What Classical Music Are You Listening To?

[soulpope]

Recorded @ Christuskirche Berlin in January 1990 .... illuminating peformance led by Austria born Otmar Suitner ....

[Peter Friedman]

[soulpope]

Before .... :

Recorded @ Supraphon Studio, Praha in February 1976 .... btw until 1946 Václav Neumann played viola in this to become legendary ensemble ....

[HutchFan]

Now spinning:

Música Española: Albeniz, Granados, De Falla, Turina / Narciso Yepes (DG, 1971)

❤️ ❤️ ❤️

[HutchFan]

Another wonderful guitarist:

Duets with the Spanish Guitar, Album 2 / Laurindo Almeida, Sally Terri, and others (Angel)
Originally released as Conversations with the Guitar (Capitol, 1960) 

Sally Terri sings on half of the album's 12 cuts.  Her voice is so ravishing that I wish she appeared on every track.

 

[Ron S]

9 hours ago, soulpope said:

It is said that more than 80% of the CPO members voted for Sejna .... but the Czech Communistic regime aimed to spread discord within the orchestra and installed Ancerl .... it's a sort of destiny, that Ancerl + CPO managed a fruitful co-operation nevertheless .... 

For what it's worth, Ancerl's Wikipedia bio states the following:

Quote

Later he conducted for Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra until he was appointed artistic director of the Czech Philharmonic on the recommendation of David Oistrakh in 1950.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Ančerl

There doesn't appear to be any specific source cited for that statement, but perhaps you can provide some context?  It DOES appear that throughout his life, Oistrakh always stayed in the good graces of the Soviet regime, again for what it's worth.

Edited February 6, 2024 by Ron S

[Peter Friedman]

[soulpope]

2 hours ago, Ron S said:

For what it's worth, Ancerl's Wikipedia bio states the following:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Ančerl

There doesn't appear to be any specific source cited for that statement, but perhaps you can provide some context?  It DOES appear that throughout his life, Oistrakh always stayed in the good graces of the Soviet regime, again for what it's worth.

The 1950's were likely the bleakest years in Czechoslovakia's history .... Stalin urged Communistic parties in Eastern Europe to execute full liquidation of democratic principles .... political trials and judicial murder were the order of the day .... these were dangerous times for individuals and Oistrakh was no exception .... never heard about him championing for Ancerl, but who knows .... 

[HutchFan]

Listening to this again:

Aaron Copland: Music for Theatre; Music for Movies; Quiet City; Clarinet Concerto* / Dennis Russell Davies, Orchestra of St. Luke's, William Blount (cl)*

Davies is a persuasive conductor of Copland's music, imo. 

 

[HutchFan]

4 hours ago, Ron S said:

It DOES appear that throughout his life, Oistrakh always stayed in the good graces of the Soviet regime, again for what it's worth.

Yes, this is true. Unlike his friends, Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya, David Oistrakh was always a "dutiful citizen" of the USSR. I'm not sure whether Oistrakh was a true believer or just appreciated the perks of being "politically reliable" (or, perhaps most likely, some combination of both). 

One certainty: Regardless of his political calculations, Oistrakh was undeniably a magnificent musician. And the same could be said of Ancerl.

 

All this discussion is making me think of David Remnick's book Lenin's Tomb and the film "The Lives of Others."  Living in that sort of totalitarian state was . . . incredibly complicated. And nearly unimaginable for someone who hasn't lived through it (like me).

 

[Ron S]

1 minute ago, HutchFan said:

One certainty: Regardless of his political calculations, Oistrakh was undeniably a magnificent musician. And the same could be said of Ancerl.

 

Absolutely!  👍

[HutchFan]

Copland again. Chamber works this time:

[Д.Д.]

2 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Yes, this is true. Unlike his friends, Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya, David Oistrakh was always a "dutiful citizen" of the USSR. I'm not sure whether Oistrakh was a true believer or just appreciated the perks of being "politically reliable" (or, perhaps most likely, some combination of both). 

Well, apparently Oistrach said to Vishnevskaya and Rostropovich that unlike them "he is not a fighter". He lived through great terror of 1937-38 expecting to be arrested any night (most of the tenants in his apartment building eventually were), and this traumatized him deeply (same goes for Shostakovich who was sleeping on a camp cot right next to the entrance to his apartment so that if "they" came to arrest him in the night his pregnant wife and young daughter would not be woken up). Oistrach made a point of continuing playing Weinberg's Moldavian Rhapsody after his friend Weinberg was arrested in 1952. If not an act of active resistance, this was a principled (and potentially dangerous) stand.           

Edited February 6, 2024 by Д.Д.

[HutchFan]

1 minute ago, Д.Д. said:

Well, apparently Oistrach said to Vishnevskaya and Rostropovich that unlike them "he is not a fighter". He lived through great terror of 1937-38 expecting to be arrested any night (most of the tenants in his apartment building eventually were), and this traumatized him deeply (same goes for Shostakovich who was sleeping on a camp cot right next to the entrance to his apartment so that if "they" came to arrest him in the night his pregnant wife and young daughter would not be woken up). Oistrach made a point of including Weinberg's Moldavian Rhapsody after his friend Weinberg was arrested in 1952. If not an active resistance, this was a principled (and potentially dangerous) stand.     

Interesting.  Thanks for sharing, D.D.

I knew that story about DSCH sleeping in the hallway, but I didn't realize that Oistrakh went through that same experience during 1937-38 also.

 

[Ron S]

Haydn, String Quartets, Op. 71, Nos. 1-3

Auryn Quartet (Tacet)

[Chuck Nessa]

[soulpope]

6 hours ago, Д.Д. said:

Well, apparently Oistrach said to Vishnevskaya and Rostropovich that unlike them "he is not a fighter". He lived through great terror of 1937-38 expecting to be arrested any night (most of the tenants in his apartment building eventually were), and this traumatized him deeply (same goes for Shostakovich who was sleeping on a camp cot right next to the entrance to his apartment so that if "they" came to arrest him in the night his pregnant wife and young daughter would not be woken up). Oistrach made a point of continuing playing Weinberg's Moldavian Rhapsody after his friend Weinberg was arrested in 1952. If not an act of active resistance, this was a principled (and potentially dangerous) stand.           

Yep ....

[soulpope]

8 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Living in that sort of totalitarian state was . . . incredibly complicated. And nearly unimaginable for someone who hasn't lived through it (like me).

When the "Prague Spring" endet abruptly with Russian troops invading Czechoslovakia, some musicians of the CPO fled overnight only carrying their instruments with them.

These people received shelter @ Vienna. Many of them went on to Munich and reunited with Rafael Kubelik .... some labeled the SOBR  as "CPO in exile" at that time ...

I still remember it well ....

[soulpope]

Rafael Kubelik + VPO perform Bruckner 4 "live" @ Musikverein Wien in January 1971 ....

[soulpope]

Recorded "live" @ Philharmonie Berlin in May 2001 .... Rafael Kubelik was an early advocate for the music of Gustav Mahler and subsequently Claudio Abbado kept the revival going .... a subtle performance for sure ....

[Peter Friedman]

[HutchFan]

3 minutes ago, Peter Friedman said:

I'm a fan of both Haskil and Fricsay -- but I've never heard that album.  I bet it's good.  

What are your impressions, Peter?

 

[Peter Friedman]

25 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

I'm a fan of both Haskil and Fricsay -- but I've never heard that album.  I bet it's good.  

What are your impressions, Peter?

 

Hutchfan, I like this one. The orchestra sounds a little bit recessed, with the piano up front. However, the overall sound is fine.

As you like both Haskil and Fricsay, I can easily recommend it to you

[soulpope]

NP .... :

Recorded in November 1984 .... taken at a lower pace these are Mendelssohn performances to rave about ....

[Ron S]

Haydn, String Quartets, Op. 74, Nos. 1-3

Auryn Quartet (Tacet)