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Windkraft – Kapelle für Neue Musik, Ensemble Marcus Weiss, Saxophon Manuel de Roo, E-Gitarre Kasper de Roo, Dirigent PROGRAMM Edgard Varèse Intégrales (1924-1925) Georg Friedrich Haas … über den Atem, die Stille und die Zerbrechlichkeit …. Versuch (1994) Arturo Fuentes In der Luft Johannes Maria Staud Violent Incidents (Hommage à Bruce Nauman) (2005-2006) Iannis Xenakis Akrata (1964-1965) Giacinto Scelsi I presagi (1958) Very good concert by a wind ensemble (plus a mighty percussion section). The present-day composers' works were so-so, but Varese, Xenakis and Scelsi were outstanding. I have heard them all in recording, but hearing it all live played so well is a different story. Xenakis was quite funky, actually. Wise decision to put Scelsi last - this was a monumental work, it would be hard to find anything to follow it with.

In case you need it, you can search by label on Spotify too. Type label:"labelname" (e.g. label:"blue note") in the search box.

Well, 5-minute trailer has footage of Tchicai, Brötzmann, Hampel and Bennink, all non-Americans.

€5! Crazy!

Hellstrom is indeed a stunning album. Yes. It can be heard online in full at Bandcamp: http://mathka.bandcamp.com/album/hellstorm

Guys, thanks for your input.

So which Boulez box should one go for, if any at all? Sony/Columbia, DG, Erato or Accord? DG box content: http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/4794261 Sony box content: http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Sony/88843013332 Erato box content: http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Erato/2564619048 Can't find the Accord box content listed in one place. These are Le Domain Musicale 1956-67 recordings.

We have quite a few concerts where artists / moderators would talk to the audience in between pieces here in Vienna. I hate this. I am there for the music, I am really not interested in hearing about the troubled life of the composer during the concert, I can read about it at home if I choose so. I am not sure what is so "class system" about the tradition of focusing on music during the concert. I also saw a few orchestras performing while not wearing tuxedos, it did not feel like a revolutionary event of rupture with tradition, and did not enhance my concert experience in any way.

papsrus, all the best to you Dad! Regarding my interest in classical music, it was sort of accidental. My parents had close to no interest in classical music. They listened to the Beatles and Italian pop music, which was very popular in the Soviet Union in '70s and '80s, for whatever reason. There were some halfhearted attempts to teach me piano and guitar, but I successfully sabotaged them. I started consciously listening to music probably around 12. I had a couple of Beatles tapes that I would listen to over and over. I think this is then when I realised that music is important for me. Then it was Pink Floyd's "The Wall" that I listened to non.stop for a year or so when I was 13 or something. And then one day I decided to check out these two tapes that my parents received from their Canadian friends. By that time the tapes, still sealed, were lying around our apartment for a couple of years already. One of them was Stravinsky's Petrushka, and the other one was Firebird (both by Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Charles Dutoit conducting). This was the first time I listened to classical music voluntarily. I liked them, to my surprise. Did not love them, but liked them. So over the next few years, as my musical interests shifted to Heavy Metal to Prog Rock / Frank Zappa to - finally - jazz, I would occasionally pop these Stravinsky tapes into player and listen. I liked the music more and more, to the point that when I was around 19 I attended a few classical music concerts (to my parents' surprise). By mid-20s I was mostly listening to jazz, and started buying CDs. Occasionally I would buy some semi-random classical music CD. I bought Prokofiev violin sonatas because I liked the CD cover, one of the first CDs I bought. Nearly 20 years later this is still one of my favorite ones. Very gradually classical music started occupying more and more of my listening time, and by now it is probably 80%. I still love the Beatles, though (but nothing will force me to listen to The Wall again)!

reg Harvey, this is IMO an excellent recording... I am sure it is, will check it out.

Attended another concert. French quartet Diotima ( http://www.quatuordiotima.fr/) played Jonathan Harvey's String Quartet #3 and Boulez's "Livre pour Quatuor". First off, the quartet itself is excellent with gorgeous sound. The Harvey's work was first and I liked it a lot. It utilizes a lot of unconventional sounds (including loud unison breathing by the quartet members), but somehow is very fluid, flowing. It's a sort of detached otherworldly music (in a short - and totally superfluous, IMHO - discussion panel with the quartet afterwards the altoist implied that Harvey's Buddhism is evident in this work, and he might be on to something here). I would have loved the quartet to be longer than it was, I enjoyed it greatly. Boulez's piece on the other hand was way too long - 45 mins or something. Apparently he's been writing / revising it for 60+ years, and it has barely been performed live due to its technical complexity and length. For me it actually sounded like a collection of licks, interesting enough for 10 minutes, but not more. I was extremely bored by the end. Unlike most of the classical concerts here, the audience was of mixed age with average for once south of 65. Relatively cheap tickets (€20) might have played their role. Still the hall was probably 40% full, at best. All in all, I was very impressed by the quartet (will check out their recordings, they have quite a few on naive), and will definitely explore Harvey's oeuvre.

Well, such a record actually exists. It is OK, a bit too polished. http://www.cleanfeed-records.com/disco2.asp?intID=77

See above:

A new DVD of performances (by six different pianists!) of Ustvolskaya's piano sonatas on Wergo: http://www.wergo.de/shop/en_UK/3/show,326548.html

Attended today: ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, Ingo Metzmacher conducting. Aleksandra Kurzak, soprano Ewa Wolak, contralto Artur Ruciński, bariton Program: Karol Szymanowski: Konzertouvertüre E-Dur, op. 12 Witold Lutoslawski: Symphonie Nr. 4 Witold Lutoslawski: Musique funèbre Karol Szymanowski: Stabat Mater, op. 53 These composers are rarely performed here, and being somewhat familiar with Lutoslawski's music, I was looking forward to the concert. As per tradition, I reveled in my ignorance and did not get acquainted with these particular works in advance, although I did listen to (and enjoyed) Lutoslawski's Symphonies 2 and 3. ORF Radio is a good (but not great) orchestra, with a focus on modern repertoire. I found their sound rather thin and shallow compared to monumental Vienna Philharmonic (whom I have heard a few times in the same hall), but still good. Szymanowski's overture was underwhelming, The piece sounded unfocused, all sounds sort of smeared, not going anywhere. Not sure if it was the piece or the performance, probably both. The strings were particularly thin on this one. Musicians looked decidedly bored. Thankfully, this was short. Then Lutoslawksi's Symphony 4 - much better. Excellent music, obviously influenced by Rite of Spirng - period Stravinsky, with a lot of percussion. Good melodies, a lot of contrasts, very lively. Well played. Musicians seemed to be more cheerful, smiling at each other - percussion players (some of whom looked very young) in particular. After a break, Musique funebre by Lutoslawski for strings only. The piece is OK, but nothing special. So was the playing. Solo players were fine, but I still had the impression the strings sounded very shallow in orchestral passages. Wonder how orchestras with thick sounds (like Münchner Philharmoniker - the loudest orchestra I have heard in Vienna!) would have fared with this piece. But then came the main thing - Szymanowski's Stabat Mater. This is a phenomenal, solemn work that was excellently performed. The Polish singers were all outstanding. During the passages where a 100-strong mixed choir would sing the effect was just overwhelming. The orchestra's playing was top notch, on a different level compared to previous pieces. Overall, a very enjoyable experience. I also enjoyed the fact that this was an 11AM concert, natural lighting made it all a bit more casual and relaxed.

Yes, there is a Cantus Cölln box - with Rosenmüller but without Schein.

Thanks for sharing thoughts on the DHM set, Moms. I agree with you on Sempe and Steier - good stuff. I also have hears a lot of Kuijken, and found it mostly OK, not spectacular. At the same time, I like his Bach cello sonatas performed on shoulder cello.

Any comments on the DHM box?

I love Bach, he is my favorite composer, but I just can't get a grip on the Art of the Fugue. I find it meandering and unfocused, I get really bored long before the end of it. Having said that, the Musica Antiqua Köln version is interesting. Thanks for the Brookshire plug, listening to French Suites right now, like the performance (and the sound) a lot.

I am pretty sure we had at least a couple Petrushkas last season here in Vienna. I like this ballet a lot, although Firebird (of which Stravinsky seemed to have been quite dismissive) is my favorite among the early big three.

And there is a Columbia set too:

I look forward to hearing Pieter Wispelwey performing Bach's solo cello suites in March.

papsrus, thanks, interesting read. The greatest musical experience of your life, wow!

Any comments re this organ works set?

Let me also endorse Helene Schmitt's solo violin recordings on Alpha - they are outstanding. I often return to them.