What were you listening to? (CLOSED)

[Dr. Dread]

I ended up getting a bunch of duplicates because of this set. 

So now you have back-up. 

[Coopmv]

So now you have back-up. 

That is very true.  I do have a number of CD's I cannot completely rip to my hard-drive for some reasons, though they are perfectly playable on my regular CDP's.

[jwinter]

I ended up getting a bunch of duplicates because of this set. 

Sell 'em, that's what I did.  Paid for the whole set, with about $20 profit. 

Tonight's listening  0:):

[Harry]

Yo Diggity.


Karol Rathaus, Complete String Quartets, Amar Corde Quartet

I am very interested in this recording. Could you elaborate on it?

[Que]

Good morning.

Q

[Harry]

Good morning.

Q

That is mightily interesting Que.
What do you think of this recording?

[jlaurson]

Yo Diggity.

Karol Rathaus, Complete String Quartets, Amar Corde Quartet

I am very interested in this recording. Could you elaborate on it?

What... elaborate any further on "Yo Diggity"?

Well, Rathaus (1895--1954) is tougher stuff than I had expected... I was thinking it'd be more in the direction of Schreker/Zemlinsky. But tends to be more liberal with dissonance, less concerned with a romantic than a rhythmic vein, and uses twelve-tone elements in SQ5. This is not to say that they are not excellent works, but it wasn't quite as "out-of-the-box enjoyable". Appreciation of the 3 quartets included on this disc has certainly increased with every listen. Certainly enough so that I would now actively seek out a recital where one of these works were on the program.

That's the best I can do right now... my exposure still being limited and no score at hand.

[Que]

That is mightily interesting Que.
What do you think of this recording?

See my post HERE.

Q

[Dr. Dread]

THIS

[karlhenning]

Thread duty:

Dmitri Shostakovich
Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87
Konstantin Scherbakov

Actually, I'm sampling them randomly. I've begun with the C major, though.

Very nice!

[ChamberNut]

Berlioz

Le Carnaval romain
Symphonie fantastique

London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Colin Davis
Philips (Eloquence budget label re-issue)

[Opus106]

Very nice!

They were, indeed. I didn't find them as demanding (if that's the right word) on the ear as the 48, and very light Shostakovich compared to the few other of his works that I have heard. Perhaps I'll have to listen to them at a stretch in order to fairly compare it to either of the books by Bach - even though I know who will win at the end.

Speaking of Shosta,

Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47
National Symphony Orchestra [of the United States of America]/Mstislav Rostropovich
Deutsche Grammophon

[SonicMan46]

Istanpitta - Medieval Dances, Vols. I & II w/ Frederick Renz, director & Glen Velez (on percussion) - French, English, & Italian instrumental dances on a wide variety of instruments from the times - interestingly, I searched this group (out of NYC) on the web, and another 'popped up' w/ the same name HERE from Texas, formed about the same time these recordings were made! 

 

[George]

THIS

Dude, what a bargain! Even I am tempted to buy it!

(in the voice of Frank Costanza) - "Serenity Now!!!" 

[Que]

Brahms...

Q

[Opus106]

I'm about to listen to some Brahms, as well, Que. But before that, the Wagner from this disc.

[pjme]

Just a perfect ,quiet hour : on the Radio BBC 3 Choral evensong ( while the soup is gently simmering & a lonely blackbird sings - I pay NO attention to 12 horny wooddoves )

From St George's Church, Hanover Square, London.

Introit: Behold the Lamb of God (Handel)
Responses: Reading
Office Hymn: O kind Creator, bow thine ear (Cannons)
Psalm: 69 vv1-20 (Battishill)
First Lesson: Isaiah 5 vv1-7
Magnificat (Pachelbel)
Second Lesson: Mark 12 vv1-12
Nunc dimittis (Soriano)
Anthem: As pants the hart, HWV251a (Handel)
Final Hymn: When I survey the wondrous cross (Rockingham)
Organ Voluntary: Improvisation in the style of Handel

Organist: Ronny Krippner
Director of music: Simon Williams.

[ChamberNut]

one of my desert island discs....

Mozart

String Quintet in G minor, K.516
String Quintet in C major, K.515

Talich Quartet
Karel Rehak, viola II
Calliope

[Brian]

Two years ago (I think), the record label Naxos released a complete recording of Ravel's classic ballet Daphnis et Chloe, featuring the Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine and conductor Laurent Petitgirard. The performance was an utterly individual one and was greeted with the sort of mixed reception it deserved: astonishment from some critics, who praised Petitgirard's unique take and prized the recording for its new perspective on Daphnis, and confused frustration from others who thought both conductor and orchestra had made a hash of the project. The performance was astoundingly slow, perhaps the slowest ever (I think somebody made this claim, but cannot remember who). The question was, was it magical or just languorous?

Whatever the answer, Naxos has for some reason seen fit to release a new Daphnis at the end of this month; I'm listening on NML to get a preview. The label almost never duplicates repertoire - they have, for instance, only one recording of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata - so the fact that they've done two interpretations of Daphnis in two years signals to me that the new album is something they are especially proud of:



I will grant that this new recording, with the Orchestre National de Lyon, does have one leg up on the Bordeaux version: the orchestral playing is more refined, more lush. In every other way, though, it merely serves to make the Petitgirard album sound even better in hindsight. Jun Markl leads a speedy rush through the Introduction which sucks all the magic out - compare to Boulez/Berlin for a really exemplary performance here. The rest veers between similarly speedy and a sort of elegant but faceless "look, we know how to do this" style.

Spotlighting makes things sound more intimate than usual, but at the cost of sounding utterly fake. This recording really makes it sound as if every single solo instrument is perched on the very front of the stage, and at times the woodwinds drive a massive wedge between the violins (placed on the very far left) and lower strings (placed on the very far right).

Maybe my least favorite aspect of the disc, though, is the chorus: the MDR Rundfunkchor, flown in from Leipzig, just does not sound good in this music, and even though they don't have to sing in French (unless there is a French way of singing "Aaaaaaahhhhhh") they still don't sound "right" or "authentic." They make "Derriere la scene, on entend des voix," for instance, sound oddly akin to funereal church music. Worse, the engineers have treated them like a solo instrument - meaning that in the intro and other places they are unnaturally loud and distracting. I should at least report that the engineers have done an excellent job capturing the thundering bass drum, percussion and low brass.

All in all, no better argument for the Petitgirard Naxos recording of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe can be found than a listen to the Markl Naxos recording of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe. Better than both, though, is Boulez in Berlin...

[karlhenning]

Great post, Brian, thanks.

— I should be interested in your thoughts on the Levine/BSO release of Daphnis on the recently launched BSO Classics line.