What Are You Listening To Now?

[Peter]

It's not the Solti, tho I have that one too. It's this one by Friedmann Dreßler.

So far I like this one a bit better, the Solti was TOO condensed.

I have Lorin Maazel's version which I think is excellent.

[Michael]

Just been listening to this. It's not strictly classical, but this is just a one-off to demonstrate that all great music doesn't have to be Bach, Beethoven or whatever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He_M5SYG4T0

[The Dude]

This classic from the early 70's is a great piece of rock music. Worth a listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFpLLumawmQ

My tastes are rather more low-brow today, but I'm listening to one of the greatest rock pieces ever written:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk3mAX5xdxo

Lastly,

Stavinsky, "Dumbarton Oaks"

[Ed C]

I'm reading a book right now about the convergence of jazz and 20th Century classical (Music in the 20th Century, Austin) which led me to this gem:

Duke Ellington 'Ko-Ko'

[Roehre]

Today:

Khatchaturian:
Violin concerto in d (1940)

Cage:
Experiences II (1940)

Stravinsky;
Symphony in C (1940)

Webern:
Cantata no.1 op.29 (1940)
Variations opus 30 (1940)

Eisler:
Septet no.1 “Kinderszenen” op.92a (1940)
Kammersinfonie op.69 (1940)

Brahms/Glanert:
Four Interludes and Serious songs (op.121) (1896 orch.2005) (R3: Po3)
A performance much more accentuating the Glanert-elements than the Brahmsian ones in the orchestration, compared with its Proms premiere in 2006. (and the timpanist had changed the hard sticks used in Schubert 2 –with a lean crispy sound I liked- for medium ones in the Brahms – here much more appropriate)

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Re Jazz and "Classical" Music in the 20th Century.
I think there are brilliant composers in their own right to be found among the great Jazz personalities, to mention but two: Ellington and Miles Davis.

[Ed C]

What a coincidence- I just heard Stravinsky's Symphony in C, too (Valery Gergiev, NY Phil).

RE: the book I'm reading and Roehre's comment - I really like this book because unlike many books about the history of 20th Century music, it treats blues and jazz as legitimate forms of music alongside Debussy, Schoenberg, Bartok and Stravinsky. It's dated 1966 so it talks about this new thing called "rock 'n' roll" too.