Current Listening Vol IX [2023]

366490 Views 18895 Replies 168 Participants Last post by sAmUiLc, 25 m ago

Art Rock

Discussion Starter · 5 mo ago

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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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Knorf

· #841 · 5 mo ago

cybernaut said:
Ahh, I didn't realize. I will start putting info.

No worries, really!

My comment is about a couple posters who voiced strenuous opposition to the idea in the past, as if it were some massive affront to include just a little information: at least the composer, composition, and performer(s), in text. I mean, if one is unwilling to share just that much, especially if it is from a multi-set, or a compilation where the picture doesn't even include anything specific, why bother sharing at all?

In any case, it's clear that this is a recommendation and is not something the moderators will address in their moderation.

Reactions: 4

Neo Romanza

· #842 · 5 mo ago (Edited)

cybernaut said:
Part of the reason I'm so late to Wagner is that I was never into opera. My father is an opera fanatic and has been trying for 40 years to get me into it...and I'm slowly starting to appreciate it. I'm not sure if I'll ever be a big fan of the genre, but I try. Collections of arias, I'm fine with. But entire operas? Not so much.

I enjoy operas now more than I did when I first started listening to classical music. I can listen to Verdi, Puccini, Wagner et. al. with zero problems and I think a lot of this has to do with me listening to the actual music and figuring out how everything is pieced together around the vocals.

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Kiki

· #843 · 5 mo ago

Franz Schubert
Winterreise D911
Mark Padmore
Kristian Bezuidenhout
Rec. 2017
Harmonia Mundi

I have read some comments likening Padmore to Bostridge. However, I think over the years they have been developing their styles in opposite directions. While Bostridge has been perfecting his mannerism into an art that starts to make sense, Padmore has been refining everything with masterly craftmanship into naturally flowing first-rate silk, as in this case here.

To be honest, I think Padmore's earlier recording with Lewis is OK but not outstanding. The recording here only caught my eyes because of Bezuidenhout's fortepiano. And I am not disappointed. Both singing and playing are excellent.

I do have a complaint about this recording. The recorded voice is a bit too reverberant for my taste.

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Rogerx

· #844 · 5 mo ago

Vaughan Williams - Willow-Wood

Roderick Williams (baritone)

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, David Lloyd-Jones

Vaughan Williams: Five Variants of ‘Dives and Lazarus'
Vaughan Williams: The Sons of Light (Cantata for Chorus and Orchestra)
Vaughan Williams: The Voice out of the Whirlwind; (Motet for Chorus and Orchestra)
Vaughan Williams: Toward the Unknown Region
Vaughan Williams: Willow-Wood (Cantata for Baritone and Orchestra)

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Neo Romanza

· #845 · 5 mo ago

Ah, hell...one more work for the night:

Strauss
Burleske in D minor
Hamelin
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
Ilan Volkov

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sAmUiLc

· #846 · 5 mo ago (Edited)

Font Poster Illustration Event Publication

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto #1
Shostakovich: Symphony #10
Herbert von Karajan conducts Berlin Phil.

This is indeed a lousy-sounding CD. The Schiit Loki mini EQ I got at the end of the last year is really making it quite listenable. Before I bought the EQ I thought I had only a handful CDs that would need it, but I am finding out a whole lot more simply sound more enjoyable with its help. It has only 4 bands, so it fits my preference of less diddling. And since I use 3 CD players in the same system and the EQ is placed between one of the players and the passive pre-amp, the good recordings can be played as before on the other two players.

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cybernaut

· #847 · 5 mo ago

Loving this! I love Bruckner and I love Klemperer so this is a match made in heaven for me:

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Bruckner - Symphony No. 4 (1886 version, ed. Nowak)
Otto Klemperer - conductor
Philharmonia Orchestra
Recorded September 1963

from Warner Classics box set: Bruckner Symphonies 4-9

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Klavierman

· #848 · 5 mo ago

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Becca

· #849 · 5 mo ago

cybernaut said:
Loving this! I love Bruckner and I love Klemperer so this is a match made in heaven for me:
View attachment 181669

Bruckner - Symphony No. 4 (1886 version, ed. Nowak)
Otto Klemperer - conductor
Philharmonia Orchestra
Recorded September 1963

from Warner Classics box set: Bruckner Symphonies 4-9

If you love Klemperer and are just getting into opera, try his well regarded set of Wagnerian orchestral excerpts.

Reactions: 4

cybernaut

· #850 · 5 mo ago

Becca said:
If you love Klemperer and are just getting into opera, try his well regarded set of Wagnerian orchestral excerpts.

this one?

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sAmUiLc

· #851 · 5 mo ago

2

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Font Commemorative plaque History Wood

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Philidor

· #852 · 5 mo ago

Relistening some stuff for New Year's Day.

Johann Sebastian Bach: "Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele" BWV 143

Sandrine Piau, Jörg Dürmüller, Klaus Mertens
The Amsterdam Baroque Choir and Orchestra
Ton Koopman

I like Koopman's approach for the early cantatas. He comes along with some freshness which makes this music shine.

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prlj

· #853 · 5 mo ago

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Bacewicz Symphony No 3 WDR Sinfonieorchester/Borowicz

This was a pleasant surprise as I was sorting through new releases. Bacewicz was a mid-20 Century Polish composer, primarily focusing on works for violin, but now I’m eager to hear the rest of her symphonies. (She wrote four.)

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Rogerx

· #854 · 5 mo ago

Verdi: Luisa Miller

Plácido Domingo (Rodolfo), Aprile Millo (Luisa), Vladimir Chernov (Miller), Jan-Hendrik Rootering (Walter), Florence Quivar (Federica), Paul Plishka (Wurm), Wendy White (Laura), John Bills (Contadino)

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, James Levine

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Philidor

· #855 · 5 mo ago

Next New Year's stuff.

Johann Sebastian Bach: "Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied" BWV 190

Alto: Elisabeth von Magnus; Tenor: Paul Agnew; Bass: Klaus Mertens
The Amsterdam Baroque Choir & Orchestra
Ton Koopman

Although I have about two thirds of Koopman's complete recordings of these cantatas, I often neglected them in view of the (as a whole) preferred Suzuki or special recordings like Kuijken's or Pierlot's, using OVPP. However, there are real gems among Koopman's renditions, and this is one of them, imho.

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Malx

· #856 · 5 mo ago (Edited)

Haydn, String Quartets Op 76 Nos 2 & 3 - Quatuor Mosaïques.

Two fine examples from the father of the string quartet. The Mosaïques aren't exactly fiery in these quartets but thats not a problem as I don't expect too much attack in Haydn Quartets. Their warmth underpined by a solid cello sound is very appealing.
I have the recordings in the box below that I have had for a number of years - sadly a box that is oop these days and has become expensive on resale sites. The box is one of the few that has the full notes that came with the original releases (96 page booklet).

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Philidor

· #857 · 5 mo ago

A new recording of Franck's music for organ - well, the 12 "big pieces".

César Franck

Trois Chorals

No. 1 Mi majeur

No. 2 Si mineur

No. 3 La mineur

Grande Pièce Symphonique op. 17

Michel Bouvard
Organ by Cavaillé-Coll in Saint-Sermin, Toulouse (F)

"L'Oeuvre d'orgue" is misleading as the collection "L'organiste" is missing as well as earlier versions of some pieces and other smaller works. However, I found these renditions appealing. Bouvard does not try to make everything different than others. Quite the contrary, he is rather modest in taking back his own commentary, leaving the stage to the music itself. Recordings by Guillou and others might be more spectacular, but this seems to be a frank presentation of Franck. Imho.

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Chilham

· #858 · 5 mo ago

Premiered this day 1857:

Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2
Andrew Litton, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Stephen Hough

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LudwigvanBeetroot

· #859 · 5 mo ago

cybernaut said:
Part of the reason I'm so late to Wagner is that I was never into opera. My father is an opera fanatic and has been trying for 40 years to get me into it...and I'm slowly starting to appreciate it. I'm not sure if I'll ever be a big fan of the genre, but I try. Collections of arias, I'm fine with. But entire operas? Not so much.

Neeme Jarvi recorded 4 discs worth of orchestral arrangements from various Wagner operas, not just the standard selections you get from the Ring. They’re on Chandos I think. Maazel also arranged and recorded 1 hour worth of selections from Tannhauser — Tannhauser Without Words or something. All are worth checking out

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Art Rock

Discussion Starter · #860 · 5 mo ago

Knorf said:
In any case, it's clear that this is a recommendation and is not something the moderators will address in their moderation.

Indeed. We would probably have to appoint a moderator just for this thread. Seriously, the recommendation is in the first post, and if people choose not to do it, so be it.

Personally, I find posting just a Youtube link without any information far worse, as they are often not viewable world wide and can be removed from that site.

prlj said:
Bacewicz Symphony No 3 WDR Sinfonieorchester/Borowicz

This was a pleasant surprise as I was sorting through new releases. Bacewicz was a mid-20 Century Polish composer, primarily focusing on works for violin, but now I’m eager to hear the rest of her symphonies. (She wrote four.)

I have heard a lot of her work by now, and I think she's an excellent composer. I would also recommend exploring her violin concertos and string quartets.

Reactions: 5

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