What Classical Music Are You Listening To?

[soulpope]

3 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Brahms: Lieder / Margaret Price, James Lockhart (Orfeo, 1984)

Lately, I've been listening to this again and again.

Not surprising at all  ....

[A Lark Ascending]

[Peter Friedman]

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, Peter Friedman said:

Superb Symphony 1 ....

[HutchFan]

2 hours ago, Peter Friedman said:

Bruno Walter's version of Brahms' Second Symphony -- from this same cycle -- was one of the key recordings that drew me into classical music.

I LOVE Walter's way with Brahms -- and his conducting in general!   No one gets at that Gemütlichkeit feeling like Walter.  

Edited September 23, 2016 by HutchFan

[A Lark Ascending]

[alankin]

Rudolf Straube 
– 3 Sonatas for Guitar and Basso Continuo: No.1 in C major
– 3 Sonatas for Guitar and Basso Continuo: No.2 in C major
– 3 Sonatas for Guitar and Basso Continuo: No.3 in F major
— John Williams (guitar), Rafael Puyana (harpsichord), Jordi Saval (viola da gamba) (Columbia Masterworks / Sony Classical)

Manuel Ponce – Prelude (1925) for guitar
Stephen Dodgson – Duo Concertante
— John Williams (guitar), Rafael Puyana (harpsichord) (Columbia Masterworks / Sony Classical), CD 12:

 
 

[Peter Friedman]

Mozart - String Quintet K.614

Widor - Piano Quartet Op.66

[soulpope]

[A Lark Ascending]

Bought this along with the other two discs in the series as part of a recent repackaging (i.e. a cardboard sleeve put round the three!....cheaper though!). Absolutely spectacular recordings in terms of sound - in a previous age they'd be used to demonstrate hi-fi. Music I've heard before but listening over the last few days these pieces really grabbed me. Perfumed modernism - alongside the post-war music you'd expect to be reminded of, Ravel, Debussy, Stravinsky, Symanowski all come to mind. With a good push these could gain a foot in the concert hall (I'm sure they appear in London but I don't recall any regional appearances this way) - they might not have the big tunes of the warhorses that return again and again but the orchestral colours and timbres are really arresting.

Looking at Seattle Symphony's other discs they seem to be pretty adventurous with their releases. Hope they do more with the lesser known American repertoire of the last century - under Schwarz they were champions of some of those pieces. Their recent Mahler 10 (with a different conductor) has had some very good reviews in the British music press. If I needed another Mahler 10 I'd be tempted.

  

The first. 

[Balladeer]

Anna Lucia Richter (soprano) & Michael Gees (p) - Liederkreis: Schumann, Brahms, Britten (Challenge)

[soulpope]

Earlier today .... :

[A Lark Ascending]

No 6. One of the most peculiar symphonies by a 'mainstream' composer. Every movement seems in a state of disintegration with some very odd interjections. A bit like Shostakovich at his most sardonic though Shosty never sustained the instability throughout a whole symphony. One I've always struggled with but it's starting to intrigue me.

Disc 3 off first: Structures, Livre 1; Le Soleil des eaux; Le Marteau sans Maître

Disc 1 off second. 

************************

The following morning:

Edited September 26, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[alankin]

Now playing:
Johannes Brahms
– Sonata for Violin and Piano No.2 in A major Op.100
– Sonata for Violin and Piano No.3 in D minor Op.108
Henryk Szeryng (violin), Arthur Rubinstein (piano) (RCA Victor Red Seal / Living Stereo – Sony Music)

 
 

Edited September 26, 2016 by alankin

[alankin]

Now playing CD 1 - The Early Recordings 1941:
Maurice Ravel – La Valse - poème chorégraphique pour orchestre
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – Le Coq d'Or: Cortège de noces (The Golden Cockerel: Wedding Procession)
Vincent d'Indy – Symphonie pour orchestre at piano sur un chant montagnard Op.25 — Maxim Shapiro (piano)
Cesar Franck – Symphony in D minor
— San Francisco Symphony Orchestra – Pierre Monteux (RCA Victor Red Seal Records / Sony Classical)

 

Edited September 26, 2016 by alankin

[A Lark Ascending]

Re; Schuman - you can hear where Adams' 'A Short Ride in a Fast Machine' came from at the end of the 3rd. 

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[A Lark Ascending]

Disc 2 of Rameau

[soulpope]

[alankin]

Now playing, CD 80 from:
Ludwig van Beethoven – Sonata for Violin and Piano No.8 in G major Op.30/3
Johannes Brahms – Sonata for Violin and Piano No.1 in G major Op.78
— Henryk Szeryng (violin), Arthur Rubinstein (piano) (RCA Victor Red Seal / Living Stereo – Sony Music)
   

[A Lark Ascending]

A wander in the woods today:

[alankin]

Now playing:
Robert Schumann – Sonata for Piano No.2 in G minor Op.22
Franz Schubert – Sonata for Piano in A major D.959
— Murray Perahia (CBS Records Masterworks – Sony Classics)