What Classical Music Are You Listening To?

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[A Lark Ascending]

[soulpope]

[Balladeer]

Sebastian Knauer - Pure Mendelssohn (Berlin Classics)

Praise for Knauer: gorgeous recital, beautiful music
 

[A Lark Ascending]

No 2

Didn't hear the Riley until a few years back though I remember seeing it in shops and by reputation in the early 70s. Seems to have been pretty unashamedly pillaged by the Soft Machine, The Who (so that's what Baba O'Riley was all about!), Neil Ardley and many others. Not just the looping patterns - the saxophone voicings on the second track remind me of some of the harmonies on Soft Machine records when an augmented set of reeds/brass were employed.  

1933 opera by this Czech composer (another victim of the Holocaust). Enjoyed this very much - less surreal than some of the other operas in the series, so the plot is easy to follow. Occasional echoes of Janacek but has more in common with Krenek, Zemlinsky, Korngold, even Weill. Standard late-Romantic language though like a lot of those composers pushing the chromaticism; also the interventions of 'other' musics - foxtrots, sleazy saxophones, what passed for jazz in this world. Well worth a listen if you're attracted to that middle European world of the 20s/30s. Must have sounded very daring at the time; by the 50s it was old hat. 

Edited September 11, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[Peter Friedman]

Brahms - Horn Trio

[Peter Friedman]

[HutchFan]

While doing some big cleaning projects in the kitchen earlier today:

 

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 6 "Pastoral" & 2; Symphonies Nos. 7 & 1 / Janos Ferencsik, Hungarian PO (Laserlight)
Excellent recordings -- despite the bargain-basement price. Originally released on Hungaroton, IIRC. 
 

Now back to lieder. Spinning this LP:

Hans Hotter - Great German Songs: Schubert, Schumann, Strauss (Seraphim)

 

Edited September 12, 2016 by HutchFan

[HutchFan]

Eugen Jochum - ICON (Warner Classics)
Disc 12 - Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 / Dresden Staatskapelle

 

[soulpope]

5 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Eugen Jochum - ICON (Warner Classics)
Disc 12 - Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 / Dresden Staatskapelle

 

A great Bruckner 4 for sure .... we  are lucky to have a number of different - and excellent - Bruckner interpretations on offer ....

Edited September 12, 2016 by soulpope

[A Lark Ascending]

 

[soulpope]

While not being a dedicated follower of Mr. Barenboim neither as conductor nor as pianist, this Bruckner 4  - which showcases the powerful Chicago Brass and still offers countless subtleties - is hard to deny ....

[soulpope]

Speaking of Jochum + Brucker .... here allied with Munich Philharmonic forces (from 1979, before been "take over" by Sergiu Celibidache) ....

[mikeweil]

On 2.9.2016 at 1:28 PM, soulpope said:

This had made me curious - managed to find a cheap copy in good condition. I wonder why this escaped me when it was first released, as it is wonderful music and a repertoire rarely performed. The soprano could use less vibrato, though ... 

Thanks for the unintentional recommendation. 

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, mikeweil said:

This had made me curious - managed to find a cheap copy in good condition. I wonder why this escaped me when it was first released, as it is wonderful music and a repertoire rarely performed. The soprano could use less vibrato, though ... 

Thanks for the unintentional recommendation. 

Glad I could be unintentionally of help .... bought it some 15 years ago based on a strong review in the lavish Goldberg Magazine

which at that time was a reliable source for infos reg. new baroque releases outside the big/renowned label perimeters ....

 

[mikeweil]

Goldberg magazine does not exist anymore, right? Knew about it but there was no dealer for it where Ilived at the time  .... 

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, mikeweil said:

Goldberg magazine does not exist anymore, right? Knew about it but there was no dealer for it where Ilived at the time  .... 

I believe it ceased around 2008 .... I had a personal sub via the importer in Austria - but when he left for good to work for Harmonia Mundi in Southern France in 2005 so did my subscription ....

[HutchFan]

8 hours ago, soulpope said:

A great Bruckner 4 for sure .... we  are lucky to have a number of different - and excellent - Bruckner interpretations on offer ....

Absolutely!   My "gateway" into Bruckner's Fourth was Klemperer's recording in a Time-Life LP set called The Opulent Era.  That's still a special record for me.

I've also enjoyed Skrowaczewski's recording with the Hallé and Jochum's earlier recording on DG with the Berlin PO.

 

This morning, I've been listening to Mahler's Fourth with James Levine, the Chicago SO, and Judith Blegen:

Beautiful! For me, the M4 is the highlight of this set. 

[HutchFan]

Richard Goode Plays Brahms (Nonesuch)
- Eight Piano Pieces, Op. 76
- Seven Fantasies, Op. 116
- Four Piano Pieces, Op. 119

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, HutchFan said:

Absolutely!   My "gateway" into Bruckner's Fourth was Klemperer's recording in a Time-Life LP set called The Opulent Era.  That's still a special record for me.

I've also enjoyed Skrowaczewski's recording with the Hallé and Jochum's earlier recording on DG with the Berlin PO.

If being in the mood for another worth hearing Bruckner 4 performance you should try this one :

nowadays also available as budget release :

[Peter Friedman]

Strauss -Piano Quartet

Mozart - Piano Concerto No.22

[l p]

 

[A Lark Ascending]

Op 87 off first.

Edited September 12, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[HutchFan]

Brahms: Symphony No. 2; Tragic Overture / Stokowski, National PO (Columbia)
This record was made in 1977, the last year of Stokowski's life. Something interesting to consider: Stokowski was born in 1882. Brahms died in 1897. So Stokowski was already 15 years old (!) when Brahms died. I suppose that doesn't give Stokowski any special authority when it comes to Brahms. (This isn't even my "first choice" for this work.)  Even so, that kind of direct link with the past does seem like something special -- especially when it occurred as recently* as 1977.

 

*In 1977, I was nine years old.  I suppose the fact that I was alive in 1977 is the only reason that I can refer to something that occurred in 1977 as "recent."  It probably doesn't seem all that recent to someone who was born in the 80s or 90s, much less the new millennia. Oh well. Like Einstein said, time is relative.