What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? III

[teamsaint]

Was it reworked for two pianos because it was deemed too difficult for one player, I wonder?
I love it to bits in either version!

I did wonder if performance was an issue.

[cloughie]

Was it reworked for two pianos because it was deemed too difficult for one player, I wonder?
I love it to bits in either version!

Cyrill Smith and Grace Sellick were involved in this - was this also arranged for three hands after Cyrill's stroke?

[cloughie]

Thanks Cloughie, that is true. I suppose that we should be thankful to know that our memory is nearly full, because if we dont know that, then the memory is not only full, but failing.

I have been commanding my memory to reveal itself for the last few years, so that I can put down on paper what is there. Fascinating. I would urge anyone of any age to do so, because it will be source information. Historians need source material to do their job. It will always be unreliable, but at least, its available.

And yes, I have read Proust in the english translation and he does have a lot to say about memory. Wonderful, wonderful writing.

I genuinely think that my memory is complex rather than failing ( maybe I'm kidding myself!), but frequently I find that things I cannot immediately answer, maybe someone's or something's name and I've got the brain cells going and the answer will pop up within half an hour or so.

[EdgeleyRob]

Cyrill Smith and Grace Sellick were involved in this - was this also arranged for three hands after Cyrill's stroke?

Joseph Cooper (of face the music fame,showing my age) helped to arrange the 2 piano version,Phylis Sellick and Cyril Smith gave the premier (under Boult ?).
Don't know of a 3 hand arrangement.
It's a wonderful piece with a slow movement of heart wrenching beauty.
No,Boult conducted the premier of the original not the 2 piano version.
Bartok was apparently impressed with the concerto,not surprisingly

[cloughie]

Joseph Cooper (of face the music fame,showing my age) helped to arrange the 2 piano version,Phylis Sellick and Cyril Smith gave the premier (under Boult ?).
Don't know of a 3 hand arrangement.
It's a wonderful piece with a slow movement of heart wrenching beauty

I think I was getting confused with the Malcolm Arnold Concerto!

[BBMmk2]

Sir Vivian Dunn wrote a terrific march for the film Cockleshell Heroes. The Farnon Derby Day March is a regular fixture for me on this day, a typical tuneful bouncy number that really gets me in the mood.

Love those two works. He conducted us with that march too and was full of stories!

[Stanfordian]

Karl Böhm - The Early Years - 1935-49
Works by Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Johann Strauss II, Richard Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Humperdinck, Gounod, Verdi, Puccini, Berger, Leoncavallo, Smetana, Pfitzner, Lortzing, Berlioz, Reger, Bach, Wagner & Weber
Böhm in Dresden complete edition (CDs 1-14)
Böhm with Berlin Philharmoniker (CD 14)
Böhm with Wiener Philharmoniker (CDs 15-18)
Böhm with Philharmonia Orchestra (CD 19)
Warner Classics - Icon Series

I'll be dipping into this set today.

[BBMmk2]

Sir Edward Elgar
Symphony No.2 in Eb minor, Op.63.
Staatdkspelle, Berlin, Daniel Barenboim.

[pastoralguy]

Miah Persson's Wigmore Hall recital from 16th February 2011 with Roger Vignoles. Music by Schubert, Grieg and Sibelius.

[BBMmk2]

Beethoven
Symphony No.9 in D minor, Op.125.
Karita Matilla, Vicieta Matilla,
Thomas Moser, Thomas Quasthoff,
Swedish Radio Choir, Eric Ericsson Chamber Choir,
Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado.

Brahms
Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor, Op.16
Piano Concerto No.2 in Bb, Op.83.
Maurizio Pollini, Berliner Philharmoniker,
Claudio Abbado.

[pastoralguy]

Kees Olthuis. (B. 1940)

Concertino for contrabassoon and String Quintet.

Simon Van Holen with members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Terrific piece.

[jayne lee wilson]

In Memoriam Jiri Belohlávek (2)

Martinu Symphony No.2; Symphony No.3.
BBCSO/Belohlávek, Barbican Live 2009/10. Onyx CDs.

Returning to these once again, the Barbican sound is as ever spatially-constrained, rather anonymous at lower levels, but - the sheer spontaneity and sense of fun in No.2, and the darker, more searching and exploratory reading of No.3 (not to mention the superb orchestral response) has won me over; yes, my response is a little intensified by the maestro's passing, but having listened to the gloriously opulent late-Supraphon CD of 3 and 4 I had a clearer perspective on the live cycle: it has a warmth and fullness unusual in Martinu recordings (which naturally tend to focus on greater textural clarity and rhythmic bite) a Romantic lift to the soaring melodies, and above all that sense of discovery in the live moment. The quieter, coloristic episodes are never going to be as telling as one would prefer, or the rhythms as sharply articulated; but the cycle's own unique qualities are musically persuasive.

Thank Goodness he completed this cycle after two incomplete ones (Chandos & Supraphon), especially as it includes Belohlávek's only extant 2nd in as serene and joyful a reading as you could wish for. Not for the first time I was compelled to encore the lovely andante.

[Petrushka]

Olga Neuwirth: Clinamen/Nodus
London Symphony Orchestra
Pierre Boulez

[interval]

Mahler: Symphony No 9
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Rafael Kubelik

Given in the Barbican, London, January 27 2000 (Neuwirth) and the Bunka Kaiken Concert Hall, Tokyo, June 4 1975 (Mahler)

[cloughie]

Karl Böhm - The Early Years - 1935-49
Works by Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Johann Strauss II, Richard Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Humperdinck, Gounod, Verdi, Puccini, Berger, Leoncavallo, Smetana, Pfitzner, Lortzing, Berlioz, Reger, Bach, Wagner & Weber
Böhm in Dresden complete edition (CDs 1-14)
Böhm with Berlin Philharmoniker (CD 14)
Böhm with Wiener Philharmoniker (CDs 15-18)
Böhm with Philharmonia Orchestra (CD 19)
Warner Classics - Icon Series

I'll be dipping into this set today.

I have a lot of Bohm recordings 50s to 80s, most of which I like very much. What is the sound quality like on these earlier recordings, are they worth adding?

[Petrushka]

I have a lot of Bohm recordings 50s to 80s, most of which I like very much. What is the sound quality like on these earlier recordings, are they worth adding?

I'm hoping to purchase this set with birthday Amazon gift vouchers tomorrow. Many of these recordings appeared on a 10CD Membran issue a few years ago and the sound quality was variable but not unacceptable. I'd be expecting much better from Warner given the excellence of other transfers they've done in previous issues (notably the Karajan boxes). I had the great good fortune to meet Böhm in 1978 so this set is self-recommending as far as I am concerned.