What are you listening 2 now?

[Madiel]

Today's entry in non-randomized Schumann piano sampling:



Rather good. Admittedly the Bunte Blaetter don't really hold up that well in comparison, but I particularly enjoyed the Humoreske and Piano Sonata no.1

[prémont]

And I venture to say that I strongly disagree. There is no such thing as the work itself. If all the scores of the Matthaeus-Passion, past, present or future, suddenly disappeared without trace for good, the music would still live on by way of recordings. If all the recordings of Matthaeus-Passion, past, present or future, suddenly disappeared without trace for good, the music would be as dead as the dinosaurs, score notwithstanding.

We have the scores, but we lack a living tradition concerning baroque music. In this respect, the music has been dead for a long time.

[Mandryka]

And I venture to say that I strongly disagree. There is no such thing as the work itself. If all the scores of the Matthaeus-Passion, past, present or future, suddenly disappeared without trace for good, the music would still live on by way of recordings. If all the recordings of Matthaeus-Passion, past, present or future, suddenly disappeared without trace for good, the music would be as dead as the dinosaurs, score notwithstanding.

The work itself is whatever it is which makes a performance a realisation of the Passion.  That by virtue of which X is or is not the Passion. It is a procedure for determining the identity of the performance.

(Just made that up -- pretty good eh?)

[Florestan]

Honestly Andrei, this is one of the rashest things you've said in a very long time.

Agreed. 

[ritter]

Well, I'll always be grateful Camilo José Cela for having given me an excuse not to get involved in this discussion. 

[Madiel]

Mozart: Symphony no.36, 'Linz'



First listen to this performance. The opening movement is preceding marvellously, with exactly the right sense of energy without being frenetic.

[Roasted Swan]

Had Google AI help me this evening (lovely program):

Strauss's Mephistos Höllenrufe (Dudamel with the WP): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyqobRKhvCk
I think, before today, I had only ever heard one piece by Strauss - this was quite an enjoyable jaunt.

Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 9 (Elina Akselrud):
I wouldn't recommend this version, but this sonata, done right, is out of this world, bubbling over with intensity.

Paganini's Caprices 1-6 for Solo Violin (Ricci): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ugLoMvfUiQ
Ricci is legitimate nuts, blistering - the first caprice alone should sell you on the rest - a generational virtuoso.

Wot; no Blue Danube, No Radetzky, no Tritsch-Tratsch??? - I would have thought it impossible to avoid those even in lifts or restaurants or TV!!

[Madiel]

First half (so far) of...



Yes, Karl beat me to it by less than a day, in part because my navigation through the set is a little different from his.

Well, isn't this fun?!! It's a pity the credits on this particular album tell you nothing beyond 'Netherlands Wind Ensemble', because in some marches there are people who are very conspicuously NOT playing wind instruments. The programming is really clever, because the CPE Bach marches for winds are put in little groups between the Beethoven and (Joseph) Haydn marches for full military band.

I'm guessing the 2nd half might do something similar, though I'll have to listen to know for sure. It has Michael Haydn, Antonin Vranicky (Wranitzky), Rosetti and Joseph Haydn again.

EDIT: Side B isn't quite as good... there's less percussion (only the opening Michael Haydn and closing Joseph Haydn), and as a result less variety. I also don't think some of the Vranicky marches are quite as good musically speaking as the rest. Or maybe they just appear in too large a clump.

[Traverso]

Schönberg

Gurrelieder

[hopefullytrusting]

Well, I'll always be grateful Camilo José Cela for having given me an excuse not to get involved in this discussion. 

I've only read one book by Cela - Mrs. Caldwell Speaks to Her Son - easily one of the greatest books I've ever read.

Wot; no Blue Danube, No Radetzky, no Tritsch-Tratsch??? - I would have thought it impossible to avoid those even in lifts or restaurants or TV!!

I guess I should have said knowingly.

I suspect the cultures that play his music with any frequency do not overlap with my own, lol.

[ritter]

I've only read one book by Cela - Mrs. Caldwell Speaks to Her Son - easily one of the greatest books I've ever read.

...

Mrs. Caldwell... is in the same volume I'm reading that contains The Hive. Thanks for the comment.

[Linz]

Bruckner Symphony No. 0 in D Minor, 1869 Ed. Leopold Nowak, USSR Ministry of Culture Orchestra, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky

[Traverso]

Bach

[Linz]

Hector Berlioz Roméo et Juliette Op. 17, Nadine Denize, mezzo soprano, Vinson Cole, tenor, Robert Lloyd, bariton,
Kölner Rundfunkchor , Südfunkchor Stuttgart, Rias-Kammerchor Berlin,
Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frakfurt, Elahu Inbal CD 5-6

[nico1616]

The box arrived, let's start with symphony number 1 

[Spotted Horses]

Mozart, String Quartet KV421, Mosiaques



My lord, what an exquisite piece. The first movement is suitably brilliant, the slow movement, in major key, has an extraordinary intensity using very simple material, the finale is a theme with variations in which each variation transforms the theme in an essential way. The Mosiaques recording is satisfying.

Nocturnes, Ansetmet, OSR (1958)



Nicely done. My favorite movement, Fetes, doesn't pop like my favorite (Paray/Detroit) but the finale, Sirens, comes off beautifully.

[ChamberNut]

Oh....My....Goodness. Words cannot properly be used to express the unbelievable beauty of this music! Even if all 21 remaining discs of yet unheard music were the most uncouth, sour, ugly music my ears ever set on, I would STILL recommend this box set without hesitation. 9 home runs, so far.

Disc 9

Ockeghem

[Karl Henning]

First half (so far) of...



Yes, Karl beat me to it by less than a day, in part because my navigation through the set is a little different from his.

Well, isn't this fun?!! It's a pity the credits on this particular album tell you nothing beyond 'Netherlands Wind Ensemble', because in some marches there are people who are very conspicuously NOT playing wind instruments. The programming is really clever, because the CPE Bach marches for winds are put in little groups between the Beethoven and (Joseph) Haydn marches for full military band.

I'm guessing the 2nd half might do something similar, though I'll have to listen to know for sure. It has Michael Haydn, Antonin Vranicky (Wranitzky), Rosetti and Joseph Haydn again.

EDIT: Side B isn't quite as good... there's less percussion (only the opening Michael Haydn and closing Joseph Haydn), and as a result less variety. I also don't think some of the Vranicky marches are quite as good musically speaking as the rest. Or maybe they just appear in too large a clump.

That's an interesting q. I'll have to revisit the disc and see if I perhaps short-changed Vranický

[Karl Henning]

Mozart, String Quartet KV421, Mosiaques



My lord, what an exquisite piece. The first movement is suitably brilliant, the slow movement, in major key, has an extraordinary intensity using very simple material, the finale is a theme with variations in which each variation transforms the theme in an essential way. The Mosiaques recording is satisfying.

Nocturnes, Ansetmet, OSR (1958)



Nicely done. My favorite movement, Fetes, doesn't pop like my favorite (Paray/Detroit) but the finale, Sirens, comes off beautifully.

I missed out on Sirènes, when I was first introduced to the Nocturnes. I was playing bass clarinet in the New Jersey All-State High School Orchestra, and they didn't bother solving for a women's choir. That egregious ellipse aside, it was great to get to know Nuages and Fêtes from the inside. Separately, that concert was also my entrée to Wm Grant Still. Some of the ballet music from Sahdji. That was helluva fun bass clarinet part!

[SonicMan46]

Sweelinck, JP (1562-1621) - Sacred, Secular, & Keyboard Works w/ Harry van der Kamp and Gesualdo Consort - these three sets of 4 total 11 discs - the other not in my collection is a 12-CD box of the Psalms - not sure that I want that many, so any suggestions on a 2 or 3 disc sampling from these works?  Thanks - Dave

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (April or May, 1562 – 16 October 1621) was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. He was among the first major keyboard composers of Europe, and his work as a teacher helped establish the north German organ tradition. (Source)