Classical currently spinning thread

[k-k-k-kenny]

My head is currently spinning.

I went to the Melbourne Town Hall last night to see the MSO perform Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 3 and Symphony No 2.

Since returning to the world of hifi I have been wanting to expand my appreciation of classical music. Ive bought a few compilation CDs, but rarely find myself choosing to play them.

Last night was a revalation for me. Becuase, as I'm sure you are all well aware, the power, majesty, and beauty of watching a live orchestra perform is very hard to capture. Sitting there I was spellbound at this collection of 60 or more people unified to to produce this incredible sound. The soaring voice of 30 violins, the depth of the cellos, the raw punch of the brass, and the thunder of the kettle drums were transcendental. The pianist, Garrick Ohlson, had fingers which fluttered like angels over the keys, and the charming, gentle energy of the conductor Tadaaki Otaka completed the spectacle.

I don't know much about classical music gents, but i do know at i shall be seeing a lot more of it live.

Cursing that I wasn't able to make it.

Pretty stirring programme, no?

[Bunyip]

Indeed yes Kenny. I was a bit worried it was going to get intense after my memories of Shine. But that was not the case. Oh, and the acoustics of the Town Hall were bloody good too.

[nfi42]

Sunday, so it's mass time:)

Don't know what so interesting about the chair?

[Gabba]

Bunyip, it can be reasonably cheap too if you are willing to get rush tickets. $40 Adult, $20 students for various spots throughout. I am a student and go whenever I can now. The most impressive piece I have heard live was Dvorak's 9th... the horns in particular are incredibly in your face and inescapable. Fauré's Pavane and Rachmanioff's The Bells, the chorus made the MSO even more impressive.

[Mr_Gimlet]

The most impressive piece I have heard live was Dvorak's 9th

The first live concert I ever went to was Handel's Messiah. My German teacher arranged for a group of us from school to do the ticket checking etc on the door, in return for which we got to listen to the concert. A whole world opened up in front of me. The best non-opera I have ever attended was Mahler's 2nd in Manchester - I remember feeling the music as it was so loud.

[Orpheus]

The Daniel Shafran "Historical Russian ARchives" collection has arrived from the UK. (20 pounds for 7 CDs including postage.)

I have listened to Bach cello suites 2,4, 5.

I love this playing, it is wonderfully unselfconscious, heavily romantic, but not in the "pretty" Yo Yo Ma way. It is muscular,lyrical, beautiful and serious, completely in accord with what this music has become; I think Bach would love it, as it is played with complete integrity.

I think you would be happy with the phrasing, Audiobugged, it flows beautifully and naturally.

Hard to argue with.

BTW, I have set up my recording gear, just about, in that I can record, but I need to iron out some sound quality bugs before I record (and also practice); I am getting distortion at the moment.

[nfi42]

Currently listening to Bach cantatas by Suzuki on BIS. Great performances, great recordings.

Volumes 1 to 40 are available in 4 box sets.

[2sheds]

Beethoven Symphony No. 10 in E flat, 1st movement

Listening on ABC Classic FM

cheers

2sheds

[artsminds]

Not currently spinning - but it's never very far from my CD player!

'Una Stravaganza dei Medici - Intermedi (1589) per "La Pellegrina"'

Taverner Consort, Choir & Players - Andrew Parrott

Some of the many great soloists and instrumentalists:- Tessa Bonner (soprano), Emma Kirkby (soprano), Emily Van Evera (soprano), Nigel Rogers (tenor); Evelyn Tubb (sopranos); John Mark Ainsley, Rogers Covey-Crump, (tenors); John Holloway (violin), Jakob Lindberg (chitarrone, bass lute), Paul O'Dette (tenor lute).

This is one of my favourite classical cds in my collection. It really is difficult to describe the beauty of this recording, and the joyousness of the final Intermezzo is so amazing that as an ending it leaves you speechless!

Possibly the best way of describing this CD is to paraphrase a review from the Amazon UK site:

"In 1589 Ferdinando de' Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, married the French princess,Christine of Lorraine, grand-daughter of Catherine de' Medici, the queen mother of France. As part of the celebrations a play was mounted; 'La Pellegrina' by Bargagli. Surrounding the five acts there were inserted six "intermedi" which were musical interludes to contrast with the drama. Marenzio and Malvezzi wrote the bulk of the music, with other contributions by Cavalieri, Peri, Caccini and Bardi.

What these men created was the most splendid set of intermedi ever seen. The music itself is not particularly stunning, but all very tuneful and pleasant. Some of the solo recitatives (or arias if you like) are interesting in that the shockingly difficult ornaments were published too, so we have a rare example of ex tempore vocal technique. Also the number of musicians used was huge, all with the aim of making a grand noise for such a grand occasion.

Parrott assembled what is surely the largest number of musicians that have ever performed as the Taverner Consort, Choir and Players; 90 in all (50 singers and 40 instrumentalists). There are some real stars of the early music scene here, and the end result is glorious in the extreme. Some of the pieces require the whole ensemble to participate, and they make for some spine-tingling moments. As I said earlier, the music is especially profound or clever, but the vastness of the sonority, and the utter commitment and talent the everyone brings makes this a musical experience the is unique, and fantastically exciting. I love every moment, and can find no fault in any part of the whole production.

At the risk of running out of superlatives, this is a recording of spectacular grandeur, showcasing some stunning playing and singing, and is a valuable addition to the collection of any music fan, and required listening for lovers of early music.

I don't care how, but make sure you hear this recording before you die."

So there you have it! I would say go out and buy it - but I don't think you can!

A performance of this was also broadcast on TV many years ago, and I've been running around in ever-decreasing circles ever since trying to find a recording, but it doesn't appear to have ever been made available.

Edited July 23, 2010 by artsminds

[Audiobugged]

The Daniel Shafran "Historical Russian ARchives" collection has arrived from the UK. (20 pounds for 7 CDs including postage.)

I have listened to Bach cello suites 2,4, 5.

I love this playing, it is wonderfully unselfconscious, heavily romantic, but not in the "pretty" Yo Yo Ma way. It is muscular,lyrical, beautiful and serious, completely in accord with what this music has become; I think Bach would love it, as it is played with complete integrity.

I think you would be happy with the phrasing, Audiobugged, it flows beautifully and naturally.

Hard to argue with.

BTW, I have set up my recording gear, just about, in that I can record, but I need to iron out some sound quality bugs before I record (and also practice); I am getting distortion at the moment.

Got mine too! And listening to cd1. (2,4,and 5) That's a huge tick for me -

Beautiful, natural phrasing indeed. But the Wow (in fact that was my first word barely after listening to the first phrase) is on the muscular playing - very weighty and majestic. Very much the traditional interpretation to me - little liberties with rubato but perhaps all the more impressive for being able to command immediate attention... .

Very enjoyable... so far anyway. (Might eat my words later as I'm only up to the Courante in No. 5)

AB

[DaveMS]

Hesperion XXI & Friends

El Nuevo Mundo

Not exactly classical. More like Buena Vista Social Club's great-great-great grandparents.

Exciting, dynamic music.

As you would expect the recording quality is top class.

[Keith_W]

Dave, that series of CD's is phenomenal. I have enjoyed quite a few other discs. Beautiful playing, excellent recording. Thanks for the recommendation - I will go hunt it down.

[DaveMS]

Keith, the only thing that beats their recordings was seeing them live. It was a shame that Montserrat Figueras was ill and could not travel with them. Jordi Savall is a treasure.

[Boots-n-All]

Hesperion XXI & Friends

El Nuevo Mundo

Not exactly classical. More like Buena Vista Social Club's great-great-great grandparents.

Exciting, dynamic music.

As you would expect the recording quality is top class.

Hi there,

I agree completely - I'm steadily building a collection of Jordi Savall's releases - my most recent is his Purcell - The Fairy Queen :-

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However, my current spinner is the set of Beethoven symphonies that von Karajan recorded with the Philharmonia, between 1951/1954 (?):-

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These recordings were all mono, of course, but unfortunately EMI chose to reprocess them into pseudo stereo when they were released as a boxed set in the early 70's. However, despite the pseudo stereo, they are rather good recordings (& pressings). While I don't think they are up to the standard of von Karajan's performances with the Berlin in the 60's (which I only have on CD), these recordings are "different" and worth having for their indications of the future polish that von Karajan would later achieve with the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Anyway, they are favourites of mine as the 1st full set of Beethoven symphonies that I ever owned and 35 years later still giving me much pleasure.

Boots.

[S2 13BT]

I was lucky enough to receive a couple hundred mostly classical records from my Wifes grandfather this past weekend... I'm new to classical and I haven't heard of most of it!!

Right now though, i'm listening to Dvorak's 9th Symphony. It's a 1976 Beautiful Music Ten record by New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Vernon Handley. Couldn't find a picture of the cover hence the full description. Sounds great (i'm new to vinyl too).

I decided to listen to this first because it's in the top ten of the Classic FM top 100 symphonies list... Seemed as good a place as any! My wifes grandpa thinks Bach's St Mathew Passion is one of the best pieces of music ever written so I might give that a spin next.

[Phill451]

I was lucky enough to receive a couple hundred mostly classical records from my Wifes grandfather this past weekend... I'm new to classical and I haven't heard of most of it!!

Right now though, i'm listening to Dvorak's 9th Symphony. It's a 1976 Beautiful Music Ten record by New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Vernon Handley. Couldn't find a picture of the cover hence the full description. Sounds great (i'm new to vinyl too).

I decided to listen to this first because it's in the top ten of the Classic FM top 100 symphonies list... Seemed as good a place as any! My wifes grandpa thinks Bach's St Mathew Passion is one of the best pieces of music ever written so I might give that a spin next.

I think your Wife's Grandpa is pretty close to the truth with St Matthew's Passion, maybe pipped at the post by Beethoven Symphony no 7.

[S2 13BT]

I haven't been able to listen to it yet, because the record is a bit dusty and I don't have anything to clean it with yet... This week hopefully!!

Beethoven's 7th is in there too so i'll give that a spin as well.

[djb]

picked up some classical vinyl today-- $2-3per record

just washed them

solti perahia bartok and brahms works for 2 pianos

1987 digital recording enjoying the bartok

are digital recordings from the early years a little more.. harsh than their earlier analogue counterparts?

keeping the complete micro cosmos till after dinner

[Phill451]

I haven't been able to listen to it yet, because the record is a bit dusty and I don't have anything to clean it with yet... This week hopefully!!

Beethoven's 7th is in there too so i'll give that a spin as well.

Let us know your thoughts once you have listened

[nfi42]

At hone fighting off a bug, my medicine is Bach organ works. It's working.

Edited August 18, 2010 by nfi42

[Keith_W]

Now that is an intriguing disc, nfi! What makes it a "Collectors Edition" (as opposed to say, a normal disc)?

[nfi42]

Now that is an intriguing disc, nfi! What makes it a "Collectors Edition" (as opposed to say, a normal disc)?

It's just repackaging of the original box set at a way cheaper price. Polygram have repackaged a number of older box sets with the "Collectors Edition" marketing at substantially cheaper pricing.

[Boots-n-All]

Hi there,

I'm currently "thrashing" my copy of Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony - Igor Markevitch with the London Symphony ~ 1970.

This is a World Record Club Australia (EMI) pressing and is really very good (the pressing that is), but I'm not finding the performance inspiring and the quality of the actual recording (or mastering) is a bit less than impressive - I'm not finding the expansiveness & freedom of expression, that I normally associate with the LSO, and wonder if any one has any suggestions for a more definitve recording.

My reason for "thrashing" this LP is that we will be hosting some players from the Australian Youth Orchestra in a couple of weeks and their major performance will be the Manfred. Consequently I'm trying to get a feeling for this piece and, while I'm trying to come to grips with it, this recording is not really helping.

Any suggestions?

Boots.

[Boots-n-All]

Of course it could just be that I'm simply not that fond of the symphony.

Boots.

[Keith_W]

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Edited July 20, 2011 by Keith_W