What are YOU listening to today?

[James]

Op. 116-119 (77'09)
love these works of Brahms, some of his most unique...
like a private diary of his deepest reflections and summations.
Austbo plays them great...

[slofstra]

Okay. I ventured there and crossed that line where I quit on some 20th century music. :? Mr. Hartmann is not a happy man and he's from a cultural location that has produced what I would call very percussive/loud but not so expressive music. Is it destructive creation or creative destruction :?: Nope. Not for me.

I hate to see a person unhappy...I would be more than pleased to help you by taking this set off your hands...I happen to like him.

Robert

Caiman has it on for $129.72! Only one in North America.

Thank you very much. I am aware of this, thats why I was more than willing to take it off your hands. Besides I am not fond of Caiman and avoid them at any cost....

Robert

Not all that helpful, was I? I should have stuck a smiley on that comment. I thought it interesting that the market place for one placed a high value on Hartmann's work. As Corlyss often says "de gustibus and all that". I wonder if a survey thread on minor 20th C. composers would be worthwhile (by minor I'm referring to their popularity not their output) since I am largely an ignoramus in this area, and there's quite a bit of knowledge on the forum. I like to listen to new things, and I've uncovered quite a bit of new territory from members here.

I am up for that, considering for the past few years all I listen to is 20th century composers. At the present moment and for the past few months I have been in a Boulez mood....I have a problem listening to the three B's. I don't seem to get the stimulation I once got. I now need a daily fix of the 20th century. It keeps me very interested and stimulated. Ligeti , Carter , Berio, or Varese anyone....


Robert

I've done it.

[James]

Brahms's Variations on a Theme by Paganini Books 1 & 2 for solo piano (24'33)
Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for piano and orchestra (22'02)
& Lutoslawski's Variations on a Theme by Paganini for 2 pianos (5'15)
3 wonderful & engaging takes on the same basic theme...

[maskedman]

SCRIABIN

PIANO CONCERTO

Ugorski/Boulez

DG

I find myself vacillating between this version and the Ashkenazy/Maazel... At the moment I am favoring the Ugorski version...

Robert

[maskedman]

I hate to see a person unhappy...I would be more than pleased to help you by taking this set off your hands...I happen to like him.

Robert

Caiman has it on for $129.72! Only one in North America.

Thank you very much. I am aware of this, thats why I was more than willing to take it off your hands. Besides I am not fond of Caiman and avoid them at any cost....

Robert

Not all that helpful, was I? I should have stuck a smiley on that comment. I thought it interesting that the market place for one placed a high value on Hartmann's work. As Corlyss often says "de gustibus and all that". I wonder if a survey thread on minor 20th C. composers would be worthwhile (by minor I'm referring to their popularity not their output) since I am largely an ignoramus in this area, and there's quite a bit of knowledge on the forum. I like to listen to new things, and I've uncovered quite a bit of new territory from members here.

I am up for that, considering for the past few years all I listen to is 20th century composers. At the present moment and for the past few months I have been in a Boulez mood....I have a problem listening to the three B's. I don't seem to get the stimulation I once got. I now need a daily fix of the 20th century. It keeps me very interested and stimulated. Ligeti , Carter , Berio, or Varese anyone....


Robert

I've done it.

Thank you holy one......for your inspiration

Robert

[slofstra]

Caiman has it on for $129.72! Only one in North America.

Thank you very much. I am aware of this, thats why I was more than willing to take it off your hands. Besides I am not fond of Caiman and avoid them at any cost....

Robert

Not all that helpful, was I? I should have stuck a smiley on that comment. I thought it interesting that the market place for one placed a high value on Hartmann's work. As Corlyss often says "de gustibus and all that". I wonder if a survey thread on minor 20th C. composers would be worthwhile (by minor I'm referring to their popularity not their output) since I am largely an ignoramus in this area, and there's quite a bit of knowledge on the forum. I like to listen to new things, and I've uncovered quite a bit of new territory from members here.

I am up for that, considering for the past few years all I listen to is 20th century composers. At the present moment and for the past few months I have been in a Boulez mood....I have a problem listening to the three B's. I don't seem to get the stimulation I once got. I now need a daily fix of the 20th century. It keeps me very interested and stimulated. Ligeti , Carter , Berio, or Varese anyone....


Robert

I've done it.

Thank you holy one......for your inspiration

Robert

You must be mistaking me for this man, the holey man of Canada?

[Wallingford]

Presently I'm spinning an old Hungaraton LP of Roessler-Rosetti's Flute Concerto in D (Janos/Vilmos) and Albrechtsberger's Organ Concerto in B-flat (Gabor/Frigyes).

[slofstra]

Perhaps someone can help with an issue?

The other night I broke the plastic on Rattle's Brahms Requiem. Does anyone else have this recording? Can you play the last track, I think it's called 'Selig sind die Tod'. In any case there are stray sibilants all over the track which I find most irritating. Do you think they're supposed to be there?

My wife says that in voice lessons the 's' is to be held or raised somehow. But these sibilants do not relate to the main line, they must be coming from the basses and they seem to come from nowhere.

If you don't hear them, I can upload a minute or two (I think after 4:00) where they are most apparent. (I'm hoping this isn't going to be like the Clarinet Concerto caper).

[slofstra]

Tonight's concert programme:

Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 4 / Handley
Ives Symphony No. 1/ Dallas SO
(Slofstra premiere)
Finzi Dies Natali/ Best, Ainsley, Corydon Singers
Finzi Intimations of Immortality / Best, Corydon Singers
Beethoven Symphony No. 6 / Haitink, LSO


The clouds that gather round the setting sun
Do take a sober colouring from an eye
That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality;
Another race hath been, and other palms are won.
Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.
-- closing lines from William Wordsworth's "Intimations of Immortality"

[Barry]

Sibelius symphonies 4 & 5 and tone poems: Ormandy/Philadelphia Orchestra mono recordings from the early to mid 50s. Oh, those strings.

[Wallingford]

Sibelius symphonies 4 & 5 and tone poems: Ormandy/Philadelphia Orchestra mono recordings from the early to mid 50s. Oh, those strings.

You said it.

Myself, I've had these Ormandy performances (same vintage) playing nowadays:
Sibelius' Lemminkainen Suite
Khachaturian's Gayne Suite'
Kabalevsky's Comedians
Tchaikovsky's Capriccio italien
Gliere's Ilya Mourometz Symphony

[Chalkperson]

I hate to see a person unhappy...I would be more than pleased to help you by taking this set off your hands...I happen to like him.

Robert

if you don't have it already look at the Orfeo live CD of Rafael Kubelik and Wolfgang Schneidermann performing the Piano Concerto, Concerto Funebre and Symphonische Hymnen...

[piston]

Andrei Eshpai
Symphony no. 4 "Symphony-Ballet" (1980-81) Fedoseyev, USSR Radio and TV Large Symphony Orchestra.
Symphony no. 5 (1987) Fedoseyev, USSR Symphony Orchestra.

Fascinating composer whose recordings can be found on Albany Records.

[Chalkperson]

Perhaps someone can help with an issue?

The other night I broke the plastic on Rattle's Brahms Requiem. Does anyone else have this recording? Can you play the last track, I think it's called 'Selig sind die Tod'. In any case there are stray sibilants all over the track which I find most irritating. Do you think they're supposed to be there?

Yes, but now you can hear those there is only one way forward...

It's Upgrade time Henry, something needs fixin...more soon...

[slofstra]

Perhaps someone can help with an issue?

The other night I broke the plastic on Rattle's Brahms Requiem. Does anyone else have this recording? Can you play the last track, I think it's called 'Selig sind die Tod'. In any case there are stray sibilants all over the track which I find most irritating. Do you think they're supposed to be there?

Yes, but now you can hear those there is only one way forward... :D

It's Upgrade time Henry, something needs fixin...more soon...

Okay, I'm standing by with bated breath. Incidentally, to make sure it wasn't the CD player, I ripped the track and played it from the miniMac and the sibilants are still there. So it's not the CD player.

[maskedman]

I hate to see a person unhappy...I would be more than pleased to help you by taking this set off your hands...I happen to like him.

Robert

if you don't have it already look at the Orfeo live CD of Rafael Kubelik and Wolfgang Schneidermann performing the Piano Concerto, Concerto Funebre and Symphonische Hymnen...

Thanks for this chalkie, ....I notice Amazon has it....Have you any impressions of this disc?

Robert

[slofstra]

Sibelius symphonies 4 & 5 and tone poems: Ormandy/Philadelphia Orchestra mono recordings from the early to mid 50s. Oh, those strings.

You said it.

Myself, I've had these Ormandy performances (same vintage) playing nowadays:
Sibelius' Lemminkainen Suite
Khachaturian's Gayne Suite'
Kabalevsky's Comedians
Tchaikovsky's Capriccio italien
Gliere's Ilya Mourometz Symphony

I completed a BRO order (finally) last night. One of my purchases is a 10 CD set of Stokowski/ Philadelphia (for $20!!). How will those strings sound?

[maskedman]

Andrei Eshpai
Symphony no. 4 "Symphony-Ballet" (1980-81) Fedoseyev, USSR Radio and TV Large Symphony Orchestra.
Symphony no. 5 (1987) Fedoseyev, USSR Symphony Orchestra.

Fascinating composer whose recordings can be found on Albany Records.

Is Albany distributing Russian discs? If not where did you find this beauty...

Robert

[maskedman]

LIGETI

STRING QUARTETS AND DUETS

ARDITTI STRING QUARTET

SONY

My morning wake-up call.....

[piston]

Is Albany distributing Russian discs? If not where did you find this beauty...

No, it doesn't. I found it at Berkshire R.O. a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, the outlet doesn't have many Russian Discs left.

[Chalkperson]

Okay, I'm standing by with bated breath. Incidentally, to make sure it wasn't the CD player, I ripped the track and played it from the miniMac and the sibilants are still there. So it's not the CD player.

Is the Mac Mini connected to the stereo, if so can you play the ripped file thru headphones and see if you hear them then...are they just bits of sound that obscure the main sound and sound like they are floating, if so it may be that your system/speakers are reproducing sounds that are above a certain frequency and you are not getting the rest of the music contained in that threshold, tempering the sound with speaker/interconnect cables can often take care of it, that's if I understand your situation...

[karlhenning]

Berlioz
Grande Messe des morts, Opus 5
BSO
NEC Chorus
Munch (recorded April 1959)

[miranda]

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson--Spanish Love Songs



The first song alone---El mirar de la maja, by the composer Enrique Granados---is worth the price of the entire cd. There's lots of other gorgeous singing on here as well (although, unfortunately, the tenor Joseph Kaiser isn't all that great.) The program ends with a wonderful rendition of Stephen Sondheim's "Barcelona".

[slofstra]

Okay, I'm standing by with bated breath. Incidentally, to make sure it wasn't the CD player, I ripped the track and played it from the miniMac and the sibilants are still there. So it's not the CD player.

Is the Mac Mini connected to the stereo, if so can you play the ripped file thru headphones and see if you hear them then...are they just bits of sound that obscure the main sound and sound like they are floating, if so it may be that your system/speakers are reproducing sounds that are above a certain frequency and you are not getting the rest of the music contained in that threshold, tempering the sound with speaker/interconnect cables can often take care of it, that's if I understand your situation...

It is. I will give that a try later. My suspicion now, based on what you've said is that the sibilants are on the bass line, but the bass singing is masked out by the other lines. Either through a screwup in recording, or a screwup in recording. But the headphones will tell the tale so I'll get back to you later.

[Wallingford]

I've had spinning the playing of a pianist whose approach to Mozart I've had particular piqued interest in: HARRIS GOLDSMITH....his all-Mozart LP on Musical Heritage MHS-910 (with the K.310 & K.282 Sonatas, and the D-minor Fantasy & D Major Rondo). Perhaps best known as chief piano critic for High Fidelity magazine (when it was still a reputable music publication), Goldsmith chided many recorded keyboardists' approach to Mozart in favor of a rather unpopular choice: Walter Gieseking, whose complete Mozart solo set--when reissued in the 70s--Goldsmith hailed as "an important, and much-maligned, part of the recorded literature." Most writers & musicians have always written off Gieseking's Mozart as (in the immortal words of Harold C. Schonberg) "like a Dresden China doll, with painted lips." Effeminate stuff indeed, and providing none of the virility such female artists as Kraus, DeLarrocha & Uchida can provide Mozart.

I'm glad to report Goldsmith's Mozart posesses none of this weakness, showing commendable sense of dynamics and form; but with that said, there's nothing too distinctive about his playing.

[maskedman]

NIELSEN

SYMPHONY NO. 2-5

BURGLUND

RCA

I haven't listened to Nielsen in some time. I forgot how much I enjoy his work...I think I will listen to the other symphonies today....

Robert

[karlhenning]

NIELSEN

SYMPHONY NO. 2-5

BURGLUND

RCA

I haven't listened to Nielsen in some time. I forgot how much I enjoy his work...I think I will listen to the other symphonies today....

Robert

I always revisit Nielsen with great sonic pleasure, Robert!

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Vaughan Williams
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
London Phil
Haitink

Berlioz
Roméo et Juliette, Opus 17
from the Big Munch/BSO Box, the 1961 recording

[maskedman]

Vaughan Williams
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
London Phil
Haitink

Berlioz
Roméo et Juliette, Opus 17
from the Big Munch/BSO Box, the 1961 recording

Karl
Now you also reminded me about RVW. I will have to take our his London symphony for an airing......

Robert

[karlhenning]

Vaughan Williams
Symphony No. 6 &
Sinfonia antartica (No. 7)
London Phil
Haitink

[slofstra]

Vaughan Williams
Symphony No. 6 &
Sinfonia antartica (No. 7)
London Phil
Haitink

So Karl what do you think about Haitink and Vaughan Williams? Right man for the job? I have the Handley set, but I can't say a bad word about any of my Haitink recordings, and the more I listen to them the more respect I have. Never flashy or showy, broad tempos and pacing the norm. I've been going back and forth between Rattle and Haitink's Beethoven sets. Both are very good, but the two are very different in approach. The Haitink Shostakovich set is superb. And I have a Haitink Schumann set that no-one here seems to have heard of.

The Sinfonia Antartica (that darned missing 'c' is very confusing; I forget the reason it's not there). I'd be very interested in how that sounds as Haitink always coaxes a very warm sound from the strings but somehow that would not be appropriate in this case.

[karlhenning]

So Karl what do you think about Haitink and Vaughan Williams? Right man for the job? I have the Handley set, but I can't say a bad word about any of my Haitink recordings, and the more I listen to them the more respect I have.

So far, Henry, I am only about half-through the Haitink box (allowing for the fact that I had already owned the Pastoral & Fourth as a stand-alone). I like everything I've heard so far, a lot. I've already owned the Handley set perhaps a year, and no complaints (indeed, I am grateful to his account of A London Symphony, which at last convinced me of the piece).

More hereafter.

Cheers,
~Karl

[slofstra]

I remembered why the 'c' is missing from Antarctica. It's the Italian spelling, or perhaps Latin.

[karlhenning]

Debussy
Nocturnes
La mer
Ibéria
Cz Phil
Jean Fournet

A wonderful Supraphon disc.

[slofstra]

Last night I decided to play the 5th from the Beethoven Haitink set. One is always reluctant to play this as it's so familiar, and yet I always come away impressed and refreshed.
Now this particular 5th sounded really new to my ears. I wish I had more sure command of musical language to express how I enjoyed this recording. Basically I like the way Haitink takes the bridges and transitions between themes, often at piano, sometimes with a kind of gentle see sawing between a pair of notes (1st and 4th movement) before the whole thing takes off again. For some reason the way they're done brings them into the foreground of the performance.
Do you turn up the stereo when you listen to the 5th so that you can feel the tympanis, and the echo during the rests in the final crescendos. I actually turned my stereo down. First, with my setup I like to hear the instruments at "natural" volume; that amplified sound takes away from the texture of the sound. And this recording has a lot of texture. The strings aren't smooth, they're gutty. The whole sound of the orchestra is kind of gritty, almost like a period performance. Can tympani's be tuned? The rolls have very sharp decays and you can hear each punch in a quick roll. Also, the opening familiar phrases are quick. I just spoke of Haitink taking broader tempos but the opposite is the case here. In fact the track timings are shorter than Rattles. All in all I really enjoyed this recording. I'm thinking of calling it the anti-Kleiber, but that is just tentative.

[karlhenning]

Interesting, Henry. Similarly, the Fifth is so ubiquitous (and of course I devoured it when I was an undergrad), that I seldom seek it out for listening. I don't know the Haitink; I've been much enjoying the Masur/Gewandhaus set (apparently a second, later set).

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Ah, but actually listening to:

Palestrina
Missa Aeterna Christi munera
Oxford Camerata
Jeremy Summerly

Dmitri Dmitriyevich
Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, Opus 109
Cello Concerto No. 2, Opus 126
Jiri Barta, cello
Prague Symphony
Maxim Dmitriyevich

Cheers,
~Karl

[piston]

Debussy:
L'enfant prodigue. Jessye Norman, José Carreras, D. Fischer-Dieskau.
La demoiselle élue. Glenda Maurice, Ileama Cotrubas.
Women's Choir of South German Radio
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
Gary Bertini. Pro-Arte Digital PAD-128
A very romantic young Debussy can be heard in these two early works (1884 and 1888) and, yet, there's a Debussy sonic presence particularly with the light touch of the wind instruments.

[karlhenning]

Prompted by letters that Dave posted over at the Saint-Saëns thread:

Liszt
Orpheus
Leipzig Gewandhausorchester
Masur

Cheers,
~Karl

[James]

This is a great album...
Offertorium (35'34) is one of my modern favorites...

[maskedman]

Now that I have finished listerning to Nielsen, RVW For me I needed to get back to something a little more serious... so......

BOULEZ

PLI SELON PLI

LIVRE POUR CORDES

BBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

STRINGS OF THE NEW PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA

SONY


AAAHHHHH THAT FEELS GOOD......

ROBERT

[Stonebraker]

I'm currently streaming Nielson symphony No. 1. If anyone can recommend the best recordings of Nielson's compelte symphonies that is easily available, I'd love the advice.

[piston]

Amazing, Stonebraker, because I've been moving from the first to the sixth, myself, in the last two days. I'm no expert and will surely be crushed by the "multitudes" for suggesting this, but, I do enjoy this collection:

Carl Nielsen
Symphonies Nos. 1-6
Flute Concerto & Clarinet Concerto
Orchestral Music

Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra +
Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic and Royal Danish Orchestra.
Sony SA4K 45 989

[maskedman]

I'm currently streaming Nielson symphony No. 1. If anyone can recommend the best recordings of Nielson's compelte symphonies that is easily available, I'd love the advice.

I cannot rec one particular conductor. I can give you a few to consider in no particular order....I own them all....and then some....
Berglund RCA
Chung BIS
Bernstein SONY
Blomstedt DECCA

Robert

[maskedman]

Roger Sessions

String Quartet 2

Kohon Quartet

VOX 5090

AMERICAN STRING QUARTETS 1900-1950

Sessions is easily my favorite on this disc. Very chromatic work....BTW Peter Mennins Quartet 2 is also on this set...whic also includes
Schuman, Hanson, Thomson, Gershwin, Ives, Piston, Copland. Nothing comes close to the Sessions....Actually I come back to this set often just for the Sessions....


Robert

[James]

BWV 1052, 1055 & 1056
Love these concerto recordings a lot...
Performance-wise Gould is cookin' on all cylinders throughout...
I didn't yet hear him play any Bach that wasn't full of great things.

[some guy]

Piston, I think the Ormandy sixth is still the one to beat. It's well nigh perfect.

That's a great set, too. (I wanted to say that before the "multitudes" start posting!!)

Anyway, I just listened to Boulez' ...explosante-fixe....

And then Domains and Notations.

And I can no longer say that I no longer "like" Boulez. Pity really. It was always good to be able to say "I think Boulez is a major composer even though I don't particularly like his music."

The real thrills for recent listening have been Czernowin and Reynold's symphonies and Tarnopolski and Eckert, though. Though that new Klaus Huber disc was pretty sweet. (Klaus Huber, on timpani: Tenebrae, Intarsi, Protuberanzen, James Joyce Chamber Music.)

But for sheer good times, Ross Bolleter's Secret Sandhills and Parallel Lives "conducting" Beethoven's Hammerklavier. I heard them do a live version of this in Kansas City in October. Very nice. The CD is only 38 minutes, but as there are used copies available, that shouldn't be a consideration. Indeed, at $17.99, those 38 minutes are still worth the price of admission.

[Wallingford]

Saint-Saens' Christmas Oratorio (Cambreling, Chamber Orch. of Lyons, Le Madrigal de Lyon; w/soloists Lagrange, Tasset, Schaer, Gauthier, & Guigue))
Haydn's Cassation in G (Bernet)
Janacek's Sinfonietta (Horenstein 1)
Walton's Belshazzar's Feast (Ormandy 1--w/Cassell & Rutgers Univ. Choir)

[Wallingford]

Walton's Facade....this is the complete poetry cycle from Dame Edith Sitwell, with Vera Zorina reciting rhythmically to Walton's music.

Ms. Zorina is accompanied by Ormandy & the Philadelphians.

[arglebargle]

Messiaen - Quartet for the End of Time - Amici Ensemble
Milhaud - Quartet No. 7, Op. 87 - Stanford String Quartet
Schubert - Quartet, D.810 - Leipziger String Quartet