What classical music did you listen to today?

Ouled Nails

New member
Yesterday, actually!
Julian Orbon, Concerto Grosso for String Quartet and Orchestra.
Alberto Ginastera, Pampeana no. 3, for Orchestra.
Sergei Taneyev, Concert Suite for Violin and Orchestra.
Boris Lyatoshinsky, Symphony no.3 in B minor, op.50.
Joan Tower, Silver Ladders; Island Prelude for solo Oboe and String Orchestra; Music for Cello and Orchestra; Sequoia; Duets for Chamber Orchestra.
 

Sybarite

New member
The above post makes mine look trite, but I`m listening to Johann Strauss II`s Treasure Waltz. Shall we dance?

Nothing wrong with a bit of Strauss II.:)

So, today: highlights from Siegfried – Bayreuth Orchestra under Karl Böhm. Great stuff to get the day started. Poulenc's Sonata for horn, trombone and trumpet – Alan Civil, John Iveson and John Wilbraham respectively. Lovely.

Vaughan Williams's Sea Symphony – BBC Symphony Orchestra under Andrew Davies. Haven't listened to it before, but there's an Englishness here that brings to mind middle-class seaside villages, John Betjemen, the Church of England and steam trains. Nonetheless very enjoyable.

Handel's Italian Cantatas – sung by Emma Kirkby, with Christopher Hogwood directing the Academy of Ancient Music. Really enjoyable sound.

Debussy's first book of preludes and the first book of Images, played by Yukie Nagai and then La Mer and Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, played by the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Herbert von Karajan.
 
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rojo

(Ret)
This piece came on the radio, and I was trying to identify it; I knew the piece, could hum along, but was unable to remember who it was by, nor what it was called. So turns out it was Smetana`s Overture to The Bartered Bride. I didn`t remember that I knew this work!
 

Kromme

New member
Beethoven Symphonies Nos.5,7 Brahms Symphony No.4 and Schubert Symphonies 3,8.All by Carlos Kleiber & Wiener Philharmoniker.Spectacular.I am lost in superlatives.Then Tchaikovsky Symphonies Nos.4,5&6 by Evgeny Mravinsky & St Petersburg(then Leningrad) Philharmonic.That was the best Tchaikovsky i heard in my life.(I previously heard Muti,Karajan,Celibidache, Jansons,Giulini,Gergiev,Markevitch)
 

rojo

(Ret)
Interesting that you mention Markevitch, Kromme; I`ve just been listening to his[SIZE=-1] (Igor Markevitch`s) 'Le Nouvel Age,'[/SIZE][SIZE=-1] (1937.) I quite liked it, on first listen.
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Kromme

New member
Oh rojo i only know him as a conductor.His Tchaikovsky is both solid and budget price:).I have no idea about him as a composer.Where did you catch it on radio or a recording?
 

rojo

(Ret)
Ravel`s String Quartet, played by the Parkanyi Quartet (PRAGA DSD250208.) Love it. Glorious richness, especially for a string quartet. :up::up::up:
 

Kromme

New member
Beethoven Symphony No.9 by Felix Weingartner and Wiener Philharmoniker. Out of all versions i heard i believe this shares the top spot with Wilhelm Furtwanglers Bayreuth version,Barenboims Berlin Staatskapelle account comes next.
Brahms Symphony No.4 by Wolfgang Sawallisch and London Philharmonic Orchestra passionate interpretation and fine execution but somewhat inconsistent tempo.Sometimes too fast sometimes too slow
 

Ouled Nails

New member
Astor Piazzolla amazes me. Not just because of the tangos, although I like the way they come across musically. But because of all the different tango music he composed. One would expect the music to become repetitive and, yet, every piece is an original. I'm listening to five tango sensations and to the tango suite arranged for two guitars. A great boost of musicality at the end of the day!
 

rojo

(Ret)
Alexander Glazunov-
Concerto for violon and orchestra op. 82.
Julia Fischer, vio. Russian National Orchestra, Yakov Kreizberg conducting.
(PENTA 5186059).

Beautiful work, well played.
 

rojo

(Ret)
Francis Poulenc
Gloria
Judith Blegen, sop. Ch. de l'abbaye de Westminster, New York Phil. Orch. Leonard Bernstein conducting
(SONY SMK47569).

Uplifting moments.
 

rojo

(Ret)
W.A. Mozart.
The Magic Flute: Overture K. 620.
Staatskapelle Dresden. Colin Davis conducting
(RCA 74321566982).

Trumpet a bit too 'obvious' here; maybe balance problems when recording? Charming though...
 

rojo

(Ret)
E. Kalman.
La Princesse gitane (The Gypsy Princess) : "Sylva, ich will nur dich" - duo.
Yvonne Kenny : Sylva Varescu. Michael Roider : Edwin Ronald. Orch. Symph. de la Radio Slovaque. Richard Bonynge, dir.
(NAX 611007576).

Lovely stuff by this Hungarian composer known (although not that well known) mostly for his operettas. One can hear he was influenced by Puccini, whom he admired...
 

Ouled Nails

New member
Romantic guitar music from Paraguayan composer Agustin Barrios Mangoré (1885-1944), David Russell, guitar. Twenty-one short works mainly composed in the 1920's. Very touching "La Catedral" in three parts. Extraordinary tremolo study in Una Limosna por el Amor de Dios ("An alm for the love of God"), his "last major piece written just months before his death," in 1944. Telarc (1995)
 

rojo

(Ret)
D. Milhaud.
Scaramouche - version for 2 pianos op. 165b.
Katia & Marielle Labèque, pia.
(PHI 4735822).

Sort of a 'ragtime' feel...


G. Bizet.
Jeux d'enfants - Suite for orchestra op. 22.
Orch. de l'Opéra Bastille. Myung-Whun Chung, dir.
(DG 4317782).
 

Kromme

New member
Shostakovichs 10 symphony by Simon Rattle & City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.Admirable performance overall but the second movement is not satanic enough.;)
 

Sybarite

New member
Not today but last night: The Gondoliers by Gilbert & Sullivan, D'Oyly Carte with John Reed etc.

G&S has been rather shabbily treated in the UK, in my opinion, and is still viewed in a rather snobby manner. Personally, I love the music (what a shame that Sullivan didn't rate it as his best achievement), while Gilbert's librettos are very funny and savagely satirical in a very English way. The Gondoliers, whilst not being their most well-known work, has these in abundance.

However, I'm also looking forward to this, which landed on my doormat a couple of days ago and adds to my developing G&S library.

And for anyone who's interested, an article by Topsy-Turvey director Mike Leigh an an autumn edition of the UK broadsheet The Guardian.
 
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