What Are You Listening to Now?

[Joy]

Gurn, I enjoy listening to Telemann too!

King S, Let us know how you enjoyed your new CD's. Must admit, I haven't heard of most of them either except for Dittersdorf and
Dussek.

For me today it was Beethoven's Piano Sonata #21 (Waldstein) one of my favourites! Also I am hooked on the Egmont Overture now and have to have my daily dose of it!!

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'Truth and beauty joined'

[This message has been edited by Joy (edited 10-26-2004).]

[Ahmad]

Steve,
Sounds interesting such "discovering" listening!...I like such things, so I go every week to the near french culture centre in my city to borrow a cd of an obscure frnech composer. Last week -for an eg.- I was introduced to some piano works of an obscure late romantic french composer called "Guy Ropartz", and it was a nice listening..!

Now with Perlman and Ashkenazy playing Beethoven Violin Sonata no.5 "spring".

The sublime beauty of the theme in the first movement is something unique among beautiful themes I've ever heard...

[This message has been edited by Ahmad (edited 10-26-2004).]

[Big D]

[Dear Gurn fellow: I have a copy of the variations as performed by Andres Schiff on the piano, not harpsichord. Thanks for the question, bro!

[Gurn Blanston]

King the Obscure,
Crikey, you have delved into the depths and returned with treasures! Is this the same Dussek whose wife, Josefa, was a prominent opera singer in Prague? And was instrumental (no pun!) in getting Wolfrl there for Figaro and eventually Don Giovanni and the great Prague Symphony? I didn't know any of his compositions even survived! Cool! I genuflect before your intrepidity, sir!

Pastrl,
Ay, the good stuff! Thamos is rated by many Mozartphiles as one of his most neglected masterpieces. Bueno!

Joy,
Yes, Telemann is a bottomless well of good music. If I am not mistaken, he is the most prolific composer of all time, with well over 3000 works. Oy vey! Hard not to get hooked on Egmont, isn't it? It and Coriolan are among B's very best overtures, and that says a lot!

Ahmad,
I listened to "Spring" today too, Haebler and Szeryng. First time I hear them play B, I have them playing Mozart before this. Szeryng really has such beautiful tone and style, this already great sonata is only enhanced by their marvelous rendition. For me, the Rondo finale is the highlight, but the whole thing is a true work of art.

Big D,
Ah, I like Schiff's playing, although I haven't heard him do Bach, he is well spoken of even by people who don't generally like him. The Goldbergs are a masterpiece, even on a piano. Bueno!

For me, it is the original version of B's Quartet for Strings in F major, which eventually was called Op 18 #1, but this version, written the year or two earlier and dedicated to his good friend Amenda is now called Hess 32. B claimed in a letter to Amenda that when he wrote it he had no idea how to write a quartet, but now he had learned. I think this was a bit of an exaggeration on his part. Version 1 is pretty fine too, perhaps for anyone's standards but his own!




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

As I posted earlier, I have a lot of 'new' music to listen to and digest. I have heard a few and one that stands out is a cd of the Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801) Concerto in G major for 2 Flutes and Chamber Orchestra. I am not a great admirer of the flute but this concerto really got me. The sound of the 2 flutes is astoundingly beautiful. Cimarosa is extremely melodic and a bit reminiscent of Mozart although he does have a distinct style of his own. The performace is superbly
played by the London Mozart Players and the flautist are James and Jeanne Galway. I have already played this work four times today, which for me is very unusual.
Great "Stuff".
Steve

[This message has been edited by King Stephen (edited 10-27-2004).]

[Gurn Blanston]

König,
I had never known Cimarosa to do anything but opera, I guess it will be kind of like Paisiello, when I first heard his g minor piano concerto the other day I was very impressed with it, all 6 times I played it! I fear I share Mozart's taste in flute music, which is a low estimation, but I am always prepared to have my mind changed!

For me, it is the Priestly March & Chorus from König Stephan - Op 117 - L. van Beethoven. Good stuff!


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

The Andante for Mozart's K 377 ,ever notice how the last of these variations sounds like a tango?