No, I wouldn't say you're wrong at all. I don't personally hear it, but our ears have been known to deceive us.
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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I've been marvelling at the intensity of this Barbirolli recording. Just read an article where someone referred to it as "Barbirolli's operatic fury". Works for me.
And in the same article:
"Having had no musical education, Elgar drew his early inspirations from the German late-Romantic idiom, from Wagner, Bruckner and Richard Strauss, complemented by the contradicting otherness of Brahms. Deep down, he was a symphonist rooted in this tradition, and under a subtle but noticeable influence from Debussy, the French master of colour, he developed a highly individual orchestration technique to communicate the essence of his musical thoughts."
And from another piece:
"Elgar’s style drew on all the major influences of the day, while forging a highly personal and distinctly British style from them. His music was firmly rooted in the German Romanticism of Brahms and Bruckner and the programme visits lovely motets by these composers too."
So I guess I wasn't wrong in hearing the influence of Bruckner.
Barbirolli, along with Adrian Boult, were champions of Elgar's music. They did so much for this composer. His oeuvre is loaded with gems. In fact, your posting has inspired me to revisit the 1st, but I'll probably wait until tomorrow.I've been marvelling at the intensity of this Barbirolli recording. Just read an article where someone referred to it as "Barbirolli's operatic fury". Works for me.
After having a tooth extracted today, I'm now starting to feel the pain, so I'm listening to something on the quieter side:
Janáček
In the Mists
Slávka Pěchočová, piano
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Debussy
Deux Arabesques
Michel Béroff, piano
From this set -
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Koechlin
L'Ancienne Maison de campagne, Op. 124
Michael Korstick, piano
From this set -
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Janáček
In the Mists
Slávka Pěchočová, piano
Debussy
Deux Arabesques
Michel Béroff, piano
From this set -
Koechlin
L'Ancienne Maison de campagne, Op. 124
Michael Korstick, piano
From this set -
Attachments
Carl Nielsen: String Quartets Volume 2 (Oslo String Quartet, Naxos)
It's the Danish master for yesterday and today for my early morning string quartets. Today volume 2, containing the first and second quartet. String Quartet in F minor (Op. 5) from 1888 (revised 1900) is a great way to start the numbered cycle (there is also an unnumbered quartet from 1888). It was well received at the time and apparently it is still the most frequently performed of his string quartets. String Quartet in G minor (Op. 13) from 1890 presented difficulties, both in the writing (from his letters: ""Have finished the Andante in the quartet today. At last! What that piece has cost me!"), and in preparing the first performance, for Joachim ("We had held five rehearsals and yet it still sounded very mediocre"). In the end though, this is another wonderful quartet. Like I said yesterday, a pleasure to listen to these pieces again.
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