The Classical Music Guide Forums

Sergeant Rock

Listening to Robert Simpson's Third Symphony, Horenstein conducting the LSO

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

Listening to Celi's Stockholm performance of Hindemith's Mathis der Maler

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

karlhenning wrote:The Viola Sonata was a smashing musical success.

Cheers,
~Karl

I'm happy to hear it went well, Karl. I'm anxious to hear the piece properly (the midi version provided a good taste but a rather distorted taste, if you know what I mean). Was the performance recorded?

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

Kubelik is Mahler-lite...and generally too fast. Abbado is too polite and emotionally constipated. The first Bernstein is a must-own for any true Mahlerite but I prefer his DG cycle. Haitink is a long-time favorite. I have his Concertgebouw cycle primarily on LP. Love it but it's never been my absol...

Sergeant Rock

While we're on the subject, are people supposed to develop an interest in classical music in order to cultivate its low end? That strikes me as making about as much sense as learning to read in order to get a lifetime of pleasure out of Stephen King. Yeah, about as much sense as learning to read an...

Sergeant Rock

danield wrote: I am mostly looking for works like Prokofiev's Sonata for Violin and Piano #1, which I love.

You'll probably like Janáček then. I suggest this recording. The Messiaen and Bartok should please you, too.

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

piston wrote: I wonder if you would contribute other examples of what you view as a perfect match between visual arts and music.

A perfect match:

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

Mark's tongue is so firmly implanted in cheek I'm surprised most of you didn't understand his post as satire. His post is a comment on recent posts here by the rabid conservative element that were critical of modern masters like Stravinsky and Bartok.

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

My first recording of the Bruckner 5th was Knappertsbusch/Vienna Phil I love that recording but unfortunately Knappertsbusch uses the Schalk edition, long discredited even during Knap's day! It's interesting as an historical curiosity though...and for the fire and passion. I taped the Thielemann/Br...

Sergeant Rock

Corlyss_D wrote:
Well, America is a virtual no-show in the field of 20th Century "classical" music.

Huh??? Ives, Ruggles, Copland, Gershwin, Barber, Harris, Diamond, Schuman, Piston, Bernstein, Carter, Herrmann, Glass, Adams, Reich, Hovhaness...the list goes on and on.

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

moldyoldie wrote:Speaking of humming along, currently listening to...

Ah, yes, Sibelius Symphonies for Hummer and Orchestra as realized by Sir Colin

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

I have known some non-musicians (all of them women for some reason) who were less than enthusiastic about Brahms even though they liked classical music in general. Has anyone else noted a gender bias in dislike for Brahms? My mother was a great pianist. I recall lots of Schumann, Chopin, Rachmanino...

Sergeant Rock

So that's what those noises were! I didn't know if it was breathing, harrumphing, or someone passing gas. :lol: A nuisance? Yes, especially on the pianissimos, but nothing more. It's not all-pervasive and not as bad as hearing the likes of Barbirolli and Barenboim groaning or Colin Davis humming al...

Sergeant Rock

Celebrated Schubert's birthday by listening to all the symphonies: Sarge Good stuff! I really need to look into Schubert's music. I familiar with some of his Lieder, and a few of his late piano sonatas (which, btw, are delicious), and of course two of his symphonies... I bet you can guess which one...

Sergeant Rock

Celebrated Schubert's birthday by listening to all the symphonies:

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

I wish Gilels would have lived long enough to complete his Beethoven set. That we have no Op.111 is a major loss.

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

Decca recorded a Beethoven cycle with Gulda in the early 1950s. That has been re-issued in Decca's Original Masters series. Apparently Universal owns the rights to the Amadeo recordings as well now as the later recordings have been re-issued by Decca and DG. John Ah, I see. Thanks for the clarifica...

Sergeant Rock

Lance Which of Gulda's versions are you referring to, the Amadeo set (now in a Brilliant boxed set, recorded in Austria in 1967) or the British Decca versions recently released in their budget-priced boxed set, or both? The original Amadeo set, now in BRILLIANT CLASSICS. ONly one weak point: the op...

Sergeant Rock

Some of you have already mentioned some "historical" recordings that you enjoy. What others on your shelf do you find wonderful to own? Just a few "historical" recordings i wouldn't want to be without because of their interpretive uniqueness and/or utter "rightness." Furtwängler, Brahms First Symph...

Sergeant Rock

Respighi is good, Harry . But Stravinsky is Magic 8) Cheers, ~Karl I'm still waiting for you to recommend a recording of Le Rossignol in which the soprano does not shreik like a Vishnevskaya. :) Boulez, BBC SO http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/hnum/4973494/rk/classic/rsk/hitlist Sarge

Sergeant Rock

I can understand that musicians are happy when their work and the audience if "their" orchestra are very successful locally and also well known abroad, because of good tours and recordings, but why are Americans so fixated on that "the best" thing? What an odd remark. Did you read the article? It b...

Sergeant Rock

Now here's a question for everyone: If both Schubert and Mendelssohn wrote what boil down to mature masterpieces at an age when Mozart had written only nice pieces of a certain precocious attractiveness (and perhaps not everybody will agree with that, but that is the premise), then what was Mozart'...

Sergeant Rock

You know, there are two categories of lurkers: Those who observe posts and threads for a time before (if ever) they post, and those who only turn up when the opportunity presents itself to insult their favorite target. Most of those in the latter category have been expelled from here, and David, I ...

Sergeant Rock

gperkins151 wrote: Or in the above case, darkened your day.

Well, it was the other thing that arrived in today's mail that brightened my day. 15 CDs for less than the price of 4:

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

gperkins151 wrote: Sounds good!

Morning, Sarge!

Hey, George. Another miserable wet day here in Germany but the post brought a bunch of goodies from jpc so that has brightened my day.

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

Just arrived from jpc. This Pettersson disc completes my CPO collection of Pettersson's work http://photos.imageevent.com/sgtrock/gmgpictures/PeteViolin.jpg The concerto is violently dissonant. He's expressing the painful environment of his poor childhood. Not for the faint-hearted or those with ten...

Sergeant Rock

I guess she also is a pianist. You guess correctly. And I guess I should be offended by your back-handed attack on Ms. Grimaud. She's one of my favorite pianists. Her interpretations are quite individual, unique, and now well-worth the modest cost. She's a real talent. Moreover, she's one of the ni...

Sergeant Rock

Just arrived today from amazon.de. I'm really enjoying the Second Quartet, the themes based on 16th and 17th Russian church song. The music alternates shockingly between sweet diatonic music that could have been written anytime before 1900, dense chormaticism, and astringent dissonance that screams ...

Sergeant Rock

Paul Hindemith - Mathis Der Maler (symphony) I would like to hear real recording - can anyone recomend me a good version, containing eventualy some more stuff from Hindemith? This is a great set; good performances; very cheap too. http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/hnum/9751911/rk/classic/rsk...

Sergeant Rock

karlhenning wrote:Schumann
Requiem für Mignon, Op. 98b

The Mignon is very beautiful. My copy was a Christmas present from Mrs. Rock.

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

Schumann Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Opus 97 Zinman / Tonhalle Coincidently I listened to the Schumann Third today, too, Karl, as I prepared dinner. Mine was a very different reading though: Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin. Extraordinary. A critic who shall remain nameless called it "a p...

Sergeant Rock

Welcome!!!! Don't miss the NAXOS Dittersdorf discs-they're fabulous. Yes, Aleks, once you stop laughing at Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf's name you'll find his music...well, let's face it, you are never going to stop laughing so I don't know what my point is. Perhaps this: after Ditters von Dittersd...

Sergeant Rock

Entire 6-CD cycle of Beethoven's symphonies and appended overtures by the London Classical Players led by Roger Norrington, again trying to decide if it's a candidate for culling to make room on the shelves. This is my fourth or fifth go-round with these. I've gotta admit, I kind of like those funk...

Sergeant Rock

Elgar Symphony No.2 and Sospiri, Jeffery Tate, the London Symphony Orchestra. This is an extremely bipolar interpretation of the symphony. The opening of the symphony, for example, thows out any pretense of "nobilmente", opting instead for a hyperactive explosion. This is an incredibly exciting begi...

Sergeant Rock

The Maazel Bruckner might have been the 5th Symphony. It was the first broadcast I taped with a new KLH open-reel recorder around 1973 or 1974 Yes!...I think it was the Fifth. I've been racking my brain, trying to dredge up a scrap of memory. I began by eliminating the symphonies that had been perf...

Sergeant Rock

Really nice thread, Sarge---I'm enjoying every post. Regarding shopping for recordings----it's true, even here in Germany record stores are yielding to online shoppers. The only one I visit often is "SATURN" in Mannheim. They have a very fine selection and I still prefer thumbing through all the CD...

Sergeant Rock

So has anyone recorded the Shostakovich orchestration of the Cello Concerto ? Cheers, ~Karl We can only hope not :D Seriously, I don't mind composers monkeying around with other composers' music...as long as we still have access to the original music. Schönberg's orchestration of the Brahms G minor...

Sergeant Rock

No churches in Moses time. How true, no synagoges as yet. But when we consider some of the great european cathedreals, the construction and architechture is breathtaking and holds one in awe...IOW a beautiful church can faciliate the emotive (spiritual for believers, the faithful) experience. It's ...

Sergeant Rock

Not sure which specific 19th century composers you have in mind. But I think its truthful to say that some romantic composers had less of a religious bent, and more towards agnostic ideas. I was thinking specifically of the Verdi, Brahms and Berlioz Requiems: I believe Verdi was an aetheist. Brahms...

Sergeant Rock

paulb wrote: I do not have an answer as I've not had the opportunity to hear Beethoven's mass in the church.

It's the music that counts, not the building. Moses heard God on a mountain top. He didn't need four holy walls and a roof.

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

If you listen to the mass and do not acheive unio mystica with the divine, transcending all worldly thoughts and being, then you haven't heard its full potential and purpose, IMHO. By Mozart's time, Christian belief was in very short supply, and the composers of the great masses of the 19th century...

Sergeant Rock

I believe Nyugen's experience is what awaits any who have the capacity to hear Schnittke's soundworld. I can understand how the romantics may be put off by his music. But to those who seek something that addresses the issues facing our world, the sufferings all around us, the perplexing ?no anser" ...

Sergeant Rock

After a great steak dinner (rare in Germany!) and a bottle of wine, I'm sitting here in a mild stupor, enjoying a glass (or two) of the Dew (Tullamore Dew) and listening to Sibelius: Luonnotar and The Bard, Gibson conducting the Scottish National.

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

I want to go to both of them, but it's in my best interest to not do both of them. I don't think I have the time to spare for two concerts considering I still have to do college apps and essays not to mention that's it's not exactly cheap going to a concert. I just want to make this time one to rem...

Sergeant Rock

J Nguyen wrote: Takes for your reply, Sarge. I'm taking it into consideration, but I'm still somewhat conflicted on my choice.

Yeah, I understand. And Jamie Laredo is worth seeing too. Too bad you can't get your folks to spring for both concerts

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

In the week ending Sat., Nov 11, 2006, I listened to the following: 5 ) 10/10 Schoenberg: Gurre-Lieder--Robert Craft, cond. Philharmonia Orch., Stephen O'Mara, tenor, Melanie Diener, soprano, Jennifer Lane, mezzo-soprano, David Wilson-Johnson, bass, Martyn Hill, tenor, Ernst Haefliger, speaker--2 C...

Sergeant Rock

I recall going to the shop in 1972, standing there with Szell's box in one hand, Solti's in the other, weighing the two, and finally choosing Solti. But I couldn't stand the sound of the Vienna oboe and I took it back the next day I hope you have developed better taste in the meantime... Nah...it's...

Sergeant Rock

Frübeck de Burgos conducting, André Watts soloist...and the LA Phil. I'd say it was a no-brainer.

Sarge

Sergeant Rock

Fifth, perhaps, in addition a really good string quartet performing the complete set of chamber works would be nice (Quartet Italiano perhaps, if they are still going) Sadly, the quartet is long defunct (as is first violin Paolo Borciani: he died in 1985). Their last recording was in 1979, I believ...

Sergeant Rock

I am not sure about the price over there, but Chailly's 2 cds made with the Royal Concertgebouw are absolutely stunning. The set mentioned above seems to be much more expensive in my local Towers than the 2 cds added up together. In Europe the three CD Brilliant box set can be had for Euro 6.99, fa...

The Classical Music Guide Forums

Search found 84 matches

Re: What are YOU listening to today?

Re: What are YOU listening to today?

Re: Henningmusick

Re: For Ralph: Finally heard a work by Dittersdorf!

Re: Suggestions/Recommendations?

Re: Matching visual arts with music: cd covers.

Re: backhaus

Re: backhaus

Re: Schumann's Anniversary, Missed and Coming

Re: Shostakivich Picks!