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Current Listening Vol II

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2.8M views 29K replies 332 participants last post by  Krummhorn  
#1 ·
A new thread for the same subject matter.

The previous thread, Current Listening Vol I, was hogging lots of resources on our servers trying to load well over 4000 pages of postings (over 1,000,000 posts) for each user with each access.

We've created this new volume to continue posting.

Thanks for your kind understanding.
 
#2 · (Edited)
I'm going to repost my response to Millionrainbows in the first thread here then, so he (or Cosmos, since he's potentially involved with this discussion) has a chance to reply.

"I'm giving it a try. It seems a little too sweet for me on first impression. I can tell it's nicely crafted, though. I have to be in a receptive mood for some things..." -Millionrainbows in reference to the Korngold Piano Quartet that Cosmos posted

I gave his piano quintet posted by Cosmos a listen and it's pretty different from what I'm used to hearing from Korngold, more Romantic. The string quartets I suggested, for example, are written more in a German Expressionist vein mixed with some neo-classicsm (but not atonal from what I understand).

Try this one:

Also, keep in mind he was a big movie music composer so some of that aesthetic may have slipped into his serious works. But I don't think it's too bad in that regard.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Adolfs Skulte
Symphony no. I
-The Latvian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Leonids Vigners.
Symphony no. II "Ave Sol"
-The Latvian Radio Symphony Orchestra & Choir/Leonids Vigners.
-Elza Zvirgzdina, soprano.
-Leonid Zarins, tenor.
Symphony no. IV
-The Latvian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Edgars Tons.
Symphony no. V
-The Leningrad Philharmonic/Jansons.
Symphony no. VI
-The Latvian State Symphony/Vasily Sinaisky.

Janis Ivanovs
Symphonies nos. VI & VII(*).
-Helsinki Radio Orchestra/Arvids Jansons.
-The Latvian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Leonids Vigners(*).

Janis Medins
Symphonic sketches "Imanta" & "Raven's Mill."
-The Latvian National Symphony/Imanta Resnis.
 
B
#5 ·
Krummhorn said:
The previous thread, Current Listening Vol I, was hogging lots of resources on our servers...
Click to expand...
Embedded (You Tube and other) videos don't help, either. Even just to load a single page with those videos makes it difficult to load and scroll a single page. My preference would be for linking to, not embedding, videos.
 
#8 · (Edited)
violadude said:
I'm going to repost my response to Millionrainbows in the first thread here then, so he (or Cosmos, since he's potentially involved with this discussion) has a chance to reply.

"I'm giving it a try. It seems a little too sweet for me on first impression. I can tell it's nicely crafted, though. I have to be in a receptive mood for some things..." -Millionrainbows in reference to the Korngold Piano Quartet that Cosmos posted

I gave his piano quartet posted by Cosmos a listen and it's pretty different from what I'm used to hearing from Korngold, more Romantic. The string quartets I suggested, for example, are written more in a German Expressionist vein mixed with some neo-classicsm (but not atonal from what I understand).

Try this one:

Also, keep in mind he was a big movie music composer so some of that aesthetic may have slipped into his serious works. But I don't think it's too bad in that regard.
Click to expand...
Ahh, yes, that's more like it. The playing is different, too. Those violin players in the earlier piano quartet were heavily into that sweet vibrato.

That just goes to show you that you can't always go on a first impression. These string quartets, I think, will be worth exploring. Thanks for the response, violadude.
 
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#11 · (Edited)
J. Haydn, The Creation - 'Holde Gattin, dir zur Seite'; 'Singt dem Herrn, alle Stimmen' (Roland Bader; Seidl; Elsner; Volle; Chor und Orchester der Staatsphilharmonie Krakau).

Really an excellent recording of The Creation. A bit of a hall effect, but the soloists, choir and orchestra are great and the tempos well-chosen.

G. P. Telemann, Tafelmusik - Production I
Overture - Suite in E minor for two Flutes, Strings & B.c.;
Quartet in G Major for Flute, Oboe, Violin & B.c.;
Concerto in A Major for Flute, Violin, Violoncello, Strings & B.c.
(Pieter-Jan Belder; Musica Amphion).

A great recording of the Tafelmusik, imo. Transparent, clear and spirited playing.
 
#12 ·
I made a John Cage mix CD, I wish you all could hear it. It has Fontana Mix, Three Dances for prepared piano, Seventy-Four for orchestra (two versions), and Metamorphosis, an early 1935 piano 12-tone piece.

I have a Mac G5, and I use a program called Toast to make these CDs. They are all full-resolution AIFF files. This also allows me to copy CDs which I check out from the library. Scan the cover art-in, and it's almost as good as owning the CD.

Yeah, yeah, I know all about Spotify and all that. I'm old-school. At least I know what my file source is.
 
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#13 · (Edited)






Late last night, I really wanted to put the singing to the test in these three recordings of the last Strauss-Hoffmansthal collaboration, the massively-textured Die Agyptische Helena. So I listened to them on my Shure SRH1840 headphones, which are especially great for the mid-ranges of vocal music; without sounding too fatiguing; unlike the Sennhseiser 800's do after listening to them for a couple of hours.

The Dame Gwyneth/ Barbara Hendricks Decca incarnation is by far the most outstanding in terms of timbral beauty and dramatic expressivity. Jones' voice gets slightly wobbly at times, but it doesn't detract from her beauty of tone. Hedricks is just drop-dead gorgeous in her overall delivery. The Decca sound engineering from the late seventies is uniformly excellent, capturing a clear separation between instruments and the three-dimensional depth of a larger sound stage.

In contrast, the Telarc recording quality is warm, and with a good bass-register response, but without a realisitc ambient acoustic to it. Voight's singing is pretty but uninspiring.

The Rysanek has some beautiful singing, but with abysmal sound quality. Keilberth's mid-fifties conducting is, as you'd expect, dramatically-convincing and lively; but even making allowances for the sub-optimal sound, the performance doesn't have the exotic feel of the Dorati; in my view anyway.
 
#17 ·
hpowders said:
View attachment 42262

FJ Haydn, Symphony #102.
Boston Baroque, Martin Pearlman.

One of the best period performances of arguably Haydn's greatest symphony.
If you have this one and the Davis/ Concergebouw big orchestra performance, you have all the bases covered for this great work.
Click to expand...
Love the baseball metaphors - bases are loaded, Haydn steps up and fires one outta the ball park :D.
 
H
#18 · (Edited)
HaydnBearstheClock said:
Love the baseball metaphors - bases are loaded, Haydn steps up and fires one outta the ball park :D.
Click to expand...
Well he sure did with #102!! In my opinion his finest symphonic minuet and finale are found right here. Astonishing composing virtuosity! All I can say is :tiphat: to the great FJ Haydn!

And if this post overloads the servers due to its rabid emotional content, it was worth it! :devil:
 
#19 ·
millionrainbows said:
I made a John Cage mix CD, I wish you all could hear it. It has Fontana Mix, Three Dances for prepared piano, Seventy-Four for orchestra (two versions), and Metamorphosis, an early 1935 piano 12-tone piece.

I have a Mac G5, and I use a program called Toast to make these CDs. They are all full-resolution AIFF files. This also allows me to copy CDs which I check out from the library. Scan the cover art-in, and it's almost as good as owning the CD.

Yeah, yeah, I know all about Spotify and all that. I'm old-school. At least I know what my file source is.
Click to expand...
Mind you, with Cage you could mix anything with anything and not really notice!
 
#20 ·
hpowders said:
Well he sure did with #102!! In my opinion his finest symphonic minuet and finale are found right here. Incredible composing virtuosity. Practically unbelievable!!! All I can say is :tiphat: to the great FJ Haydn.

And if this post overloads the servers, it was worth it!:devil:
Click to expand...
Well put, hpowders. No. 102 is a very forward-looking symphony and it can be argued that it is the greatest. I do lean towards 104 slightly because of its martial tone and awesome orchestration. 103 and 99 are also way up there, but all of the London symphonies are amazing in my books.
 
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