What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? III

[jayne lee wilson]

Yes indeed. I had actually checked exactly what it would cost:

Zwischensumme EUR 24,99
Versandkosten (Großbritannien (UK)) EUR 4,12 (now cheaper, was 5.99)
Gesamtsumme EUR 29,11

29 Euro (about £25) total cost. Amazon and Presto are both charging about £38, so a good saving.

jpc own cpo and usually sell their discs more cheaply so I regularly check the site. Some recent good-value purchases:

Venzago/Bruckner 49 Euro (Presto £89),
Loewe Lieder (21 CD) 49 euro (Presto £136)
Weinberg Quartets 29
Euro, Presto £53

Do tell us of your experiences with the Venzago.....

Too excited to wait, I ordered the Wallisch/Haselbock from amazon.....belatedly noticing the 05/05/20 delivery date ....so a little dismayed.......then DPD brought them on the 1st!.... Life, 5/2020.
Which led to a wonderful weekend.......

The CDs of the Haselbock 7th and 9th Symphonies have arrived, photos showing the chorus placed in front of the orchestra.....!!.... haven't checked notes/perfomance history about this yet...

Saving the Choral for my own Grand Finale, but Hough may delay that.....the Gramophone interview with him (5/2020) is truly fascinating, from his novels to his now forsaken love of pipes and cigars - "I learnt Rachmaninov's 3rd with a pipe in my mouth"........ do seek it out if you have any access....

Originally scheduling Studio Recordings for the Beethoven Concerti, they switched to the idea of issuing the two live 2019 Helsinki Concerts as the Hyperion set.... but after 5 days of patching, Hough wasn't happy with it - mainly the live piano sound... so he and Lintu decided to start from scratch, recorded them all again, and with a different piano: the Musiikkalito Hall's new Bösendorfer..... which he'd rejected for the live concerts..........

[Quarky]

With pleasure . You can get hold of H C Robbins Landon's volume in the BBC Music Guides without spending a fortune (try Abe Books for starters)

My copy of Haydn Symphonies arrived this afternoon, suitably dog-eared and with multiple hand-written comments. But that's all right, it adds to the charm - pre-loved I think the term is.

A fast read through the first couple of chapters showed me I am on the right lines with Haydn. Much technical detail will be lost , but enough understood to reinforce what my ears are hearing.

At present, I'm just going to concentrate on his first Esterhazy period; not really into Sturm und Drang.

Many thanks again to you and Jane for this recommendation.

[Bryn]

[Stanfordian]

Benjamin Bernheim
Opera arias from Massenet, Donizetti, Gounod, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Godard, Berlioz, Puccini
Benjamin Bernheim (tenor)
PKF - Prague Philharmonia / Emmanuel Villaume
Recorded 2018 Smetana Hall, Municipal House, Prague
Deutsche Grammophon

Koechlin
Piano Quintet, Op. 80
String Quartet No. 3, Op. 72
Sarah Lavaud (piano)
Antigone Quartet
Recorded 2008 Studio Tibor Varga, Grimisuat, Switzerland
AR RÉ-SÉ

[BBMmk2]

Hiya Stan, how goes that Koechlin?


Gustav Mahler The Complete Edition
CD 14
Gustav Mahler
Das Lied von der Erde
Brigitte Fassbaender (contralto)
Francisco Araiza tenor)
Berliner Philharmoniker
Carlo Maria Giulini.

[richardfinegold]

That looked interesting, but after checking on Amazon was surprised to see that it’s $11.00. That is very expensive but when Naxos first started releasing discs $4-$5 was the norm and a typical full priced disc was around $12. Most Naxos discs are still in the $8 range. Is there a special feature of this disc?

[visualnickmos]

Sunshine, warm breeze, glass of crisp rosé and some charming Mozart : Mozart has to be charming.....

Mozart
Symphonies nos. 25, 26,27
Royal Concertgebouw / Nikolaus Harnoncourt

From a 4 CD set "Mozart, Les plus belles symphonies"

[Bryn]

That looked interesting, but after checking on Amazon was surprised to see that it’s $11.00. That is very expensive but when Naxos first started releasing discs $4-$5 was the norm and a typical full priced disc was around $12. Most Naxos discs are still in the $8 range. Is there a special feature of this disc?

I listened via QOBUZ streaming but yes, Rübsam plays a gut-strung 'lute-harpsichord' and highlights the legato Bach was said to have intended. It's a pretty long version with much decoration. It might scare a few horses but I found a great deal to admire in it.

[BBMmk2]

Hiya Stan, how goes that Koechlin?


Gustav Mahler The Complete Edition
CD 14
Gustav Mahler
Das Lied von der Erde
Brigitte Fassbaender (contralto)
Francisco Araiza tenor)
Berliner Philharmoniker
Carlo Maria Giulini.

CD 15
Gustav Mahler
Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Anne-Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano)
Thomas Quasthoff (baritone)
Berliner Philharmoniker
Claudio Abbado

[Suffolkcoastal]

Score following - days 33 & 34:

Beethoven:
Christus am Olberge op85
Mass in C major op86
Mass in D op123 'Missa Solemnis' (vocal score)

[jayne lee wilson]

BEETHOVEN PIANO CONCERTOS. GOTTLIEB WALLISCH/Orchester Wiener Akademie/HASELBÖCK. CPO CDs. New Release 2020.

OP.61A arr. from VIOLIN CONCERTO OP61.

Haselbock again gets a wonderful sweeping, singing line from the orchestra here, with delicate detail and wide dynamics. The sparkling treble of the 1825 Bayer seems especially suited to the piano arrangement, so fluidly, ripplingly played by Wallsich; the fortepiano balances very well with timpani in that long and extraordinary cadenza.

The Ceremonial Hall of the Austrian Academy of Arts and Sciences is a warmer acoustic than most in this set, adding to the contrasting attractions of this superb cycle.

[Bryn]

BEETHOVEN PIANO CONCERTOS. GOTTLIEB WALLISCH/Orchester Wiener Akademie/HASELBÖCK. CPO CDs. New Release 2020.

OP.61A arr. from VIOLIN CONCERTO OP61.

Haselbock again gets a wonderful sweeping, singing line from the orchestra here, with delicate detail and wide dynamics. The sparkling treble of the 1825 Bayer seems especially suited to the piano arrangement, so fluidly, ripplingly played by Wallsich; the fortepiano balances very well with timpani in that long and extraordinary cadenza.

The Ceremonial Hall of the Austrian Academy of Arts and Sciences is a warmer acoustic than most in this set, adding to the contrasting attractions of this superb cycle.

My JPC order is on its way. In the meantime I am giving the the Brautigam/Parrott SACD of the revised 1808 version of the G major (as edited by Barry Cooper) another spin.

[gradus]

Paul Lewis playing the Diabelli Vars from the RFH last year last night on R3, masterly doesn't do justice to playing of this quality. Last live perf I heard of this was Mitsuko Uchida in Cambridge a few years back, talking of quality need I say more.

[Bryn]

On a whim, Adams: Nixon in China, the Blu-ray of the NY Met Production under the original team. I, like Peter Sellers and Mark Morris, well recall The Red Detachment of Women. Indeed I not only saw it many times, I also had the Chinese LPs and Red-bound score. I think it might be streamable somewhere on the Internet. Might have a look for it, later.

Ah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoPM9d18e9o

and

Ah, the nostalgia of it all . . .

[Stanfordian]

Meyerbeer - Grand Opera - Diana Damrau
Arias from operas Le Prophète, Robert le Diable, Alimelek, oder die beiden Kalifen, L'étoile du nord, L'Africaine, Il crociato in Egitto, Le pardon de Ploërmel, Ein Feldlager in Schlesien, Emma di Resburgo, Les Huguenots & L'Africaine
Diana Damrau (soprano)
Orchestre et Choeur de l’Opéra National de Lyon / Emmanuel Villaume
Recorded 2015, Opéra National de Lyon, France
Erato

Godard
‘The Complete String Quartets’
String Quartet No. 1, Op. 33
String Quartet No. 2, Op. 37
String Quartet No. 3, Op. 136
Quatuor Élysée
Recorded 2014, Rennes Conservatoire, France
Timpani