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Current Listening Vol V

2M views 48K replies 376 participants last post by  Taggart 
#1 ·
Current Listening Vol V

A new thread for the same subject matter.

The previous thread, Current Listening Vol IV, has become another huge file, and because this particular thread is the most popular one on the site, we have created this new volume to continue posting.

Taggart,
Senior Moderator
 
#23,862 ·
Peter Maxwell Davies, Naxos Quartet No 1 - Maggini Quartet.

Pretty dense stuff - I get the feeling these String Quartets may need a bit of concentration on my part!

View attachment 115163
I do enjoy Max's quartets but can certainly relate to them not coming easily to the ear. Carter's quartets are almost the opposite (among his most approachable works). I listened to a lot of Maxwell Davis some years ago but found that little of it was giving me any pleasure at all. I decided he was a lesser composer and that was that. Then out of the blue I got a yearning (the only word I can think of, unlikely as it seems) to listen to one of his symphonies, any of them. I listened to the 6th and found myself loving it and "understanding" it. Between my early attempts more than 5 years earlier and now I had become a big fan. I'm not sure if it was cooking in my mind all that time or if some other things I had been listening to during the interim had given me the key. Concentration might be needed but for me it rarely leads to pleasure at the time.
 
#23,863 ·
If you are THE pianist you can play everything to perfection. Kristian / George and an unforgettable Preludes performance.

Thanks for sharing these gems! Quite incredible hearing this music truly played in perfect Gershwin style from the same pianist who I heard a few years ago in concert playing the last Schubert Sonatas, also totally true to the music.

Very helpful to add the sheetmusic in motion. I noticed this guy has a yt channel filled with music and sheetmusic. Great initiative, Thx for showing this here.
 
#23,864 ·
Fierce competition, my dear friend, for the top ten... After (for me always) the eternal 1 and 2 I don't know if there is a place in the top 20 for the Rafael. (I didn't intentionally enclosed in my list the British conductors or names like Dutoit, Serafin etc…)
It would be a nicer place here at TC if we would stop judging personal preferences. It is as useless as disputing how anyone likes his coffee. If for some reason someone truly appreciates any musician or any composer, that is simply indisputable.
 
#23,865 ·
I do enjoy Max's quartets but can certainly relate to them not coming easily to the ear. Carter's quartets are almost the opposite (among his most approachable works). I listened to a lot of Maxwell Davis some years ago but found that little of it was giving me any pleasure at all. I decided he was a lesser composer and that was that. Then out of the blue I got a yearning (the only word I can think of, unlikely as it seems) to listen to one of his symphonies, any of them. I listened to the 6th and found myself loving it and "understanding" it. Between my early attempts more than 5 years earlier and now I had become a big fan. I'm not sure if it was cooking in my mind all that time or if some other things I had been listening to during the interim had given me the key. Concentration might be needed but for me it rarely leads to pleasure at the time.
You are most probably correct - concentration may not be the best way to unravel the quartets, if indeed I do. Another approach I can try is playing them in the car whilst driving, that may well enable them to work their way into my musical memory.
Or it could simply be I am not ready for them and may never be so - but I never give up on something after just one listen.
 
#23,868 ·
It would be a nicer place here at TC if we would stop judging personal preferences. It is as useless as disputing how anyone likes his coffee. If for some reason someone truly appreciates any musician or any composer, that is simply indisputable.
That's why I don't comment on my own posts (the CD's I post). First, I normally don't post things I absolutely dislike. Second, I might say how splendid something is, then someone go buy it based on my recommendation and think it stinks. That's no good.

I read what others say about something but mainly I get ideas from the posts of what I might like.
 
#23,869 ·
That's why I don't comment on my own posts (the CD's I post). First, I normally don't post things I absolutely dislike. Second, I might say how splendid something is, then someone go buy it based on my recommendation and think it stinks. That's no good.

I read what others say about something but mainly I get ideas from the posts of what I might like.
I believe it is fine to post comments to share enthusiasms but agree with NLAdriaan that it is pointless to judge other peoples preferences.
I assume that all of us here know our own minds and I don't fear that someone will blindly buy something based on my preference without sampling first.
 
#23,870 · (Edited)
Bleicher is student of Lionel Rogg. And Lionel is THE organist. Stefan is also VERY good. Among the best in Germany. Thanks for the video. (in this video, sorry Stefan, he isn't at his best. Problematic tenuto, asthmatic organ breathing, uncertain pedals sometimes... The repetitions sound always the same... Progressively the performance tend to be MUCH better. I presume that he had at the beginning problems with the acoustic of the church... Organ is so FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF difficult.)
I appreciate your comments. I enjoyed the Bleicher performances because they were my introduction to Mendelssohn's organ works and he's into the composer. I enjoyed the spirit behind his performances. Mendelssohn has been a hot topic lately, how he rates as a composer, and I'm looking into works that are not as well known as his more famous ones (his violin concerto, etc). Unfortunately, I found no Lionel Rogg Mendelssohn organ works online (I no longer collect CDs), but I can tell from hearing his Bach that he's a fine organist! I have to confess that I enjoyed Bleicher's Mendelssohn Sonatas too, none of which I believe Rogg may have ever recorded. Thanks again. :)

 
#23,871 ·
You are most probably correct - concentration may not be the best way to unravel the quartets, if indeed I do. Another approach I can try is playing them in the car whilst driving, that may well enable them to work their way into my musical memory.
Or it could simply be I am not ready for them and may never be so - but I never give up on something after just one listen.
Listening "on the road" works really well for me as a method for concentrating on a new piece (or performance of a well known piece) but I am sure there are many here who would be horrified at the idea of that being concentration. My mind wanders all the time when I am listening to music so it is helpful to have a routine task going on in the background.
 
#23,872 ·
I believe it is fine to post comments to share enthusiasms but agree with NLAdriaan that it is pointless to judge other peoples preferences.
I assume that all of us here know our own minds and I don't fear that someone will blindly buy something based on my preference without sampling first.
Oh, but I would buy based on preferences of someone whose taste I trust! Sampling doesn't work so well for me.
 
#23,873 ·
It would be a nicer place here at TC if we would stop judging personal preferences. It is as useless as disputing how anyone likes his coffee. If for some reason someone truly appreciates any musician or any composer, that is simply indisputable.
It is indisputable but I do believe in taste and there are preferences that are "suspect" to me! I don't suppose that means anything more than that I trust some views more than others. I think it is quite normal to feel that some opinions on the value of a given piece of music are mistaken or a product of ignorance or prejudice. And such views can approach objectivity if there is a consensus among the informed. But I do agree that we are often wise to keep such opinions - beyond saying "I like this" - to ourselves on a forum like this. Still, there are good debates to be had. For example, the regular discussions we have concerning whether some piece of prog rock is the equal of a classical masterpiece.
 
#23,874 · (Edited)
That's why I don't comment on my own posts (the CD's I post). First, I normally don't post things I absolutely dislike. Second, I might say how splendid something is, then someone go buy it based on my recommendation and think it stinks. That's no good.

I read what others say about something but mainly I get ideas from the posts of what I might like.
I'm sorry to be finding so many posts to discuss here. It isn't really what this thread is about. But I do like it when someone "bothers to" tell us what they think of the recording they were listening to. I find it interesting and, particularly when the opinion is very positive, am happy to feel it points to something that may be worth exploring. Negative comments are somehow less useful to me.
 
#23,875 · (Edited)
I play stuff from my cd racks, stuff I've ripped blindly to the car from old discs or from old files and sometimes I will listen to performances I don't own, online. All this is part of my 'current listening' so sometimes I will enjoy what I'm listening to, sometimes I will hate it. I don't think it's wrong to say what I'm feeling about my current listening, whether that's very positive, neutral or negative. If a recording sucks I'll say why I think so. I don't expect anyone to take my judgement as fact. It's up to them to listen and then agree with me. :lol:
 
#23,878 ·
Béla Bartók - chamber works part one of three this morning/early afternoon.

Andante in A for violin and piano Sz- (1902):
Piano Quintet in C Sz23 (1903-04):



String Quartet no.1 in A-minor Sz40 (1908-09):
String Quartet no.2 Sz67 (1915-17):

 
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