The Classical Music Guide Forums

Febnyc

Peter Benoit - Hoogmis (Missa Solonelle)

Febnyc

Whoa! That "Figaro" is incredibile!

Febnyc

Now that's what I call the way to present an opera. I know there are many critics of the Zeffirelli stagings, but I love them. Lush backgrounds, brilliant period costuming and armies of people treading the boards. Lavish, big-boned, true to the original conception and a pleasure to watch and hear. B...

Febnyc

Yes, I should have mentioned Rossini (and Chopin). That's the problem with a list like this: as soon as I've written something I regret it. Exactly - lists are sort of useless and boring. When I started this topic I presumed there would be some discussion as to why rather than simply lists of names...

Febnyc

lennygoran wrote: ↑
Fri Mar 01, 2024 7:56 am

Febnyc wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 29, 2024 8:01 pm
We should include Rossini, no?

Frank definitely and his friend Donizetti! Regards, Len

You're right - not one without the other.

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Lance wrote: ↑
Fri Mar 01, 2024 12:02 am
Well, ROSSINI appeared on MY list!

Oops - mea culpa.

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I love Atterberg's symphonies and the Sixth is wonderful, this is a superb recording: Have you heard his tone poem Älven - The River ? So evocative, in the manner of Smetana's Die Moldau . A perfect companion to the wonderful Atterberg symphonies. No I haven’t, thanks for the heads up. I must get a...

Febnyc

Seán wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 29, 2024 6:59 pm

I love Atterberg's symphonies and the Sixth is wonderful, this is a superb recording:

Have you heard his tone poem Älven - The River? So evocative, in the manner of Smetana's Die Moldau. A perfect companion to the wonderful Atterberg symphonies.

Febnyc

We should include Rossini, no? First of all, today's his birthday (leap year baby). Secondly, besides his huge output of ebullient operas (never a dull moment in them), there are: his bubbling String Sonatas (written at the age of 12!); the piano pieces and the sacred music I know - Petite Messe Sol...

Febnyc

Joachim Stutschewsky (1891-1982) was a Ukranian composer who barely escaped the Nazi onslaught in 1938 (he was living in Austria) and emigrated to Palestine. His music abundantly echoes the sound of his adopted land (Israel), his collection of Jewish folklore and it features his own instrument, the...

Febnyc

Americana for Solo Winds and String Orchestra Howard Hanson/ERSO Mercury 1953 mono LP MG 40003 https://ia801400.us.archive.org/20/items/americana-for-solo-winds-and-string-orchestra/DSCN3737.JPG?cnt=0 https://archive.org/details/americana-for-solo-winds-and-string-orchestra/01+The+Winters+Past+-+Rh...

Febnyc

Americana for Solo Winds and String Orchestra Howard Hanson/ERSO Mercury 1953 mono LP MG 40003 https://ia801400.us.archive.org/20/items/americana-for-solo-winds-and-string-orchestra/DSCN3737.JPG?cnt=0 https://archive.org/details/americana-for-solo-winds-and-string-orchestra/01+The+Winters+Past+-+Rh...

Febnyc

Joachim Stutschewsky (1891-1982) was a Ukranian composer who barely escaped the Nazi onslaught in 1938 (he was living in Austria) and emigrated to Palestine. His music abundantly echoes the sound of his adopted land (Israel), his collection of Jewish folklore and it features his own instrument, the ...

Febnyc

Thanks for the responses - and there seems to be more or less a consensus on "trusted" composers. Not surprising...

Febnyc

To go along with the Bond films - here's one which documents the Bond music. It's really great.

http://tinyurl.com/fubhjfkw

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Very nice.

For a nocturne it is not overly saccharine - with some very slightly-heard dissonance in the chords of the opening section.

Another composer - with a long list of works - who has been relegated to oblivion.

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We are filling up a thread about music we don't like. Well, how about looking at the other side of that coin and thinking about composers whose music we would trust blindly - in other words that we know we'll enjoy anything from their pen? I would start with a meager few: Haydn - always a source of ...

Febnyc

Belle wrote: ↑
Tue Feb 27, 2024 7:16 pm
And they make the racial arguments because it's the zeitgeist, and expected of them!!

Hmmm...perhaps so.

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Ira's lyrics - across all of George's songs - are second to none (well, maybe Cole Porter's wit takes the ribbon?). But in the case of today's drivel - these lyricists are indeed Shakespearean in comparison. What I don't get about the Rhapsody in Blue contretemps is the continued references to "blac...

Febnyc

Returning to the topic of this thread, while musing about the Shostakovich Quartets, I could chalk up on my "don't like" list the Bartók six. I never can get through to the core - where I believe the Hungarian "folk element" is supposed to lie. I know about all the praise heaped upon them, and the f...

Febnyc

maestrob wrote: ↑
Tue Feb 27, 2024 6:29 pm
Second the motion.
#8 was arranged for string orchestra by Rudolph Barshai, which might be a good place to start.

For sure, that Barshai orchestration, in my opinion, gives heft and body to that great quartet.

Barshai also orchestrated Nos. 3 and 4 - equally as interesting.

Febnyc

Same here with Elgar except I do enjoy the Cello Concerto greatly, but do not connect with the Violin Concerto.His Piano Quintet is also great. Also agree on the S-S PC's. Nos.1,3,4 are under-played I think, and the final movement of the 4th (4th might be my fav of the 5 ) could almost be a French ...

Febnyc

I don't cotton to the Elgar Cello Concerto either. It's consoling to see that I am not alone - always thought I was missing something. But I do enjoy most of Elgar's music. I like the pomp and British-ness of his symphonies (I also enjoy Parry and Rubbra, for much the same reasons - and Holst, as we...

Febnyc

And, for what it's worth, I cannot agree with those who put down Richard Strauss and, particularly, An Alpine Symphony. (Also, Ein Heldenleben - but that's a different reply.) Perhaps I'm a Philistine, but I very much enjoy tone poems and Strauss was a master at musical picture-painting. In my opini...

Febnyc

Excellent! Thank you. I've marveled at Khachaturian's ability in his ballets to go so effortlessly from martial-sounding, chest-thumping, blood-stirring movements into episodes of utter melting beauty. It happens in Gayaneh and, for me, most strikingly in Spartacus. The Adagio of Spartacus and Phryg...

Febnyc

Eugen Suchoň (1908-1993) really is below the radar today. Thanks for the tip,my first hearing of him.Listened at YT to his Metamorphosis from the Chandos cd, as well as 2 solo piano works, Small Suite,Op.3 and Balladic Suite,Op.9. All very enjopyable and interesting.All would play well at concerts,...

Febnyc

(PS - the Marco Polo label recorded the twelve symphonies of Alexander Moyzes - which languish, essentially unknown - which is a shame for such a powerful cycle of works. Worth a listen, too!) Thanks again ! Again my first knowledge.Heard these gems of Moyzes which will definitely warrant re-hearin...

Febnyc

Eugen Suchoň (1908-1993) really is below the radar today. But he was an important Slovak composer during the twentieth century - along with Alexander Moyzes and Ján Cikker. Thanks to Chandos we can hear some of what he wrote before he turned to serialism. These pieces are romantic, chromatic and are...

Febnyc

Unless I missed it in that impressive list of compositions, I'd definitely include the lovely Violin Concerto of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor - plus his exquisite Romance in G for violin & orchestra.

The latter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcZYqaTB37k

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I've listened to that Bohème so often that the CD booklet has fallen apart.

Next to the Callas/DeStefano Tosca, it's the finest opera recording I know.

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Thanks, got it.

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American composer Peter Boyer (b. 1970), whose music I've enjoyed on disc, in 2010 wrote this work as a commission from the Boston Pops for their 125th anniversary. I heard some of it this evening while I was driving in the car. I guess I'm a born sucker for this saccharine, patriotic stuff - and so...

Febnyc

Leonid Sabaneev (1881-1968) composed these two Piano Trios just before and then after the Russian revolution and civil war. Agree, I have had this cd a couple years now.Wonderful music, at YT , too, I believe. Genuin released, I believe, two CDs of his piano music. I listened to samples on their we...

Febnyc

You just don't get the sudden impact of a CD. Still, I find it good enough for an intelligent preview. You said it better and more concisely than I could have. I use the short samples in the websites of the vendors, or the labels themselves, to preview and see if the unknown-to-me music fits in my ...

Febnyc

The interesting Leipzig-based label, Genuin, about 10+ years ago produced a series of CDs called Unerhört, which featured never-before-heard recordings of 19th and 20th century piano and chamber music. Leonid Sabaneev (1881-1968) composed these two Piano Trios just before and then after the Russian ...

Febnyc

Belle wrote: ↑
Sun Feb 18, 2024 7:06 pm
Now THAT has got to be something special!!

Indeed! Give it a listen.

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Superb performances, brilliant sound. My speakers had a workout this afternoon.

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Rach3 wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 15, 2024 6:29 pm

Lance wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 15, 2024 4:18 pm
Underrated pianist in my view.
Agreed.

Seconded (or, perhaps, thirded?)
I have a disc of Pizarro performing some Scriabin mazurkas. Brilliant!

Febnyc

A pleasant hour of Alfredo Piatti (1822-1901) - cellist (with a fine Stradivari cello named for him), teacher and composer. This disc is of interest to those of us who love the sound of the cello. The pieces are sentimental, and take one back to the antimacassar-lined drawing rooms of the nineteenth...

Febnyc

Lance wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 15, 2024 5:09 pm
Ah - NYC in those grand old days It was all fun, too. I would stay at my sister's lovely apartment on East 70th Street, enjoy the cafes and restaurants. Where have those days gone?

Yes, Lance - nice memories.

Febnyc

I fondly recall in 1964 visiting in person The Record Hunter store on 5th Ave. in midtown NYC and acquiring the RCA box of the Brahms Violin Concerto with Heifetz/Reiner/CSO. Record Hunter used to send out a catalog my parents received That was a great place to spend a couple of hours, just rummagi...

Febnyc

Gosh! I miss those free concerts at MSM. When we lived in Manhattan 20 years ago we would attend so many of them - and this one looks awesome. Thanks for the memories!

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Interesting issue. I do not stream at all. Just as I do not read books on a tablet or other device. I like to be hands-on. Holding a book, turning the pages, feeling its heft. Similarly, with music. Unfortunately, I no longer own any vinyl. I listen exclusively to CDs and need to have the program no...

Febnyc

In Annadale-on-Hudson, in New York State, you will find Bard College.Now - there's a lot to chew on this summer up at Bard. Frank over the years we've been to Bard many times for the operas-it's an awesome opera house designed by Gehry-since Covid we haven't been there-many of the operas they do ar...

Febnyc

Indeed, some very interesting programming you show. I just might like to travel the 105 miles from Binghamton NY this August to attend the Bard festival. Appreciate knowing about this. I hope you can make the trip, Lance. Here's the program for this year's festival: https://fishercenter.bard.edu/wh...

Febnyc

In Annadale-on-Hudson, in New York State, you will find Bard College. With a beautiful vista at the Catskill Mountains, and overlooking the Hudson River, Bard offers its students an idyllic place to learn and socialize. For we music lovers, one of the shining elements of Bard is its music festival. ...

Febnyc

Those of us who know the music of the Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) would enjoy this CD of transcriptions of his own approach to the classic tango. Piazzolla went beyond its dance form and pushed it into a concert-like medium - lush, luxuriant and sometimes edging toward atonality...

Febnyc

Great performances, and superb sound quality. My Boston Acoustic speakers got a workout this evening! Kudos to a 30-year old CD engineered by Ralph Couzens at Chandos.

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You clearly haven't read my last reply on this thread. Read it now. Thanks for your kind words. Nevertheless, I'm afraid I took this discussion somewhat off course by introducing the transcriptions to orchestra - for which I apologized in my initial post. The answer to the question, as far as I'm c...

Febnyc

"But why would you want to even try to emulate the orchestral sound of Rach's Symphonic Dances on the piano? What's the point? The orchestration is superb and the performances frequent. It is well represented on recordings." But composers very reguarly did transcriptions - Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorak...

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