What is the last piece of classical music you listened to?

[Marian Schedenig 8,261]

1 hour ago, JWScores said:

Just remove "apparently" and no one will get hurt... 

 

[bollemanneke 3,367]

Prokofiev's classical symphony. Marriner strikes again! Come on Decca, to the bloody box.

[bruce marshall 1,319]

On 20/04/2024 at 8:22 AM, Jurassic Shark said:

Because he could and was a perfectionist/obsessive...

And.......

?

[Jurassic Shark 12,250]

7 hours ago, bruce marshall said:

And.......

?

 

What?

[bruce marshall 1,319]

10 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

What?

Go to my place

[Jurassic Shark 12,250]

18 minutes ago, bruce marshall said:

Go to my place

 

If you buy a ticket and I can bring Thor as my bodyguard. 

[bollemanneke 3,367]

Ives, symphony 3. Number 0 would have been better.

[bollemanneke 3,367]

My dad got me this set years and years ago:

Beethoven – The Complete 9 Symphonies (CD) - Discogs

Enjoying the performances a lot, though I wonder why on earth anyone would bother cobbling it together like this. Just go with one version. Wouldn't that be easier?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,734]

@bollemanneke, you have a very nice dad.

[bollemanneke 3,367]

I'll tell him.

[Jurassic Shark 12,250]

36 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

I wonder why on earth anyone would bother cobbling it together like this.

 

Probably due to budget.

[JTN 2,257]

6 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

@bollemanneke, you have a very nice dad.

In 2020 my Dad bought me the 118-CD-3 Blu-ray Complete Beethoven Edition for my Birthday, but I later asked him to cancel the order, because it was too expensive and I asked him to buy several film music sets for me instead, which he did.
 

As much as I love LVB and would’ve been thrilled to have that set, I don’t regret it too much, it would’ve been hard for me to find a place to keep such a big box.

 

I’ll be forever grateful to my Dad that he was willing to spend so much money on music just to make me happy. He was a wonderful father.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,734]

@JTN, you, too, have a very nice dad.

[JTN 2,257]

49 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

@JTN, you, too, have a very nice dad.

had...

[Madmartigan JC 86]

Sorry for your loss @JTN.


Speaking of Beethoven, today marks the 200th anniversary of the premiere of the 9th Symphony.
Listening once more to this wonder.

[Marian Schedenig 8,261]

Found this, which I didn't know existed, with Janowitz and Berry (who also featured on Karajan's recording 6 years earlier):

 

It's not as good as Cleveland. Some of the playing is rather shoddy, and generally Szell doesn't seem to be able to keep his ensemble (instrumental & vocal) in sync.

[Thor 7,677]

 

Moving on through my dad's LPs, here's another one with some evergreens on it. I'm not quite sure what's "HiFi" about it, though, but that may be the state of the LP itself. Needs a bit of cleaning. I know that Karajan's 50s DG recordings are definitely HiFi.

[A24 4,371]

 

Philip Glass, the most overrated composer ever, was extremely boring. Salvation finally came with Stravinsky. Järvi's version is pretty fast but I like it that way.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,734]

4 minutes ago, A24 said:

Philip Glass, the most overrated composer ever... 

 

Controversial, but his music doesn't do much for me, either.

[Tom Guernsey 2,332]

7 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

 

Controversial, but his music doesn't do much for me, either.

I like most of his symphonies. The second and third ones are energetic, and the ones based on David Bowie albums are surprisingly good. Not that I know much David Bowie.

 

In about 8 hours time I will have just heard Mahler 3 with the LSO conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas which I’m looking forward to immensely. 

[Jurassic Shark 12,250]

43 minutes ago, A24 said:

 

Philip Glass, the most overrated composer ever, was extremely boring. Salvation finally came with Stravinsky. Järvi's version is pretty fast but I like it that way.

 

Glass' violin concerto is great, but lots of his other orchestral works aren't that good, IMO.

[bollemanneke 3,367]

Beethoven, Eroica, LSO, Rafael Frühbeck De Burgos. A surprising tender take, sometimes bordering on lacklustre. The end of the finale was really, really slow. And it... kind of worked in a way.

[Nick1Ø66 4,875]

You lot are nuts. Philip Glass is phenomenal. Though I suppose you can be phenomenal and still overrated.

 

His music is sublime. 

[bollemanneke 3,367]

1 hour ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

You lot are nuts. Philip Glass is phenomenal. Though I suppose you can be phenomenal and still overrated.

 

His music is sublime. 

Yes, especially that second movement of that violin concerto where... nothing happens.

[Schilkeman 1,015]

Coming out of the extremely pre-1900-centric world of academic music study, it took me a long time to "get" minimalism. I found it boring and repetitious, but the first time I sat and listened to all 4 hours of Einstein on the Beach, I really got into the subtly shifting rhythmic modulations. Harmony and melody are not the elements of musical interest. It's rhythm and texture. It's like molding clay in real time.

 

This just takes such skill and precision to play, it's breathtaking, and I love its abstract, symbolist version of the subject.

 

 

[A24 4,371]

I only have interest in post-1900 classical music. I might give that a listen but so far I never heard anything from Glass that I liked. It's my experience that it's usually people with designer glasses that dig Glass. 

 

They don't really like classical music (too old-fashioned) or contemporary classical (too tiring), but for some reason they dig Glass. Maybe it's because Glass reminds them of glasses? Who knows?

[Schilkeman 1,015]

Every era has its delights. I try not to judge a thing based on the people who like it.

[Marian Schedenig 8,261]

15 hours ago, Schilkeman said:

Coming out of the extremely pre-1900-centric world of academic music study, it took me a long time to "get" minimalism. I found it boring and repetitious, but the first time I sat and listened to all 4 hours of Einstein on the Beach, I really got into the subtly shifting rhythmic modulations. Harmony and melody are not the elements of musical interest. It's rhythm and texture. It's like molding clay in real time.

 

I like Einstein, but it's not everyday listening. On the other hand, I can hardly get enough of the other two operas from the portrait trilogy.

[Jurassic Shark 12,250]

16 hours ago, Schilkeman said:

Coming out of the extremely pre-1900-centric world of academic music study, it took me a long time to "get" minimalism. I found it boring and repetitious, but the first time I sat and listened to all 4 hours of Einstein on the Beach, I really got into the subtly shifting rhythmic modulations. Harmony and melody are not the elements of musical interest. It's rhythm and texture. It's like molding clay in real time.

 

Well said!

[Madmartigan JC 86]

I listen to Glass often, but Einstein has always been a bit hard to get through, unlike his other operas, which I adore. But I had the chance of seeing a full live performance last month and the experience was transformative, interesting, compelling and even moving. Truly loved it and it didn't get boring for a minute. It took me seeing it performed to get it. 

 

On 12/05/2024 at 8:40 AM, Tom Guernsey said:

In about 8 hours time I will have just heard Mahler 3 with the LSO conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas which I’m looking forward to immensely. 

 

I was surprised by your comment, as I wasn't aware he was directing againg. I just read he appears to have had a moment of confusion midway through the performance. How was it?

[Tom Guernsey 2,332]

8 hours ago, Madmartigan JC said:

I was surprised by your comment, as I wasn't aware he was directing againg. I just read he appears to have had a moment of confusion midway through the performance. How was it?

 

I don't believe he's conducting much now but yeah, he seemed to think the performance had ended after the fifth movement but after a bit of guidance from the orchestra, vocal soloist and another gentleman who came on stage (which I think is MTT's husband), he stayed to conduct the final movement. It was a sad and strange moment for sure as nobody could quite work out what was going on. He seemed frail getting to the podium and, if not exactly super lively, pretty focussed while actually conducting, but clearly his condition resulted in a momentary lapse. I thought it was a pretty good performance, although the first movement did perhaps drag a bit (it's quite episodic anyway and it needed a stronger dramatic arc) but the rest I thought was wonderful. I have a lot of Mahler recordings but by no means an expert and the third isn't one I know that well, although better having seen it live. Glad I got to see him as I have a decent number of recordings of other composers by him (his Symphonie Fantastique is my go-to performance) but obviously a shame it wasn't in his prime. During the hiatus, the lady next to me kept asking (to nobody in particular) "do you think he's lost it?" which felt rather unkind even if he clearly wasn't firing on all cylinders. I don't know if the repeat performance last night (16 May) went ahead as planned. He's meant to be back in London for his 80th birthday later in the year but that feels ambitious, sadly.

[Jurassic Shark 12,250]

5 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

During the hiatus, the lady next to me kept asking (to nobody in particular)

 

Is that a British thing, or had she lost it?

[Tom Guernsey 2,332]

2 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Is that a British thing, or had she lost it?

Shrug... to be fair, she may have been sort of asking me as I had provided her with a Strepsil to prevent her from having a massive coughing fit earlier in the concert. I am nothing if not prepared.

[Jurassic Shark 12,250]

4 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

I had provided her with a Strepsil to prevent her from having a massive coughing fit earlier in the concert. I am nothing if not prepared.

 

I'll keep that in mind for future concerts. 

[Marian Schedenig 8,261]

3 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

I don't know if the repeat performance last night (16 May) went ahead as planned.

 

Judging from the LSO's (and players') social media feeds, it seems it did. I don't think they mentioned anything of the problems during your performance though, so I guess they're no indication of how it went.

[Tom Guernsey 2,332]

21 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Judging from the LSO's (and players') social media feeds, it seems it did. I don't think they mentioned anything of the problems during your performance though, so I guess they're no indication of how it went.

That's good to know! Although I feel it may be challenging for him to do the concert planned later in the year as I doubt his condition will improve, alas.

[bollemanneke 3,367]

Some Telemann violin concertos. Surprisingly so-so, bordering on boring.

[Bespin 8,508]

Yes this is classical!

 

New album by Camille Thomas.