What Classical Music Are You Listening To?

[Peter Friedman]

[soulpope]

[A Lark Ascending]

Hadley's 'The Tree's So High' is a gorgeous piece - a long orchestral journey to the final vocal arrangement of the folk song. The other pieces on these two discs don't stick in my mind. 

No 2. Preferred it to 1 but still not music I'll rush to return to. 

I know very little Feldman but this I enjoyed greatly. Also a first listen to the Harvey, also fascinating. A composer I can't pretend to understand but who keeps drawing me back. 

Edited January 19, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[OliverM]

I finally got hold of the Boulez recordings on Columbia box set. Have listened with great delight to some Bartok, Stravinsky, Ravel and Debussy which are truly remarkable.

But this one, particularly "Amériques" played yesterday was a real discovery to me! It was too long ago that I had attempted on Varèse, but now and in this quality of interpretation!!!

[alankin]

Arnold Schoenberg – Pieces (5) for Orchestra Op.16 — Mariss Jansons 
Theo Loevendie – Concerto for Piano — Ronald Brautigam (piano) – Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – André Previn 
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Symphony No.40 in G minor K 550 — Nikolaus Harnoncourt  
— Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO Live)

 

[Peter Friedman]

Brahms - String Quartet No.2, Op51/2

Burgmuller - Symphony No.1

[soulpope]

[papsrus]

C.P.E. Bach

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Cello Concertos A Major (Wq. 172), A Minor (Wq. 170) and B Flat Major (Wq. 171)

 

I suppose I expected these three to sound broadly "the same." Pleasantly surprised that they really don't at all. Particularly with B Flat Major, there's an earnestness or tenderness that seems to set it apart. It's a more "serious" work, I think, than the first two.  

Anyways, old C.P.E. is due more listening on my part. I got the above 2-disc set mainly for the concertos, but I'm looking forward to the symphonies now.

[papsrus]

Bruckner, Symphony No. 7 (Orchestral Concert CDs)

Kurt Masur, Berliner Staatskapelle Orchestra

Recorded live at Royal Festival Hall, Nov. 17, 1967

Now, I stumbled across this recording after Masur passed away and I was flipping through some comments about him at Talk Classical. The gentleman who recorded this concert, now in his 80s and living in the Czech Republic, apparently was something of a pioneer, or at least an enthusiastic exponent, of the technique of using just two microphones hung from the rafters as a way (or as the best way) to faithfully capture an orchestra's live sound, a technique that gives a true "live" sonic picture of the orchestra without the interference of dozens of microphones and the subsequent mixing and massaging by engineers seeking to properly balance and "perfect" the sound. In other words, without adding a layer (or two) of artificiality to what actually took place.

Or at least that's the theory here.

I must say, there is a sort of "live" presence and clarity to this recording that maybe allows the nuances of the orchestra to emerge in a more natural manner than you might get with a tightly engineered live recording. Then again, maybe those are my preconceived notions. If I'd gotten this recording without knowing anything about the recording technique, I might not have readily noticed. Or I might have noticed something, but been unable to really pinpoint what it was. I will say it's just a little on the bright side, a little wanting for warmth, for my taste. But that may be just me. 

In the end, it's a worthwhile recording, not least because of Masur and the Berliner Staatskapelle. And it's Bruckner's 7th. So ...

The man has a catalog of stuff he recorded back in the day, FWIW.  OCCD.org. 

 

 

 

 

 

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[A Lark Ascending]

First signs of spring can't be far off - snowdrops - so time for an avalanche of English stuff. 

Edited January 20, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[soulpope]

thereof Strawinsky ....

[soulpope]

[Peter Friedman]

[soulpope]

[StarThrower]

An EMI France release. They spell the composer's name with an o instead of the more common u.

[alankin]

Gustav Mahler – Symphony No.9 in D major
— Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra – Sir John Barbirolli (EMI Classics)

   
 

[HutchFan]

37 minutes ago, alankin said:

Gustav Mahler – Symphony No.9 in D major
— Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra – Sir John Barbirolli (EMI Classics)

   
 

I've really enjoyed that set. The live Tennstedt Fifth in that set is FANTASTIC, as is the Barbirolli Sixth. Some of my favorite Mahler recordings.  

But I've never quite made my way into Barbirolli's Ninth. I like it, but it's not slayed me like several other M9s have.

What do you think of Barbirolli's reading of the Ninth, alankin? 

[alankin]

18 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

I've really enjoyed that set. The live Tennstedt Fifth in that set is FANTASTIC, as is the Barbirolli Sixth. Some of my favorite Mahler recordings.  

But I've never quite made my way into Barbirolli's Ninth. I like it, but it's not slayed me like several other M9s have.

What do you think of Barbirolli's reading of the Ninth, alankin? 

I like it, but haven't heard enough other versions to say how it stacks up.

I also recommend the EMI Mahler set too. (Mahler 150th Anniv. Edition, Complete Works.)  It has a lot of good performances and is available at a budget price.

[A Lark Ascending]

[Peter Friedman]

[alankin]

Ludwig van Beethoven 
– Quartet for Strings No.11 in F minor Op.95 "Serioso"
– Quartet for Strings No.12 in E flat major Op.127
Alexander String Quartet (Arte Nova—Sony Music GmbH)
[Sandy Wilson (cello), Paul Yarbrough (viola), Frederick Lifsitz (violin), Ge-Fang Yang (violin)]

      
 

Edited January 20, 2016 by alankin

[papsrus]

Brahms Symphony No. 3

Fritz Reiner, CSO