What Classical Music Are You Listening To?

[HutchFan]

Copland again. Chamber works this time:

[Д.Д.]

2 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Yes, this is true. Unlike his friends, Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya, David Oistrakh was always a "dutiful citizen" of the USSR. I'm not sure whether Oistrakh was a true believer or just appreciated the perks of being "politically reliable" (or, perhaps most likely, some combination of both). 

Well, apparently Oistrach said to Vishnevskaya and Rostropovich that unlike them "he is not a fighter". He lived through great terror of 1937-38 expecting to be arrested any night (most of the tenants in his apartment building eventually were), and this traumatized him deeply (same goes for Shostakovich who was sleeping on a camp cot right next to the entrance to his apartment so that if "they" came to arrest him in the night his pregnant wife and young daughter would not be woken up). Oistrach made a point of continuing playing Weinberg's Moldavian Rhapsody after his friend Weinberg was arrested in 1952. If not an act of active resistance, this was a principled (and potentially dangerous) stand.           

Edited February 6, 2024 by Д.Д.

[HutchFan]

1 minute ago, Д.Д. said:

Well, apparently Oistrach said to Vishnevskaya and Rostropovich that unlike them "he is not a fighter". He lived through great terror of 1937-38 expecting to be arrested any night (most of the tenants in his apartment building eventually were), and this traumatized him deeply (same goes for Shostakovich who was sleeping on a camp cot right next to the entrance to his apartment so that if "they" came to arrest him in the night his pregnant wife and young daughter would not be woken up). Oistrach made a point of including Weinberg's Moldavian Rhapsody after his friend Weinberg was arrested in 1952. If not an active resistance, this was a principled (and potentially dangerous) stand.     

Interesting.  Thanks for sharing, D.D.

I knew that story about DSCH sleeping in the hallway, but I didn't realize that Oistrakh went through that same experience during 1937-38 also.

 

[Ron S]

Haydn, String Quartets, Op. 71, Nos. 1-3

Auryn Quartet (Tacet)

[Chuck Nessa]

[soulpope]

6 hours ago, Д.Д. said:

Well, apparently Oistrach said to Vishnevskaya and Rostropovich that unlike them "he is not a fighter". He lived through great terror of 1937-38 expecting to be arrested any night (most of the tenants in his apartment building eventually were), and this traumatized him deeply (same goes for Shostakovich who was sleeping on a camp cot right next to the entrance to his apartment so that if "they" came to arrest him in the night his pregnant wife and young daughter would not be woken up). Oistrach made a point of continuing playing Weinberg's Moldavian Rhapsody after his friend Weinberg was arrested in 1952. If not an act of active resistance, this was a principled (and potentially dangerous) stand.           

Yep ....

[soulpope]

8 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Living in that sort of totalitarian state was . . . incredibly complicated. And nearly unimaginable for someone who hasn't lived through it (like me).

When the "Prague Spring" endet abruptly with Russian troops invading Czechoslovakia, some musicians of the CPO fled overnight only carrying their instruments with them.

These people received shelter @ Vienna. Many of them went on to Munich and reunited with Rafael Kubelik .... some labeled the SOBR  as "CPO in exile" at that time ...

I still remember it well ....

[soulpope]

Rafael Kubelik + VPO perform Bruckner 4 "live" @ Musikverein Wien in January 1971 ....

[soulpope]

Recorded "live" @ Philharmonie Berlin in May 2001 .... Rafael Kubelik was an early advocate for the music of Gustav Mahler and subsequently Claudio Abbado kept the revival going .... a subtle performance for sure ....

[Peter Friedman]

[HutchFan]

3 minutes ago, Peter Friedman said:

I'm a fan of both Haskil and Fricsay -- but I've never heard that album.  I bet it's good.  

What are your impressions, Peter?

 

[Peter Friedman]

25 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

I'm a fan of both Haskil and Fricsay -- but I've never heard that album.  I bet it's good.  

What are your impressions, Peter?

 

Hutchfan, I like this one. The orchestra sounds a little bit recessed, with the piano up front. However, the overall sound is fine.

As you like both Haskil and Fricsay, I can easily recommend it to you

[soulpope]

NP .... :

Recorded in November 1984 .... taken at a lower pace these are Mendelssohn performances to rave about ....

[Ron S]

Haydn, String Quartets, Op. 74, Nos. 1-3

Auryn Quartet (Tacet)

[Д.Д.]

Eric Stokes on New World

 What an excellent composer! 

Edited February 7, 2024 by Д.Д.

[Peter Friedman]

Op.44/2   and   Op.80

[Ron S]

Poulenc, Les Biches--Suite / Les Animaux modeles--Suite / Sinfonietta

Jean-Luc Tingaud, RTE National Symphony Orchestra (Naxos)

[Chuck Nessa]

Disc 3 - The Ripening

[soulpope]

Pnina Salzman plays Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin and Liszt "live" @ Tel Aviv in October 10th, 1981 ....

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, Chuck Nessa said:

Disc 3 - The Ripening

Excellent ....

[soulpope]

Recorded @ Supraphon Studios Praha in 1977 .... the CPO in full force and glory ....

[soulpope]

Recorded in September 1976 .... hard to coose between this reading and the performance from April 5th, 1977 with Symphonieorchester des Bayrischen Rundfunks (released on Audite) .... the Viennese strings are a bit silkier though ....

[Peter Friedman]

Danish String Quartet

J.S. Bach The Well Tempered Clavier Book 1, Fugue in B Minor, BWV 869

Beethoven - String Quartet Op.130

[Chuck Nessa]

[soulpope]

12 minutes ago, Chuck Nessa said:

The Fantasy for Violin featuring Josef Suk (recorded January 1984) is a true bonus here ....