What classical music did you listen to today?

Kromme

New member
Mahler Symphonies Nos. 2,4,6,9 Jascha Horenstein is an underrated conductor and his recording of 4th symphony with London Philharmonic Orchestra is veru fine while Margaret Price sing beatifully in the final movement
 
I've been listening to the pieces from La Clemenza de Tito and Idomeneo by mozart, they're both fantastic pieces. Mozart is some of the only opera that I like. The overtures to his operas are great.
 

Sybarite

New member
Sybarite- looking forward to your comments about the performance!

Well, briefly: excellent production values. Good performances all round, although I particularly enjoyed Majella Cullagh as Rosalinde, Amelia Farrugia as Adele and David Kempster as Dr Falke. Robert Tear was Dr Blind, the lawyer, but at close to 70, there's isn't much power left in that voice, I'm afraid.

Stephen Lawless's direction and Benoit Dugardyn's design are superb and work very well together. It's set in a sort of generalised Weimer-style era; indeed, during the party section, there are nods to this, with one member of the chorus appearing briefly in Marlene Dietrich-Blue Angle mode. And a little later, with Orlofsky's party in full swing, there is a moment when a female member of the cast is seen, her back to the audience, standing on top of a grand piano, champagne glass raised to the heavens, dressed only in a top hat and stockings. It's a very erotic moment, but in the context of the unashamed decadence and debauchery, sits well and isn't gratuitous; indeed, I'd suggest that it emphasises an essential difference between English and Continental farce – that in the latter, flirting can lead to actual sex (the same can be said of 19th-century literature – there's no author to compare to Zola, for instance, in English of the time). It's also, within a Wiemaresque setting, as the sense of impending disaster and doom was one of the motivations for the unbridled hedonism of the Berlin of the time; there's almost the intellectual aftertaste of something darker. Live for today – who knows what tomorrow will bring?

The new translation works well; it's snappy and the dialogue sizzles. Some people tend to think that light opera isn't difficult to do, but you've got the same production values as grand opera, the same musical demands – and you've got to make it fizz like the champagne that so often seems to feature.

There are clearly one or two added jokes – for instance, when Eisenstein rips off Blind's robes to wear them himself, he finds the lawyer wearing only a woman's nightdress beneath. After the initial audience laughter has died down and Eisenstein has been seen to be staring in shock, he asks: "What's that?"

To which Blind replied: "It's my Freudian slip". Howls of laughter from the audience.

There are plenty of visual jokes too; one clever one (in my opinion) concerned the ballerinas. They were dressed as though straight out of a Degas painting, but at one point were seen doing exercises at some bars – but the bars, being vertical parts of the set as opposed to horizontal bars, turned them into pole dancers (which again works, given how they are viewed by some of the male characters).

So, those are my thoughts, 24 hours down the line. As I've already made clear – I enjoyed it hugely.
 

rojo

(Ret)
Wow, that was fascinating, Sybarite! Next best thing to being there! :grin: Thanks so much for sharing that! :)
 

Krummhorn

Administrator
Staff member
ADMINISTRATOR
Yesterday I had the rare opportunity to sit in the pews of the church where I am Director of Music/Organist, and listen to an excellent local choir perform along with harp, oboe and organ. The entire program was based upon the theme "Angels Song in the Desert". There were portions where those attending were invited to sing several carols, so it was even more thrilling for me to be amidst several hundred people singing and being led by a visiting organist playing the Möller pipe organ installed in the side gallery above the nave floor. The group performing was the Tucson Chamber Artists conducted by its founder, Dr. Holtan, who is also my Director of Choirs at my church.

The 'desert' is referenced in the program title because Tucson (AZ) is in the high desert.
 

BGMCFAR

New member
Last evening I spent about 3 hrs with Mr. Mozart synphony #40 in G minorK550 synphony#38in D major performed by Slovak Philharmonic also Synphony #36 in C majorsynphony #29 in A major both performed byBamburg Pilharmonic Synphony #41 in C major what a joy to listen the the masters work.I have been very blessed to have the instructorsI woh have taught me listern to music in a wayso you listen to al parts combinedto make it more enjoable not just the melody I play gutair and mandillin and a little banjo , but I'm starting piano in springwhat and adventure I look forward to the day when I am able to play the works of the masters
 

rojo

(Ret)
Hey gio!

Well it was protos who imo was barking up the wrong tree, but anyway, poor pootchie! :eek::grin::)
 

Kromme

New member
The overtures to his operas are great.
Mozart's opera overtures are very fine but in my opinion they all are bested by Wagner's overture to Tannhaeuser.

Right now it is Beethovens 1st and 5th Symphonies by Riccardo Muti & Philadelphia Orchestra.1st is very good i think second only to Furtwaengler,5th may also be good but after listening to C. Kleiber's Vienna account i do not think that any other 5th can sound right to me
 

Sybarite

New member
Wow, that was fascinating, Sybarite! Next best thing to being there! :grin: Thanks so much for sharing that! :)

My pleasure. :)

Yesterday's listening was dominated by Christian Thielemann's new recording of Mozart's Requiem and Jonas Kaufmann singing Strauss Lieder. Both wonderful; exquisitely pure music.

Today started with Holst's The Planets then Also Sprach Zarathustra and Eine Alpinsinfonie. Now it's time for Bach and at least some of the Brandenburg Concertos (all Karajan & the Berlin Phil).
 

Sybarite

New member
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

New member
Shostakovichs Symphonies Nos.4 & 13 by Mariss Jansons & Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Beethoven's Eroica by Wilhelm Furtwaengler & Wiener Philharmoniker.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

New member
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

New member
Tchaikovsky 4th Symphony by Sergiu Celibidache-Münchner Philharmoniker. 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 Philharmoniker springs to mind.For non-Russian but still good recordings Karajan and Abbado are also acceptable
 

Sybarite

New member
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

New member
Mendelssohn's first four symphonies.1st and second by Christoph von Dohnanyi and Wiener Philharharmoniker 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

New member
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

New member
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

New member
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

New member
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
 
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