What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? III

[BBMmk2]

Is that Bax/Boult a single CD? I can't seem to track it down anywhere. If it is, I'd like to get hold of it!

Yes it is. I bought mine from amazon.

[Bryn]

Is that Bax/Boult a single CD? I can't seem to track it down anywhere. If it is, I'd like to get hold of it!

When searching on Amazon, it's best to keep things as simple as possible. In this case, searching for "Bax Boult" brings the disc up as the first hit.

[Stanfordian]

‘Aria Cantilena’ - Elīna Garanča
Arias from Massenet, Chapí, Offenbach, Rossini, Villa-Lobos, Montsalvatge, Richard Strauss
Elīna Garanča (mezzo-soprano)
Staaskapelle Dresden / Fabio Luisi
Recorded 2006 Lukaskirche, Dresden
Deutsche Grammophon

Koechlin
String Quartets No’s 1 & 2
Ardeo Quartet
Recorded 2006 Saint-Marcel Lutheran Church, Paris
AR RE-SE

[BBMmk2]

Beethoven
Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, Op.37
Piano Concerto No.4 in G major, Op.58
Paul Lewis (piano)
BBCSO
Jiri Behlohlavek.

[Joseph K]

Messiaen - Saint Francois d'Assise, Act 1 - Hallé Orchestra/Nagano.

[richardfinegold]

Brahms Symphony No.3. Hungarian Dances 11-16 (Orch. Dausgaard). BIS SACD/CD (2018).
Swedish CO/Dausgaard.
Took me a few tries to come to terms with this Brahms 3... seeming rather cerebral and detached at first, now I'm finding more and more to admire in its interpretative thoughtfulness and subtlety. Lovely less familiar dances too.

Lutosławski Symphony No.4. Finnish RSO/Lintu. Ondine SACD/CD (2018).
Extraordinary - really puts this somewhat gnomic, difficult work on a higher plane, finding a rare cogency. Simply the best Luto 4th I've heard, by a fair margin. Amazing sonics. Can't wait for 2&3 from the same source in February!

***

Bartok The Wooden Prince. Ballet in One Act.
Hungarian NPO/Kocsis. Hungaroton SACD/CD.
Slightly airless sonics, but a compelling mix of warmth and savage energy here...slav with schwung.
Marvellously colourful score, no wonder Boulez seemed so fond of it.

I’ve never been able to develop much affection for The Wooden Prince, either with my Boulez or Dorati recordings. Now Mandarin, otoh...

[Bryn]

I’ve ever been able to develop much affection for The Wooden Prince, either with my Boulez or Dorati recordings. Now Mandarin, otoh...

Was there, perhaps, an "n" missing from the beginning of "ever"? For my part, I share PB's enthusiasm for the work.

[jayne lee wilson]

I’ve ever been able to develop much affection for The Wooden Prince, either with my Boulez or Dorati recordings. Now Mandarin, otoh...

Some time since I heard Boulez in this, but the Hungaroton's unusually distinctive, close warm and immediate sound serves the music beautifully - really puts you in touch with the timbral range, the nature-tone-poetry and above all the sheer euphoria of the climactic sequences. Very idiomatically Hungarian, more so than my older go-to, the Dorati... given your enthusiasm for SACD too, I urge you to try it...

What a shame that the Bartok New Series never covered more of the best orchestral works though. The Concerto for Orchestra and Violin Concerto No.2 (Kelemen) should rank high on any list....
The discs are getting expensive now, but many of them are on Qobuz.

[Bryn]

Some time since I heard Boulez in this, but the Hungaroton's unusually distinctive, close warm and immediate sound serves the music beautifully - really puts you in touch with the timbral range, the nature-tone-poetry and above all the sheer euphoria of the climactic sequences. Very idiomatically Hungarian, more so than my older go-to, the Dorati... given your enthusiasm for SACD too, I urge you to try it...

What a shame that the Bartok New Series never covered more of the best orchestral works though. The Concerto for Orchestra and Violin Concerto No.2 (Kelemen) should rank high on any list....
The discs are getting expensive now, but many of them are on Qobuz.

Let's not forget Gielen or Malkki. Sadly, the Gielen is only the suite, but beautifully delivered.

[jayne lee wilson]

Let's not forget Gielen or Malkki. Sadly, the Gielen is only the suite, but beautifully delivered.

I forgot all about the Malkki... just ordered, thanks.
While we're thinking of BIS, this is imminent......

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07Z75BXS7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

...and on Qobuz of course....
I seem to spend an amazing amount of time with BIS, Da Capo or Ondine...

[richardfinegold]

Was there, perhaps, an "n" missing from the beginning of "ever"? For my part, I share PB's enthusiasm for the work.

Edit completed. I’m home with the flu today, gave Boulez another spin (CSO, DG) and at least I got some badly needed sleep when I nodded off.
Regarding JLW comment on Hungaraton SACD, I do have their SACD of Bartok Kossuth. I am assuming this is the series that she is alluding to. It wasn’t a particularly well done SACD, with a cavernous sound stage with a big hole in the middle, the opposite of immersive, at least in Multichannel. I don’t remember what sounded like in 2 channel, but I won’t be trying it today as I don’t need another nap...Kossuth doesn’t hold my interest either.
The Bartok works that were seminal for me, and still are, are:MFSPC, Concerto For Orchestra, all the PCs, the Quartets, The Divertimento, Mandarin, Hungarian Sketches, the various Dance Suites, and substantial Piano Works. Some are in between for me, such as the 2 Piano and Percussion work. A good performance of Bluebeard can give me nightmares for a week so I don’t often listen.
There are some major works that BB I just can’t get on with—the Second VC and Wooden Prince being the most prominent. Can’t explain why but I’ve tried through the years

[DracoM]

Britten's Ceremony of Carols / Winchester / Archer. A less-is-more corrective to practically everything I have heard / been forced to sing / hear this Xmas.

[jayne lee wilson]

Edit completed. I’m home with the flu today, gave Boulez another spin (CSO, DG) and at least I got some badly needed sleep when I nodded off.
Regarding JLW comment on Hungaraton SACD, I do have their SACD of Bartok Kossuth. I am assuming this is the series that she is alluding to. It wasn’t a particularly well done SACD, with a cavernous sound stage with a big hole in the middle, the opposite of immersive, at least in Multichannel. I don’t remember what sounded like in 2 channel, but I won’t be trying it today as I don’t need another nap...Kossuth doesn’t hold my interest either.
The Bartok works that were seminal for me, and still are, are:MFSPC, Concerto For Orchestra, all the PCs, the Quartets, The Divertimento, Mandarin, Hungarian Sketches, the various Dance Suites, and substantial Piano Works. Some are in between for me, such as the 2 Piano and Percussion work. A good performance of Bluebeard can give me nightmares for a week so I don’t often listen.
There are some major works that BB I just can’t get on with—the Second VC and Wooden Prince being the most prominent. Can’t explain why but I’ve tried through the years

Bartok Hungaroton New Series....Wooden Prince/Kossuth/Kocsis....

No fan of Kossuth, no, but....In 2-channel SACD/CD/Qobuz ...Wooden Prince sounds wonderful here as I said.... no hole in the middle, not remotely....
"Cavernous"? No, warm and immediate, thrillingly tangible in each medium.... see above etc....so it goes.

[gurnemanz]

Kathryn Stott plays Smetana solo piano music on Chandos. In my ignorance I did not know this rewarding repertoire or that the composer was a brilliant pianist.

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7955362--smetana-dreams

[Joseph K]

'Hungarian Rhapsody': a Liszt Recital by Kun Woo Paik:

1) Mephisto Waltz no. 1
2) Au lac de Wallenstadt
3) Au bord d'une source
4) Variations on a theme of BACH
5) Liebestraum no. 3
6) Hungarian Rhapsody no. 12
7) Les jeux d'eau a la Villa d'Este
8) Benediction de Dieu