What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? III

[Pulcinella]

Ravel - Sheherazade - BBCSO/Boulez, Heather Harper - soprano

... then -

Ravel - Sheherazade - The Cleveland Orchestra/Boulez, Anne Sofie von Otter - soprano

Listening to them back to back, I still couldn't choose between them. I guess if anything I might slightly have even preferred the second one, but I suspect that that's just my tendency to prefer a piece the more I listen to it, rather than the quality of the later recording compared to the earlier. It is a great piece.

I'll have to refresh my own memory.
Having recently listened to the ASvO, I thought her voice a little 'thin' compared to HH, who I remember being a little more 'full-bodied', which is what I prefer, especially in the soaring passages of Asie!

[Stanfordian]

Brahms
String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op .51/1
String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51/2
String Quartet No. 3 in B flat major, Op. 67
Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34
Emerson String Quartet
Leon Fleisher (piano)
Recorded 2005-07 American Academy of Arts & Letters, New York
Deutsche Grammophon, 2CD set

[pastoralguy]

Haydn. Piano Sonatas. Nos. 48, 20 & 50

Andras Schiff, piano.

Having been lucky enough to purchase a ticket to hear Sir Andras at the first week of the Edinburgh Festival where there was no programme announced beforehand, I was delighted with his performance of the Haydn’s last sonata. I bought a cd on eBay of him playing the above recital which was recorded for DENON in 1985 in Japan.

[Joseph K]

Schoenberg - Pelleas und Melisande - Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester/Boulez, Piano Concerto - The Cleveland Orchestra/Boulez & Mitsuko Uchida

[smittims]

Two splendid performances there, JosephK. I think that was Pierre's third Pelleas und Melisande.

I've discovered some Gieseking Bethoven sonatas on Spotify, unavailable for years I think, and including the 'Pastorale' sonata op.28, possibly his very last recording.

[Stanfordian]

Carl Maria von Weber
Overture from opera Der Beherrscher der Geister (Rübezahl), Op. 27
Konzertstück in F minor for piano and orchestra, Op. 79
Overture from opera Der Freischütz
Aria ‘Einst träumte meiner sel’gen Base’ from Der Freischütz
Aria ‘Kommt ein schlanker Bursch gegangen’ from Der Freischütz
Overture from opera Oberon
Martin Helmchen (piano)
Anna Prohaska (soprano)
Konzerthausorchester Berlin / Christoph Eschenbach
Recorded 2019/20 Konzerthaus, Berlin
Alpha Classics, CD

[Joseph K]

I'm a little over 20 minutes into Stockhausen's Mantra (Kontarskys) and enjoying it thoroughly.

[Bryn]

Last Sunday's repeat of Private Passions with György Ligeti. I will likely follow up with some Nancarrow.

[smittims]

I think Mantra is my favourite Stockhausen, though I've always been fond of Gruppen and Carre, and yesterday came across a fine old recording of Zeitmesse.

Rather different fare for me this morning:

Mozart : Divertimento in B flat, K287.
Tchaikovsky: Symphony no.6.

The Philharmonia orchestra, Herbert von Karajan, in 1955 Columbia studio recordings.

The two works are not so different as one might think. Tchaikovsky famously revered Mozart and imported various devices into his works, replicated in his own way. Good subject for a BA thesis , perhaps.

[Stanfordian]

'20th Century Wind Quintets' – Les Vents Français
Ligeti, Zemlinsky, Barber, Sandor Veress, Hindemith
Les Vents Français, featuring Emmanuel Pahud (flute)
Recorded 2011 Bavaria Musikstudios, Munich
Warner Classics, CD 2 of 2

[Mandryka]

Grisey’s Chants d’amour, Schola Heidelberg. The booklet says “Texte: Phonèmes, noms d‘amants célèbres, differentes phrases amoureuses en 22 langues, extraits de Rayuela de Julio Cortázar.” It’s like a romantic story for choir and electronic voice. They try to seduce each other, mostly fail. Eventually the humans get the upper hand, sing the electronics to sleep - and when s/he wakes singing “I love you”, the humans and electronics become pretty well indistinguishable. ❤️ 💕

I quite like it actually. I’d go to see it!

Rayuela sounds like an experimental novel, I shall have to to check it out.

[Pulcinella]

'20th Century Wind Quintets' – Les Vents Français
Ligeti, Zemlinsky, Barber, Sandor Veress, Hindemith
Les Vents Français, featuring Emmanuel Pahud (flute)
Recorded 2011 Bavaria Musikstudios, Munich
Warner Classics, CD 2 of 2

That looks an interesting collection, though Presto's listing is a little odd: the Philharmonia Orchestra and Manoug Parikian in Barber's Summer Music?

Barber: Summer Music, Op. 31

• Les Vents Français (wind ensemble), Manoug Parikian (violin)
• Philharmonia Orchestra

https://www.prestomusic.com/classica...-wind-quintets

[smittims]

Oh dear, not a well-informed editor there. It reminds me of the CD liner which told me Sir Thomas Beecham conducted 'Parsifal' at Bayreuth. I didn't think so...

[Joseph K]

Ferneyhough - Renvoi/Shards (2008) (with score) - YouTube

[FRJames]

William Mathias - Piano Concertos 2 & 3, Ceremony after a Fire Raid
Various Artists
Ty Cerdd, 2017

All live BBC concert recordings. An excellent CD.