What Classical Music Are You Listening To?

[soulpope]

Earlier today .... :

[Alexander Hawkins]

On 26/07/2018 at 8:49 AM, king ubu said:

Not following this thread regularly these days ... but so glad to hear you enjoy Weissenberg! My entrance point was the EMI Icon box (which bears the utterly stoopid subtitle "The Champagne Pianist"), which is full of good stuff. I can very much relate to how you describe the Scarlatti, and I found it unexpectedly good (I was on the fence about buying this DG set for a long while, but I've been glad to have it for quite a while now! Of the three easy-to-obtain sets, I think I still prefer the ICON over the others (RCA and DG), but they're all worthwhile for sure.

Speaking of Scarlatti, do you happen to have the big Aldo Ciccolini box @Alexander Hawkins? Not much Scarlatti in there, but the few sonatas I enjoyed a lot. Same in fact for Marcelle Meyer, who is a great champion of French repertoire, but some of the other stuff in the box containing her recordings (EMI, 17 discs - by now there's a rip-off on Documents/Membran) was surprisingly good I found - Scarlatti, and also some of the (limited) German repertoire (there's some Mozart I think, haven't played any from that box for quite a while).

Yes, much appreciated your tip off on Weissenberg - sent me back to the very little I knew, and now investigating more! Ciccolini: I don't know the box. In fact - I think perhaps the only Ciccolini I know is his Satie...

Funny you should mention Meyer - I was blindfold tested with some of her Bach recently from the big EMI box, and really enjoyed it. I don't have the box, but made a note to myself to investigate more!

On 27/07/2018 at 11:18 AM, king ubu said:

And myself, after chatting with @Alexander Hawkins a few months ago, I decided to check out Martha Argerich some more ... and indeed, even if some of that I hear is not exactly how I'd envision it or how I prefer to hear it from experience with other recordings, I'm quite stunned again and again! Played some Chopin first, including the 24 (plus 2) Préludes and the third sonata, and now the disc below.

 

Love her Chopin preludes...that last one (the d minor) is pretty unbelievable in her hands!

Now (from the DG box): 

[Balladeer]

"Music from the last Century" - Reinecke Trio plays Frank Zappa, Alfred Uhl, Jean Francaix and Gordon Jacob (Bongiovanni Records)

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

Thereof 132 + 133 ....

[soulpope]

[MomsMobley]

arcangelo corelli op 5 x enrico gatto / ensemble aurora

 

[soulpope]

Earlier today .... :

The insights offered by Eichhorn`s late career  Bruckner recordings as result of lifelong experiences .... "must have" for Bruckner aficionados ....

[soulpope]

[Alexander Hawkins]

The art of melody in 51 steps.

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, Alexander Hawkins said:

The art of melody in 51 steps.

A recent excellent addendum to the Janacek discography ...

[JSngry]

Gonna be here for a while, maybe. So different from Zuzana Ruzicková in so many ways...these two will be my "sample size" for now, although at some point, that will want to change.

No matter,  just getting inside this one piece could take up all the time there is...fascinating.

 

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[Alexander Hawkins]

[soulpope]

Haydn "The Late Piano Sonatas" Alain Planes (Harmonia Mundi)   2009 

[paul secor]

13 hours ago, Alexander Hawkins said:

  -  I like this performance very much, though it's the only one I've heard.

[JSngry]

The Janacek string quartets are the type of thing that I'll gladly hear different groups play. Marvelous works full of possibilities.

You might or might not like the Emerson Quartet's reading. They're "edgy" in a good way, imo, because this is edgy music, if not always overtly, then definitely in root inspiration.

[Alexander Hawkins]

5 hours ago, JSngry said:

The Janacek string quartets are the type of thing that I'll gladly hear different groups play. Marvelous works full of possibilities.

You might or might not like the Emerson Quartet's reading. They're "edgy" in a good way, imo, because this is edgy music, if not always overtly, then definitely in root inspiration.

I'll take a listen, thanks - I don't have that version. I have to confess - I virtually always reach for Czech quartets with Janacek, but of course I'm definitely open to others.

p.s. fwiw, for my money - I think I'd say these pieces *are* overtly edgy!

[JSngry]

22 minutes ago, Alexander Hawkins said:

I'll take a listen, thanks - I don't have that version. I have to confess - I virtually always reach for Czech quartets with Janacek, but of course I'm definitely open to others.

Can't go wrong with that strategy, nor with the Supraphon label. Emerson is decidedly "non-Czech", which is a deal breaker for some. But I like what they do with these (and with other things as well, especially the Bartoks).

[Alexander Hawkins]

2 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Can't go wrong with that strategy, nor with the Supraphon label. Emerson is decidedly "non-Czech", which is a deal breaker for some. But I like what they do with these (and with other things as well, especially the Bartoks).

Yes, I enjoy their Bartok. (And on Supraphon - amen!)

[Peter Friedman]

Molique - String Quartets Vol.1, Op.18/1 & Op.18/2 - Mannheimer Streichquartett

[Alexander Hawkins]

Can't think of a version of no.1 I enjoy more!

 

[soulpope]

3 hours ago, Alexander Hawkins said:

Can't think of a version of no.1 I enjoy more!

 

Karel Ancerl rules ....