Listening to the Ravel G major concerto on MHS vinyl, Daniele Dechenne conducted by Zinman, Hague Phil. Stunning music for late-night listening.
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Listening to the Ravel G major concerto on MHS vinyl, Daniele Dechenne conducted by Zinman, Hague Phil. Stunning music for late-night listening.
This afternoon it's
Respighi - The Pines of Rome, The Fountains of Rome: Rafael Fruhbeck De Burgos/New Philharmonia (Columbia Studio 2)
Ooh nice. My preferred recording is Lane/Atlanta SO on Telarc but I have several.Quote:
Originally Posted by morris_minor
This is my only one. It's kind of like Vivaldi's Four Seasons or Beethoven's 5th - every collection should have one (at least). I was looking up who else has recorded it - every man and his dog it seems. The Gramophone over the years have rated Muti quite highly for his OTT approach, and Batiz on Naxos gets mentioned in dispatches. I hadn't come across your Atlanta version . . .Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
Found a superb little book shop in Shrewsbury today that also specialises in sales of new classical CDs.
Unfortunately, I was with my parents, and so it would've been unfair of me to spend hours browsing through the stock, not to mention totally impractical, but I did head straight for the Shostakovich section and grabbed a double CD of 24 Preludes and Fugues for solo piano Op, 87, with Tatiana Nikolayeva, on the Hyperion label.
I haven't played it yet, but apparently it is a, quote: "Gramophone Award Winner Classic CD Top 100 CDs of All Time". I love solo piano music :)
So, looking forward to spinning it later! :cool:
Marco.
Congrats, Marco - that is an utterly superb pair of CDs, far & away my fave version of the music.
And the music is fantastic, too. :)
Mahler's 7th tonight
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...5/IMG_1124.jpg
I recently bought the Zinman Mahler 7 but haven't had time to listen yet. I'm afraid I've never heard the whole piece, so I'm excited to block off some time to hear it.Quote:
Originally Posted by BTH K10A
At my demo day at the Harbeth dealer today I pulled out a $1 CBS LP of David Oistrach playing the Sibelius concerto. Only one of the 5 other guys likes classical but their jaws were dropping at his cadenza. As I say to my daughter; "um, don't you thing HE practised his scales every day?"
Of late:
Jola Braga Santos symphonies 1,2, 4 & 5. On Naxos CD (1 & 5) and Marco Polo CDs (2 & 4). Very very fine large scale post-romantic symphonic music, nicely recorded. 2 & 4 are particularly wonderful.
Vaughan Williams symphonies 2 & 8. Handley on EMI CD. I thought I'd try Handley again - previously I'd not really got on with his VW symphonies. Whoa - kind of bowled over by his 2nd especially, although the 8th is very good. Have now ordered more from Handley's cycle. My tastes definitely change as tme goes by.
Malipiero string quartets. On an ASV 2 CD set. I've been impressed by some orchestral works I've invested in, so thought I'd try some chamber. Must admit, I'm having trouble getting to grips with this. They seem kind of amorphous and unstructured on first listen - MLR - more listening required!
Dussek fortepiano sonatas on DHM CD. Interesting music, but these are played by Andreas Staier, who I have never really come in tune with. Good technique (well, OK, superb technique!) but a bit soulless.
Prokofiev on vinyl,
Alexander Nevsky, conducted by Eugene Ormandy with the Philadelphia Orchestra on RCA Red Seal
Found it in a charity shop yesterday, 99p...mint and stunning sound.
Nigel
:wow:
I've liked E.J.Moeran's Symphony in G minor ever since I bought Neville Dilkes recording of it back in the 80s, and followed it with with Tod Handley's Ulster version and Boult's splendid recording on Lyrita.
Quite by chance I came across this:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg
Moeran's sketches for his 2nd Symphony have been completed (Payne-like) by Martin Yates, who conducts the RNSO on this Dutton recording.
This is a spectacular success IMO and well worth a listen if you're attuned to 20th Century British music. Yates has captured Moeran's idiom perfectly - melody/harmony/scoring could have been by the man himself. With an overture orchestrated from a piano score (based a lot on the G minor symphony), and an orchestration of a John Ireland piano suite, this disc is full of wonderful music and heartily recommended. :thumbsup:
Details here.
Vinyl finds, yesterday, nothing exotic; but, half pound each, mint condition and sounding very nice, indeed... :)
Rachmaninoff Concertos Nos. 1 and 4
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Andre Previn, cond.
Leonard Pennario, piano
RCA Victor Red Seal LSC-2788
Handel Water Music (Complete)
Bath Festival Orchestra / Yehudi Menuhin, cond.
Angel S 36 173
Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade
London Symphony Orchestra / Pierre Monteux, cond.
London Treasury Series STS15158
The Zinman Mahler recordings are excellent. Is yours on SACD? I find his recording of the 1st symphony magical. I'ts one of those recordings that impels you to play it often.Quote:
Originally Posted by JJack
The Maazel cycle is very good too.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...5/IMG_1137.jpg
Andy
Thanks Bob - I've just ordered this from Dutton. :thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by morris_minor;282679[B
Curiously, Amazon list it as being available from 12 Jan at a rather higher cost than Dutton! :scratch:
Hope you like it Jerry! I got mine from Amazon at the same price as Dutton :scratch: .Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
My 7 is from that same series as your 1st. Just listened to my Kubelik 1st yesterday (paired with Wayfarer Songs sung by some hack German baritone, Fisher-something-or-other;);Quote:
Originally Posted by BTH K10A
Oooo, this is nice.
Dvarionas violin concerto.
Who?
Just listen ;)
That is nice, Jerry. I've never heard of him.
Is that a blue label Angel? I have dozens and I've had no luck with them in the past.Quote:
Originally Posted by WOStantonCS100
However, I just sold my expensive cart and plopped in a $60 Shure 97xe and I'm finally getting some music out of those Angels. Just had a listen to two of Schwartzkopf's 4 Last Songs; I'm thrilled that I'm finding some music in those grooves, rolled-off top end and all.
I know the STS (orange?) will sound great.
http://www.qualityquest.ca/LP14/LP18088.jpg
Listening to the balls-to-the-wall Shostakovich 13 under Kondrashin on Melodiya LP. After I sang a 13th I never listened to Tschaikovsky the same way again.
I think I need to go on a buying spree of Moscow and Leningrad Philharmonic recordings while they're still available. No one has every played like these people did.
That's a stunning symphony, Jack. My personal favourite is the Andre Previn 13th, he has a special understanding of Shostakovich and that old EMI recording is excellent, unnerving and with real menace.
This afternoon:
Various orchestral pieces by Ravel - Previn/LSO (EMI) and Paray/Detroit SO (Mercury)
Shostakovitch - Violin Sonata. Oistrakh/Richter.
Yay! My hometown band.Quote:
Originally Posted by morris_minor
It was the DSO that I sang with in the Shostakovich 13 that I mentioned a few posts back, with Neeme Jarvi conducting
Hacks.Quote:
Originally Posted by royzak
;)
I'm not sure I can take any more menace than Kondrashin, but I will be on the lookout for a copy of the Previn, thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
Cool! :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by JJack
Now, on vinyl:
Schönberg - Verklarte Nacht, Streichtrio Op.45. Phantasy fur Violine und Klavier Op.47, with the Schönberg Ensemble, on Phillips from 1986.
Marco.
:)Quote:
Originally Posted by JJack
Edgy stuff, Marco. How do you find it?Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco
Cage 4'33"
I may also attempt a live performance of this most difficult of works later in the evening. My instrument will be the piano. :piano:
I find that reproduction of this difficult work is improved by turning all amplification off.Quote:
Originally Posted by BTH K10A
As I wanted a perfect presentation with real depth to the soundstage I pulled the mains plugs from the sockets too.Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
:rfl:Quote:
Originally Posted by BTH K10A
ROFLMAO :eyebrows:
I like it, Martin. It's rather dark and brooding, but that appeals to me. There's some very nice violin playing, and the recording quality is superb.Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
It's my first taste of Schönberg, and I'm very happy with it :)
Marco.
This afternoon:
- Rachmaninov - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Piano Concerto No.2: Jean Phillipe Collard, Orchestra of the Capitole, Toulouse/Michel Plasson (Pathe Marconi/EMI)
- Elgar - Symphony No.2: LPO/Boult (EMI)
Doubly nice because Richard from Vantage had brought my newly serviced SL7 back this morning and I christened the new Jico SAS stylus I got for my P22 :).
Beethoven - Sonata in C Minor,Op 13.(Pathetique). Solomon.
Thea Musgrave, supposedly influenced by Schoenberg
[IMG]http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...5/IMG_1145.jpg[/IMG]
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTH K10A
Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
:hmm: 4'33" of silence?Quote:
Originally Posted by BTH K10A
Nah, of course not!
You miss the point. ;)
The pianist walks onto the platform and sits at the piano as if about to play.
Cage wanted to capture the undeniable tension and ambience in a concert hall of the period just prior to music starting.
So having the power turned off defeats the object! .... Cage wanted you to hear the gradually diminishing audience noise as the tension mounts, as part of the effect.
Although the whole effect is reduced on the hifi at home.
It was an interesting idea, investigating an aspect of the concert hall musical experience not previously addressed.
Curiously, it is perhaps the one musical "composition" that really needs to be experienced live in a concert hall as part of an audience. A hifi just doesn't cut it!
Much maligned.
Understandably so! :)
OK, yeah, it is weird! :eyebrows:
_____
You could do the same with non-classical music. Only it could run for much longer and be even more effective (affective?) .... Imagine the start of a rock concert with the huge foot-stomping excitement building up in a packed stadium .... after 10 minutes or so of increasing tension and anticipation, the band runs on stage, the crowd erupts in excitement and enthusiasm.
The end. .... Apart from the ensuing riot by disgruntled fans, of course! :lol:
Come on, anyone who has attended live music of any sort knows that this kind of pre-musical tension is very real and a genuine part of an enjoyable live musical experience.
Kudos to John Cage for having the insight to investigate it in one of his works. :thumbsup:
Vaughan Williams - Sea Symphony. EMI CD - Handley, Liverpool PO & Chorus.
Hmm. Bit of a mixture, this. Magnificently wonderful music, of course. Handley's pretty good overall, but the tension does slacken into mere note-spinning now & then. And the baritone isn't really up to it, and the chorus have their off-key moments.
Very dynamic recording that demands to be played loud.
Haitink and his EMI engineering team do it so much better, tbh.
Handley is enjoyable nonetheless - but I doubt I'll play this one again.
I rarely play mine, preferring Boult - but it's the least played, anyway, of the RVW cycle.Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
Do you have Richard Hickox's "London" on Chandos, Jerry? With the cuts VW made restored.
This morning -
Various Vivaldi concertos from a number of Argo LPs - Marinner/ASMF.
Now -
Moeran's "Second Symphony" as per a few posts ago. Definitely repays repeat listens :)
Some odds 'n' sods:
Philip Glass - 'Violin Concerto', 'Company' and 'Akhenaten'
Adele Anthony, violin. Ulster Orchestra cond. Tako Yuasa.
Naaxos 8.554568
Jean-Phillipe Rameau - 'Overtures and Suites'
Orchestra of the 18th Century, cond. Frans Bruggen; Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, cond, Gustave Leonhardt and New Philharmonia Orchestra, cond. Raymond Leppard.
Philips 468 169-2
Beethoven - 'Symphony No. 3' and 'Coriolan Overture'
Wiener Phiharmoniker, cond. Claudio Abbado.
1987 DGG 419 597-2
Berlioz -'Symphonie Fantastique'
Berlin Philharmoniker, cond. Karajan.
1975 DGG 2530 597
Haydn - 'Symphonies 94 and 101'
Berlin Philharmoniker, cond. Karl Richter
1970 DGG SLPM 138782
Tchaikovsky - 'Symphony No. 5'
Berliner Philharmoniker, cond. Karajan
1976 DGG 2530 699
I still have equipment on demo at my house, so I've been listening to a lot of stuff (often, alas, not complete works as I'm "evaluating" and not just listening).
Beethoven 5, Walter/CSO on SACD
Schubert 8, Walter/NY on SACD (entire work)
Beethoven Op 127, Italian Quartet, on vinyl (entire work)
Brahms Piano concerto 1, Kovacevich/Sawallisch/London Phil on EMI CD (entire work)
Gieseking, some Debussy preludes on the incredible 4-CD EMI set. A must-have and one of the best mono recordings ever.
Mravinsky, Wagner orchestral pieces on Erato CD. The Lohengrin Act 1 prelude, maybe the most intense soft string playing I've ever heard. I'm going to play it again right now (1:10 am)
Mravinsky, Tschiakovsky 5 on Russian disc CD, 1983 recording. Snippets of other pieces from this double-disc set.
Liturgy of St. John, Slavyanka on HM CD. Sam Tellig raved about these guys once. I didn't care for this disc.
Canteloube songs of the Auvergne, Upshaw/Nagano on Erato CD. Wow.
Lots more but I'll stop there. I've been comparing a Naim Supernait to a Luxman 505u, and having LOTS of fun playing with this expensive stuff. One of them is going back next week. Hopefully I can get a good price on the other one.
Ditto - my copy arrived yesterday.Quote:
Originally Posted by morris_minor
Yup, interesting, but more listening required. :) A nicely ear-catching opening, and a sound definitely reminiscent of Moeran's only completed symphony - you are definitely in the same musical world here! I look forward to becoming more familiar with this - thanks for the reccie, Bob!
Also ...
Malipieri string quartets again. Hmmm, these are definitely growing on me! :thumbsup: They kind of remind me of the Villa Lobos string quartets, and that is praise of a high order from me.
Vaughan Williams Symphony #8. Handley, EMI CD.
Hmm. Handley doesn't quite do it in RVW, does he? :scratch: Lots that is good, but also bland patches, and it doesn't cohere as a whole musical experience.
I much prefer Handley's Elgar. :thumbsup:
And to end the evening on an entirely positive note - a Weiss Solo Lute sonata - on Naxos CD. Bliss, pure bliss. :) the sound quality on this series is near perfect, too - the transient rich but mellow sound of a solo lute captured, nicely focussed, in an entirely believable acoustic space. Fab!
Ummmm .... can I put in a plea here? :)
How about more folk doing some commentary on what you've heard?
Knowing that someone has listened to, say, Roger Norrington conducting Brahms 3rd symphony is mildly interesting.
But knowing what they thought of it would be interest of an entirely more interesting kind! ;)
How about it folks, at least for some of the things you list? Should I rush onto Amazon and order it? - or should I steer clear? And why?! What performances have you heard that you prefer, what 's the sound quality like ....? etc etc.
Some folks are doing this already, good on yer! :thumbsup:
____
To be honest, endless lists of what had been listened to without much, if any, commentary is what killed off the Wigwam forum's classical "spinning today" equivalent thread.
Will try harder :rolleyes:. Think quality over quantity maybe . . :scratch:Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
Just about to put on "13 Faces of Lightning Head" for the first time . . oh, wrong thread . .:lol:
Just listened to this. It's first outing in about 10 years I think :scratch:.Quote:
Originally Posted by morris_minor
What a stunning piece! Exciting, manic climaxes, moody woodwind melodies, and a spooky coda with a real cock-a-snoop final note on the celesta (?). No wonder the authorities came down on him! This performance was recorded in 1962 only year after its first performance - some 25 years after it was composed.
The Soviet recording is a bit rough and ready in places; there's some tape wobble, and a few pre-echoes, but nothing to get hung up on. Russian orchestral tone adds "authenticity" - hollow woodwind, fruity brass with a bit of extra vibrato/tremolo, and gutsy strings.
My copy cleaned up nicely, and sounded good with the new Sony XL-MC104P cartridge I got yesterday - will definitely do a needledrop of this for my "other devices" . . . :eyebrows:
Edit: was that better Jerry? :)
Oh well - no more posts from me then!Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
Oh dear. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
Don't you have opinions that you would be kind and generous enough to share, Barry?
I thought that was what forums were about - sharing opinions / thoughts / views / experiences / recommendations.
Anyway, you don't have to do what I suggest. I've not been made King yet. ;)