What classical music are you listening to?

[Covenanter]

I don't know the preludes so will give this a go.

Chris

 

[Covenanter]

This afternoon the new Ingrid Fliter version of the Chopin Piano Concertos on Linn Records. I ordered it yesterday from Amazon after a personal recommendation and they played some of it this morning on Classic FM and I thought "Oh dear I may have wasted my money" because it sounded rather dull. However when it was delivered this lunch-time I listened to the SACD and I can tell you that the playing is first class and the recording is demonstration quality. I guess you shouldn't judge things by listening on "compressed" radio stations.

Strongly recommended even if you have other versions.

Chris

PS I haven't listened to the CD layer yet. My current opinion is that there is generally little if any difference to the SACD layer.

 

[matthewpiano]

Tonight its the Chopin Ballades and Scherzos, played by Ashkenazy.

 

[matt49]

Schoenberg, Gürrelieder (Norman, Troyanos et al / Ozawa, Boston SO). This is another disk in the series being re-released by Presto Classical (orig. Philips 1979, then Gramophone 2004).

This is Schoenberg in post-Romantic mode. Very passionate and lyrical. There's some beautiful singing on this disk, and the orchestral playing is wistful and sprightly by turns. Interesting to compare this with Mahler's song cycles.

 

[Webern]

I love it when a little package arrives in the post, and some new additions to the collection are made!

I have a number of still shrink-wrapped items to enjoy, including the DVD of "I Puritani" (Netrebko/Summers) - I need to book a free evening with frau Webern to view it.

The first disc to be played yesterday was the Decca CD of Ashkenazy's Rachmaninov 2 (Symphony) and Symphonic Dances. Wonderful music and the recording sounds fresh.

 

[Webern]

...and this afternoon did anyone else catch the repeat of the Imogen Cooper Wigmore hall recital from last Monday? Brahms and Schumann (Robert and Clara!). What a wonderful painist she is -she transported me to another world during the Brahms D Minor Theme and Variations, fantastic!

 

[matthewpiano]

More Ashkenazy today, this time in the complete Nocturnes. After that, Marc Andre Hamelin's Schumann disc, including a lovely performance of Papillons.

 

[Andrew17321]

Last night live in the Duns Volunteer Hall (Where? Indeed you might ask.): Haydn's Symphony No 101, played by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Period brass instruments. Fantastic bassoon playing, especially the interplay with the flute. Listening to Haydn symphonies always puts a smile on my face. Somehow I miss the excitement and humour in Haydn's music when I listen on CDs.

Re CDs, the one I am listening to most at the moment is EMI's 1965 recording of Matha Argerich playing various Chopin piano pieces. (Because of contract problems it was not released until 1999.)

Really powerful playing, with instant mood changes, quite exhilarating. It would probably have shocked a few people at the time: definitely not the nice harmless background music that some folk consider Chopin to be!

Andrew

 

[Webern]

Ashkenazy is having a bit of a run here. I listened to another old favourite that I first bought on vinyl in the 1980s - the Prokofiev piano concertos with Andre Previn and the LSO (nos 1,2 and 4 this time). I'm a big fan of Prokofiev and the first movement of no:2 is hypnotic. I don't understand why no:1 isn't heard more often in the concert hall either, let alone 4 and 5. Anyway, I think these recordings transferred well to CD, and the "Trio CD" coupling with the violin concertos is a real bargain.

I also listened to the three symphonies by Honegger, on a CD of performances by the Toulouse Capitole under Plasson. Music from the 1930's and 40's. The second is especially interesting, being scored for strings and trumpet, and containing some inventive, if troubled, music - and I think very evocative of its era. Again, why don't we hear it more often in the concert hall?

I'm still waiting for an opportunity to watch the Netrebko I Puritani. The World Cup looms, so free evenings may be hard to find...

 

[MrReaper182]

I am listening to The young prince and princess of Scheherazade by Rimsky Korsakov from the Classic FM time to relax 3 CD box set. Fantastic stuff but I still don't like the way the piece ends. Next up is Double Violin concerto in D minor, 2nd movement by J.S Bach.

 

[Webern]

I am listening to The young prince and princess of Scheherazade by Rimsky Korsakov from the Classic FM time to relax 3 CD box set. Fantastic stuff but I still don't like the way the piece ends. Next up is Double Violin concerto in D minor, 2nd movement by J.S Bach.

Fabulous music - one of my desert island choices. But why not help yourself to the whole piece?

 

[MrReaper182]

I am listening to The young prince and princess of Scheherazade by Rimsky Korsakov from the Classic FM time to relax 3 CD box set. Fantastic stuff but I still don't like the way the piece ends. Next up is Double Violin concerto in D minor, 2nd movement by J.S Bach.

Fabulous music - one of my desert island choices. But why not help yourself to the whole piece?

That might have something to do with the fact that I only own the second movement and not the full piece. I'll have to get the full piece.

 

[Webern]

I am listening to The young prince and princess of Scheherazade by Rimsky Korsakov from the Classic FM time to relax 3 CD box set. Fantastic stuff but I still don't like the way the piece ends. Next up is Double Violin concerto in D minor, 2nd movement by J.S Bach.

Fabulous music - one of my desert island choices. But why not help yourself to the whole piece?

That might have something to do with the fact that I only own the second movement and not the full piece. I'll have to get the full piece.

Oh, sorry! Well I hope you enjoy listening to it and I can recommend the recording by the English Concert and Trevor Pinnock if you do decide to buy it.

 

[MrReaper182]

I am listening to The young prince and princess of Scheherazade by Rimsky Korsakov from the Classic FM time to relax 3 CD box set. Fantastic stuff but I still don't like the way the piece ends. Next up is Double Violin concerto in D minor, 2nd movement by J.S Bach.

Fabulous music - one of my desert island choices. But why not help yourself to the whole piece?

That might have something to do with the fact that I only own the second movement and not the full piece. I'll have to get the full piece.

Oh, sorry! Well I hope you enjoy listening to it and I can recommend the recording by the English Concert and Trevor Pinnock if you do decide to buy it.

I did enjoy listening to that piece. I will have to pick up the English Concert and Trevor Pinnock recording. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[matthewpiano]

Listening to a 2CD set of Moura Lympany's HMV recordings on the APR label. I saw this set in International Piano magazine and managed to pick it up today. It is part of a series dedicated to pupils of the great British piano teacher Mathay, and includes some beautiful playing. Amongst the gems there is a particularly good Mendelssohn Concerto.

 

[Webern]

Tonight, a disc of Schubert songs from Hyperion's complete set - songs from 1816, including a tribute to Salieri which was unknown to me.

I had a few of the discs from the original series that I bought when they were released. There are a couple of drawbacks with the box set. Firstly, Graham Johnson's superb booklet notes are missing, though you do get a brief chronology and full texts. Secondly, the songs are presented in chronological order, rather than the original programmes. Perhaps the latter is debateable.

Happily though, we still have the pleasingly diverse array of singers, and what a stellar cast! Lucia Popp, Janet Baker, Peter Schreier et al. The recordings vary in quality - understandable given the passage of time as this monumental project progressed. We're so lucky that we have record labels who are willing to commit to such enterprises.

 

[matthewpiano]

A fabulous Naxos disc featuring Christina Ortiz and the Fine Arts Quartet in Saint-Saens' Piano Quartet in B Flat Major, Piano Quintet in A Minor and Barcarolle. Playing of real conviction and warmth, and in fine recorded sound too. Recommended for anyone who enjoys chamber music.

 

[matthewpiano]

The Dunedin Consort recording of the Mozart Requiem, re-creating the original performance. This is really special, bringing out all the interplay and detail of the writing. May well end up being my preferred recording of this work, although I do occasionally miss the ethereal quality that a larger chorus can bring so the larger scale recordings (such as Barenboim's) will still get played regularly here. Linn's recording is to die for.

 

[Webern]

One of those days where one piece sparks the idea for the next, and a kind of unplanned theme emerges.

First, Bartok piano pieces including Romanian folk dances and Christmas carols, from Zoltan Kocsis' peerless recordings on Philips.

To follow, the beautifully complex Piano Concerto by György Ligeti. I remember vividly the first UK performance of the original three movement work, broadcast on Radio 3. It was followed immediately by a second performance!

What I especially admired about Ligeti was his willingness to seek out, absorb and use so many different types of music; his open-mindedness, wit and intelligence. I've three versions of the concerto; this one was by Ueli Wiget and the ensemble Modern, Peter Eotvos conducting.

Where to go after that? A disc of traditional folk music by Marta Sebestyen. This music always stirs fond memories of rail journeys across middle and eastern Europe: dusty couchettes, shared midnight feasts and views of distant mountains glimpsed between faded and torn curtains. Only music can do this!!

 

[matthewpiano]

Some Sviatoslav Richter tonight - an old HMV LP of him playing the Schumman Fantasy and the Beethoven 'Tempest' Sonata. Superlative piano playing.

 

[matt49]

The Dunedin Consort recording of the Mozart Requiem, re-creating the original performance. This is really special, bringing out all the interplay and detail of the writing. May well end up being my preferred recording of this work, although I do occasionally miss the ethereal quality that a larger chorus can bring so the larger scale recordings (such as Barenboim's) will still get played regularly here. Linn's recording is to die for.

Good to hear your view on this, Matthew. I saw the review in Gramophone and was tempted ...

Matt

 

[matthewpiano]

Finishing off with an LP of my 2nd and 3rd year University piano teacher John Clegg playing solo piano works by Medtner.

 

[matthewpiano]

Tonight has kicked off with Rubinstein playing Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto with Boston and Leinsdorf on RCA - from an LP box set of the complete concertos.

 

[matthewpiano]

After a handful of Schubert Lieder sung by Dame Janet Baker and beautifully accompanied by Gerald Moore, now listen to Rachmaninov's 1929 recording of his own 2nd concerto with Stokowski conducting. Magical.

 

[matt49]

Haydn's piano concertos 3, 4 and 11: the wonderful recording by Leif Ove Andsnes and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra (EMI).