What Are You Listening To Now?

[Quijote]

Back from the Black Forest half term break (and I've had quite enough of skiing, kids, friends, eating, cooking, washing up, snow tyres, long-johns and so on ...), and so back to work (marking, preparation, blah blah ...).
Today, on the radio (France Musique) and completely by chance, I heard something I had long forgotten about :
Ligeti, Hungarian Rock (Chaconne) (1978), for harpischord. I'm afraid I can't recall the performer, but he/she deserves my unreserved "bravo". I had forgotten about this wonderful piece (almost a Tango à l'hongrois, I suppose). The sheer virtuosity required is breathtaking - you need to be able to split your brain into two "autonomous" units, one side for the left hand, the other for the right. I thoroughly recommend this piece to all of you. Without wishing to antagonize anybody (not my style at all), this piece wouldn't be a bad introduction to the rather nebulous term "contemporary [art] music".

[Chris]

In order to alleviate the depression brought on by my 30th birthday, I have purchased a number of CDs with some great Beethoven rarities, which I will be listening to in the coming weeks. Tonight, the 1806 version of Leonore!

[Sorrano]

A happy birthday to you Chris! 30 isn't so bad, either.

Today it was the Suite from Rimsky-Korsakov's "Tale of the Tsar Saltan" (Is that Saltan or Sultan?)

[Michael]

In order to alleviate the depression brought on by my 30th birthday, I have purchased a number of CDs with some great Beethoven rarities, which I will be listening to in the coming weeks. Tonight, the 1806 version of Leonore!

Happy birthday. 30. I wish.
Is the Leonore the Blomstedt/Staatskapelle Dresden one, by any chance? If so, it's very good and uses proper dialogue instead of the narration provided by the John Eliot Gardiner version.

[Chris]

Thanks, guys. I'm sure 30 will be looking pretty good in a few decades!

Is the Leonore the Blomstedt/Staatskapelle Dresden one, by any chance? If so, it's very good and uses proper dialogue instead of the narration provided by the John Eliot Gardiner version.

No, but I have the Blomstedt/Staatskapelle Dresden one, and it is indeed excellent. That's the 1805 version (Hess 109). This is the 1806 version (Hess 110). This recording is by Marc Soustrot and the Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn. It is a very good recording; good tempos, great singing, and it does have the dialog, so if you're interested I recommend it. Aside from the missing dialog, the Gardiner recording is actually an odd amalgam of the 1805 and 1806 versions. I generally like Gardiner a lot, but I don't know what he was thinking with this one.

Having three versions of this opera may seem like overkill, but it is my favorite opera, and it has an interesting history of revisions, so I am glad to have them all. The 1806 has major cuts and revisions, but retains some of the great music that didn't make it all the way to the final version, like the Act 1 duet between Marzelline and Leonore. On the other hand, it doesn't have the "Gold" aria. What the heck, Beethoven!?

[Roehre]

Today:

Dukas (R3: CotW):
Etude-vocalise „Alla Gitana” (p.1909)
Piano sonate in e-flat minor (1900)

Liszt (Hyperion/Howard vol.2):
2 Ballades S.170-171
2 Legends S.175
Berceuse S.174
Impromptu S.191
Klavierstück in A flat major S.189
2 Polonaises S.223

Schönberg:
Variations for wind band opus 43a (1943)

Blacher:
Divertimento for wind orchestra opus 7 (1936)

Hartmann:
Symphony no.5 “Concertante” (version for wind orchestra) (1950)

[Chris]

Beethoven:

Three duos, WoO 27 (Version for violin and cello)
Sonata, Op. 17 (Version for cello)
Seven Variations for cello & piano in E-flat major on Mozart's "Bei Männern", WoO 46

[Roehre]

Beethoven:

Three duos, WoO 27 (Version for violin and cello)
Sonata, Op. 17 (Version for cello)

Who are playing, Chris?

[Chris]

Who are playing, Chris?

The disc is Marquis 77471 83102 2 4. The players are Ruggiero Ricci (violin) and Mihaly Virizlay (cello) on WoO 27 and Bonnie Hampton (cello) and Nathan Schwartz (piano) on Op. 17 and WoO 46.

[Roehre]

The disc is Marquis 77471 83102 2 4. The players are Ruggiero Ricci (violin) and Mihaly Virizlay (cello) on WoO 27 and Bonnie Hampton (cello) and Nathan Schwartz (piano) on Op. 17 and WoO 46.

thanks Chris.
Ricci has made a second recording of WoO 27 then, as his 1970s recording was with another 'cellist (IIRC).

[Chris]

thanks Chris.
Ricci has made a second recording of WoO 27 then, as his 1970s recording was with another 'cellist (IIRC).

Perhaps, though that would be an odd thing to record twice.

More Beethoven rarities today:
Piano trio in E-flat major, Hess 47 (A Beethoven arrangement of the first movement of the String Trio, Op. 3)
Piano trio in D major, Anh 3 (Originally thought to be not by Beethoven, but apparently regarded as authentic now)
Piano trio in E-flat major, Op. 63 (An arrangement of the String Quintet, Op. 4, which is itself an arrangement of the Wind Octet, Op. 103! This arrangement has generally been considered not to be Beethoven's own, but the liner notes here make a case for its authenticity.)

This recording is by "The Beethoven Project Trio."

[Roehre]

Today:

Dukas (R3: CotW)
Variations, Interlude and finale on a theme by Rameau

Liszt (Hyperion/Howard New Discoveries 3):
Wilde Jagd : Scherzo S.176a
28 Album-leafs
Wagner-, Berlioz- and Wielhorsky-transcriptions

Massenet:
Suite for orchestra no.7 “Suite alsacienne” (1881)

Debussy:
Nocturnes
Berceuse élégiaque

[Sorrano]

This morning I had a bit of a treat: de Bériot: Violin Concerto No. 3, Mvt. 3 (Rondo: Allegretto - Allegro vivace).

The orchestration reminded me of Mendelssohn. It's too bad that we don't hear more of these lesser composers.

[Chris]

Today it's "Beethoven: The Forgotten Works for String Quartet". It has a lot of really obscure things with Hess or Biamonti numbers (or neither). Of particular interest are the Brilliant String Quartet in A major, Biamonti 382; a string quartet arrangement of the "Andante Favori", Hess A10; and a number of counterpoint exercises, Hess 238, 243, and 244. Very interesting stuff, here.

Thanks to Roehre for making me aware of the existence of this disc!

[Peter]

I know we mentioned it recently in another thread but I've also been listening to Bruckner's 8th symphony (Karajan). Bruckner has always been a composer I've not greatly warmed to, but I think the 8th is something special - it has to be his greatest symphony, the slow movement is sublime.