What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? III

[MickyD]

... I'm a big fan of Jean Rondeau. You might start with Barricades and his Royer/Rameau Vertigo

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Barricades-Thomas-Dunford-Jean-Rondeau/dp/B0858SV4SB

.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Royer-Rameau-Vertigo-Jean-Rondeau/dp/B019D6BJME

but I've loved everything he's done...

.

Same here, his playing is so refined and thoughtful, especially for one so young. I eagerly snap up each new release. His Goldbergs are well worth hearing.

[Ian Thumwood]

Johnny Guarnieri playing a harpsichord as a member of Artie Shaw's Grammercy Five in 1940. I appreciate the novelty of this music albeit think the later incarnation with Dodo Marmorosa that flirted with bop and replaced the harpsichord with a piano was better.

[pastoralguy]

Schubert. Piano Sonatas in A, D.959 & In Bb, D.960

Krystian Zimerman, piano. Deutsche Grammophon.

[Ian Thumwood]

I find this to be a staggering piece of music. The whole concept exactly captures the dissonance in bell ringing. I have always liked Debussy's "Sunken cathedral" yet I think this piece is on another level. I have been listening to quite a bit of Enescu over the last 6 months. The piano works are very good indeed even if this was not the instrument he was reknown for playing. I think I prefer these smaller pieces to the orchestra work - they somehow seem more radical to me. He did not write enough for the piano...

[Ein Heldenleben]

Quite so. The more I get to know Chopin's work the clearer it becomes that he was one of the most original composers of the 19th or any century in the way he reinvented the scope of piano writing (and no doubt playing), not just in the way he wrote for the instrument himself but also in the possibilities he opened up for subsequent generations of composers to develop in their own ways.

I wish I could produce you as a live witness they next time I get into a heated debate with those who diss Chopin. The last two pages of the Barcarolle, the Polonaise- Fantasie , the B minor scherzo : it’s not just the wonderful pianistic writing it’s the notes on the page…as advanced in its way as Wagner.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I am not quite sure about this but I can undrstand why this piece of Beethoven can be seen as "modern" or a precursor to Ragtime even though with the latter this is pretty much impossible seeing that Beethoven never travelled to the Americas as far as I am aware. I have checked out the above Youtube clips as I did initially wonder whether the Uchida interpretation was a bit eccentric. There are other versions of the same on line which are not so "jazzy" and I wondered if the interpretations might have been informed by jazz and whether Beethoven would have played this differently. As I have the volume II of Schirmer's complete Beethoven sonatas , I had have a look at the music over the weekend. Setting aside the technical challenges, when I have tried sight reading Beethoven in the past, I have never found them interesting enough to be worthwhile pursuing. It is a lot of effort for little reward as far as I am concerned albeit I have not picked up any Beethoven for years. Their length tends to preclude a casual reading for enjoyment. Whenever I have picked up any Beethoven in the past, I have tended to give up with it as the music is not my cup of tea. Personally, I would rather struggle through the works of other composers whose music I enjoy. Seeing as Beethoven's piano works seem (on this board atleast) to be an advance upon both Haydn and Mozart, there seems little point trying to learn their music either. Some of the response on here are suggestive that I am saying they are rubbish which I have been clear to point out is not the case. I am not dismissing them as this music was important in it's time but it has very little appeal to me and I don't have a problem if some of the more precious members in here think this is tiresome. I am happy to listen to the alternative opinions expressed and am appreciative to those who posted positively with suggestions as to how I might "get into" the piano works of Beethoven. Some of the more personal attacks made in here tend to diminish the standing of those posting the comments and are somewhat hypocritcal in light of the rather effete and sniffy comments made on the "Jass bored." Shame that some people with excellent musical knowledge in here struggle with the idea that my comments have been subjective or fail to understand the language I have used to explain my position to precisely avoid such follow-on posts. I am disappointed by the some of the tone of language directed against me

Although my tase in jazz is really broad, I am more selective when listening to classical music. If something interests me when I hear it or read about it, I will check it out. Sometimes you land on something totally unfamiliar like the Syzmanowski which is clearly exceptional. On other occasions, you can be disappointed as has been the case with checking out Medtner whose work was less adventurous than I had assumed. Rachmaninov without the tunes really sums the piano concertos up for me. They are ok but not stand out. Basically I am listening for harmonic colour and rhythm when I listen to classical music plus the sense that there is some kind of musical architecture. Most of the classical music Iisten to runs from Chopin through to the likes of Messaien but I also like contemporary composers like Steve Reich , Caroline Shaw and Gavin Bryars. The "Classical period" is a massive blind spot for me and I also have no enthusiasm for the Germanic stuff or nationalistic music which was such a featured in the late 19th century. (Although there are Bruckner symphonies I have enjoyed and I am beginning to appreciate Mahler.) I am really fond of Scarlatti and Bach too but I find it difficult not to see Scriabin as the absolute pinnacle of piano composition.

Beethoven Piano Sonatas - just about every thing Music can do is in them . The Opus 49 set for beginners , the late sonatas for virtuosi . When you can play a few then you might be ina position to appreciate their endless fascination . Really up there with Shakespeare in my view ….

[Ian Thumwood]

Beethoven Piano Sonatas - just about every thing Music can do is in them . The Opus 49 set for beginners , the late sonatas for virtuosi . When you can play a few then you might be ina position to appreciate their endless fascination . Really up there with Shakespeare in my view ….

I would suggest that Bach evokes the same emotions albiet I appreciate what you are saying. Bach is more subtle and I always see his music as "problem solving" - he was really into the maths of the music.

It is interesting looking a sheet music. I bought a book of Villa Lobos a few weeks ago when I was bored but the music looks more difficult to read than to play. The Prelude to the BB is really simple and you can get lured in to a trap thinking that Villa Lobos was a light-weight. The music often goes in to three staves or really weird time signatures. He was someone I feel who was testing what the piano could do although I think that he had probably had a big sense of humour and that the music is written at the expense of the performer. It is very strange indeed. I picked it up, played a few pieces and then put it down again. The music is written to intimidate and not really for beginners like me. Fascinating to see how his mind worked and the fact that he played a cello probably mean;t that he was not limited by any concept of what the piano was not supposed to do.

If I had to chose any piano sonatas as favourite, I would pick Scriabin. The fifth sonata is, for me, one of the very best . It is a shame that Scriabin's music is often too difficult for amateurs to attempt. I have some books of Preludes and Etudes , there being a few in the former that I can just about scrape through. I did buy "Vers la flamme" and was ok for the first pahe before realising that your probably need a third hand to play it. This kind of piano music appeals to me most. Just think early 20th century was the richest in Classical music for variety and potential.

[RichardB]

he was really into the maths of the music.

What does that actually mean?

[pastoralguy]

Schubert.

String Quartet in a minor. D.804. No.13.

The Allegri Quartet.

Mrs. PG gave me the recently released set of the Allegri’s recordings for my birthday and I’ve only just had the opportunity to listen to them.

Very fine playing indeed.

[Mandryka]

I think it's the familiarity of Chopin's music that obscures its originality. The opening passages of the Scherzos, for instance, must have sounded anarchic to early listeners.

The most astonishing one IMO is the last movement of the second piano sonata.

[smittims]

Yes, that is surely one of the most original pieces ever written. And how many different ways there are to play it!

I've begun re-hearing the Warner box 'Giulini - the London Years', with his 1956 Philharmonia/Kingsway Hall 'Surprise' symphony. What a joy to hear music-making like this' it seems to have been one of those sessions when everyone was in a very special mood.

[Stanfordian]

‘The Unknown Prokofiev’
Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 58
Cello Concertino in G minor, Op. 132
(Arranged by Vladimir Blok, Alfred Schnittke & Alexander Ivashkin)
Alexander Ivashkin (cello)
Russian State Symphony Orchestra / Valeri Kuzmich Polyansky
Recorded 1999 (Concertino) & 2000 (Concerto), New Studio, Mosfilm, Moscow
Chandos, CD

[Bryn]

‘The Unknown Prokofiev’
Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 58
Cello Concertino in G minor, Op. 132
(Arranged by Vladimir Blok, Alfred Schnittke & Alexander Ivashkin)
Alexander Ivashkin (cello)
Russian State Symphony Orchestra / Valeri Kuzmich Polyansky
Recorded 1999 (Concertino) & 2000 (Concerto), New Studio, Mosfilm, Moscow
Chandos, CD

Over the years, I have come to prefer the Op. 58 Concerto to its remake, the Op 125 Symphony-Concerto (all too often mistranslated as Sinfonia Concertante, including by Boosey and Hawkes).

[Stanfordian]

Over the years, I have come to prefer the Op. 58 Concerto to its remake, the Op 125 Symphony-Concerto (all too often mistranslated as Sinfonia Concertante, including by Boosey and Hawkes).

Hello Bryn,

I couldn't agree more. The Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 58 is a splendid work and much prefered over the ubiquitous Symphony-Concerto, Op. 125. I have six or seven recordings of the Symphony-Concerto that were couplings to other works I wanted.

[pastoralguy]

Duparc. Songs.

Sarah Walker, mezzo soprano.

Thomas Allen, baritone.

Roger Vignoles, piano.

Music completely unknown to me.