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From yesterday...

New Year's Day Concert 1997

Wiener Philharmoniker
Riccardo Muti

Johannes Brahms

Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73
Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80

Wiener Philharmoniker
Leonard Bernstein

Kicking the new year off with what is probably the most conventional performance of Lenny's later Brahms cycle, though I've always been fond of all of these recordings.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major K 543

Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Bruno Walter

Wonderful.

 

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Ludwig van Beethoven

Symphony No. 6 in F major "Pastoral" op. 68

Wiener Philharmoniker
Karl Bohm

This is an amazing Pastoral. The playing, sound, and interpretation are all exquisite. One of the great ones.

 

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Gustav Mahler

Symphony No. 4 in G major

Elly Ameling, soprano
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Andre Previn

One of Previn's few forays into Mahler, and it's surprisingly good! Well played, and Ameling is terrific in the last movement.

 

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Gustav Mahler

Symphony No. 9

New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein

Quicker than the RCO remake, but I enjoy both. The remastering of these recordings sounds really good.

 

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From over the weekend.

Giacomo Puccini

Turandot

Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Montserrat Caballe, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Sir Peter Pears, et al.

John Alldis Choir
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Zubin Mehta

I have neglected Puccini for too long and listening to this wonderful recording has inspired me to listen to the rest of the major operas soon.

 

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Igor Stravinsky

L'Histoire du soldat, suite for clarinet, violin, and piano
Septet
Pastorale, transcription for violin and piano
3 Pieces for Clarinet Solo
Suite italliene, arrangement for cello and piano from Pulcinella

Tashi
Peter Serkin, Richard Stoltzman, Ida Kavafian, Fred Sherry

Daniel Phillips, Robert Routch, Bill Douglas

A great Stravinsky collection.

 

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Igor Stravinsky

Apollon musagete (1947 version)
Capriccio for piano and orchestra

John Ogdon, piano
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Neville Marriner

Continuing on a very Stravinskian evening.

 

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Franz Schubert

Piano Sonata in C minor D 958

Maurizio Pollini

These late Schubert works are special, and this is an exciting performance.

 

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Sergei Prokofiev

Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16

Daniil Trifonov, piano
Mariinsky Orchestra
Valery Gergiev

This collection is superb. Getting it back out makes me want to listen to the whole thing. I probably will in the next few days.

 

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Igor Stravinsky

Symphony in 3 Movements

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein

 

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Franz Liszt

A Faust Symphony

Gosta Winbergh, tenor
Westminster Choir College Male Chorus
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Riccardo Muti

Really good music to accompany a morning thunderstorm.

 

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Die Zauberflote, K620

Hilde Guden, Leopold Simoneau, Wilma Lipp, Kurt Bohme, Christa Ludwig, Walter Berry, et al.

Wiener Staatsopenchor
Wiener Philharmoniker
Karl Bohm

I have not heard Bohm's more famous DG recording, but this one from 1955 is very enjoyable. All dialogue is cut (though it is in stereo), and I don't mind that at all, because this is one opera where I just want to hear the music.

 

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Benjamin Britten

Violin Concerto, Op. 15

William Walton

Viola Concerto*

Maxim Vengerov, violin; viola*
London Symphony Orchestra
Mstislav Rostropovich

 

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Franz Schubert

Piano Sonata in A major D 959

Maurizio Pollini

Wonderful!

 

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Ludwig van Beethoven

Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-Flat, Op. 16
Trio for Piano, Clarinet, and Cello in B-Flat, Op. 11

Tashi
Peter Serkin, piano
Richard Stoltzman, clarinet
Fred Sherry, cello

Alan Vogel, oboe
Robert Reutch, french horn
Bill Douglas, bassoon

 

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Jean Sibelius

Symphony No. 1 in E minor, op. 39

Wiener Philharmoniker
Leonard Bernstein

In preparation for an upcoming concert.

 

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Johannes Brahms

Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34

Andre Previn, piano
The Yale Quartet

One of the many perks of this Previn box is that it includes the chamber music recordings he was a part of including this really fine one.

 

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Johannes Brahms

Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90

New York Philharmonic
Bruno Walter

This recording from Walter's mono cycle has to be the quickest performance of this I know. The only reservations I have are with the finale where I think it loses some of its dramatic impact because of how breathless it is, but there's no doubt that this is exciting, especially in the first movement.

 

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Georges Bizet

Carmen

Marilyn Horne, James McCracken, Tom Krause, Adriana Maliponte, et al.

The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Children's Chorus
The Manhattan Opera Chorus
Leonard Bernstein

I'm trying to listen to an opera once a week now. I normally put them off because of how long they are but breaking it up into acts makes it manageable. I enjoyed this a lot.

 

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Arnold Bax

Symphony No. 2 in E minor and C major
November Woods

Royal Scottish National Orchestra
David Lloyd-Jones