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Wonderful, Tom. The Requiem is a piece that really gets to me, one of my favourite late 20th century works. Almost terrifying if you listen at a good volume with the lights off. Kubrick couldn't have chosen anything else for the finale of 2001.Quote:
Originally Posted by .mus
Indeed, and I need to be kind to the ones that stuck with me through my, er, headier years ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
Absolutely. I do rather enjoy terrifying music :)Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
Holst - The Planets, Karajan, BPO, DG [vinyl]
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-82ulL6cuqt...s400/Cover.jpg
I just had time for one more this morning, and I'm so glad I did. Karajan gets it perfect, impossibly sweet strings mixed with incredibly raspy brass (but the organ is almost missing in action). Stereo perspective is very wide but depth a little lacking, in keeping with other 1980s DG digital recordings. The performance and sonics have huge impact and it goes right to the top of my list.
Can any of my remaining recordings topple it?
Time to fess up, Martin.
Exactly how many recordings of The Planets have you got? :scratch: :lol:
Have you got this one? --> :eyebrows:
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG...er=allrovi.com
And have you heard the earlier Karajan on Decca?
I found the Tomita on vinyl in Japan and it's winging its way to me right now!
I have another 2 on vinyl, 1 on CD, 1 on SACD and 1 on DVD-A to go :eyebrows:
EDIT: no, I haven't heard the earlier Karajan.
Lessee --
I've got Levine / Chicago / DG and Karajan / Vienna Phil / Decca and the Tomita on CD.
I'll see if I can get the Karajan DG - Yup! - just picked it up for 1p plus P&P from Amazon Market Place. :yay:
Have you tried other music by Holst, Martin?
I can thoroughly recommend this - some wonderful music and great sq!
http://i.prs.to/t_200/naxos8553696.jpg
I have his Choral Symphony and Fugal Concerto with various other pieces which I haven't played in a while. Will dig them out after the Planets-fest.
Planets-fest indeed!Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
This afternoon, some recently salvaged Schubert LPs.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/28198906/Ao...tet-538923.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/28198906/AoS/16GB_044.jpg
Have you got Tomita's 'Pictures At An Exhibition' ? it's amusing especially the ''Chickens Hatching'' bit :eyebrows:Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
I can't resist joining in the Planet-fest :eyebrows:Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
Jerry, do you mean Karajan's 1962 Vienna recording? I'm not a great HvK fan, but this one is quite special. Then there's Bernard Haitink on Philips, and for the masochists Bernard Hermann on Phase4.
One of my favourite Holst records is the Lyrita recording of Imogen Holst with the ECO - Fugal Concerto, St Pauls Suite, Brooke Green Suite etc. (SRCS34)
Oh go on then!
I'd not heard of the Tomita, and on reading up it sounded like it should be my sort of thing, so giving it a whirl.
Hmmm... :scratch:
Yup, that's the one - I have the Decca Ovation CD - and yup, it's very good. I'll do a comparison with the later DG one when it turns up here. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by morris_minor
This evening -->
http://images.ariama.com/amg/class/c...83339e1zn3.jpg
A contemporary of Beethoven - although obviously (?) without his adventurousness! - defo post-Haydn, though. Very enjoyable, in fact. And on the cheapo Brilliant Classics label now, after coming out on DG/Arkiv:)
It's on its way, Andr'e.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rare Bird
Holst - The Planets, Eliot Gardiner, Philharmonia, DG [sacd]
http://www.cdbiblio.com/eingang/cdim.../holst0002.jpg
A beautifully presented performance with masses of detail, big and spacious but still incisive. The organ and bass drum are very much present and correct and overall impact is appropriate. Perhaps the pace is just a touch too measured but there's not much to criticise here. Sound is SACD demo class.
Good to see you're still going Martin! How many left in the pile?
Tonight...
Borodin Quartet - Shostakovich, String Quartets 4, 5, 6 (disc 2 of this set)
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/28198906/Ao...%20%5B1%5D.jpg
I found another Planets to add to the pile, Tom! I'll probably only review a couple more worthy ones :)
The Shossy 8th Quartet is a bit special, haven't played it in a while.
Triffic! Look forward to it :) I have already cast out my feelers for the above SACD.
Agreed re. the 8th - spellbinding.
Ah, now that is a truly wonderful set of the Shosty SQs :thumbsup: -- 14 & 15 are missing from it as they hadn't been composed when the set was recorded. To me, that's just amazing. :)
Last night -->
http://www.musicweb-international.co...o1_8572659.jpg
I've mentioned this one before, and liked it then. But it's a grower as well, and I have now ordered Vol 2. :)
Been working (would hardly call it working!) my way through Ashkenazy's Rachmaninov piano catalogue over the last couple of days. These Decca recordings still sound fabulous, and thankfully the CD mastering is out of the top drawer.
Yesterday...
Preludes (both Op23 & 32) Etudes-Tableaux, Suites I & II for 2 pianos (with André Previn).
I have several sets of these by various performers, including those by John Lill which are quite different in sound - I'd almost swear he's using a Blüthner piano as opposed to the usual Steinway; it's warmer, less brash, and with a rare sweetness of sound. The Nimbus recording helps too, being more realistic than some, more front row audience than sat inside the piano.
You make Lill sound like an interesting Rachmaninov interpreter, Richard - and I do love his Beethoven sonatas - so I've just invested in this
Jerry - will be interested to hear what you think of Lill's Corelli Variations etc as I don't have those. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
I have lots of Ash-Rach Decca vinyl and it is just sublime ...Quote:
Originally Posted by Gromit
Huh. I must confess I'd stupidly wondered why they'd been omitted :doh: I guess though, in this case, the ommission is forgivable.Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
Tonight...
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...6L._SL500_.jpg
Wagner - The Ring Highlights, Maazel, BPO, Telarc [cd]
http://www.mvdaily.com/articles/2006...thoutwords.jpg
Nice typically clean Telarc recording, but the performance doesn't have the sheer visceral impact of the Solti/VPO 1965 onwards Decca cycle.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...YL._SL500_.jpg
Thanks for the tip, Martin.
Glad you like it, Tom.
Holst - The Planets, Isao Tomita [vinyl]
http://store.acousticsounds.com/imag...14058-8691.jpg
Well, it's certainly a different experience. I think I prefer Tomita's Debussy but it's a fun listen.
I think the parts I enjoyed the most were the bits where he deviated completely from the script, and just offered some interesting electronic atmospherics.
But for the most part, I found that the 'instruments' or midi voices that he'd selected were either too similar sounding to the instruments that they were supposed to be replacing, and so it wasn't so interesting to listen to, or they weren't similar sounding, but in any case I didn't like the sound of them (odd for me, since in general I really like distinctively electronic timbres). So some odd choices then, in that department, I thought.
Still, as you say, a fun listen - it made me smile a few times, and the music box intro is nice. I'll have to check out the Debussy.
http://pixhost.me/avaxhome/df/69/000d69df_medium.jpeg
Far from my fave piece of music - I find it relentlessly and irritatingly ecstatic, even though I know it does vary quite a lot! - but Solti's is the best version I have heard. And it fits on a single CD!
One of those once-every-couple-of-years pieces of music for me. :)
Try this, Tom, for an idea of the Snowflakes are Dancing (Debussy) album:
Don't you find the finale simply wonderful, Jerry? And that single organ pedal that shakes the room creates quite an effect. The Solti is the best performance I've heard.Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
Hmmm... I like what he's doing with the sound stage - playing with the space - but I'm still unsure about the voicing. If I think of, say, Wendy Carlos's electronic versions of Bach or Beethoven, while the midi voices that she uses certainly sound unlike the instruments that they're replacing, they nevertheless seem - to me at least - to suit the pieces really well, but I don't get this sense with the Tomita. Thanks for the pointer though :)
I'll explore more, as it's certainly the sort of thing that I should like, given my fondness for both electronic and classical music.
Hmm. The best bit's right at the end, the closing couple of minutes are indeed aweinspiring - but that's after about 77 minutes of over-ecstatic tedium and maunderingly pointless vocal lines! - and I've more than had enough by then. :doh:Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
Perhaps I should just skip along to the 'good bits' - that wouldn't take long at all with Mahler's 8th. :lol:
I guess the piece just isn't for me, is it. :)
It's certainly not up to the magnificence of the 2nd, for sure.
My ratings for the Mahler's symphonies ...
1 -- 3/10
2 -- 9/10
3 -- 8/10
4 -- 3/10
5 -- 8/10
6 -- 10/10
7 -- 3/10
8 -- 1/10
9 -- 5/10
Weirdly (or not) I'd tend to agree with the above, although my favourite is the 5th by some margin.Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
I've never been a great Mahler fan, although do enjoy his songs, and Das Lied von der Erde which I've played in a couple of times.
As the *Bluffer's Guide to Music states:
'Mahler - the sort of music that you could get up and leave, then return to 20 mins later, not feeling you've missed anything'.
*A great book - not to be taken seriously of course; the more you know music, the funnier it is. :)
I'd generally agree with those ratings, Jerry, except that the 2nd is my favourite and I think you've been a bit hard on the 7th and the 9th.
tbh, I think ol' Gustav rather lost the plot after the magnificent 6th. He was beginning to get it back with the 9th, and the 10th looks like it might have been interesting but still a huge distance back from the awe-inspiring magnificence of the 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 6th symphonies.
Just my opinion. :)
Right now on CD: Shostakovich 'Piano Concertos: Jazz Suite No1 'The Gadfly''. Piano Concerto No1, for piano trumpet and strings, with Ronald Brautigam (piano), Peter Masseurs (trumpet) and The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Chailly.
Piano Concerto No2, with Cristina Ortiz (piano), with the above conductor/orchestra and also The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy, and The Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Chailly, on Decca, from 2008.
This is rather good and a little less foreboding than Shossy's normal material, but still suitably dense and dramatic in parts!
Martin, I listened to his 10th symphony, as mentioned before, on vinyl, and really enjoyed it. Rather dark and sombre, as one would expect, and utterly thunderous in parts. Definitely one to listen to loudly through very large speakers!! :eyebrows:
Marco.
I think all of Shossy's symphonies are suitable for 'big rig' reproduction with the possible exception of the 14th!
The two Piano Concertos are superb but quite different from each other. I don't know Brautigam but I would think Ortiz is well suited to the 2nd.
The 10th is simply wonderful :)
If you want to listen to a beyond-mad symphony, full of cryptic quotes and peculiar funny bits, try the 15th. I have a mad recording of it (the engineer is all over the faders) which strangely suits the mad music:
Symphony No. 15, Rozhdestvensky, USSR MoC SSO, JVC/Melodiya.
Playing a bit of Shossy myself today
Sacd - preludes & fugues michael ras on organ 5.0 multichannel
24bit MW Cd sym No7 lennigrad concertgebouw
both good window rattlers , rare versions of these i think
Nice one, Scott. Great minds think alike (or daftees never differ)! ;)
Marco.
Interesting... I'll check to see if I have his 14th.Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
Agreed! I also rather like his 11th. For Brautigam, check out his website: http://www.ronaldbrautigam.com/ Quite interesting...Quote:
The two Piano Concertos are superb but quite different from each other. I don't know Brautigam but I would think Ortiz is well suited to the 2nd.
The 10th is simply wonderful :)
Noted. I think I've got it on vinyl. I'll check!Quote:
If you want to listen to a beyond-mad symphony, full of cryptic quotes and peculiar funny bits, try the 15th. I have a mad recording of it (the engineer is all over the faders) which strangely suits the mad music:
Symphony No. 15, Rozhdestvensky, USSR MoC SSO, JVC/Melodiya.
Btw, on Saturday, Del and I are going to see the BBC National Orchestra of Wales perform Sibelius' 'Scènes Historiques, Suite No1', Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto and Beethoven's fifth symphony. Conductor for the evening will be Thomas Søndergård. Basset Clarinet will be played by Robert Plane.
Looking forward to it! :cool:
Marco.
That should be a good programme, Marco.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/28198906/Ao...01031-8024.jpg
With thanks to Jerry ;)
What do you think? - how does it compare to the version in the boxed set you have?Quote:
Originally Posted by .mus
I'll let you know how it goes - may even manage a few pics! ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
Marco.
It's rather lovely :) Very open, and well-scaled stereo image (if that makes sense) - easy to forget that it's actually coming out of the speakers, it's amazing the difference that proper mastering can make. For now I'm just enjoying it while I catch up on some reading. But I'll do a more direct comparison with box set version over the weekend and report back.Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100