What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? III

[Pianoman]

[

Mike Oldfield
Tubular Bells, Pts1 & 2.
Tubular Brass, Sandy Smith.

Hiya Brassy - I remember Sandy Smith as a student at Huddersfield - we all thought he was immensely talented as a player and arranger and would go far. He did indeed go on to good things, and his old mate Phil McCann is still there inspiring the next generation of brass players...!

[BBMmk2]

Hiya Brassy - I remember Sandy Smith as a student at Huddersfield - we all thought he was immensely talented as a player and arranger and would go far. He did indeed go on to good things, and his old mate Phil McCann is still there inspiring the next generation of brass players...!

There is talk of doing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon!

[Stanfordian]

Mozart
‘Così fan tutte’
Miah Persson (Fiordiligi). Angela Brower (Dorabella), Adam Plachetka (Guglielmo), Rolando Villazón (Ferranado), Mojca Erdmann, (Depina), Alessandro Corbelli (Don Alfonso)
Vocalensemble Rastatt
Chamber Orchestra of Europe / Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Recorded 2012 Baden-Baden Festival, Germany
Deutsche Grammophon

[pastoralguy]

Miah Persson. ...

[cloughie]

Leibowitz - Schubert 9, Beethoven 9, Beethoven 3.

[jayne lee wilson]

Bruckner
Symphony No.9 (Unfinished Version ed. Loewe 1903).
Bavarian State O./Knappertsbusch. Rec. Live Munich 1958. Orfeo (Mono) CD 2002 (*note timing - 51'17)

What stands out here (in a very flawed inauthentic revision(***), and an occasionally untidy delivery) is how distinct the three movements sound: the first is very light, swiftly flowing - but the climaxes have a shining clarity and splendour with brasses sharply defined, almost standing "proud" of the orchestra like a separate ensemble. The scherzo is one of extreme contrasts, with a warmly humane trio (less "otherworldly" than usual) framed by a scherzo whose savage accentuation is emphasised by additional timpani beneath the main theme producing a very violent attack on the listener; the trio arrives, much slower, to soothe. In the adagio you feel again the Schubertian lyrical flow, but now the textures are warmer & more rounded than in the 1st movement, until the great crisis - which is sadly undermined by the removal of that final agonised chord, replaced by a harmonically safer staccato. Then the coda itself has its tragic benevolence conventionalised by "soothing" additional harmonies accompanying the final chords.

The notes regret the edition, and that Kna never recorded the original version, but make the point that perhaps only Kna could have created this "amalgam of the sound conceptions of Schubert and Wagner" in performances of Bruckner. I would add that the contrasting sound of each of the three movements is an instructive fascination in itself, a musical enlivening which you don't hear much of now, as most conductors will seek for unity of sound and interpretative conception.

(***) Anyone who feels inclined to dismiss the importance of editions in Bruckner should take a listen to this one, if only to hear what damage was once done by attempts to defuse and domesticate such daring and original creations...)

[Stanfordian]

Telemann
'Sacred Music'
Festive Cantatas
Cantatas & Odes
St. Matthew Passion
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin/René Jacobs
Trompeten Consort Friedemann Immer
Collegium vocale Siegen,
Hannoversche Hofkapelle/Ulrich Stötzel
Collegium Vocale des Bach-Chores Siegen
Barock-Orchester La Stravaganza-Köln/Ulrich Stötzel
No recording dates given
Hanssler Classic (8CDs)

Schoenberg
Serenade Op. 24
Twentieth Century Classics Ensemble/Robert Craft
Recorded 1994, Master Sound Astoria Studios, New York
Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31
Philharmonia Orchestra/Robert Craft
1998, Abbey Road Studio One, London.
Naxos

[Bryn]

The Pilgrim's Progress (Adapted for radio by Edward Sackville West, with music by RVW for the 1943 radio production, and broadcast on Radio 3 in 1977).

[cloughie]

Debussy L'apres-midi d'un faune, La mer, Images - arranged for 2 Pianos played by Chauzu and Armengaud

[jayne lee wilson]

Martinu Symphony No.1. Prague Radio SO/Vladimir Valek. Supraphon CDs rec.2006.
A real grower, this cycle. It can initially seem a touch low-key, very much a studio taping, but the often unusually slow tempi are offset by a striking buoyancy, soaring dynamics, cog-like rhythmic precision and great inner clarity. All 6 Symphonies were recorded in just two days. It's never routine, always fascinating sonically and interpretively. A true "version to live with". And currently my go-to.

Schumann Symphony No.1 "Spring". COE/Nézet-Séguin. DG CDs//24/96 rec. live 2012, Paris.
...about which the same might be said! Took me a while but a real favourite now. I love the lightness, grace and fluidity of this set, topped off by brilliant brassy climaxes. And what lovely horns, especially in the finale's withdrawn pastoral interlude... A youthful Schumann.
If their new Mendelssohn Cycle has anything like the same qualities it should be special...

[Stanfordian]

Antheil
Symphony No. 4 '1942'
Symphony No. 5 'Joyous'
'Over the Plains'
BBC Philharmonic/John Storgårds
Recorded 2015/16 MediaCityUK, Salford
Chandos

Grieg
String Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 27
String Quartet No. 2 in F major (completed by Julius Röntgen)
Fugue in F minor for String Quartet
Andante con moto for Piano Trio
Raphael Quartet
Jet Roling (piano)
Recorded 1993, English Church, Begijnhof, Amsterdam
Regis

[BBMmk2]

J S Bach Organ Works Vol.1
Toccata& Fugue in D minor, BWV 565;Pastorelle in F, BWV590;
Partite Diverse Sopra II Corale, "O Gott, du Frommer Gott, BWV767;
Fantasia in G major, BWV572; Prelude and Fugue in G minor, BWV535;
Canonic Variaitons on "Vom Himmel Hoch", BWV769
Prelude and Fugue in E minor , BWV 548.
Masaaki Suzuki, organ.

Volume 2 is out as well, hmmm, projected cycle. Possibly around 12 CDs?

[Pulcinella]

J S Bach Organ Works Vol.1
Toccata& Fugue in D minor, BWV 565;Pastorelle in F, BWV590;
Partite Diverse Sopra II Corale, "O Gott, du Frommer Gott, BWV767;
Fantasia in G major, BWV572; Prelude and Fugue in G minor, BWV535;
Canonic Variaitons on "Vom Himmel Hoch", BWV769
Prelude and Fugue in E minor , BWV 548.
Masaaki Suzuki, organ.

Volume 2 is out as well, hmmm, projected cycle. Possibly around 12 CDs?

Do you know Stravinsky's treatment of the Vom Himmel Hoch variations, BBM?
I found a version by googling: hope the link works!

https://youtu.be/UNAmF6vQTZk

[Petrushka]

Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod (Tristan und Isolde)

[interval]

Bruckner: Symphony No 7 (1978 recording)

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam
Bernard Haitink

[pastoralguy]

Haydn. String Quartet Op. 54 No.1 in G.

The Fejes Quartet. (Members of the RSNO).

Very fine playing.