What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? III

[EnemyoftheStoat]

It may be hard to find but there was an excellent RCA disc in the early nineties with exciting KC excerpts

Might you mean the Saraste set, RF? This is still available in an 8-CD box along with the symphonies and the usual as well as some less usual orchestral pieces.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

I listened (yet again...) to my Jarvi/Goteborgs 3 CD collection of Sibelius Tone Poems recently, one of my favourite "small boxes". I like every performance on the disks, including an excellent "King Christian II". This collection is superb for getting hold of tone poems you might be missing and picking up good alternative performances of those you might already have. Jayne points you to those "gorgeous, so-distinctive Gothenburg strings". I so agree with this recommendation! Check out the opening Karelia Suite - have strings ever shimmered so beautifully?

Hi Mal, I was prompted to revisit this set again. The last time I listened to it, on a new CD/DAC/amp set-up not long out of the box, my ears were stung by the treble, but thing would appear to have settled down and those strings are now there are described, as well as a really good stereo image, not something I get too hung up on but appreciate when it's there. It's a really good set, I agree, and Järvi's tendency to push on in places - the Musette of the KCII suite is maybe a bit nippy after Berglund - doesn't hurt. It's interesting also to compare NJ's and the engineers' approach here with his recordings of similar repertoire on BIS.

[Stanfordian]

Brahms
Alto Rhapsody
Brigitte Fassbaender (mezzo-soprano)
Nänie,
Schicksalslied,
Triumphlied
Wolfgang Brendel (baritone)
Prague Philharmonic Choir,
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra / Giuseppe Sinopoli
Recorded 1982 Prague
Deutsche Grammophon, CD
I just love the Alto Rhapsody!

Brahms
Four Ballades, Op. 10
Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 5
Grigory Sokolov (piano)
Recorded live 1992 & 1993 Salle Gaveau, Paris
Naïve, CD

[richardfinegold]

Might you mean the Saraste set, RF? This is still available in an 8-CD box along with the symphonies and the usual as well as some less usual orchestral pieces.

wow I didn't realize there was an 8 CD Saraste set. It probably was more available on your side of the pond. I remember at the time trying to get more Sibelius recordings from Saraste and the Orchestra 9can't remember offhand which Finnish band it is)
and no luck

[Hitch]

Gottschalk
Mazurka Rustique in E major, Op.81

Richard Burnett (piano)
Amon Ra

[pastoralguy]

Schubert. String Quintet in C.

The Alberni Quartet with Douglas Cummings on second ‘cello.

I’ve been listening to this piece a LOT recently and I’ve been ordering recordings from the internet and listening as they arrive. A wonderful piece.

Hagen Quartet with Heinrich Schiff.

[BBMmk2]

Schubert. String Quintet in C.

The Alberni Quartet with Douglas Cummings on second ‘cello.

I’ve been listening to this piece a LOT recently and I’ve been ordering recordings from the internet and listening as they arrive. A wonderful piece.

Hagen Quartet with Heinrich Schiff.

Oh, I’ll have to hear this!

Carrying on with my listening today of this fabulous box set, from Warner, Camille Saint-Saëns Edition

Camille Saint-Saëns Edition
Concertante Music
CD 5
Piano Concertos Nos.1-4
CD 6
Piano Concertos No’s.3-5
Wedding Cake, caprice valse, for piano & orchestra, Op.76
Africa, Fantasy for piano & orchestra, Op.89
Jean Phillips Collard (piano)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
André Previn
CD 7
Violin Concerto No.1 in A major, Op.20
Violin Concerto Mo.2 in major, Op.58
Romance in C major, Op.48
Romance in Db major, Op.37
Morceau de Concert in G major, Op.62
Caprice andalau in G major, Op.122
Prélude pour “Le Déluge”, in D major, Op.45
(All for violin & orchestra)
Ulf Hoelscher (violin)
New Philharmonia Orchestra
Pierre Dervaux
CD 8
Violin Concerto No.3 in B minor, Op61
Le Muse et le poète, Op.132
Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso in A minor, Op 28
Havanaise in E major, Op.83
Valse-Caprice, Op.52 (arr.Ysäye)
(Ulf Hoelscher (violin)
New Philharmonia Orchestra
Pierre Devaux
Renaud Capuçon (violin) Gautier Capuçon (cello)
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Lionel Bringuier
Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Daniel Harding
CD 9
Odelette in D major, for flute & orchestra, Op.162
Tarantelle in A minor, for flute, clarinet & orchestra, Op.6
Romance in Db major, for flute & orchestra, Op.37
Romance in F major, for horn & orchestra, Op.154
Morceau de concert in F minor, for horn & orchestra, Op.94
Cyprés et lauriers, for organ & orchestra, Op.156
Rapsodie d’Auvergne in C major, for piano & orchestra, Op.73
Allegro appassionato in C# minor, for piano & orchestra, Op.70
Clara Novaka (flute), Richard Vieille (clarinet)
Radovan Vlatkovic (horn), Marielle Nordmann (harp)
Ensemble Orchestre de Paris, Jean-Jacques Kantarow (conductor)
Mathias Eisenberg (organ),
Orchestre de la Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson (conductor)
Jean-Phillippe Collard (piano),
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, André Previn, conductor.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

wow I didn't realize there was an 8 CD Saraste set. It probably was more available on your side of the pond. I remember at the time trying to get more Sibelius recordings from Saraste and the Orchestra 9can't remember offhand which Finnish band it is)
and no luck

It's the Finnish Radio SO and the recordings were originally issued on RCA Red Seal. The new(-ish) box is Sony. There are more recent (live) recordings by Saraste and the same band on the Finlandia label (now part of Warners, I believe) but that box is symphonies-only, with other works available on the Apex series and nowhere near as extensive as the earlier survey.

[smittims]

Indeed, a sublime masterpiece that has been called 'the greatest musical work ever composed' (rather a silly thing to say, but there it is) and which has attracted the finest musicians.

My own favourites are:

The Pro Arte Quartet with Charlie Pini

Amadeus with William Pleeth

Budapest with Benar Heifetz (brother of the violinist?)

Hollywood with Kurt Reher

Aeolian with Bruno Schrecker

[BBMmk2]

Carrying on with my Saint-Saëns theme.

Saint-Saëns Edition - Chamber Music
CD10 Concertante Music
Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor, Op.33
(Mstislav Rostropovich, cello,
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Carlo Maria Giulini)
Allegro Appassionato in B minor, for cell & orchestra, Op.43
(Paul Tortelier, cello,
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Louis Frémaux)
Chamber Music
Violin Sonata No.1 in D minor, Op.7
(Renaud Capuçon, violin, Bertrand Chamayou, piano)
Violin Sonata No.2 in D minor, Op.102
(Olivier Charlie’s, violin, Jean Hubeau, piano)
CD 11 Chamber Music
Berceuse inBb major, Op.38
Élégie No.1 , Op.143
Élégie No.2, Op.160
(Olivier Charlier, violin, Jean Hubeau,piano)
Fantasia for violin & harp, OP.37
(Renaud Capuçon, violin, Marie-Pierre Langlemet, piano)
Cello Sonata No.1 in C minor, Op.32
(Roland Pidoux, cello, Jean Hubeau, (piano)
Romance in F major, for cello & piano Op.36
Allegro Appassionato in B minor, for cello & piano, Op.43
Romance in D major for cello & piano, Op.51
Preire for crook & piano, Op.158
Olivier Gautier, cello, Jean Hubeau, piano
Renaud Capuçon, (violin), Marie-Pierre Langlamet, (piano)
Gautier Capuçon, (cello) Frank Braley (piano)

[smittims]

What an appetite!

My Sunday Morning listening was 'Sylvia', the 1959 Mercury recording with the LSO in vintage form conducted by Fistoulari.

[richardfinegold]

We had briefly mentioned the Saraste Sibelius symphony cycle. The oddities of today’s market! The CDs are available fromPresto for $25, but the mp3 downloads are $60 and and up to $90 for higher resolution

[bluestateprommer]

Listening to WRTI's Sunday afternoon relay of The Fabulous Philadelphians, with YNS on the podium and guest violinist Randall Goosby, a program of Ravel (going on at this moment as I type), Florence Price, and Richard Strauss:

https://www.wrti.org/wrti-spotlight/2023-01-10/the-philadelphia-orchestra-in-concert-on-wrti-randall-goosby-shines-in-two-price-concertos-alongside-strauss-and-ravel

Even though this thread is devoted to listening to recordings rather than radio relays, it does fit the title, at this moment .

PS: Link to the pdf of the Philadelphia Orchestra's program booklet for this concert, for anyone interested:

https://www.philorch.org/globalassets/philadelphia-orchestra/pdp/2022-23/program-notes/strauss_and_price-programnotes.pdf

[Mandryka]

Rihm - the final movement of the third string quartet, played by Minguet. And Séraphin-Stimmen, on an ECM CD by Dietburg Spohr. Both extraordinary and captivating, the quartet IMO more than that. New sounds, new textures in the quartet movement.

[Petrushka]

Last night...

Bruckner: Symphony No 7
Concertgebouworkest
Eduard van Beinum

This is the 1953 reco5rding from the recently issued van Beinum Complete Decca & Philips Recordings box.

The 1947 recording of the Bruckner 7 is also in the set and is scarcely any less fine than this one but in all honesty this 1953 Culshaw/Wilkinson production is one of the most glorious accounts of this symphony I've heard. The incredible beauty of the playing, the amazing detail caught by Kenneth Wilkinson and the re-mastering make this one of the truly great recordings of its time. I'm not sure if it's the same re-mastering as on the Eloquence issue but the one in this box will have you gasping in disbelief that it's a mono recording from 70 years ago and not a stereo one recorded yesterday. The violins! The Wagner tubas! Just wonderful.

As I say, the 1947 recording is almost as good and the re-masterings of all the discs in this box are first class as are the performances.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eduard-van-Beinum-Complete-Recordings/dp/B0B4QZN1LD/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36OP58JQND68H&keywords=van+beinum+complete+cd&qid=1673810968&sprefix=van+beinum%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-1