What Classical Music Are You Listening To?

[HutchFan]

The next disc from this set:

Arnold Bax: The Symphonies / Vernon Handley, BBC Philharmonic (Chandos)
Disc 2 - Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4

 

1 hour ago, EKE BBB said:

Next on my stereo... Sublime music for the next few... years!

So true!  

[Referentzhunter]

[Referentzhunter]

[T.D.]

8 minutes ago, Referentzhunter said:

 !!!

I have the (relatively) recent 3-cd "Complete Varese" cond. by Chailly (plus a few recordings of scattered individual pieces).

[Referentzhunter]

3 minutes ago, T.D. said:

 !!!

I have the (relatively) recent 3-cd "Complete Varese" cond. by Chailly (plus a few recordings of scattered individual pieces).

Fascinating stuff ! Chailly and Varese, ahah. This is an old recording 1954 under Varese's supervision.

Robert Crafts version is fantastic and way more better sounding.

[Referentzhunter]

[Referentzhunter]

[Peter Friedman]

[soulpope]

Mendelssohn Symphony 2  Claus Peter Flor + Bamberger Symphoniker ( RCA)   1990 .... outstanding (applies to all Mendelssohn performances by Flor + BS) ....

[Referentzhunter]

Symphonie 2

[soulpope]

Brigitte Fassbaender "Mendelssohn + Schumann Lieder" (EMI Classics)     2005 .... superb recordings from 1976, 1979 and 1983 ....

[soulpope]

Schubert "Schwanengesang" Werner Güra + Christoph Berner (Harmonia Mundi)       2007 .... sublime ....

Edited February 20, 2019 by soulpope

[Referentzhunter]

Symphony 5

6 minutes ago, Referentzhunter said:

Symphony 5

TO AQUEOUS FOR ME. Haitink, mehhhh

 

[paul secor]

On ‎2‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 8:56 PM, HutchFan said:

Now playing a recent acquisition:

Bruckner - Symphony No. 7 / Tintner, RSNO (Naxos)
This is the first recording I've heard by conductor Georg Tintner. I like his approach very much -- relatively transparent textures; less monumental, more "flowing."  And there's no shortage of atmosphere, despite of the lighter touch. ...It's easy to hear Wagner in Bruckner, but I think Tintner's way with the music makes Bruckner's connection to Beethoven more pronounced.

I remember when Tintner's Bruckner recordings on Naxos were first released and making a big splash. I read about them in Gramophone and the rest. It's odd that those days were 20 (!) years ago. And I'm just getting around to hearing them now. Better late than never, I guess.  

 

I have two Tintner Bruckners - Nos. 00 and 3 - which I've enjoyed listening to very much. My experience with Bruckner is limited, so my comment probably isn't worth a lot. I do like your "flowing" description. That's what I hear and like.

Edited February 20, 2019 by paul secor

[Peter Friedman]

Mendelssohn - String Quartet Op.44/3   &.  Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.3

[HutchFan]

2 hours ago, paul secor said:

I have two Tintner Bruckners - Nos. 00 and 3 - which I've enjoyed listening to very much. My experience with Bruckner is limited, so my comment probably isn't worth a lot. I do like your "flowing" description. That's what I hear and like.

I'm not any sort of Bruckner "expert" either. I've just enjoyed what I've heard from Tintner.  

BTW: Since my original post, I've also heard Tintner's recording of Bruckner's 9th -- and I think it shares the same strengths as his 7th. Bruckner's music can sometimes seem "segmented," with abrupt transitions between musical ideas. With Tintner, I don't get that impression. OTOH, I don't sense he's "smoothing things out."  It's more like he's navigating between musical ideas with aplomb, finding connections between here and there.

Also, I've got to say that I think the Royal Scottish National Orchestra sounds superb on these two recordings. Of course, they don't have the heftier, darker sonorities that people associate with "Bruckner orchestras" -- like the Staatskapelle Dresden. But the RSNO's sound -- brighter, less heavy -- seems to be a perfect fit for Tintner's interpretive approach.

 

[HutchFan]

 

NP:

Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets / Belcea Quartet (Alpha Classics)
Disc 1 - String Quartet No. 6, Op. 18/6 and No. 12, Op. 127

[soulpope]

2 hours ago, Peter Friedman said:

Mendelssohn - String Quartet Op.44/3 

👍👍👍!!!

[soulpope]

Earlier today .... :

[Referentzhunter]

[HutchFan]

I've been listening two versions of Vaughan Williams' Fifth Symphony consecutively:

Sir John Barbirolli, Philharmonia O (EMI)

 

and

Vernon Handley, Royal Liverpool PO (EMI)

Barbirolli is one of my favorite conductors, but -- in this particular case -- I think Handley's reading is more persuasive.

 

[HutchFan]

Now listening to Karl Böhm's recording of Beethoven's 9th:

with the Wiener Philharmoniker and Konzertvereinigung Weiner Staatsopernchor
Gwyneth Jones, Tatiana Troyanos, Jess Thomas, and Karl Riddersbusch 

 

Böhm's LvB recordings were some of the first I ever heard. Back then I was listening to vinyl, this box set:

I think the cycle has held up very well -- at least when compared to similar "big band," un-HIP sets.

Böhm's 6th, 7th, and 9th are still among my favorite versions.

Nothing like first impressions.  

 

[jeffcrom]

Over the past week, I've listened to the complete Karajan/Berlin "1963" Beethoven symphony cycle, in a random order of my own. Really beautiful music making, for the most part. Yeah, the 6th is kind of perfunctory, but I still enjoyed the gorgeous sound of the Berliners.

[jeffcrom]

Janacek - Sinfonietta (Ozawa/Chicago SO). A 45 RPM vinyl Angel "Sonic Series" release. Stirring performance and really fabulous sonics.

[Chuck Nessa]

26 minutes ago, jeffcrom said:

Janacek - Sinfonietta (Ozawa/Chicago SO). A 45 RPM vinyl Angel "Sonic Series" release. Stirring performance and really fabulous sonics.

If you can find this one, jump on it.