What classical music did you listen to today?

[Sybarite]

Various things in the last few days, but most worthy of note: Mozart's Piano Concerto No10 and today, the Oboe Quartet and Clarinet Quintet by the same composer.

I never fail to be amazed at the delicacy of Mozart's work; the feeling almost of fragility.

[Kromme]

Shostakovichs Symphonies Nos.4 & 13 by Mariss Jansons & Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Beethoven's Eroica by Wilhelm Furtwaengler & Wiener Philharmo****r.Excellent interpretations,superb orchestral playing and very very good sound by EMI especially in the Furtwangler recording.Crystal clear.Also very wise choice of bass in Shosatkovich's 13th

[Sybarite]

Dvorák's Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations, with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and Truls Mørk on cello.

The Dvorák is very enjoyable and Mørk's playing is wonderful, but the Tchaikovsky seems impossibly lightweight beside it.

[Kromme]

Tchaikovsky 4th Symphony by Sergiu Celibidache-Münchner Philharmo****r. Very bizarre,very slow but incredibly sentimental.One of the best 4th symphony interpretations on disk.For other great accounts Mravinsky with Leningrad Philharmonic,Jansons with Oslo Philharmonic and Valery Gergiev with Wiener Philharmo****r springs to mind.For non-Russian but still good recordings Karajan and Abbado are also acceptable

[Sybarite]

Kodály’s Háry János Suite and Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé (London Philharmonic, Klaus Tennstedt); Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony (Montréal Symphony, Charles Dutoit) – on the same disc as the First Symphony – the Classical, but that sounds so twee by comparison with this.
Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz – always had a soft spot for this geezer since finding out that we shared a birthday, and this is wonderful if populist; plus Les Franc-Juges by the same composer (all Chicago Symphony). Schubert’s piano sonatas 15 in C and 18 in G, played by the excellent Mitsuko Uchida; exquisite and very soothing.

[Kromme]

Mendelssohn's first four symphonies.1st and second by Christoph von Dohnanyi and Wiener Philharharmo****r and the other two by Kurt Masur and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.The third is my favourite Mendelssohn symphony and Masur's recording is lively and passionate but i had heard better versions of the fourth symphony than Masurs'.Dohnanyi's two symphonies fast and very powerful

[Sybarite]

Not much today, as I was visiting family; a selection on the journey there, includingsome Johann Strauss and some Lehar. On the way back, Bach's St Matthew Passion.

However, it was a productive trip, adding Beethoven's piano concertos (Mitsuko Uchida, Concertgebouw Orchestra), Tchaikovsky's symphonies 4, 5 & 6 (Berlin Phil, Herbert von Karajan), Wagner, Ring selections (Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele, Karl Böhm) and Brahms's deutsches Requiem (LSO, André Previn) to my library.

[Sybarite]

And I have just listened to the Brahams – lovely; very peaceful. Very different to other requiems I've heard; none of that religious fear.

[Kromme]

Brahms's deutsches Requiem (LSO, André Previn) to my library.

London Symphony or Royal Philharmonic??If it is not the latter Sybarite can you please tell me what do you think of the performance an from which label it is.His Royal Philharmonic accont is not the best ein deutsches requiem but definitely one of the better ones

[Kromme]

By the way i listened to Brahms too Ein Deutsches Requiem by Andre Previn-Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Symphony No.1 by Wolfgang Sawallisch-London Philharmonic Orchestra

[Sybarite]

London Symphony or Royal Philharmonic??If it is not the latter Sybarite can you please tell me what do you think of the performance an from which label it is.His Royal Philharmonic accont is not the best ein deutsches requiem but definitely one of the better ones

Hi Kromme,

London Symphony Orchestra, recorded live at the Barbican, London, in 2000.

It's actually the LSO's own label – info here.

It's not a work I'd previously heard, but when I spotted it in Virgin Megastore last night, for the bargain price of £4.99, then it seemed too good to miss.

I certainly thought that the performance was a good one; generally a fine recording of a beautiful piece of music, in my opinion.

[Kromme]

Thank you for both the information and the link,Sybarite...
I bet it is a good performance i like Previn's earlier interpretation of this magnificent work and this time the orchestra is even superior.I hope Turkish stores will one day sell recordings of live performances of an orchestra under its own label.Neither LSO nor Koninklijk Concertgebouw Orkest is available to the classical music lovers of Turkish Republic...
Still this is too good to miss as you said.I think i am going to order it from Amazon.com....

[Kromme]

Also i forgot to mention James Levine & Metropolitan Opera's DVD recording of Wagner's Tristan&Isolde and Carlo Maria Giulini & Philharmonia Orchestra's recording of Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem.Although Tristan & Isolde is one of my favourite operas i could barely managed to stay awake till the end.Soloists was lackluster and the music couldn't get inside of me.But for the second it was just the opposite.Music was outstanding,interpretation was a bit slow as always the case with Giulini but it felt better actually and after one and a half hour i was still waiting for more to come because i felt as if only 15 minutes had passed since the music started

[Sybarite]

Thank you for both the information and the link,Sybarite...

My pleasure. I hope you enjoy it when Amazon deliver.

This evening, I listened to Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs – Gundula Janowitz (what a voice), Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Phil – the final scene from Capriccio – Janowitz again, with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Karl Böhm – Tod und Verklärung – Statskapelle Dresden, Böhm. The Last Four Songs in particular are wonderful; quite gorgeous. All on a Deutsche Gramaphone complilation.

Then Tchaikovsky's Symphony No4 – Berlin Phil, HvK. Didn't really hit the right notes after the glories of the Strauss.

[Kromme]

My pleasure. I hope you enjoy it when Amazon deliver.

Thanks.I'm sure i will.
Today it is Bartok with Miraculous Mandarin by Marin Alsop-Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Mahler with Symphony No.1"Titan" by Armin Jordan-Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.Bartok was thrilling and "hellish" as he described it.With this recording Marin Alsop proves women are also very capable of conducting.I wonder why Simone Young was chosen to be the first woman conductor to guest conduct Wiener Philharmo****r instead of Marin Alsop.Armin Jordan's Mahler is not the best but it is fine.Surprisingly good Mahlerian sound from the Swiss orchestra and wise interpretation...An underrated performance