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

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

5 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

I was having trouble logging in to boosey.com before

 

I guess people are panicking and loads are trying to log on due to the coronavirus!

[crocodile 7,982]

Just saw this on John Powell's website.

 

Apparently Berliner Philharmoniker gave everyone access to their digital concert hall website for free due to all Coronavirus closures so there's plenty concerts for our viewing and listening pleasure there to enjoy.

 

https://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concert/20226#

 

Karol

[Marian Schedenig 8,172]

The Vienna State Opera is also doing archived live streams for free every night, synced up with what they would have performed live if they were not in shutdown mode.

[Thor 7,462]

I've been listening to a lot of Max Richter recently, both the film work and the classical albums. I now have 23 Richter albums (17 soundtracks and 6 classical albums).

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

Really? I have one, and that one he only arranged.

[Thor 7,462]

Yeah, the Vivaldi album, I suppose. Not everything he's done is equally great, but he's really a master of his craft, within the post-minimalist style. You obviously need to like that particular style in order to get your money's worth. I do.

[publicist 4,643]

 

 

Quarantine is so boring i even made it through several of Olivier Messiaen's works, and you now what: they are splendid, 'L'Ascension' in particular. Cool horror and sci-fi scoring. 

[Holko 9,498]

Who can identify the existing classical music bits inentionally reinterpreted for film score motifs? Here is a mix of the opening and end credits, I definitely know where the first melody comes from and unsure about the rest, the official crediting is a blanket general. Let's have that first bit be a "who can guess it first" game and the rest are either original for the movie or from that same composer.

 

 

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

 

 

A healthy bout of Salonen for this glorious Friday, the first truly worthy spring day we've had here. Five works spread over two albums provides my second helping from Salonen's repertoire, after thoroughly enjoying his cello concerto a few months back. His music continues to captivate my ear, constantly darting in and out of terrific bursts and swells of frenetic energy. While his cello concerto had a supreme sense of space (and evoked a strangely mystical air of infinite time), these two albums continue that trend in a slew of unique ways. There's a lot of density to the orchestration, but somehow every whirling and fluttering line of each instrument escapes getting lost in the oft-occurring pandemonium. The two featured artists on these albums, Leila Josefowicz and Yefim Bronfan, play with great expertise and awareness, similarly to Ma on cello but individual nonetheless. All in all, I'm quite impressed with what I've heard from Salonen thus far, who I know well as a conductor and am now beginning to cherish as an exciting composer. Really dug the piano concerto and expect to revisit it soon.

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

Just watched a concert with Sissel and parts of the Norwegian radio orchestra as a nice finale to our national day celebration.

 

https://tv.nrk.no/program/MKTV39020020

 

And here's her Christmas concert from last year:

 

https://tv.nrk.no/program/MUHU23005019

 

They're available from everywhere in the world!

[Loert 2,510]

A classic will always remain a classic:

 

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

Back when he haid hair!

[Tydirium 1,166]

Don't remember where I first heard this, but I recently discovered that I had written down the name, to listen to later. I'm so glad I did.

 

 

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

 

Jóhannsson's last studio album proves to be a resounding emotional experience, made all the more poignant in light of the composer's passing over two years ago now. His strength always stood in the fusing of sounds, both contemporary and unorthodox, to create an immersive and sonically-pleasing environment unlike any other. Orphée is as good an example as any as to Jóhannsson's mastery in this regard, and showcases a wide range of works recorded over a number of years.

 

One can hear shades of the now popular "Richter" sound in tracks such as A Sparrow Alighted Upon Our Shoulder, which features a simple singular string idea based over a pair of repeating chords. The complexity of this track is hardly considerable, but one can't help but feel every rise and fall as it occurs. Similar lines could also be drawn with the album's opener, Flight From The City. The choral finale, Orphic Hymn, is a resounding and powerful conclusion to an incredibly moving collection of music. 

 

I've always been able to hear the "soul" in the work I've heard from Jóhannsson, but with Orphée, I also feel a great amount of heart. 

 

Other stuff I've listened to this week:

Cello Concerto No. 1 (Saint-Saëns)

Concerto for Piano and Woodwinds (Stravinsky)

Violin Concerto (Sibelius)

Cello Concerto (Prokofiev)

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

Just now, The Illustrious Jerry said:

Violin Concerto (Sibelius)

 

A great work, possibly the greatest specimen of a 20th century violin concerto.

[bruce marshall 1,314]

No modern pianist can play this so beautifully!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I uploaded my own DVD rip of the great, essential 1958 televised performance of Appalachian Spring by Martha Graham and her company.  Hopefully it doesn't get removed or something for copyright.

 

 

 

For a decade this performance has only been on Youtube as a 4 part upload with a really disconcerting, choppy framerate.  So now at least it's up in good quality and in one single video.

 

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

Pirate!

[ETMuz 3]

Elgar Cello Concerto

[blondheim 1,157]

Been on another Mahler kick, fresh off a batch of Bruckner.

 

The 3rd this time, with occasionally pit stops at the 5th, 6th, and 9th.

 

I cannot recommend Mahler's 3rd enough. Check out Horenstein and the LSO. Perhaps the best Mahler recording of all time. You're welcome.

 

It was recorded in 1970 when the LSO was in its absolute heyday. The crescendo in the first movement is one of the most incredible performances of anything I have ever heard. I would consider going back into my burning house to retrieve it.

[bruce marshall 1,314]

Have you heard no. 2 conducted by Gabriel Kaplan?

[blondheim 1,157]

Do you mean Gilbert Kaplan? I have, I find it a little glossy. Maybe micro-managed is a better way to put it. The music needs to be a little more rugged and needs more room to breathe, my preference in this work, but his London recording has more verve than his Weiner. I read somewhere that his 2nd sounds similar to how Karajan would have done it, and I believe that's a pretty accurate review.

 

So far as the 2nd is concerned, it is the only one I have seen live: with Manfred Honeck conducting the Pittsburgh symphony, summer 2017. That was an incredible concert. Unfortunately they have never recorded it, but the sound quality on their recordings is a little wet for me, I prefer a drier mix. (I know, I'm weird in that regard. 50's mono and early stereo is my favorite time period for this genre. Mercury Living Presence, forever.)

 

As for recordings I cherish, I really enjoy the Klemperer recording he did with the New Philharmonia. Also Kubelik's with the Bayerischen Rundfunks. If you like Kaplan, try Pierre Boulez. His recording comes under fire for being detached because he doesn't dance around on the podium like a Bernstein or a Tennstedt, but it has a clarity and warmth that is under-rated in the extreme. There is a video recording of it on Youtube, I believe.

[bruce marshall 1,314]

43 minutes ago, blondheim said:

Do you mean Gilbert Kaplan? I have, I find it a little glossy. Maybe micro-managed is a better way to put it. The music needs to be a little more rugged and needs more room to breathe, my preference in this work, but his London recording has more verve than his Weiner. I read somewhere that his 2nd sounds similar to how Karajan would have done it, and I believe that's a pretty accurate review.

 

So far as the 2nd is concerned, it is the only one I have seen live: with Manfred Honeck conducting the Pittsburgh symphony, summer 2017. That was an incredible concert. Unfortunately they have never recorded it, but the sound quality on their recordings is a little wet for me, I prefer a drier mix. (I know, I'm weird in that regard. 50's mono and early stereo is my favorite time period for this genre. Mercury Living Presence, forever.)

 

As for recordings I cherish, I really enjoy the Klemperer recording he did with the New Philharmonia. Also Kubelik's with the Bayerischen Rundfunks. If you like Kaplan, try Pierre Boulez. His recording comes under fire for being detached because he doesn't dance around on the podium like a Bernstein or a Tennstedt, but it has a clarity and warmth that is under-rated in the extreme. There is a video recording of it on Youtube, I believe.

Boy! You Are a Mahler expert!####!!!!!!😳😁😍

[blondheim 1,157]

Just now, bruce marshall said:

Boy! You Are a Mahler expert!####!!!!!!😳😁😍

 

Aww! Thanks! But I am hardly an expert, just an informed listener.

 

(I like talking about music.)

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I highly recommend Paul Creston's Symphony No. 1, composed in 1940.  This music wasn't breaking any new ground, but Creston wrote with crispness, clarity, and best of all a real sense of infectious enthusiasm and joy.  It's certainly one of the *happiest* symphonies I've listened to in a while, and it's really entertaining to bounce along with its boisterousness.

 

 

 

[Tom Guernsey 2,280]

2 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

I highly recommend Paul Creston's Symphony No. 1, composed in 1940.  This music wasn't breaking any new ground, but Creston wrote with crispness, clarity, and best of all a real sense of infectious enthusiasm and joy.  It's certainly one of the *happiest* symphonies I've listened to in a while, and it's really entertaining to bounce along with its boisterousness.

 

 

 

Oh yeah his symphonies are great! I got them during my "buyer all of Naxos' American composer series" - I have only scratched the surface, but got plenty of good stuff. David Diamond's symphonies are worth looking into.

[blondheim 1,157]

I wish Naxos had better sound quality sometimes, but they have all the right repertoire. Their Tintner Bruckner cycle is probably their greatest achievement, at least that I have heard. I also like the work Theodore Kuchar does for them.

[Tom Guernsey 2,280]

13 minutes ago, blondheim said:

I wish Naxos had better sound quality sometimes, but they have all the right repertoire. Their Tintner Bruckner cycle is probably their greatest achievement, at least that I have heard. I also like the work Theodore Kuchar does for them.

 

Some of their earlier albums are hit and miss but most of their more recent albums seem to have pretty good to great sound but I appreciate that sound quality is in the ear of the beholder! However, as a place for exploring new repetoire they are pretty incredible I would say. Especially now their entire catalogue available pretty cheaply in lossless... that sigh is my bank account. ;-)

[blondheim 1,157]

They are very well-priced! I have been considering grabbing the Petrenko Shostakovich cycle because I have also heard it around the classical grape-vine that their recordings are getting better all the time. They really do go out of their way to bring a spotlight to unrecognized work, and that is the work of angels, imo.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

3 hours ago, blondheim said:

I wish Naxos had better sound quality sometimes, but they have all the right repertoire. Their Tintner Bruckner cycle is probably their greatest achievement, at least that I have heard. I also like the work Theodore Kuchar does for them.

 

2 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

 

Some of their earlier albums are hit and miss but most of their more recent albums seem to have pretty good to great sound but I appreciate that sound quality is in the ear of the beholder! However, as a place for exploring new repetoire they are pretty incredible I would say. Especially now their entire catalogue available pretty cheaply in lossless... that sigh is my bank account. ;-)

 

At this point, Naxos releases so much from so many different sources I'm not sure you can generalize about them anymore.  If you mean specifically the albums they have recorded by the cheapie Eastern European orchestras in Ukraine, Slovakia, etc., I think those albums have risen in quality as the orchestras themselves have risen in quality from all the experience of American productions hiring them over the last 30 years.

 

Really Naxos is the only American classical label of any consequence left.  The majors (Sony, Warner, etc.) stopped really trying and the biggest name orchestras (SFSO, LA Phil, NY Phil) are self-releasing their albums because they don't want to split the tiny slices of streaming money pie with a record label.  But I'm glad Naxos is still here releasing interesting stuff every month, and such a wide variety as well.

[Marian Schedenig 8,172]

3 hours ago, blondheim said:

I wish Naxos had better sound quality sometimes, but they have all the right repertoire. Their Tintner Bruckner cycle is probably their greatest achievement, at least that I have heard. I also like the work Theodore Kuchar does for them.

 

The Tintner cycle is certainly a good one, but in recent years they've often done high profile stuff. They have a good selection of first rate contemporary works, like several Michael Daugherty albums and some acclaimed Bernstein - some of those conducted by Marin Alsop, who is now the new chief conductor of the RSO Wien. I've only recently come across one of their biggest projects, a full Ring des Nibelungen with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Jaap van Zweden. Casts, performances, and sound quality vary (the four operas were recorded at live performances in four successive years), but the Walküre is excellent in most ways.

 

Not to mention that they've been handling a lot of historic/archive releases, and these days they also own some other labels with relevant catalogues, like Capriccio, Ondine, and Orfeo, which handles all the live recordings (historical and modern) of the Wiener Staatsoper.

[blondheim 1,157]

I listen to a lot of their stuff, don't get me wrong. I like their side labels better, and I don't know why that is. Many of their releases seem distant, even the Tintner. I personally prefer a drier mix, the immediacy of RCA and Mercury Living Presence, say, once upon a time. Mono and early stereo is where I thrive. I don't really like Exton for this reason. Very wet, lots of reverb. I find that when a label tries to mimic the concert hall experience, or 'being in the room' as they put it, the effect is not always what I enjoy. That may be perfect for someone else. Some of their releases over the years sound like high-quality bootlegs, and in fact, I have some high-quality bootlegs of performances by the same orchestra and conductor that I have sought out for just this reason.

 

Again, these are personal reflections, not a read against the label, who I very much appreciate the existence of, and endorse strongly. But, I can't help but be honest about what I hear with my own two ears. Orfeo and Ondine, etc. are side labels that I think do better work. I buy more of their releases than Naxos. I don't know if they just inherited those or bought them, but every one seems to still be doing their own thing. Which I appreciate, don't get me wrong. Conglomeration breeds homogeneity. But individual releases by orchestra labels are getting more of my money (especially BR Klassik) because a) it supports the orchestra and b) it is normally mixed closer, and drier, and because they are not always trying to replicate the concert hall, they still want you to pay for that.

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

8 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Really Naxos is the only American classical label of any consequence left. 

 

It's a Hong Kongese label.

 

5 hours ago, blondheim said:

Many of their releases seem distant, even the Tintner.

 

I've owned his Bruckner 4th for ages and its distant sound has always annoyed me. Can't seem to get rid of it, though.

 

[blondheim 1,157]

Oh yeah, Tintner's cycle is indispensable, despite its sound.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

5 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

It's a Hong Kongese label

Gasp!  I assumed and I was wrong

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

Never assume.

[Marian Schedenig 8,172]

15 hours ago, blondheim said:

Oh yeah, Tintner's cycle is indispensable, despite its sound.

 

It's generally of high quality, but still hit and miss. Partly because, good (often very good) as Tintner's readings are, only a few of them can compete with the best alternatives, and partly because some of the chosen versions are rather... odd (especially the 8th, if I remember correctly). (Though the odd versions do make them indispensible for completeness' sake, if nothing else). Occasionally the interpretation and choice of version do align and produce a recording that competes very well - Tintner's 2nd and especially 3rd are still among my favourites of those symphonies.

[blondheim 1,157]

Agreed. I prefer Bruckner's revisions most of the time, most especially in the 8th (which is a practically perfect piece of music) but it is nice to have the early version to compare to. Tintner so clearly loved this music, which comes through in his treatment of it and softens my view of the sound picture, which is far below ideal. His 1st is also a wonderful interpretation... rising out of the bottom of a well. My only regret is that he didn't record the early 4th so it could be an almost entirely unorthodox cycle, but thus is life.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I've been listening to Michael Torke's Color Music album over the past couple of days.  It's certainly vibrant and exciting.  I can't shake the skepticism that, even for each individual piece, the whole is less than sum of its parts, but those parts are still very appealing to listen to.  It's actually kind of addictive.  "Purple" is probably my favorite.

 

 

 

[bruce marshall 1,314]

 

1712 Overture

P.D.Q. Bach

 

His finest work since the opera " Einstein on the Fritz"

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

12 minutes ago, bruce marshall said:

 

1712 Overture

P.D.Q. Bach

 

His finest work since the opera " Einstein on the Fritz"

 

Both are great!

[bruce marshall 1,314]

Some people claim his Concerto for Horn and Hardart is his masterwork.

Nah!

[Tom Guernsey 2,280]

Tending to go through phases of more or less classical, but have explored the symphonies of Robert Simpson recently. Not quite sure how to describe them, some people feel they are quite dry but I don't really feel that. He was a massive fan and scholar of Carl Nielsen, although his own music isn't quite as memorable as Nielsen's, you can hear some of that seeping through at times.

 

As a massive Sibelius fan (almost acquired the BIS complete Sibelius edition, although hard to find some of the super short things that interesting aside from curiosities but still). My favourite of his symphonies are undoubtedly 3 and 6. Usually I'm a fan of grander gestures (say, 2 and, in particular, 5) but for Sibelius, 3 and 6 just feel like perfection.

 

Not sure if anyone has heard of Eduard Tubin but his symphonies are very enjoyable, as is his ballet Kratt. Worth checking out out if you're fan of tuneful Scandinavian composers (which I am).

 

Someone mentioned a recording of the complete Appalachian Spring recently (conducted by Leonard Slatkin) and it made me realise that all of the several versions I own are the shorter suite. Quite a revealation hearing the parts that Copland excised. Not really sure why he would have done so either, but surprising how few of the mainstream recordings are of the full thing.

 

Shostakovich's 8th Symphony was (I think) the featured work in a recent BBC Music Magazine so I gave the excellent Haitink recording a spin. His recording of the 5th and 9th was the first Shostakovich album I ever bought and still my go to option for both of those works, especially the 5th (I find others take the finale too ponderously or belabour the repeating string figure too much for my liking).

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Some Michael Torke to get your morning started right

 

 

12 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Someone mentioned a recording of the complete Appalachian Spring recently (conducted by Leonard Slatkin) and it made me realise that all of the several versions I own are the shorter suite. Quite a revealation hearing the parts that Copland excised. Not really sure why he would have done so either, but surprising how few of the mainstream recordings are of the full thing.

that recording would more accurately be called the “Extended Suite” for orchestra.  Although the differences are slight, they are there.  Copland essentially just orchestrated the largest missing section and stuck it into the suite.  The true full ballet for orchestra was only published in 2016, with David Newman doing some work to orchestrate measures that Copland hadn’t ever converted from the original 13 instrument version.

 

You can hear an archived performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra here:

 

https://www.philorch.org/your-philorch/learn-more/ondemand/coplands-appalachian-spring/

 

Here are a couple of articles that explains all the different versions of the ballet.  It may be more detail than the casual listener desires, but I eat it up  

 

https://blogs.loc.gov/music/2019/10/not-the-suite-aaron-coplands-appalachian-spring/ (this article actually has Leonard Slatkin himself in the comment section )

 

https://appalachianspring.info/o-appalachian-spring-the-many-versions-of-aaron-coplands-ballet-for-martha-1944-2016/

 

Truly I recommend the original full ballet for 13 instruments above all other versions.  It’s only been commercially recorded a couple of times.  The best recording is the Atlantic Sinfonietta:

 

 

 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I'm so happy someone did a score video for Copland's monumental "Piano Fantasy."  I would've gotten to it eventually!

 

 

[gkgyver 1,645]

I don't care how talented you are, 28 minutes is too long for one piece of music. 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Without a doubt this is the finest original composition for brass quintet I’ve heard.  I’ve been meaning to dig into Malcolm Arnold’s oeuvre more seriously for years, maybe now is the time.

 

 

[publicist 4,643]

 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

This photo of Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland is I’m pretty sure newly released.  How sweet.

 

 

[publicist 4,643]