Requiem to his credit in the French Alpha label. I didn´t care for the Dido because the title role was sung by Simone Kermes, not one of my most admired sopranos, and what do you know, she sings the Countess in this recording too. So why did I buy it? Well, I read some very enthusiastic reviews, and was puzzled about why a major label in time of crisis would invest in a new recording of Figaro with practically a gang of unknowns.
Teodor Currentzis seems to be an up and coming conductor. He was born in Greece but studied and has worked mostly in Russia. His repertoire is wide, he conducts one day Verdi´s Macbeth and the next Wagner´s Tristan, and most surprisingly is an ardent advocate of period performance. His orchestra based in the city of Perm near the Ural Mountains is not unlike the Zürich Opera House orchestra, which plays in modern and period instruments according to the work they are performing. I was surprised by the excellent quality of the orchestral playing, very Mozartian sound, not Russian at all.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the vibrant, urgent, and musical conducting of Currentzis, easily the best thing in the recording. Except for madame Kermes, there are no big names in the cast. Most of them do well, often very well, but they have to compete with the greatest voices the World has known and it would be silly to pretend that Andrei Bondarenko who sings Figaro is in the league of a Cesare Siepi, Hermann Prey, Jose van Dam or Sesto Bruscantini, nor Fanie Antonelou, the Susanna, in the class of a Lucia Popp, Ileana Cotrubas or Irmgard Seefried. But this is a youthful and more than competent cast, and as an ensemble they work well together.
Currentzis allows appoggiaturas (vocal embellishments that singers improvise in the moment), very rare to find in Mozart recordings, even in period ones. Some say that appoggiaturas are ok live, for the actual performance, but they prefer not to record them because with repeated listenings they will be memorized by the listener and some may think they are written in the score.
So, this is a surprisingly fine Figaro, and one that makes us realize how much things have changed: a Figaro recorded in Russia? with a Greek conductor? Globalization!!!!
The René Jacobs recording in HM is probably the recording it resembles the most. That is also a very HIP, very exciting reading, but the HM singers are altogether in a different class vocally.
The new SONY is also extremely well recorded, with crystal clear timpani and all the sections of the orchestra are well defined. It may even grow in stature with repeated listenings.

Ted Quanrud · Post by **Ted Quanrud** » Thu Mar 27, 2014 4:23 pm

Just arrived to help continue the C.P.E. Bach 300th birthday celebration

Wallingford · Post by **Wallingford** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 8:17 pm

Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet excerpts (Rostropovich)
Shostakovich's Age Of Gold suite (Mitchell)
Schuman's American Festival Overture (Kindler)

....all with the NSO of Wash., DC

absinthe · Post by **absinthe** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 4:24 pm

Beethoven: Symphony 3. Klemperer, Philharmonia
Schubert: Symphony 8 / Mendelssohn: Stymphony 4. Cantelli, Philarmonia (EMI TOCE 15026)

Donizetti: Emilia di Liverpool. (Opera Rara).

Seán · Post by **Seán** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 6:06 pm

absinthe wrote:Beethoven: Symphony 3. Klemperer, Philharmonia

That is a splendid recording.

Wallingford · Post by **Wallingford** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 8:44 pm

.....more by the National Symphony of Wash., DC:

Kamen's New Moon In The Old Moon's Arms (Slatkin)
Enescu's Roumanian Rhapsody #2 (Kindler)
Copland's El salon Mexico (Mitchell)
Copland's A Lincoln Portrait (Coretta Scott King/Copland)
Humperdinck's Hansel & Gretel Overture (Mitchell)
Debussy's Iberia (Dorati)
Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto #3 (Feltsman/Rostropovich)

josé echenique · Post by **josé echenique** » Wed Apr 02, 2014 9:22 pm

It was a good idea to pair the wonderful Third Piano Concerto with the even more wonderful Fifth Symphony. Denis Matsuev is an excellent pianist, there are certainly finer, more thrilling performances of this concerto, but this far better than average, and the Russian orchestra helps to give it a special flavor.
Gergiev has recorded before the 5th Symphony with the LSO, but this Mariinsky offering is far more idiomatic and daring than what he achieved in London. Altogether a very enjoyable Prokofiev concert.

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Thu Apr 03, 2014 9:17 am

Inspired by our Len:

Пётр Ильич [ Pyotr Ilyich (Tchaikovsky) ]
Piano Trio in a minor, Op.50 (1882)
Gidon Kremer, vn
Giedre Dirvanauskaite, vc
Khatia Buniatishvili, pf

Cheers,
~Karl

Tarantella · Post by **Tarantella** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:05 am

A beautiful love song from "South Pacific" for hopeless romantics and one I'm absolutely wallowing in tonight, boots and all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9cCP0iwtCc

(I saw "South Pacific" in Todd AO when still a small child. I left the cinema on 'Cloud 9' as I would also do after "The King and I", "Carousel" and "Oklahoma" - knowing something right there on that massive cinema screen had created a profound impression which was to shape the rest of my life.)

absinthe · Post by **absinthe** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 10:52 am

Hi, Tarantella!

Nice music....easier than Mahler, innit?

I'm going through all Beethoven's late quartets today + the Op 95, Takacs Quartet.

scififan · Post by **scififan** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 9:37 am

I listened to A Recital of Scarlatti Sonatas played by George Malcolm. It's a vinyl on Decca Eclipse ECS 542. The recording is from 1970 but still sounds quite pleasant. Malcolm achieves a remarkable amount of quite engaging tone colour in the recital which makes me wonder if he was using a Pleyel or Goff harpsichord. There are some very pleasing interpretations here such as the melancholy B minor sonata L33 and quite a bit of bravura virtuoso work too in pieces such as the D major sonata L461.

I don't know if this is available on CD, but it's a pity if it isn't.

Der Fremde · Post by **Der Fremde** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 6:45 am

The most recent Christina Pluhar/L'Arpeggiata release:

"Music For A While" - Improvisations on the Music of Henry Purcell

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5 ... AA280_.jpg

No, it's your mother's Purcell; but, nevertheless, a very compelling idea well executed (as always is the case with this group), and I am a great fan of Philippe Jaroussky.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3ZZ1wTytYk

jbuck919 · Post by **jbuck919** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 6:58 am

Der Fremde wrote:The most recent Christina Pluhar/L'Arpeggiata release:

"Music For A While" - Improvisations on the Music of Henry Purcell

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5 ... AA280_.jpg

No, it's your mother's Purcell; but, nevertheless, a very compelling idea well executed (as always is the case with this group), and I am a great fan of Philippe Jaroussky.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3ZZ1wTytYk

I never come to this thread, but I noticed your name ("The Stranger") which I had not seen before. I note that this is your first post, and just want to say, welcome to the Classical Music Guide. Hope you will not be a stranger around here.

david johnson · Post by **david johnson** » Tue Apr 15, 2014 3:16 am

today - Bruckner 8 from the Barenboim/CSO box

Der Fremde · Post by **Der Fremde** » Tue Apr 15, 2014 10:17 pm

jbuck919 wrote:I never come to this thread, but I noticed your name ("The Stranger") which I had not seen before. I note that this is your first post, and just want to say, welcome to the Classical Music Guide. Hope you will not be a stranger around here.

Very kind of you, jbuck919. Indeed, I am new here and feeling somewhat cautious and vulnerable. It has been my experience that discussions of politics and musical taste have great potential to devolve into acrimonious disagreement. I've learned, though, not to take these things personally. Life is short, mileage varies and we all end up the same way......no point of getting worked up over things, eh?

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