What are you listening to now?

[Gurn Blanston]

Amalie,
So how is Mr. Tan on that sonata? Will he pass the Rod Test? Those disks are hard to come by, but eventually I will have the set. I actually DO have some nice fortepiano Beethoven, but they are thin on the ground in this part of the world. Sigh...

Pastor Ali,
Yes indeed, we are of the same mind, since I also listened to that oboe concerto today! Is that the same disk with the bassoon concerto? Mine is the Bassoon, Oboe & Clarinet concertos all on one disk. I tell you, this is a hard combination to beat! You will actually allow someone to make that great noise directly into your ears? But singing has certain overtones which can cause your eardrums to have serious problems. I would be scared to do that...

VC,
So, it is a plan then! Sunday morning, 6:30 AM. Then, golf. What a day! And some good Bach for today too. For me, I like that a minor concerto the best of the 3. It is the one you hear the least often, it seems, but a gem nonetheless.

For me, it is now again Tchaikovsky, the great Finale: Andante maestoso of the Symphony in e minor - #5 - Op 64 - Royal PO / Temirkanov. Excellente!


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Regards,
Gurn
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That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
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[King Stephen]

Into the past of the classical period I have been listening to the Music of Michael Haydn, his symphonies P16 and P9 next will be three symphonies of Johann Baptist Vanhal. I don't know how in heavens name I have missed out on this wonderful music all these past years. It is through the efforts of CD manufactures like Naxos , Chandos, MDG, an more that we have to thank for these superb works. I don't think major cd labels would carry such works, no monetary value for them in doing so.

[Gurn Blanston]

King,
Yes, I believe that is true. They look at projected unit sales and if it doesn't reach a certain number, they just don't bother. I would like to add Hyperion to your list too, I think they have really tried to get some of the more obscure things out there, much to their peril lately. In any case, despite the dominance of the Big 3 in the Classical Era, it is obvious that there was plenty of other very fine music out there, just begging to be recorded for us. One thing that we can do ourselves to support this effort is to try to look beyond the big names and see what their contemporaries were up to.

For me, it is J. S. Bach, the Concerto in E major for Violin & Orchestra - BWV 1042 - A. S. Mutter / English Chamber Orchestra / Accardo. Molto bene!


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Regards,
Gurn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
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[ruudp]

For me it's the pianoconcerto for 3 piano's in F major Kv.242 Mozart and his concerto for 2 piano's in E flat major Kv.365 performers are: Zoltan Kocsis Dezsö Ranki And andràs schiff..Andràs only plays in the concerto for 3 piano's..Also Rachmaninovs 2nd pianoconcerto op.18 in C minor was on the program performed by Klara würtz also by klara is schumanns pianoconcerto in A minor op.54 and some pieces of liszt and chopin namely: waldesrauschen,Gnomenreichen Liebestraum nr.3 in a flat major Mephisto waltz no.1 *piano version* les jeux à villa d'este and Chopins ballad op.23 in g minor and his barcarolle in F sharp major op.60

Regards,
Ruud

[JA Gardiner]

Well here I am back briefly from my sojourn in the States. And thank you Gurn, Texas - well Austin and the hill country at least - was absolutely wonderful and offered the warmest, in EVERY sense of the word, welcome to this travelling Brit. But after Texas two-stepping at the Broken Spoke and listening to country singers and guitars at Luckenbach, its back to something a little cooler and more European in preparation for a trip to Milan - so Schubert 3rd and 8th symphonies - Kleiber and the Vienna Phil. and, continuing my backwards journey through Mozart, Piano Concertos 14 & 15. Have a margarita on me!

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Beethoven the Man!

[This message has been edited by JA Gardiner (edited 08-11-2004).]

[King Stephen]

Sibelius; romantic, contemporary, modern 20th century? 1865 - 1957. Right now it's his violin concert with Midori. It's hard to define his period and style. The concerto is a remarkable work. Then again Sibelius was a trained violinist and from all accounts, a very good one.


[This message has been edited by King Stephen (edited 08-11-2004).]

[Pastorali]

Listening to wunderkind music: K.16, K.19.

[Gurn Blanston]

Hello all! Sorry I have been away so long, glad the music didn't stop in my absence!

Ruud,
You really had some good piano music going. That Eb 2 pinao concerto was one of Mozart's own favorites, he played it often with students, and in performance too. ANd of course, Rachy 2 is my favorite one of his 4. It is excellent. And enough Liszt & Chopin to keep even you happy!

JA,
I am so delighted that you enjoyed your trip here. Thousands wouldn't, I know, because you did come at the absolute worst time, but if you enjoyed it in mid-summer, perhaps you will see it in early April one year and never want to leave! Ah, yes, you have that great Kleiber/Schubert disk, excellent. And have nearly made itback to Ruud's concertos, 7 & 10. Perhaps if you light at home for a bit. Enjoy Milan, see some live music. I toast your trip with my margarita, mmmm, that salt is good!

King,
Yes, his VC is one of my top favorite pieces from after the turn of the century (I think it dates from 1907, unless memory totally fails). You are right, he was a violinist himself. Guess that must be an advantage, fiddlers seem to write the best VC's. Where he differs is that he just wrote one, and then wrote mostly for orchestra elsewise. And some piano music, as Sorrano tells us. Not bad for someone who died after I was born!

P.
Might as well start at the beginning! That one in Eb is pretty good work for a lad of 9 or so, eh?

For me, it is the Trio in D for Baryton, Viola & Cello - #107 - Hob 11:107 - F. J. Haydn. Quick quiz: Why are 96% of the works written for the baryton in the key of D, G or A


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Regards,
Gurn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[King Stephen]

Gurn, I remember back in the glorious 50's of seeing a film clip of Sibelius and Eugene Ormandy together at a cottage in Finland owned by Jean. I guess Ormandy was a great champion of Sibelius's music. I can't think of any other great symphonist after Sibelius, except Shostakovich.

[King Stephen]

Originally posted by Gurn Blanston:
Hello all! Sorry I have been away so long, glad the music didn't stop in my absence!

Ruud,
You really had some good piano music going. That Eb 2 pinao concerto was one of Mozart's own favorites, he played it often with students, and in performance too. ANd of course, Rachy 2 is my favorite one of his 4. It is excellent. And enough Liszt & Chopin to keep even you happy!

JA,
I am so delighted that you enjoyed your trip here. Thousands wouldn't, I know, because you did come at the absolute worst time, but if you enjoyed it in mid-summer, perhaps you will see it in early April one year and never want to leave! Ah, yes, you have that great Kleiber/Schubert disk, excellent. And have nearly made itback to Ruud's concertos, 7 & 10. Perhaps if you light at home for a bit. Enjoy Milan, see some live music. I toast your trip with my margarita, mmmm, that salt is good!

King,
Yes, his VC is one of my top favorite pieces from after the turn of the century (I think it dates from 1907, unless memory totally fails). You are right, he was a violinist himself. Guess that must be an advantage, fiddlers seem to write the best VC's. Where he differs is that he just wrote one, and then wrote mostly for orchestra elsewise. And some piano music, as Sorrano tells us. Not bad for someone who died after I was born!

P.
Might as well start at the beginning! That one in Eb is pretty good work for a lad of 9 or so, eh?

For me, it is the Trio in D for Baryton, Viola & Cello - #107 - Hob 11:107 - F. J. Haydn. Quick quiz: Why are 96% of the works written for the baryton in the key of D, G or A

The Baryton of Haydn's patron Prince Nicholas Esterhazy had seven bowed strings and ten plucked strings tuned so that all but 14 of the 170 works for baryton are in the key of D major, or it's closely related keys of G and A Major. Do I get a new car for the right answer???

[v russo]

internet digital radio:

trance techno-
middle eastern music-
jazz-
modern classical...etc,etc...

Budapest, France, Czech Republic, New York, NY ...all at the click of the mouse.

Zooropa!!


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v russo

[Gurn Blanston]

King,
Ah, that must have been quite interesting. Somehow it is just hard to conceive of Sibelius living at that late time, I really thought he had "gone off" much earlier, like between the wars. See, it does not pay to miss doing the research! No, DSCH has to be the last great symphonist, or composer of any merit. There, v. wake up!
Also, I suppose you win the car! Congratulations, it's a 1983 Yugo Sport! Yes, the strings on the back of the baryton were tuned to a D major scale, as a harp would be (really, it WAS a harp in all but name) so it couldn't be readily retuned. Really an amazingly neat instrument.

v.
The technology is amazing, is it not? The developements that have occurred just in my lifetime are stunning to contemplate. When I was a kid, it was AM radio and ... AM radio. Now... wow! Pity there was no Beethoven there for you though

For me, it IS Beethoven, but one of the more unusual things, it is the Concerto in D major, Op 61, but the lovely violin has been replaced by a lovely clarinet, courtesy of Mikhail Pletnev. And surprise of surprises, it sounds much better than you would expect from a mere description. It will grow on me too.




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Regards,
Gurn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[King Stephen]

Originally posted by Gurn Blanston:
King,
Ah, that must have been quite interesting. Somehow it is just hard to conceive of Sibelius living at that late time, I really thought he had "gone off" much earlier, like between the wars. See, it does not pay to miss doing the research! No, DSCH has to be the last great symphonist, or composer of any merit. There, v. wake up!
Also, I suppose you win the car! Congratulations, it's a 1983 Yugo Sport! Yes, the strings on the back of the baryton were tuned to a D major scale, as a harp would be (really, it WAS a harp in all but name) so it couldn't be readily retuned. Really an amazingly neat instrument.

v.
The technology is amazing, is it not? The developements that have occurred just in my lifetime are stunning to contemplate. When I was a kid, it was AM radio and ... AM radio. Now... wow! Pity there was no Beethoven there for you though

For me, it IS Beethoven, but one of the more unusual things, it is the Concerto in D major, Op 61, but the lovely violin has been replaced by a lovely clarinet, courtesy of Mikhail Pletnev. And surprise of surprises, it sounds much better than you would expect from a mere description. It will grow on me too.

Gurn, One problem with your prize, I thought the Yugo was a musical instrument and was a kin to the Grand Kazoo.
The music of Haydn never ceases to amaze me. I find no dark side to Haydn's music, even in the so called Sturm ung Drang period. Happiness and good cheer seem to be a part of Haydn in all aspects of his life. I wonder if the man had a bad word to say about anyone except his wife, who we know hated music.

[Gurn Blanston]

King,
Well, unlike the kazoo, the only proper way to blow the Yugo is to blow it up! Well, I have heard a huge portion of Haydns oeuvre, and never heard anything that was the least bit depressing. He even made the "Mass in Time of War" sound kinda tune-ish! In an essay I was reading last night, a quote from one of his contemporaries was the first documented quote by anyone on the subject of a composer's music matching his personality, and the subject was Haydn, and the personality was "sunny". So I guess this is not a new perception, even his contemporaries invented a new philosophy of music appreciation to recognize it!

For me, it is the Symphony in F major - #8 - Op 93 - LvB. Orchestre R et R/Gardiner. Excellent recording on period instruments, hopefully one that could put you in the place of one of the Conversation Book group, to hear what they heard! Very nice.


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Regards,
Gurn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Amalie]

Three pieces from Beethoven this afternoon.

'Adelaide' Op.46
Stephan Genz (baritone)
Roger Vignoles (piano)

Sonatina in C minor for mandolin & piano,0p.43 no.1.
Lajos Mayer, Mandolin.
Imre Rohmann (piano)

Quintet for piano and wind, 0p.16
Netherlands Wind Ensemble
Peter Donohoe (piano)




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