Spinning Today (Classical version)

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My first Tosca, and one of my first opera sets. Still one of my favourites.

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I saw Sol Gabetta play the Elgar in Middlesbrough a few weeks ago, and it was mesmerising. The recording is up there with the Du Pré/Barbirolli for me. Not as tempestuous perhaps, but plenty of bite and life and very touching.

^ thanks for the tip, Malcolm. :)

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Gosh. She's good. :thumbsup:

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Woo! - it's a good'un.
There's a sense of majesty with Karajan.
And the vocal soloists - mein Gott - Janowitz, Wunderlich, Ludwig, Fischer-Dieskau. :scratch: not bad. :D
So different from my usual Hogwood it could be a different piece.
But that's fine, I can enjoy both.

I went to the concert with my friend Anthony, and we were listening to the Julian Lloyd Webber/Yehudi Menuhin CD a few days later which, although very nice (and winner of many plaudits and awards) felt really rather flat after Ms Gabetta's performance. Her CD captures much of what was special 'live' in my opinion.

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Magnificent.
I have an earlier Mahler 6 recording by Inoue, on the RPO's own CD label. That one is one of my faves, too.

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I think this was originally the soundtrack to Meeting Venus. It's a shame they didn't record the whole opera, as Kiri Te Kanawa is lovely in Elisabeth's two solos. There is also the briefest glimpse of Waltraud Meier as Venus in the finale. I'm not sure if she recorded the role complete elsewhere.

Quite a lot of Kabalevsky yesterday as part of my duty as this month's classical album choice provider on another forum ...

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https://open.spotify.com/album/4sBsZyQHlYTfy5Em68kDjR
The 2nd reminds me a lot of Shostakovich's 2nd cello concerto (not a bad thing at all!) but the 1st is a joyous romp with Russian folk tunes. Great fun!

Then the cello in seriously melancholic mood ...

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https://open.spotify.com/album/26waHsgEXy3cX9wkRezF3N

Then some fine piano concertos ...

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https://open.spotify.com/album/3lgMRtajonWn58fFDVnpH1

:thumbsup:

Hah ! I can check out most of the classical albums which you guys recommend on here because I now have Spotify Premium . I've even saved quite a few , absolutely wonderful . You'll convert me to classical music yet Jerry . TBH as I get older my taste in music is shifting more towards this kind of stuff , so keep the recommendations coming sir . :)

Thanks for the encouragement, Brian. :thumbsup:

I've loved classical since I was a wee nipper. My parents won a whole bunch of classical LPs in a competition - they barely played them but at the tender age of about 5 I got hooked!

-- do the Spotify links I give work for you? Are they useful?

The link either asks me to sign in via Facebook ( which I don't use ) or sign in via my email address Jerry , which is a bit of a faff TBH . I don't need to sign in to Spotify on my server , I just click on the icon on my desktop and up it comes . I then just key in the name(s) of the artist and I can usually easily find the album you are linking to . I find it much easier that way . Anyway , I'm getting a bit more of an education regarding all things classical on this thread , and I've been thoroughly enjoying the process . Keep up the good work :D

I remember , when I was a little boy , sitting on the floor in my grans house listening to Scheherazade by Rimsky Korsakov on her old radiogram . IIRC it was a 78 RPM recording ( showing my age now :) ) . I would sit there for hours playing it over and over . I found this music totally spellbinding and still do today :D