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

[BB-8 3,479]

Walton's Coronation Te Deum

(Philharmonia on Chandos)

 

And this...

 

[Schilkeman 964]

Sir Simon: Pelléas et Mélisande. I'm a big Rattle fan in general, but to me, he really excels at the early 20th century repertoire. His Debussy is always a highlight.

 

 

[Schilkeman 964]

On 09/05/2023 at 4:40 PM, bollemanneke said:

Ah, what better way to end an evening than with the angels of Masaaki Suzuki?

 

That cover is uhh...something else. Is that John C. Reilly?

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

4 minutes ago, Schilkeman said:

That cover is uhh...something else. Is that John C. Reilly?

 

I assume it's Masaaki Suzuki, if not Bach.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,544]

Vaughn Williams' A LONDON SYMPHONY, on BBC Radio 3, this afternoon.

Perfection. No other word for it.

[Schilkeman 964]

20 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Vaughn Williams' A LONDON SYMPHONY, on BBC Radio 3, this afternoon.

Perfection. No other word for it.

One of my very favorite

[bollemanneke 3,349]

Beethoven 7, Honeck with Pittsburgh. Amazing recording, except for the trio.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

Quick question: Does Christopher Willis' soundtracks to Death of Stalin and David Copperfield exist as jewel case releases?

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

57 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Beethoven 7, Honeck with Pittsburgh. Amazing recording, except for the trio.

I'll have to give that another listen, the 5th which it's coupled with, is one of my favourite. Curious how the 5th and 7th seem to get paired up slightly more than any other pairing of Beethoven symphonies. I blame Carlos Kleiber...

[bollemanneke 3,349]

Well, better that than coupling the 7th with stupid overtures (Hanover band, goddamn it).

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Quick question: Does Christopher Willis' soundtracks to Death of Stalin and David Copperfield exist as jewel case releases?

 

My Stalin is cardboard.

 

29 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Curious how the 5th and 7th seem to get paired up slightly more than any other pairing of Beethoven symphonies. I blame Carlos Kleiber...

 

Karajan's 60s cycle, at least when it was released on DG's budget "Resonance", coupled them this way, but I never understood why:

• 1 & 3
• 2 & 4
• 5 & 7
• 6 & 8
• 9 & Coriolan Overture

27 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Well, better that than coupling the 7th with stupid overtures (Hanover band, goddamn it).

 

There can never be enough recordings of Beethoven's overtures.

[bollemanneke 3,349]

DG couplings are weird because DG.

 

Overtures might need recordings, but not coupled with symphonies. Do one symphony per CD as far as I'm concerned, but don't just slap stuff on the discs to make it full.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

4 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

My Stalin is cardboard.

 

Mine as well, super cheap style.

 

1 minute ago, bollemanneke said:

DG couplings are weird because DG.

 

Overtures might need recordings, but not coupled with symphonies. Do one symphony per CD as far as I'm concerned, but don't just slap stuff on the discs to make it full.

 

It makes sense to open with an overture.

[bollemanneke 3,349]

But I don't need overtures. I'll get them if I want them.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

6 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Karajan's 60s cycle, at least when it was released on DG's budget "Resonance", coupled them this way, but I never understood why:

 

To make the CDs approximately equal in duration?

 

Just now, bollemanneke said:

But I don't need overtures. I'll get them if I want them.

 

Skip it then.

[bollemanneke 3,349]

But why do you need equal duration? Why can't an album just contain one work if the work is popular enough? I mean, you can do Mozart's Night Music, Strauss' Blue Danube and Brach's third Brandenburg concerto, but who would want to listen to all three back to back, just because it means a full disc?

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

Well, a Beethoven overture coupled with a Beethoven symphony is less random than what you suggest here...

[GerateWohl 4,370]

6 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Do one symphony per CD as far as I'm concerned, but don't just slap stuff on the discs to make it full.

I find it especially annoying when three symphonies are coupled on two discs, so the second symphony is cut in half between the end of disc one and the beginning of disk two. But, yes, I know, when I used to listen to Beethoven's 5th on record, I had to turn the record after half the symphony as well. But same result: I tend to listen just to my favourite half of the symphony.

[Chen G. 3,949]

You'd think a bad production (visually, at least) and a bad Tristan (and I'm not mad about this Brangane, either) would sink the performance. But Zubin Mehta lights a fire underneath this, Waltraud Meier is mesmerising and Kurt Moll is splendid as Marke.

 

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

7 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

But why do you need equal duration? Why can't an album just contain one work if the work is popular enough? I mean, you can do Mozart's Night Music, Strauss' Blue Danube and Brach's third Brandenburg concerto, but who would want to listen to all three back to back, just because it means a full disc?

 

Why not add stuff? You do the same in concert programming: Select either one large work, or several smaller ones that fill a concert evening and have something in common. It's the perfect way to discover new music, too.

[bollemanneke 3,349]

I would agree with you if I wouldn't keep skipping the tracks I never wanted to listen to/buy in the first place.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

20 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

I would agree with you if I wouldn't keep skipping the tracks I never wanted to listen to/buy in the first place.

 

Why would you want to skip a Beethoven overture?

[bollemanneke 3,349]

Because they generally don't work for me.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

Try to be a bit more open-minded.

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

 

[bollemanneke 3,349]

Started the four seasons with BB and Rachel Podger. Mix isn't ideal, but my God, she is good!

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

Totally random question... in my iTunes library I have Dvorak's 8th conducted by Kubelik. I also have a load of other Dvorak conducted by Kubelik (Slavonic Dances, overtures/tone poems etc.) but the cover art I used for Symphony 8 is for the DG release which is technically for symphonies 8 and 9, but I don't have Dvorak 9 conducted by Kubelik in my library. The tracks for symphony 8 are numbered 4 to 7 so there are clearly 3 tracks that I split off, but I can't for the life of me work out which tracks they are. I've done a search on Google to find out, but just end up with the Dvorak 8/9 album... any ideas what the actual pairing is with the recording of Dvorak 8 I have?! I don't think it's any of the overtures/tone poems or Slavonic Dances as they are from the Trio release which is just those specific works.

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

Sorry I don't know the answer... I have the complete Kubelik Dvorak symphony cycle (I think it may even be tied with Witold Rowicki's cycle as my favorite) and for me it's paired with Symphony No. 7 (tracks 1-4), comprising tracks 5-8 of that disc.

 

Yavar

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

54 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Sorry I don't know the answer... I have the complete Kubelik Dvorak symphony cycle (I think it may even be tied with Witold Rowicki's cycle as my favorite) and for me it's paired with Symphony No. 7 (tracks 1-4), comprising tracks 5-8 of that disc.

 

Yavar

Hmmm, very strange! I think I must have the CD somewhere but they are all packed away and I wouldn't know where to start to look for it. The only reason it came up is that I started following Gramophone on Facebook and they post lots of "best recordings of..." articles which are either fun to compare to mine choices and/or ideas for other recordings to pick up. Kublik's Dvorak 9 came up as one of their top choices and I was fairly sure I had it (as I recognised the cover art if nothing else!) so you can imagine my surprise that I had 8 but not 9, but with no obvious explanation as to what was paired with 8. I sometimes split CDs up if they contain unrelated, but relatively lengthy works, but obviously once in a while it's then impossible to know what a work was paired with!

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

3 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Totally random question... in my iTunes library I have Dvorak's 8th conducted by Kubelik. I also have a load of other Dvorak conducted by Kubelik (Slavonic Dances, overtures/tone poems etc.) but the cover art I used for Symphony 8 is for the DG release which is technically for symphonies 8 and 9, but I don't have Dvorak 9 conducted by Kubelik in my library. The tracks for symphony 8 are numbered 4 to 7 so there are clearly 3 tracks that I split off, but I can't for the life of me work out which tracks they are. I've done a search on Google to find out, but just end up with the Dvorak 8/9 album... any ideas what the actual pairing is with the recording of Dvorak 8 I have?! I don't think it's any of the overtures/tone poems or Slavonic Dances as they are from the Trio release which is just those specific works.

 

 

I can't believe you cut off Szell/Fournier...

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

10 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

 

I can't believe you cut off Szell/Fournier...

We have a winner! Haha. Thank you... not cut off, simply a different "album" in iTunes (and with some different artwork - below) but presumably the version I bought has the above artwork. Might have to check out Kubelik's 9th though although I always preferred the 8th to be honest.

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

7 hours ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Sorry I don't know the answer... I have the complete Kubelik Dvorak symphony cycle (I think it may even be tied with Witold Rowicki's cycle as my favorite) and for me it's paired with Symphony No. 7 (tracks 1-4), comprising tracks 5-8 of that disc.

 

Same for me, and I think Kubelik's 7 & 8 have been coupled together even before the box set release.

 

Kubelik is my default go-to for anything Dvorak (or Czech). I feel like I should try out some alternatives as well though. Any recommendations? I do have Fricsay's Dvorak 9th, which is excellt (also Solti's 9th, which is very good, but I've not really gone back to after Kubelik.

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

@Marian Schedenig well I mentioned Witold Rowicki's cycle above... if you don't have that, you NEED to pick it up. It's fantastic. He made me absolutely fall in love with Dvorak's 1st with this thrilling performance he got out of the LSO:

 

 

That symphony is generally overlooked but if more conductors did it like Rowicki maybe things would be different... I'm pretty sure he takes every repeat but the way he conducts it I never lose patience with it.

Yavar

[Schilkeman 964]

2 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Any recommendations?

It's so hard to actually do this movement right. I think this one is pretty good. She also has 6,7, and 8, which I haven't heard, but might be worth checking out. All on Naxos.

 

 

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

8 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Same for me, and I think Kubelik's 7 & 8 have been coupled together even before the box set release.

 

Kubelik is my default go-to for anything Dvorak (or Czech). I feel like I should try out some alternatives as well though. Any recommendations? I do have Fricsay's Dvorak 9th, which is excellt (also Solti's 9th, which is very good, but I've not really gone back to after Kubelik.

I might have to check out the other symphonies conducted by Kubelik then. The only thing with the other Dvorak conducted by him is that there's a fair amount of hiss but the performances are indeed great. I have 8 and 9 with Harnoncourt which are really terrific, coupled with the Noon Witch and Water Goblin respectively. The only complete cycle I have is a Virgin Classics set (I got their Tchaikovsky set too) with the Liverpool Philharmonic under Pesek. To be honest, I haven't listened to them in ages. I do have many excellent versions of the Cello Concerto - probably my favourite Dvorak work and favourite cello concerto - including the Szell/Fournier performance, but also Karajan/Rostropovich, although the one I listen to most often is Bakels/Thedéen on BIS.

 

5 hours ago, Schilkeman said:

It's so hard to actually do this movement right. I think this one is pretty good. She also has 6,7, and 8, which I haven't heard, but might be worth checking out. All on Naxos.

 

 

Sadly can't see the video*, but I gather by label and conductor gender that this is the Alsop cycle, for which I only have the 6th but that I recall being pretty good, although I've not rushed to get the others so maybe I wasn't blown away by it!

 

*I do wish YouTube would at least tell me what I'm missing as it is quite frustrating when stuff is embedded and I don't know what it is - lots of things seem to be unavailable in Guernsey alas.

[Schilkeman 964]

13 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Sadly can't see the video*, but I gather by label and conductor gender that this is the Alsop cycle, for which I only have the 6th but that I recall being pretty good, although I've not rushed to get the others so maybe I wasn't blown away by it!

Yes, this is the Alsop cycle. I like it about as much as I like most Dvorak in that it's pretty good.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

I also like pretty good cycles.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,544]

3 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

I also like pretty good cycles.

 

There you go, smiler 

 

[Brónach 1,302]

i need to get back to this kind of stuff, and my particular interest is a bit difficult to summarize. (centuries 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th in Europe, northern Africa and the middle East, and period adequate instrumentation and perfomance). I imagine baroque Germany and Italy may be the most famous and accesible of the bunch.

[bollemanneke 3,349]

The toy symphony. Someone kill me now.

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

On 18/05/2023 at 3:20 AM, Schilkeman said:

It's so hard to actually do this movement right. I think this one is pretty good. She also has 6,7, and 8, which I haven't heard, but might be worth checking out. All on Naxos.

 

I like Alsop, and from sampling a few moments from that recording it sounds good, plus I'm not familiar with the symphonic variations at all, so I'll probably check it out.

 

I also have to drop Fricsay's version here, which despite a rather slow tempo is terrifically stringent and focused (and sounds great):

 

His Vltava on the same album is also fantastic.

On 18/05/2023 at 12:57 AM, Yavar Moradi said:

@Marian Schedenig well I mentioned Witold Rowicki's cycle above... if you don't have that, you NEED to pick it up. It's fantastic.

 

Seems to be out of print at the moment, unfortunately.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

Yesterday at the Berliner Philharmonie was Finish evening with conductor Mikko Franck presenting works of Einojuhani Rautavaara, Esa-Pekka Salonen (a premiere) and Jean Sibelius (5th symphony). Was a great program.

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

Some fantastic and relatively obscure late Renaissance/early Baroque music from our current choir programme (that's not us in the YouTube recording):

 

[Schilkeman 964]

Listening to this again. one of my very favorites. Below is a custom cover I made.

 

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,544]

John Eliot Gardiner.

That's all you need to know 

[Loert 2,515]

This gorgeous piece invaded my mind last night and wouldn't let me sleep:

 

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,544]

@Loert,

loving your avatar 

[bollemanneke 3,349]

Sibelius symphony 2. On the whole too little too late, but that finale was pretty great.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

The symphony that never ends.

[Nick1Ø66 4,718]

On 28/5/2023 at 5:57 PM, Naïve Old Fart said:

@Loert,

loving your avatar 

 

You just like it b/c it could be a RUSH album cover.