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.
Current Listening Vol IX [2023]
Here we go again. In the past, this popular thread had to be re-started a number of times because the files got to big for the software used. The latest restart was with volume VIII, which accidentally practically coincided with the start of the new year 2022. Many members thought this was actually a good idea to pick a new year for a new thread, so with 2023 upon us (already or soon, depending on where you live), we are starting a new thread.
Links to previous Current Listening threads:
Current Listening Vol I
Current Listening Vol II
Current Listening Vol III
Current Listening Vol IV
Current Listening Vol V
Current Listening Vol VI
Current Listening Vol VII
Current Listening Vol VIII
A few suggestions (as if anyone bothers reading this):
Many members appreciate if you would not just post a CD cover or an embedded YouTube link. It would be helpful if you would post at least a short description (like composer, work, performers). This holds especially for videos, because not all YouTube videos can be seen in every country, and they tend to disappear over time.
It would be even better if you can post a little bit about your own take on what you are listening to. No need for extensive reviews, but a few lines would make the thread clearly more valuable to other members.
These are suggestions, not rules. They are not subject to intervention by the moderating team.
Have fun, Happy New Year, and enjoy listening to classical music as always!
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Agricola: Missa In myne Zyn
Capilla Flamenca, Dirk Snellings
anon.: Alleluia, In mynen zin
anon.: Bien soiez venu
Agricola, A: Ad Missam
Agricola, A: Ad Vesperam
Agricola, A: Missa In minen sin
Agricola, A: Sy j'aime mon amy
Binchois: Comme femme desconfortée
Frye, W: Tout a par moy
Ockeghem: D’ung aultre amer
Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 5
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Leopold Stokowski
Rec. 1964 Live
BBC Legends
Here is a very effective Stokowski showing us strong contrast between brutality and contemplation. A great 5th I say, unless one cannot live with the Stokowski antics, especially in the fluctuation of tempo.
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Symphony No. 5
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Leopold Stokowski
Rec. 1964 Live
BBC Legends
Here is a very effective Stokowski showing us strong contrast between brutality and contemplation. A great 5th I say, unless one cannot live with the Stokowski antics, especially in the fluctuation of tempo.
Mozart: Divertimento K334 & other chamber works
Jean-Pierre Rampal (flute), Bruno Pasquier (viola), Roland Pidoux (cello), Régis Pasquier (violin), André Cazalet (french horn), Jean Michael Vinit (french horn), Trio Pasquier, Tasso Adamopoulos (viola), Pierre Pierlot (oboe), John Steele Ritter (celesta)
Mozart: Adagio and Rondo in C minor K617a
Mozart: Adagio and Rondo K617 for flute, oboe, viola, violoncello & glass harmonica
Mozart: Al desio di chi t'adora, K 577
Mozart: Andante in F major, K616
Mozart: Divertimento No. 17 in D major K334
Mozart: Quintet for flute, violin, two violas and cello arranged from The Marriage of Figaro, K. 577 (K.Anh. 177)
Carl Nielsen: String Quartets Volume 1 (Oslo String Quartet, Naxos)
It's the Danish master for today and tomorrow for my early morning string quartets, once again inspired by a recent @Merl blog:
Nielsen - String Quartet 1 op.13 (SQ review)
I automatically selected to start with volume 1, before noticing that this actually contains the third and fourth quartet. Oh, well. String Quartet in E flat major (Op. 14) from 1898 is a marvelous piece (probably my favourite of the four) and it is bewildering to read the critics of the time in the Wiki article: [the first movement] "appears to belong to the kind of music that is splendid to read on the lined music paper, but in the event it sounds frightful. The few moments where we grasped the musical point were drowned out by the other cacophonous babble". String Quartet in F major (Op. 44) from 1906 did not get a much better reception at its premiere: "If what the four gentlemen with the strings sat there playing last night in all earnestness is to be considered beautiful and good music... then sciatica is a musical treat, for it too is very disagreeable." It is slightly more modern than the third, and a very impressive piece as well. A pleasure to listen to these pieces again.
Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Weinberg (1919-1996)
Kobekin (*1947)
1. Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major Op.17 (1959)
2. Fantasy for Cello & Orchestra Op. 52 (1956)
3. Bacchants for Cello & Orchestra (2018)
Anastasia Kobekina, cello
Berner Symphonieorchester
Kevin John Edusei, Conductor
Claves Records
© 2019
Weinberg (1919-1996)
Kobekin (*1947)
1. Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major Op.17 (1959)
2. Fantasy for Cello & Orchestra Op. 52 (1956)
3. Bacchants for Cello & Orchestra (2018)
Anastasia Kobekina, cello
Berner Symphonieorchester
Kevin John Edusei, Conductor
Claves Records
© 2019
"Tchaikovsky's first opera, Voivoda as titled on the original Melodiya LPs but now more commonly written The Voyevoda is one of his most obscure works, largely thanks to his destruction of the score. To the best of my knowledge there has been one full recording, also originating in the USSR, and this early double-LP set of highlights or 'fragments', which I understand to have been produced for radio broadcast. In terms of sound quality it's very much of its age and origin - not bad, but soon to be eclipsed by recordings made later in the decade. That said, I've heard far worse from western record companies working in the early 1950s!
I've managed to breathe quite a bit of life into a slightly dull and dusty original, whilst battling against peak distortion at higher frequencies during some of the tracks. The titles used for the various tracks here are listed exactly as written on the Melodiya LPs."
Andrew Rose
2
Premiered this day 1880 and 1879:
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Smetana: Má Vlast "Tábor" and "Blaník"
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
I need to get to know these other movements better, rather than just "Vitava", so I'll take this for a spin too:
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Smetana: Má Vlast "Tábor" and "Blaník"
Jiří Bělohlávek, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Smetana: Má Vlast "Tábor" and "Blaník"
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
I need to get to know these other movements better, rather than just "Vitava", so I'll take this for a spin too:
Smetana: Má Vlast "Tábor" and "Blaník"
Jiří Bělohlávek, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Pēteris Vasks: Viola Concerto, String Symphony 'Voices' (Sinfonietta Rīga, Maxim Rysanov, BIS)
The Concerto for Viola and String Orchestra is a recent composition, it was premiered in 2016 by its dedicatee Maxim Rysanov, who also plays the viola (and directs the orchestra) on this CD. The viola is still an underused concertante instrument, and this concerto is definitely one of the better ones. I got this CD for the concerto, already owning a handful of renditions of the coupling, which is Vasks' first symphony from 1991. That said, this is also a good performance of the symphony and it fits well with the concerto. Top notch CD (great front cover as well).
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