What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? III

[BBMmk2]

Brahms Symphony #4

NHK SO /Previn.

This, in fact.
I enjoyed it a lot.

I remember a Prom performance of Brahms’s Symphony No.1 by the Saito Kainen((spelling)Orchestra of Japan, conducted by Seiji Ozawa. A really spell binding performance, if there ever was one.

[BBMmk2]

Walton Scenes from the Films
Richard III
Henry V Suite
Spitfire Prelude and Fugue
Henry V - Scenes from the Film
Philharmonia Orchestra
Sir William Walton

Elgar-Vaughan Williams-Butterworth
Vaughan Wiliams
Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis
Fantasia on 'Greensleeves'
Butterworth
On the Banks of Green Willow
Elgar
Variations on an Original Theme, 'Enigma', Op.36
London Symphony Orchestra
Andre Previn.

[Stanfordian]

‘Paris, mon amour’ – Sonya Yoncheva
French opera arias from Massenet, Puccini, Gounod, Offenbach, Verdi, Messager & Lecocq
Sonya Yoncheva (soprano)
Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana /Frédéric Chaslin
Recorded 2014 Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, Valencia
Sony

Franck ‘Quintet - Piano Works’
Prelude, Choral et Fugue in B minor, M. 21
Prelude, Aria et Final in E major, M. 23
Piano Quintet in F minor, M. 7
Prelude - Andantino, from Prelude, Fugue et Variation, M. 30
(arranged for piano from organ work by Bauer/Dalberto)
Michel Dalberto (piano)
Novus Quartet
Recorded 2018 Salle Philharmonique de Liège, Belgium
Aparté Music

[Bryn]

Bryars: Dr Ox's Experiment https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/3e33aa1b...7e92b8123d4b10 (the wrong singer is cited for the role of Ygène but the name of the substitute, which sounds something like "Eugene Cots" is indistinctly enunciated in the announcement).

Aha! Looks like Ygène was sung, on the occasion of the broadcast, by Jozik Kotz.

[BBMmk2]

Walton Scenes from the Films
Richard III
Henry V Suite
Spitfire Prelude and Fugue
Henry V - Scenes from the Film
Philharmonia Orchestra
Sir William Walton

Elgar-Vaughan Williams-Butterworth
Vaughan Wiliams
Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis
Fantasia on 'Greensleeves'
Butterworth
On the Banks of Green Willow
Elgar
Variations on an Original Theme, 'Enigma', Op.36
London Symphony Orchestra
Andre Previn.

Carrying on, with my British theme today.

Vaughan Williams
Symphony No.3, ‘Pastoral Symphony’
Walton
Symphony No.1
London Symphony Orchestra
Andre Previn.

[Suffolkcoastal]

Score following - Days 35, 36 & 37:

Beethoven:
Fidelio - (vocal score)
Piano Concerto no 1 in C major op15
Piano Concerto no 2 in B flat major op19
Piano Concerto no 3 in C minor op37
Piano Concerto no 4 in G major op58

[Stanfordian]

Angela Gheorghiu - ‘Diva’
Opera Arias by Bellini, Rossini, Handel, Bizet, Charpentier, Gounod, Massenet, Puccini, Verdi
Angela Gheorghiu (soprano)
Various orchestra and conductors
Recorded at various locations and dates - Released 2004
EMI Classics

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]

Béla Bartók
Piano Quintet in C major Sz23
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Piano Quintet in E major
Piers Lane(piano)
Goldner Quartet

Sergei Prokofiev
‘War Sonatas’
Piano Sonata No.6 in A major, Op.82
Piano Sonata No.7 in Bb major, Op.83
Piano Sonata No.8 in Bb major, Op.84
Steven Osborne (piano)

[jayne lee wilson]

Beethoven Piano Concertos HOUGH/Finnish RSO/LINTU. Hyperion CDs New Release.

NO 2 B FLAT

Not the culture shock I might have expected after OWA/Haselbock, given the FRSO sound more like a large chamber orchestra here (think COE) and Hough’s Bösendorfer has a sparkling tunefulness that would keep any Graf-lover happy.
But of course there are obvious differences too; this recording has endless subtle touches, rubato and dynamic inflexions, a sweetness and warmth in the strings (vibrato sparing but telling), an infinite attention to expressive detailing of the phrase which is always subtle, focusses the attention but keeps the flowing line. Perhaps above all a marvellous sense of dialogue - just listen to Lintu and Hough slowing a little to admire the view in the development of 2(i), then seeming to comment to each other upon it; moving off again swiftly. Really lovely.

I feel Hough slightly overdoes the breath-held stillness at the end of the adagio; lingered a little long. In the finale I missed the Wallisch/Haselbock no-nonsense briskness to some extent (Piano /orchestra contrast more pronounced there; I was craving the sound of their instruments by then.)…
But after some early, lingering rubato, Hough and Lintu gee up the playfulness toward the close, so the approach is thought through.
Does the inflexion get a little much? Perhaps… it may divide responses to some extent…but it is always subtle, and both piano and orchestra are lovely instruments. So I enjoyed pretty much everything they did.

Could have done with “more hall” in the balance, but the tonal character is very attractive nonetheless, string counterpoints transparent. Always draws you in.

Easier one to sum up than Wallisch etc., as you can just say “oh listen to all the expressive details”….which are very engaging indeed. But an A/B is probably misleading here.
Shame you can’t stream the HYP! But c’est la vie…. you have to forget your commitment-phobias here and go back to The Old Way.…should I buy it…?

NO 4 G MAJOR

Hough discreetly spreads the opening chord; Lintu responds by bringing the orchestra in with marvellous delicacy; the strings floating gently toward your perception.
Thereafter the dialoguing between them is bar-by-bar responsive, so considered yet never precluding spontaneity. Lintu can provide the frame for Hough to fantasise, or follow him with exacting sensitivity.
I was transfixed by the andante: precise and intense in the challenge and placation, a flowing undercurrent;…. every single note counts. Then the finale brings release, freedom, dynamic liberation! But Hough sometimes slows it all down to reflect on what has passed, Lintu smiling upon the moment’s philosophy.

Sometimes one struggles to find the words….. but there’s a tonal quality to the orchestra here, warmth with precision, poised and alert but relaxed, which almost seems a many-voiced, blended analogue of the lovely Bosendorfer itself; there’s a very special musical love-match going on here.
Of course, you need to hear it to really know…. to acknowledge the presence of performative greatness. So there’s no way around this one; you have to hear it, all of it. Twice may not be enough….

[jayne lee wilson]

Beethoven Piano Concertos HOUGH/Finnish RSO/LINTU. Hyperion CDs New Release.

NO 3 C MINOR

More stern and serious as the piece demands, a very good performance of the C Minor, but, in the 1st movement, I felt less distinctive than 2 and 4. I returned to Wallisch…. the bracing instrumental textures, the crisp, fresh sound, the brilliance of the fortepiano…. I connected with the piece again.
2nd time around though, I noted the sheer magnificence of Hough’s cadenza to (i) - so powerful and exploratory. Lintu responds with a coda of greater urgency.

But then came the largo….. oh, my word…. Hough and the FRSO winds take us away, far off into an otherworldly dreamland….how the strings sing so, so gently in response. Not far from tears at this point.

Sober, serious, playful or serene, the finale misses no subtlety of mood or texture. And is very weighty just where it should be - we’re on a grander scale here! So finally this reading does add up very well.

[Barbirollians]

Angela Gheorghiu - ‘Diva’
Opera Arias by Bellini, Rossini, Handel, Bizet, Charpentier, Gounod, Massenet, Puccini, Verdi
Angela Gheorghiu (soprano)
Various orchestra and conductors
Recorded at various locations and dates - Released 2004
EMI Classics

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

Gosh I have not played that recital disc for years . I must dig it out.

[Barbirollians]

Marriage of Figaro 1935 Glyndebourne Fritz Busch . Heavens he takes it at a proper lick - some rather English singing but some very lovely moving singing too . To those who heard them these records must have been a revelation.

[Joseph K]

Xenakis - Phlegra, Jalons, Keren, Nomos Alpha, Thallein.

[gradus]

Previn/LSO VW 5. An utterly involving performance with a broad unhurried feel and splendid playing.

[Edgy 2]

Previn/LSO VW 5. An utterly involving performance with a broad unhurried feel and splendid playing.