What Classical Music Are You Listening To?

[soulpope]

[alankin]

Johannes Brahms – Quartet for Piano and Strings No.1 in G minor Op.25
— Murray Perahia (piano) – members of the Amadeus String Quartet (CBS Records Masterworks – Sony Classics)

   

[soulpope]

Earlier today .... :

[alankin]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 
– Symphony No.40 in G minor K 550
– Symphony No.41 in C major K 551 "Jupiter"
Berliner Philharmoniker – Carlo Maria Giulini (Sony Classical), CD 2 from:
 

[Balladeer]

Claudio Santoro - Love Songs & Popular Songs, Preludes and Paulistanas for solo piano :
Rosana Lamosa (soprano) & Marcelo Bratke (p) (Quartz Records)

[StarThrower]

Just discovered this composer/pianist.

Edited October 1, 2016 by StarThrower

[jeffcrom]

An old Remington LP from 1953:

Henry Brant - Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra; Sigurd Rascher/Cincinnati SO/Thor Johnson

Peggy Glanville-Hicks - Gymnopedies & Dane Rudhyar - Sinfonietta; RIAS SO/Jonel Perlea

[jeffcrom]

Henry Cowell - Symphony #5; American Recording Society Orchestra/Dean Dixon. From a 1951 American Recording Society 10" LP. It seems to be old classical record night around here.

[JSngry]

2 hours ago, jeffcrom said:

 - Symphony #5; American Reco rding Society Orchestra/Dean Dixon. From a 1951 American Recording Society 10" LP. It seems to be old classical record night around here.

Whoa, I got that record too! Love the boxy sound, makes It all Communist and shit for no real reason at all.

Where will the comprehensive Listing Of ARS Output be found?

[Ted O'Reilly]

13 hours ago, rostasi said:

The first non-profit record label in the US.

Maybe you mean "not-FOR-profit" -- there must have been dozens of labels that were (unintentionally) non-profit... ;-)

[A Lark Ascending]

Beautiful new disc. The Harris concerto sounds as you'd hope - tuneful, atmospheric, suggestive of wide open spaces. Should appeal to RVW fans as well as those who enjoy Copland and that era of American composers. Would have preferred something more unusual than the Adams concerto (which I like) - it has already had several recordings - but can see it is probably a marketing decision. A popular composer to balance up someone who doesn't get recorded much these days. Don't know much about Waley-Cohen but she seems to have off-the-beaten path instincts - already had a fair few contemporary pieces written for her. 

No 2. Using the Robert Simpson book again as a guide. He writes assuming you have a score in front of you but you can still make out the gist of his argument. He's a terrible snob (and barely contains his contempt for atonality/serialism etc) but I got more from listening to this piece than ever before. The reappearance of the main theme of the third movement just towards the end is a spine-tingling moment. 

  

The Szymanowski concertos have taken their time to worm their way into my affections (20 years!). Think the recording might be the problem - one of those with a wide dynamic range that has to be turned up for the quiet parts. You then get blasted in the loud bits. The first concerto in particular reminds me of the Korngold - that rather lurid, bejewelled style that prefigures the Hollywood scores of the 40s. Suits me just fine.  

Edited October 2, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[jeffcrom]

John-Edward Kelly (alto sax) and Bob Versteegh (piano) playing 20th-century music on a Col Legno CD:

Maurice Karkoff - Sonatina (1985)
Henk Badings - La Malinconia (1949)
Miklos Maros - Undulations (1986)
Werner Wolf Glaser - Allegro, Cadenza e Adagio (1950)
Otmar Macha - Plac Saxofonu (1968)
Ernst-Lothar von Knorr - Sonata (1932)

I've been listening to a lot of classical saxophone lately, but haven't posted about most of it. This one deserves some attention, though. I hadn't spun it for awhile - I go through periods when Kelly's very dark sound annoys me. Not today - the quality of the playing is very high, and the compositions are excellent, even if the composers are not likely to be familiar to most listeners. Miklos Maros' "Undulations" is stunning; it uses polytonality, quarter tones, and the natural overtone series..

[soulpope]

[soulpope]

[A Lark Ascending]

Especially liked 'Star-Child' off the Crumb. An eerie, static, atmospheric theme (not unlike the quiet part of 'Central Park in the Dark') threads through the whole piece, interrupted by vigorous choral and fanfare sections (not unlike Britten of all people!).

I was really struck by the third Nancarrow quartet in a live performance earlier in the year. The quiet parts are utterly beautiful. First time hearing the other pieces on the disc. A couple of his player piano pieces were on the radio a few days back. One had me spellbound - one 'hand' playing slow, the other impossibly fast (nor real hands); then gradually the slow one sped up and the fast one slowed down and they crossed over. Seems like a simple thing but it was gripping.

   

[HutchFan]

I've been listening to lots of Robert Schumann's music for solo piano over the last few days. Mostly as performed by Claudio Arrau -- but also Argerich, Kissin, Alexeev, Perahia, et al.

I've also ordered a Geza Anda box that includes 2 CDs of Schumann's music. Looking forward to hearing it. (The box is "The Art of Geza Anda" on Brilliant Classics, a reissue of his solo piano recordings originally on DG.)

Edited October 4, 2016 by HutchFan

[A Lark Ascending]

Marvellous music and Casper David Friedrich covers to boot. 

[soulpope]

[alankin]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 
– Quartet for Strings No.1 in G major K80
– Quartet for Strings No.2 in D major K155 (134a)
– Quartet for Strings No.3 in G major K156 (134b)
– Quartet for Strings No.4 in C major K157
– Quartet for Strings No.5 in F major K158
Paolo Borciani (violin), Elisa Pegreffi (violin), Piero Farulli (viola), Franco Rossi (cello) – Quartetto Italiano (Philips / Decca Music)

 
 

[A Lark Ascending]

The Higdon off the first. Yet to really connect to either of these records.

Very enjoyable collection of varied pieces from the first forty years of the 20thC. Brahms, Ireland, Bridge come to mind....even Stravinsky in the later pieces. Despite writing only a small body of work she seems to have quite a following - I notice two new releases of largely the same music in 2016 alone.

Another listen. The Cello concerto is especially beautiful. Would love to hear it live.

Just started Bostridge's recent book 'Winter Journey' which examines 'Winterreise' with a chapter to each song, exploring the songs and poems but venturing much more widely. Very impressed so far - he admits to having never studied music so approaches it more as a cultural historian (his degree was in history). Nicely down to earth and unpretentious yet displaying an incredibly wide knowledge of music, history, literature etc. Prior to seeing a performance of 'Winterreise' in Sheffield next month (by someone else).    

Edited October 5, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[soulpope]

[Balladeer]

Christian Schulz - Romanza (Oceanbar Records)

Lovely guitar recital featuring mostly modern Latin American composers.

[alankin]

Édouard Lalo – Symphonie espagnole pour violon et orchestre Op.21
Max Bruch – Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor Op.26
— Yehudi Menuhin (violin) – San Francisco Symphony Orchestra – Pierre Monteux (RCA Victor Red Seal / Sony Classical)

 
 

[soulpope]

On 4.10.2016 at 7:52 PM, alankin said:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 
– Quartet for Strings No.1 in G major K80
– Quartet for Strings No.2 in D major K155 (134a)
– Quartet for Strings No.3 in G major K156 (134b)
– Quartet for Strings No.4 in C major K157
– Quartet for Strings No.5 in F major K158
Paolo Borciani (violin), Elisa Pegreffi (violin), Piero Farulli (viola), Franco Rossi (cello) – Quartetto Italiano (Philips / Decca Music)

 
 

A magnificent chamber music ensemble ....

[A Lark Ascending]

9-12; Symphony A/B (Partita) in B flat major (snappy little titles!). 

The latter whilst making a fruit cake, as Bach intended.

First three pieces in order to try and make more sense of what I heard Hewitt play t'other night. The above guide book proved very helpful (not recommended to 'the connoisseur'). I find the idea of two hands playing three lines of music very hard to get my head round. I'm not really able to hear all three at once - when I've focused on the lower line I miss the other two and have to redirect my ears. The complexity of this music is staggering (and the inventions were apparently teaching tools!) and I've only got a bare grasp of it. However, I was completely floored by the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue. Music I've played many times but I think I only heard it yesterday. 

This morning:

  

 

Edited October 6, 2016 by A Lark Ascending