What Are You Listening to Now?

[JA Gardiner]

Originally posted by Gurn Blanston:
JA,
Interesting description of Lenny! And so true. I have always appreciated his conducting, from his earlier "get up and go" efforts to his later "no, it's ALL adagio" ones I have him to thank for getting me into classical music, as I am old enough to well remember Sunday afternoons with the "Young People's Concerts" which fascinated me even then.

Never got to see those concerts this side of the pond - our equivalent was Andre Previn and the LSO in its heyday doing sunday night concerts and talks on the BBC, or the young Barenboim/Du Pre with various friends - Zukerman, Perlman, Ashkenazy etc. All very telegenic and black roll-neck and very inspiring. I do remember more recently however seeing Lenny's adult lecture series - The Unfinished Question - and being spellbound by his explanations and performances. Is that on DVD now? Also of course the wonderful documentary on the Carreras/Te Kanawa recording of West Side Story which was so enlightening about the process, managed to be intelligent and sensitive in its treatment of the human aspects e.g when Lenny and Carreras clash over the interpretation of Maria, and still manages to let the music shine through!

Tonight, tonight however, in honour of my daughter who is reading English at Oxford, its the Clerks of Oxenford singing various pieces by Thomas Tallis (including the incandescently beautiful Spem in Allium) and John Sheppard as recorded at Merton (her college) Chapel! Shame she doesn't sing herself, but I'm gradually educating her into classical music. She quite enjoys some moderns like Satie, Barber and Einaudi but I'm edging her towards the real classics via LVB's Piano Sonatas and the odd Mozart symphony/concerto or two. Any other suggestions welcome

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Beethoven the Man!

[Peter]

Originally posted by JA Gardiner:
She quite enjoys some moderns like Satie, Barber and Einaudi but I'm edging her towards the real classics via LVB's Piano Sonatas and the odd Mozart symphony/concerto or two. Any other suggestions welcome

I think it is important to find what really appeals - I have a friend not into 'classical' music who likes slow romantic - several Chopin preludes, slow movement of Rachmaninov 2nd concerto etc.. He can't stand Mozart, but knowing his liking for slow sad music, I played him the 2nd mov of the A major concerto and he loved it! Another friend who also dislikes 'classical' music really enjoyed Bartok's music for strings,percussion and celesta! Even amongst us enthusiasts we have our preferences, some can't stand anything after 1830 and some nothing before 1800! So concentrate on her preferences, slow, fast, relaxing, invigorating etc... I think it is a certain emotion that appeals necessarily more than a certain style. I imagine from what you say that she is a 'slow romantic' type.

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'Man know thyself'

[atserriotserri]

Today it's Bartok: Concert for orchestra and concert no. 2 for violin and orchestra performed by Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Directed by Karel Ancerl.

I foresee a very intense Bach weekend: I consider his works for solo instruments irresistible, and after quite an orchestral week, I'll look for the companion of Pearlman, Mintz and Gould.

[Joy]

Morning everyone!! For me it's Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream! Beautiful! Also tonight on our classical music station a Beethoven evening with selections such as the Horn Sonata in F Op 17 with David Pyatt, Horn and Martin Jones, piano also his piano sonata #16 performed by Jeno Jando and his Symphony #1 with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Should be a nice night!

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'Truth and beauty joined'

[spaceray]

Originally posted by Peter:
Even amongst us enthusiasts we have our preferences, some can't stand anything after 1830 and some nothing before 1800! So concentrate on her preferences, slow, fast, relaxing, invigorating etc... I think it is a certain emotion that appeals necessarily more than a certain style. I imagine from what you say that she is a 'slow romantic' type.

For me it is the form and not the dates that matter. At first I loved opera, then singers accompaied by piano or trio ,then a long period of Purcell and only very recently
in the last couple of years it's been chamber music ,string quartets etc. and the violin and piano .I will listen to any combination of v&p from any time period .I haven't heard one I didn't enjoy.
I've been dipping my toe into the waters of Symphonic music and I've enjoyed Haydn ,Mozart and Beethoven and am keen to discover less familiar works .
I'm listening right now to Dvorak's 5th .

[King Stephen]

Another round of enlightenment. This time it is a cd of five sinfonias of Franz Ignaz Beck
(1734-1809), almost the exact dates of Joseph Haydn. This man had a very colorful life. It is said that he was more or less a court favorite and the intrigue that had wrongly convinced him that he had killed a rival, sounds like the Mozart/Salieri syndrome, in a duel caused him to leave Mannheim in a rather hasty manner. He spent some years in Venice before eloping, with the daughter of his patron, to Naples. The five works on this disc are very characteristic of the composer. The compositions are balanced with wind instrument, pairs of oboes and horns are used with some subtlety, while the string orchestra provides the basis of each work. These three-movement works are more than simply precursors or even pale reflections of Haydn. Each has its own charm. These symphonies show a freshness of invention, a willingness to experiment in modulations and an ability to develop material to a surprising advantage. Beck is another composer whose phoenix like rise from the ashes is a welcomed discovery. More "new" music to come.....
KS



[This message has been edited by King Stephen (edited 11-12-2004).]

[Gurn Blanston]

Amalie,
Hey, those little pieces for mechanical clock are tiny little jewels. And of course the Andante favori is a big jewel! Pletnev is one of my favorite modern Beethoven pianists. Beautiful indeed!

JA,
Quite so, is is the principle, very important thing to expose youngsters to music, at least they can make an informed choice. I wouldn't have given it a second thought without Lenny there to tell me why I should. I don't know if THAT series in on DVD, but I saw not long ago that the YPC's have been released, I really must look them up, no reason I wouldn't enjoy them as much now as then, perhaps more! As for your daughter, it occurs that when I have introduced reluctant people to classics, I had great success playing short violin and piano showpieces. One that never fails is Bazzini's La Ronde de Lutins, probably becasue the fiddler plays more and faster than you average rock guitarist for about the length of time as your average pop song, so the attention span is not overloaded while the attention is captured. There are a plentitude of such disks "Violin Encores" "Violin Showpieces" etc, and they are perfect for capturing the minds and hearts. After that, getting her into Eroica will be a snap! Of course if she hates virtuosity and uptempo, then all bets are off, and I say, go with Peter's suggestion!

atserri,
I have been listening to Bach solo harpsichord music for a change of pace, and I quite agree, his writing for soloists is the best. I just bought 4 of them on Hannsler, can't wait for them to be delivered! I recommend to you the Cello Suites by Casals. Simply the best.

Joy,
Super lineup, as usual. That horn sonata is one of my favorites! Enjoy!

Spacerl,
Truer words were never spoke. And of course, chamber music, the pinnacle of music, IMHO. "Orchestra? We don't need no stinkin' orchestra" V & P even sounds good in modern music, well, sorta good...

King,
Hey great, Beck sounds like another live one! You know, he is the one that "greased the skids" to get Mozart finally commissioned to do Idomeneo in Munich in 1780, which was the final thing that pushed him off into the independent composer field. When Mozart met him on the way to Paris in 1777-8 they became acquainted, but he obviously made quite an impression on Beck because when there came an opportunity to help out, he jumped right in and made it possible.
Thanks for introducing us to him. Time to go shopping again!

For me, it is the Trio in d minor for Piano & Strings - #1 - Op 32 - Anton Arensky (1861-1906) A student of Rimsky-Korsakov while he was still in school in St. Petersburg, but later studying Tchaikovskyesque style in Moscow. Very melodic, typically Russian with a dash of Mendelssohn. He was Rachmaninov's teacher, and so passed some of that melodic art on to him. Lovely music.


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

Woke up to:

Beethoven: Symphony no.6,
NDR Symphony Orchestra /Gunter Wand

Vivaldi: L'Olimpiade - Sinfonia
Concerto Italiano / Allessandrini

Zelenka: Cappriccio no.2
Sol maggiore, ZWV 183 / Das Neu-Eroffnete Orchestra / Sonnentheil. [authentic instruments]
A particularly interesting baroque composer, whose music is satisfying and quite distinctive. Worth exploring.

Purcell: Come ye sons of art,
Monteverdi Orchestra / Sir J. E. Gardiner.

Haydn: Cello Concerto no. 1
Soloist-Jian Wang. Gulbenkian Orchestra.

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~ Unsterbliche Geliebte ~


[This message has been edited by Amalie (edited 11-13-2004).]

[Peter]

Originally posted by Joy:
the Mahler Chamber Orchestra

Sounds like a contradiction in terms!

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'Man know thyself'

[Pastorali]

W.A. Mozart
Divertimenti KV.166-186-226-227

[euterpe80]

"The Salieri Album", sung by Cecilia Bartoli. It's a very nice work, with powerful arias and a hopeful vitality, it seems like, if you were in the sadest darkest night of your life, with this music in your soul you would be capable of fighting against any kind of problem you had. It fills your entire being with joy and excitement, as well as some of the arias are very soft und gentle, as if a Bartoli were singing only for you, direct to your heart

[euterpe80]

Originally posted by Gurn Blanston:
atserri,
One of the huge gaps in my collection is classical guitar. I think that Segovia "hit" was Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo, which I am pretty sure was written for Segovia. Really nice work, too.

Yes, that's a very nice work, but I'm afraid it wasn't written for Segovia, but for Regino Saénz de la Maza, another spanish guitarist who lived in the same time of Segovia. If you liked to listen to a piece that was written by Rodrigo for Segovia, I recommend you the "Fantasía para un gentilhombre" - a personal translation would be "Fantasy for a nobleman" -. It is based on compositions of a XVII th century musician calle Gaspar Sanz, who wrote many works for guitar, lute and "vihuela".

[Pastorali]

Originally posted by euterpe80:
"The Salieri Album", sung by Cecilia Bartoli. It's a very nice work, with powerful arias and a hopeful vitality, it seems like, if you were in the sadest darkest night of your life, with this music in your soul you would be capable of fighting against any kind of problem you had. It fills your entire being with joy and excitement, as well as some of the arias are very soft und gentle, as if a Bartoli were singing only for you, direct to your heart

Holla euterpe80
I've heard Cecilia Bartoli many times on radio and know that record. I shall buy it, I love passiontly sung arias
Some here are liking the wonderful music of the Spanish composer Juan Cristosomo de Arriaga. Unfortunately the offer is pretty thin (1 Symphony in D, Overtures 'Los Esclavos Felices' & op.1 'Nonetto' , 3 String Quartets)
Can you get some more records by him in Spain?

W.A. Mozart
Requiem in D minor KV.626
Litaniae de venerabili altaris sacramento in B flat major KV.109

[Joy]

Originally posted by Peter:
Sounds like a contradiction in terms!

Exactly what I thought when I read the name (they're a youth orchestra) but I listened to them last night and it was a very good rendition indeed.



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'Truth and beauty joined'

[Joy]

For me it's Mozart's Symphonies 12 and 36 also Beethoven's Piano Sonata #10 Opus 14/2 performed by the great Alfred Brendel all via radio.

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'Truth and beauty joined'