What Classical Music Are You Listening To?

[Larry Kart]

1 hour ago, Chuck Nessa said:

I've got and like both Kamu-Berwald discs, though I recall  that the old Ehrling was a bit better -- but in rather dim early '60s  LP sound IIRC. Yesterday I ordered the Dausgaard set, cheap now on Brilliant Classics (two CDs for about $9). Some said it was very good, though some said it lacked punch. I don't think of Berwald as a very "punchy" composer though. We shall see. 

I think I can say without fear of contradiction that Berwald is not an easy composer to get just right, and when he isn't gotten just right or close to just right, some find him to be mererlty workmanlike, with a quirk or two, That particular swatch of time -- 1840s-'50s -- was pretty unsettled in Euorpean music in general, and Berwald's position in Denmark seems to have been especially equivocal for reasons that seem to have been related to that country's then rather provincial musical culture. For instance, Berwald's forte seems to have been orchestral/symphonic music, but Denmark had no taste for that sort of music at that time; opera was what was wanted there, and IIRC his major orchestral scores got no hearing win Denmark at the time. Also, not being able to make a go of it financially as a composer, Berwald got involved In running a lumber mill IIRC. When Liszt eventually heard Berwald's music, he was enthusiastic about its harmonic and formal subtleties, which in retrospect seem dead on.

[Peter Friedman]

Beethoven - Piano Trio No.7, Op.97 "Archduke"

[Chuck Nessa]

44 minutes ago, Larry Kart said:

I've got and like both Kamu-Berwald discs, though I recall  that the old Ehrling was a bit better -- but in rather dim early '60s  LP sound IIRC. Yesterday I ordered the Dausgaard set, cheap now on Brilliant Classics (two CDs for about $9). Some said it was very good, though some said it lacked punch. I don't think of Berwald as a very "punchy" composer though. We shall see. 

I think I can say without fear of contradiction that Berwald is not an easy composer to get just right, and when he isn't gotten just right or close to just right, some find him to be mererlty workmanlike, with a quirk or two, That particular swatch of time -- 1840s-'50s -- was pretty unsettled in Euorpean music in general, and Berwald's position in Denmark seems to have been especially equivocal for reasons that seem to have been related to that country's then rather provincial musical culture. For instance, Berwald's forte seems to have been orchestral/symphonic music, but Denmark had no taste for that sort of music at that time; opera was what was wanted there, and IIRC his major orchestral scores got no hearing win Denmark at the time. Also, not being able to make a go of it financially as a composer, Berwald got involved In running a lumber mill IIRC. When Liszt eventually heard Berwald's music, he was enthusiastic about its harmonic and formal subtleties, which in retrospect seem dead on.

What does Denmark have to do with it?

[Larry Kart]

56 minutes ago, Chuck Nessa said:

What does Denmark have to do with it?

Wasn't Denmark Berwald's home country and wasn't it Denmark's musical culture within which he frustratingly tried to function? In particular, if your gift is for symphonic music, and you can't get a hearing for that music in your home country, such that you have to retreat to running a sawmill  in an attempt to make a living, Denmark in the 1840s would seem to have something to do with it. Also, in that era, countries and even fairly musically sophisticated cities like Leipzig, where IIRC Berwald's music did get a hearing,  seemed to be culturally far more isolated than would be the case later on. IIRC. Favoring the home-grown was a common theme, and Berwald was an outsider several times over.

Milieu matters, no? Imagine Roscoe Mitchell with all his extravagant gifts growing up in a city that lacked Chicago's rich, yeasty jazz heritage, a city with no Muhal, no AACM, none or few of Roscoe's eventual musical partners., and, for that matter, no Chuck Nessa at Delmark with the ears to hear what Roscoe could do and thus no "Sound." Also a city that was, like Copenhagen in the 1840s,  not particularly linked in terms of what was going on in terms of musical culture with other cities in the world. If that had been the milieu, where might Roscoe be today?

Back to the mid-19th Century, was it incidental to their eventual impact that Liszt was a much traveled  sexy/semi-scandalous virtuoso and one-man font of publicity and Berlioz was doing his best to tear up the pea-patch in Paris, the virtual capital of the 19th Century. And even then, the disparity between what Berlioz wanted to do musically and what opportunities Paris of that era was able to/chose to offer him almost drove him out of his cotton-picking mind. 

 

[soulpope]

50 minutes ago, Peter Friedman said:

Beethoven - Piano Trio No.7, Op.97 "Archduke"

Wonderful music indeed ....

[soulpope]

This superb recording reliably delivers a much needed consolation ....

[Chuck Nessa]

38 minutes ago, Larry Kart said:

Wasn't Denmark Berwald's home country and wasn't it Denmark's musical culture within which he frustratingly tried to function? In particular, if your gift is for symphonic music, and you can't get a hearing for that music in your home country, such that you have to retreat to running a sawmill  in an attempt to make a living, Denmark in the 1840s would seem to have something to do with it. Also, in that era, countries and even fairly musically sophisticated cities like Leipzig, where IIRC Berwald's music did get a hearing,  seemed to be culturally far more isolated than would be the case later on. IIRC. Favoring the home-grown was a common theme, and Berwald was an outsider several times over.

Sweden?

[Larry Kart]

2 minutes ago, Chuck Nessa said:

Sweden?

Oops. I got on the wrong ferry. But the rest of what I said still goes, no?

[Chuck Nessa]

yup.

[Referentzhunter]

Thriftstore-find (1958 Mono)

 

[Referentzhunter]

another thriftstore-find

 

[Peter Friedman]

Dvorak - String Quartet No.8, Op.80

Mozart - Piano Concerto No.17, K.453

[Referentzhunter]

Thriftstore-find (2 cd)

Dvorak - Scherzo Capriccio * Symphony No. 7

Bedrich Smetana - Ma Vlast, Die Moldau

The great thing about Bernhard Haitink as a conductor that he doesn't loses grip on the composition he is conducting. A trancendental experience again ...

[Larry Kart]

41 minutes ago, Peter Friedman said:

Dvorak - String Quartet No.8, Op.80

Mozart - Piano Concerto No.17, K.453

Zacharias!

[Peter Friedman]

[mikeweil]

[Chuck Nessa]

Hard to decide where to post this - vinyl, recent purchase, classical, etc.

Much impressed by Tjeknavorian's Borodin recordings for RCA, I searched out more. The recording of Khachaturian's Gayne had positive reviews on Amazon for the music but horrible reviews of the sound for the RCA cd. Reviews repeatedly mentioned the great sound of the lps. Because of this I purchased a Japanese cd reissue and they seemed to use the same mastering. I finally found what seems to be a "mint" copy of the vinyl and will try it in the morning.

[soulpope]

Early morning pleasure .... :

[soulpope]

[Referentzhunter]

Dvorak - Symphony No. 8 * Slavonic Dances

[Referentzhunter]

[soulpope]

[Peter Friedman]

[Peter Friedman]

K.310  and K.330

[mikeweil]

Wonderful music in excellent performance and sound!