Unplayed CDs - confess your guilt!

[vinteuil]

Veering back on to course ... JEG set of Mozart operas, Aeolian quartet Haydn Quartets and Dorati's Haydn Symphony set.

... all very good in their ways. Lucky you! - Get listening!!!

[teamsaint]

I really would love to love the music of Bruckner - don't get me wrong! But if not with Jochum, where on earth to start? Solti, Haitink, Tintner? Barenboim...(please don't say Rattle) the list goes on. I would appreciate your thoughts? as this a serious question - musically speaking. I'm a sort of Bruckner agnostic, I suppose, and am looking for faith. Thanks.

I am a Bruckner newbie/beginner.Never really listened properly, until, heresy I know, I heard(not listened to) #8 when I was working with R3 on in the background a few months ago. Bingo. Just heard something in it that I wanted to hear again, investigate, really enjoy.
So, my advice, get hold of a No 8, turn off preconceptions, and just let it wash over you. Nothing to lose, and lots to gain. On CD, it was my biggest buzz of the year getting into the Jochum EMI set.

Back to the OP....almost nothing unheard in its entirety, but certainly parts of sets that I am working through more slowly than I would like.
Lots of Brahms songs and choral stuff on the Brilliant 40 CD set...Some fab music, and some very good performances, its translating the german that takes the time.
Also working through the Gardiner Bach 27 (?) CD set of sacred music at a slow pace,,,the big stuff was quick and easy,wonderful stuff, the cantatas I am doing at the speed of the traffic at the M5/M6 junction.

Bits of filler here and there not listened to,but really I dislike not having listened to anything i have bought. Incidentally, I pretty consistently find that if I really don't like something first time, I seldom do in the end. Of course , lots of things take a few listens to get my head round, which is different.....

[Flosshilde]

The only things I can think of at the moment are Bernstein's Mahler 3, & Castor et Pollux in the Harnoncourt recording (although I have heard that a long time ago - probably when it was first issued on vinyl). I think I've had them a couple of years.

That's the one's I've bought. I've inherited (literally) quite a few that I haven't got round to listening to yet.

[Thropplenoggin]

The only things I can think of at the moment are Bernstein's Mahler 3, & Castor et Pollux in the Harnoncourt recording (although I have heard that a long time ago - probably when it was first issued on vinyl). I think I've had them a couple of years.

That's the one's I've bought. I've inherited (literally) quite a few that I haven't got round to listening to yet.

Which Bernstein Mahler 3 is that - the first recording with the NYPO on Sony Classics or the later DG account? Tony Duggan rated his first version very highly in his "synoptic survey" of Mahler symphonies over at MusicWeb-International.com. It's definitely one I'm interested in hearing. Could be worth a spin.

[Flosshilde]

The NYPO on Sony. It's got the Ruckertlieder & Kindertotenlieder (sung by Jennie Tiurel) as fillers. Yes - I definitely want to hear it - it just needs a substantial period of uninterrupted time. I'll be on holiday in Angus the week after next, so I may be able to spend an afternoon with it then.

[Alf-Prufrock]

I understand people who struggle with Bruckner . I used to do so too but then along came Gunter Wand 's Proms 9, Barbirolli's visceral Proms 8 on BBC Legends and suddenly it all seemed much less turgid !

My nine favourites are

1 Solti
2Giulini
3 I still struggle with this work - if you forced me Barbirolli on BBC Legends
4 Karajan EMI
5 Jochum Tahra
6 Klemperer
7 Barbirolli
8 Barbirolli
9 Wand - then Rattle and Barbirolli

Amazingly, number 3 was the one that got me into Bruckner. I heard a performance on CD of the first movement at a friend's and was fascinated by the rhythmic sway of the opening.

Getting back to the topic, I have just looked at my CDs, which are basically placed on my shelves in order of purchase. The oldest one that I have never listened to is of Robert Simpson's ninth symphony, bought second-hand in 1990 from a friend who didn't like it. I promise to listen to it in the next week.

I regret to state that there are many others I have not listened to yet.

[Barbirollians]

I had the raved about Bohm VPO recording but it seemed to go on for days !

[visualnickmos]

Hi vis.,
A great start - much more than that - would be Haitink's compete Concertgebouw cycle on Philips (haven't checked but should be still be around) - it's direct, dramatic, very clearly shaped and texturally clean too. ..

Hi Jayne
It's interesting that you highlight Haitink's Concertgebouw set; apart from my complete set of Jochum (Dresden, EMI) I have just a few "oddments" - one being Haitink's Bruckner 7 with said orchestra. So, I did a back-to-back listening session comparing this to Jochum's. Although it [Haitink] has all the qualities you describe, and is totally enjoyable, I found that in my opinion only, Jochum seemed to really get to the soul of the music much more deeply (and I think that is exactly what Bruckner is all about) and it was more spiritual and moving - it passed the "hairs on the arms" test! whereas Haitink's did not. That is not to say I dislike Haitink - he is one of my favourite conductors in many works (how I hate using such frivolous terms, but I'm certain you understand what I mean.)

I appreciate your time in replying to my post on Bruckner, and was keen to develop the theme you'd started for me...

Thanks, Nick
PS "Kaffee in Wien!"

[jayne lee wilson]

Oh well, if dear Bruckner will insist in taking over this thread...

Yes, Jochum undoubtedly has the richer, more poetic, echt-Brucknerian sound with the glorious Dresden State, and this 7th is one of his steadier efforts. Perhaps it's partly the need to refresh one's responses as the years pass and de-familiarisation becomes a pleasure in itself, but I love a swifter, tighter view now, and Haitink's urgent, firmly-phrased and directed view of the piece, the sheer buoyancy of the rhythms, seems very fresh. I do love a flowing adagio too. Each of these readings seems to characterise their orchestras perfectly.

Just sampling them again, both sound pretty glorious - I noticed the timing differences! Gosh, just over 60' for Haitink against 76' for Jochum - the strength and beauty of this music can certainly respond to both.

(If you really want to shake things up - try Venzago, but hold tight!)

(Ever tried Taylor's Hot Java Lava? If it can rescue my morning head it can work for anyone. I make it with a filter... perhaps we need a coffee thread...)

[gurnemanz]

Oh well, if dear Bruckner will insist in taking over this thread...

When I was a student 40 years ago I bought a CBS LP of Walter doing the Ninth (still got it). I think I was hooked for life on first hearing that pizzicato bit at the start of the Scherzo followed by those great throbbing slabs of sound. We've got tickets for Haitink and the VPO on Thursday.

Bruckner trivia: He occasionally absent-mindedly answered the door stark naked and was obsessed with counting everything.

[visualnickmos]

Bruckner trivia: He occasionally absent-mindedly answered the door stark naked and was obsessed with counting everything.

... today is his birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANTON - cheer up!

[Bryn]

Bruckner trivia: He occasionally absent-mindedly answered the door stark naked and was obsessed with counting everything.

I had not previously grasped that Cornelius Cardew was of the Brucknerian tradition, though in the former case I don't think absent-mindedness came into it.

[EdgeleyRob]

Haydn complete Piano Trios (Beaux Arts) 9CD set.
Had this box for years,not yet listened to any of them,the shame of it.

[Barbirollians]

When I was a student 40 years ago I bought a CBS LP of Walter doing the Ninth (still got it). I think I was hooked for life on first hearing that pizzicato bit at the start of the Scherzo followed by those great throbbing slabs of sound. We've got tickets for Haitink and the VPO on Thursday.

Bruckner trivia: He occasionally absent-mindedly answered the door stark naked and was obsessed with counting everything.

I only recently got hold of a copy of that Walter Bruckner 9 - it is enchanting.

[gurnemanz]

Haydn complete Piano Trios (Beaux Arts) 9CD set.
Had this box for years,not yet listened to any of them,the shame of it.

You probably don't want another set but you might like the Van Swieten on Brilliant Classics which I have really enjoyed listening to. There is a strong case for playing them with a fortepiano. The cello almost always duplicates and reinforces the fortepiano's relatively weak bass sound and the violin is often in unison with the keyboard's right hand. A fortepiano must come nearer to providing the texture, colour and instrumental balance that Haydn had in mind.

http://www.mdt.co.uk/haydn-complete-piano-trios-van-swieten-trio-brilliant-classics-10cds.html