What are you listening to now?

[Peter]

Did anyone see the BBC young musician of the year final? The incredible young pianist Ethan Lock is totally blind and gave a remarkable performance of the Chopin concerto no.2.
The introduction and performance begin at 2:07:35
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...-6-grand-final

[Quijote]

Hello Peter, no, didn't follow that I'm afraid.

[Quijote]

Been listening to Julian Horton on "Why we analyse music", focusing on Brahms 1st symphony. Horton is also a Bruckner expert.
Anyway, here's the link:

[Megan]

I don't have telly , Peter , so didn't get the link. However I found Ethan's previous performances on Youtube, he is a phenomenal and gifted player.
Ethan's surname is Loch, that's how I found him... It is surely a miracle that he can play so beautifully being blind. Such an inspiration.

[Megan]

Not sure if any of you like Lang Lang, but I love this beautiful rendition of ............ Chopin ''Raindrop" Prelude...

https://youtu.be/R2d2spnXyLA

[gprengel]

I never would consider myself to be a lover of Wagner, but I now discovered mabe the most beautiful and transcendend opera ending I can think of: https://youtu.be/bmUkgphdMao?t=1067 !!

[Peter]

I never would consider myself to be a lover of Wagner, but I now discovered mabe the most beautiful and transcendend opera ending I can think of: https://youtu.be/bmUkgphdMao?t=1067 !!

Wonderful of course, but I think that accolade has to go to the ending of Parsifal

[gprengel]

Oh, Yes, Peter, this is really tremendously beautiful!! Actually all his operas begin and end so wonderful but in between - apart some glorious peaks like Siegried's funeral - there are long hours of bordedom

[Quijote]

Oh, Yes, Peter, this is really tremendously beautiful!! Actually all his operas begin and end so wonderful but in between - apart some glorious peaks like Siegried's funeral - there are long hours of bordedom

[Chris]

I've been listening to (and playing a bit of) Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 a lot over the past couple of days. What an achievement to take such a massive piece for orchestra and choir and condense it all down to the piano, and yet have it be so pianistic and work so well in its own right!

[Chris]

I'm still pretty obsessed with this transcription today, and it also serves as an example of something that occurs only a couple of times in my CD collection. I generally like recordings that are played "straight" - stick to what's on the page, represent the composer's intentions the best you can, and get out of the way of the music. But sometimes there are recordings that take liberties or make unorthodox choices that work so well that you just have to make a place for them. Glenn Gould's recordings of the Goldberg Variations are one example for me. Another is with this transcription.

Consider this bit from the fourth movement at 4:41, right after the orchestral statements of the main theme:

This always been one of my favorite parts of the work, such a glorious transition to get us to the entrance of the voices.

My favorite overall recordings of these transcriptions are played by Konstantin Scherbakov. He plays so beautifully and cleanly. Here is the same bit at 5:11 from his recording:

Perfectly played, exactly as Liszt transcribed it. But this to me has always been one of the most glaring weaknesses of the transcription - the main melody line just vanishes for a few bars there! Obviously some compromises have to be made to make a playable transcription of this, but it seems like a shame to leave that line out here.

Cyprien Katsaris's recordings of these transcriptions are also fantastic, but he made the controversial choice of adding some notes not found in Liszt's work in a few places. And this bit at 48:05 is one of those places:

The entire melody line has been restored, sacrificing nothing! You can see in the score that those notes are not there, but they really make all the difference, I think. And aside from just being superb playing overall, this little choice makes this set a must-have in my collection.

[Peter]

Two rarely performed Brahms masterpieces, 'Nanie' and 'Gesang der Parzen'

[Quijote]

Listening to this wonderful performance of Bach's 6th 'cello suite played on a violoncello de spalla - a "shoulder" 'cello:

[Peter]

[QUOTE=Quijote;n118384]Listening to this wonderful performance of Bach's 6th 'cello suite played on a violoncello de spalla - a "shoulder" 'cello:

Remarkable and wonderful sound - I had no idea such an instrument existed and I see it has 5 strings which would make the 6th suite more playable.

[Chris]

This All of Bach project by the Netherlands Bach Society is bringing us some truly amazing and fascinating things!