The Classical Music Guide Forums

slofstra

Or, did you see it live? If so, even better. This was my first time back to an in theatre simulcast since before the COVID pandemic. (I did subscribe to the online Met HD service for a time during the pandemic, and I may do that again.) I'm posting my impressions, not as a formal review, but just to...

slofstra

I usually post this up in December, but got a little behind the eight ball this year. This is our playlist of the best video performances of indie-folk music for the year 2023. https://gesprek.net/2024/01/19/the-arcadian-wild-number-1-on-our-2023-playlist/ It can be watched on a home theatre, or com...

slofstra

If you have access to Channel 4 in the UK, or to channel4.com, I strongly recommend this program. The idea of the show is to have various and sundry local, amateur pianists, of every age and walk of life, play in a public setting in either a mall or train station, while two critics "adjudicate" unob...

slofstra

diegobueno wrote: ↑
Tue Jan 30, 2024 8:50 am
Thank you, Henry. Now I understand. Sorry that I made you go through that.

No problem.

slofstra

Oh, brother. Such extreme ignorance. It truly is appalling. Let's just continue with your opening post, since there is no point in moving on, until that is settled. Your original post makes broad associations which have no basis in reality. You are inventing demons which do not exist. There is actua...

slofstra

Oh, brother. Such extreme ignorance. It truly is appalling.

slofstra

Jane Coop did play with our symphony on one occasion, some years ago. Over the years I've seen so many fine pianists perform with our symphony: Angela Cheng, Janina Fialkowska, Andre Laplante, Marc Andre Hamelin, Stewart Goodyear, Anton Kuerti, Angela Hewitt, Jon Kimura Parker ... One stage less for...

slofstra

My previous post speaks for itself. You think my posts are 'disgusting' and I regard that comment as pure emotion. Defending tyranny - of any kind - is what is disgusting. I didn't say Canada was those tyrannical countries; if you read what I wrote it was "this is A CHARACTERISTIC" of those kinds o...

slofstra

It's this simple. Dr. Peterson has made no damaging comments that would warrant him losing his licence. I agree that the professional body should be able to cancel his licence if they so desire, but they'd better have pretty good reasons or they bring their own organization into disrepute ; at the ...

slofstra

In light of the above, let's now look at Belle's disgusting post. Think Soviet Union, China, North Korea. This is the face of modern totalitarian Canada. >> This is beyond absurd. A person would have to be completely brain-dead, oblivious to contemporary events, ignorant of Constitutional and rights...

slofstra

It's quite simple. Peterson is a psychologist licenced for practice by the Ontario College of Psychologists. Peterson has made a number of public, controversial statements which go against contemprorary, accepted practice related to psychology. The College identified issues with his statements and r...

slofstra

Yes, it does feel like we are in the twilight of classical musical live performance. Some days. Yesterday I attended a concert of Bach cantatas performed by a local early music group, and the audience, like myself, were all seniors. And yet the players and singers were all middle-aged, perhaps in th...

slofstra

I have been somewhat a prodigal to the forum lately, partly because of a decrease in listening to classical music, and mainly, just due to a busy life. But here is one event, outside of my control, accounting for the "decrease". Earlier this Fall, on the eve of attending the first concert of the new...

slofstra

Absolutely priceless! :lol: Good line of argument, though. :mrgreen: I commend you on being a good sport, whoever you are. But clearly, you have no depth of knowledge of Canadian current events, other than what qAnon or the like is feeding you. In fact, your commentary is so ignorant that it contai...

slofstra

You are nuts.

slofstra

I have added that to my virtual library, also.

slofstra

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61pUiy0khxL._SX425_.jpg This excellent 2003 CD of Enescu's rarely recorded (This is the first CD to put all of them together.) Piano Suites features Roumanian pianist Luiza Borac in a much-anticipated release at the time. Her training and immersion in Enescu's id...

slofstra

Well, I've had a lot brewing in my head re this topic these last few days, and I'll post it piecemeal, posting by posting: For starters, before going to the classics, I'll focus first on the bedevilment of trying to listen to any complete piece/album in this assisted living complex I'm in. There's ...

slofstra

Barnes did a novel on Shostakovich? Why did I not know that, as a huge Barnes' fan? I have read six of his novels, with another 3 or 4 on the shelf. I will have to rectify this in a hurry. Thanks for the tip, inadvertent as it was. I have read the Elizabeth Wilson biography of Shostakovich, a great...

slofstra

Henry! Thank you for an interesting return post! You allude to the collection of LPs (long-playing records for people who might not know) ... yes, I have a substantial collection of them. At this point, I am attempting to find a buyer for the entire collection (i.e., no cherry-picking) . Probably n...

slofstra

Barnes did a novel on Shostakovich? Why did I not know that, as a huge Barnes' fan? I have read six of his novels, with another 3 or 4 on the shelf. I will have to rectify this in a hurry. Thanks for the tip, inadvertent as it was. I have read the Elizabeth Wilson biography of Shostakovich, a great...

slofstra

Hi Lance, I have known about your amazing collection now for quite a number of years, and some things have changed over that time. You're likely as aware of them as I am, but perhaps they're worth discussing. First is the surprising re-emergence of vinyl. I know younger folks (which now means under ...

slofstra

Very interesting, Brian. I'm always a little envious of people for whom the Met, Lincoln Center and Carnegie are almost a commonplace. Those were 'bucket list' experiences for me. But I can't complain. Our community, Kitchener-Waterloo pulls far above its weight in terms of live classical performanc...

slofstra

Barnes did a novel on Shostakovich? Why did I not know that, as a huge Barnes' fan? I have read six of his novels, with another 3 or 4 on the shelf. I will have to rectify this in a hurry. Thanks for the tip, inadvertent as it was. I have read the Elizabeth Wilson biography of Shostakovich, a great ...

slofstra

This is an edit/ change to a previous post, with a little more focus. How have your listening habits changed over the years? In terms of time available, orientation, type of music, equipment used, seating or listening room? Now in semi-retirement for a few yeare, I have been much less focused in my ...

slofstra

Per Wiki, this may have been his last solo recital in the US. Considering he lived many more years, that's quite a statement. I wonder what happened to discourage him from coming here. Could it have been the anti-Soviet demonstrations? I recall reading that Shostakovich was alarmed by some of the p...

slofstra

I had made a few notes on her CD in the Decca Vocal Recitals set which I never got around to posting. Here they are, still a bit in rough form: CD 11.wiki - Virginia Zeani (born Virginia Zehan; 21 October 1925) is a Romanian-born opera singer who sang leading soprano roles in the opera houses of Eur...

slofstra

My list will be a little different. I've attended 10-15 classical concerts per year for 40+ years now, but almost all of them were in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, many with the K-W Symphony Orchestra. Once in a while I have gotten outside our city, and particularly memorable were: - An inaugural 'Ri...

slofstra

Thanks, Brian.

At this very moment I'm enjoying the BPO New Year's Eve concert... morning here.

Happy New Year!

slofstra

The link works now.

slofstra

‘Boy feat. Kaiser Quartett’ tops our 2022 playlist at gesprek Some of you have enjoyed our playlist in previous years and we were at it again in 2022. Our tenth annual folk and acoustic playlist is complete at https://gesprek.net/2022/12/29/boy-feat-kaiser-quartett-tops-our-2022-playlist/ This year...

slofstra

Each year around this time, for 10 years now, we begin the process of finding the best folk and acoustic video performances released this past year. The first step is to produce a long list. This year it’s actually a long, long list of over 400 performance videos. It’s all good stuff, culled from th...

slofstra

The one I play most often is Tharaud. The more nuanced views of different performances are appreciated.

slofstra

Fun to read this thread from what, 15 years ago? I have no specific memory of having started this thread, so it's like a note from the past from my older self to my current self. I have purchased a modest number of Preludes sets since then. These: Keyboard Prelude (24) op 28 450-04 Anda, Geza 657-06...

slofstra

I love this box set: https://cdn-s3.allmusic.com/release-covers/400/0002/138/0002138073.jpg Me too. There was a box with everything Tafelmusik had recorded for about $50-60. Sadly out of print at this point. https://www.amazon.ca/Tafelmusik-Baroque-Orchestra-Complete-Recordings/dp/B00TLASZH0 I urge...

slofstra

I guess I'm late to the party. I much, much preferred number 2. It breathes a bit. Number 1 tries to impress through speed and loses rhythm and expression as a result. I suspect 1 is the Heifetz simply because the technical recording quality of number 2 seems recent, thus not Heifetz. I have only a ...

slofstra

Quite! I find Villa-Lobos enjoyable, but not very profound, but a good performance of "Momoprecoce" can really get the my ears perked up. I'll post that piece in just a moment for your perusal. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mjQGiqm1U8 "Enjoyable, but not profound" is a good way to ex...

slofstra

There are two complete sets of the Bachianas Brasilieras that I'm aware of. One is contained in an EMI box conducted by Batiz, and the other is with the Nashville Symphony featuring pianist Jose Feghali, a Cliburn competition winner much talked about in these pages recently. Both are excellent, IMH...

slofstra

I received the disc, catalogued and have now heard it.

I like it, but I'll add a few more comments later. Just wanted to get this out before Lance goes on vacation.

slofstra

I'm always curious about the actual numbers in these situations. Unfortunately, the entire SA Symphony web site appears to have been taken down and replaced with an 'adios amigos' letter. However, I did see this sentence in an article on the ClassicFM web site. "The symphony’s musicians had been on ...

slofstra

Thanks for posting that, Len. I plan on following all three winners, but IMHO I think Genuisheme should have won the gold. At that level of artistry, such decisions are often arbitrary, but I felt she was the more mature artist in her playing. I was also disappointed that Stephenson did not win. He...

slofstra

I'll preface this by saying that this post is meant in a light hearted manner, as was my previous one, lest I get myself into trouble. The extension of what you're saying is that, given his frequent and very public disagreements with performers on musical issues, Leonard Bernstein was a terrible con...

slofstra

I believe that the de los Angeles vocal performance mentioned is included in the EMI Icons set, which is well worth getting on its merits generally.

slofstra

Have you looked into the Bachianas Brasileiras? I understand these to be his most widely performed orchestral work. I have this set, but it's been quite a while since I've listened to it, and have nothing definitive to say. If I find time to listen later I will update my post. (I have had problems c...

slofstra

Just heard Concert Round I today. Iwas pleased with Lim and Stephenson in teh Gershwin, but Marin Alsop's pacing of Rach III interfered with the quality of the performance in my view (not Lim's fault at all!). Both pianists played as if they were ready for prime time. In fact, there was one moment ...

slofstra

https://cliburn.org/2022-cliburn-competition/schedule/ Lim - gold Geniushene - silver Choni - bronze I had been rooting for Lin, so I am pleased with the result. :lol: :lol: We were able to watch the last performance and awards on a delayed basis. And the result was accurate to our perception of th...

slofstra

Just heard Concert Round I today. Iwas pleased with Lim and Stephenson in teh Gershwin, but Marin Alsop's pacing of Rach III interfered with the quality of the performance in my view (not Lim's fault at all!). Both pianists played as if they were ready for prime time. In fact, there was one moment ...

slofstra

I managed to catch every concert complete this past week. So good of the NBA to schedule the last two games of the finals on down nights for the Cliburn. And as everyone knows I"m sure, a great championship win for Golden State. So, combined with the piano competition, it's been a good week for view...

slofstra

Yes, that's the concert I watched. The sonata 8 toward the end had some sudden melodic shifts each of several bars that gave me goosebumps and the sonata finale as a whole was scintillating. As you enjoyed the Prokofieff 8th Sonata, may I suggest also hearing his 9th ( seems hardly ever played from...

slofstra

Geniushene is capable of getting the gold. She displayed massive command in the Prokofiev 8th, but her entire recital was highly musical as well. Discovered Finalist Anna Geniushene is married to pianist Lukas Geniusas , so did hear her Semifinal recital. Indeed, some wonderful playing worth hearin...

Search found 9256 matches