What Classical Music Are You Listening To?

[soulpope]

thereof Tchaikovsky ....

[A Lark Ascending]

Just the two Liszt concertos. Nowhere near as scary as I'd expected - I always associate Liszt with 'Me! Me! Me!' celebrity helden-maestro posturing. Proved far more attractive than that.

 

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[Peter Friedman]

Op.50/1 and Op.50/2

[A Lark Ascending]

No 20

[alankin]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Concerto for Violin No.3 in G major K 216

— David Oistrakh (violin) – Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra – David Oistrakh  

 

Johannes Brahms – Concerto for Violin in D major Op.77

— David Oistrakh (violin) – Cleveland Orchestra – George Szell (EMI Classics), CD 7 from:

 

[soulpope]

[A Lark Ascending]

Marvellous. Although I can just about pick out some of the palindrome effects with my ears (and a guide book!) things like the inversions in the first movement I'd never have spotted. The colour coding helps you focus on the shapes of sections when they first appear so you can recognise them when transformed later on. Not necessary, of course, to enjoy the music and those with a technical training will get it from the score (and trained ears). But I've found this amateur site invaluable for increasing my enjoyment (I suspect his labelling of the sections is a mix of the score, analysis from scholars and a bit of projection on his part). 

Edited February 28, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[soulpope]

[Balladeer]

Carlos Assis-Brasil - Nazareth Revisitado (Tratore)

One of the greatest pianists of Brasil plays pieces by one of  his countrys greatest composers, Ernesto Nazareth

[alankin]

Igor Stravinsky – Les Noces (The Wedding) - Russian choreographic scenes with song and music
— Patricia Parker (mezzo soprano), John Mitchinson (tenor), Paul Hudson (bass), Martha Argerich (piano), Krystian Zimerman (piano), Cyprien Katsaris (piano), Homero Francesch (piano), Anne Mory (soprano)
— English Bach Festival Choir,  English Bach Festival Percussion Ensemble – Leonard Bernstein (Deutsche Grammophon)

Béla Bartók – Concerto for 2 Pianos Percussion and Orchestra Sz 115
— Martha Argerich (piano), Nelson Freire (piano), Jan Pustjens (percussion), Jan Labordus (percussion)
— Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – David Zinman (Deutsche Grammophon)

CD 10 from the DG Argerich box.

Edited February 28, 2016 by alankin

[Peter Friedman]

Beethoven - String Quartet Op.135

Schubert - Piano Sonata D.845

[A Lark Ascending]

[Peter Friedman]

[HutchFan]

Eugene Ormandy Conducts Tchaikovsky 
Symphony No. 1 "Winter Dreams" / Philadelphia Orchestra

[soulpope]

thereof Martinu Symphony 4 ....

[A Lark Ascending]

Disc 2: Lontano, Atmospheres, Apparitions*, San Francisco Polyphony, Romanian Concerto

("Ah, so this is the piece with the virtuoso tea-tray of crockery hurled into a box. Brilliantly interpreted here. Such touch! Such tone!)  

No 21 from the Workout-with-Wolfy set. 

Edited February 29, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[soulpope]

thereof Symphony 2 .... very interesting indeed ...

[Peter Friedman]

Beethoven - Violin Sonata No.8, Op.30/3

Bruckner - String Quartet in C Minor

[A Lark Ascending]

Des Canyons aux etoiles - remember reading a review of one of the first performances of this in the mid-70s and being captivated by the idea of it. A piece I've enjoyed without yet really getting to grips with it. 

Another listen to the very early Scherzo. Understandably in a very 19thC idiom but you already hear the impact of the folk song collecting. There's a fascinating section at the start of the fourth part that sounds like Petrushka-era Stravinsky...still several years in the future. Comes across more like an episodic ballet suite rather than the highly systematic pieces he would right in his maturity. Interesting to listen to once in a while if not particularly memorable.

Bliss! The first Mahler symphony I heard. Despite all the music I've listened to in the 42 years since, Mahler still seems like 'home' (well, one of several 'homes'). I'm not remotely religious but you can catch a glimpse of heaven at several points in this symphony - the wonderful mystical chords at the end of the third movement, the way the different string lines weave in the finale, the clarinet theme at the first return of the A section (last movement again) and the brass chorale when it returns towards the end. Not so sure about the timpani right at the end!    

Edited February 29, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[Peter Friedman]

Schubert - Piano Sonata D.784

Serkin Set - R. Strauss - Burleske for Piano & Orch. (Ormandy / Philadelphia Orch.)

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[A Lark Ascending]

Delius SQ off latter. 

Edited March 1, 2016 by A Lark Ascending