What are you listening to now?

[Quijote]

However, my preening sensitivity regarding tonal relationships was rather too easily off-set by rather good-looking young(ish) Italian women.

[Quijote]

And I never knew this, but I have just looked up what "to preen" means in French. It is (in the context I have used above) se pomponner. Although I am half Spanish, I have no idea what it is my mother's tongue.

[Preston]

Listening to a cd called "Mozart: Opera Overtures" performed by, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and conducted by well I imagine most could guess, and am loving it, . Mozart can really work those strings, all of the runs, etc. Heck, Mozart can work or make use of the orchestra like it is easy!

[Roehre]

Today

Maxwell Davies:
Il rozzo Martello (1997) (R3: matinee Proms)

Aperghis:
Champ-Contrechamp (2010) (R3: matinee Proms)

Birtwistle:
Angel Fighter (2010) (R3: matinee Proms)

[Chris]

Listening to a cd called "Mozart: Opera Overtures" performed by, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and conducted by well I imagine most could guess, and am loving it, . Mozart can really work those strings, all of the runs, etc. Heck, Mozart can work or make use of the orchestra like it is easy!

Indeed, Preston! What is your favorite overture on the CD?

[Preston]

Chris, I don't know. I was enjoying most of them at the time. I do enjoy Mozart's music given I am in the appropriate mood. Though after a while the tempos start to get to me too much. So many notes. Beethoven does this to me often also. This is why I wonder about the tempos of the classical era. Are modern performances too fast, are they perhaps way too fast, etc.? I don't know. I have looked at feelings and emotions for sometime as being more enjoyable when they are sustained. This is where I get confused. Surely the great masters of composition had a more sustained side. I am tempted to try to render, on the computer, a piece of Mozart or Beethoven at a tempo I enjoy, just to see what it would sound like. I remember slowing the scherzo of Beethoven's 9th and it sounded much different - very clear, much more powerful, etc. but almost a completely different sound than that of what is generally heard.

Now, I have been listening to the Adagietto from Mahler's 5th.

[Sorrano]

This past week I've been in the process of listening (comparatively) to different performances of Bruckner's 2nd Symphony. I've listened to Barenboim and Jochum so far, but the 3rd performance is a bit of a mystery. The disc cover reports the conductor to be Alberto Lizzio (Philharmonia Slavonica), which is considered pseudonymous for various conductors. However, when my Zune software accessed it, it reported an entirely different conductor and orchestra: Hans Zanotelli with the South German Philharmonic. The actual disc cover, as well, is different from what is displayed. The label is AAO Music while the actual disc has the label PILZ. My question, then, is Hans Zanotelli a legitimate name or another psuedo name?

So far, with the comparison (there really isn't any comparison here!) the favorable inclination is with Jochum.

[Sorrano]

Addendum: Upon further reflection, the files on the audio CD contain the information that the Zune software traced back to the Zanotelli recording, so my guess is that PILZ ripped it from AAO and put a generic conductor and orchestra on the disc cover. The files will have all the pertinent information of the recording and PILZ didn't bother to change that.

[Peter]

Recent proms performances of Brahms - both piano concertos with COE Haitink/Ax and the 3rd and 4th symphonies. Interesting performances with the smaller than usual forces providing greater clarity.

[Peter]

Today - Handel; L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato

[Roehre]

Today

Klami:
Introduction e staccato etude (R3:TtN)

JSBach:
Cantata “Tue Rechnung! Donnerwort “ BWV 168 (a Cantata for today, Trinity 9)

Piano-Miniatures by
Van den Bergh, Wurffraat, Mann, Noske, Verhulst, Verheij, Schäfer, Hartog, Lubeck , J.Brandts Buys

Clarke:
Viola Sonata (1919)

Vaughan Williams:
Romance for viola and piano

Britten:
Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge (R3: Proms)

Colin Matthews:
No Man's Land (R3: Proms)

[Sorrano]

This afternoon:

Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 (Jochum)

[Roehre]

This afternoon:

Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 (Jochum)

EMI or DGG?

[Chris]

Yesterday during a 7-hour drive I listened to 4 CDs worth of hits from the 1980s. I wanted classical, and my sister wanted something horrible that I don't even know the name of. But the music that was on the radio when we were growing up is something we could both enjoy!

[Sorrano]

EMI or DGG?

I'll have to get back with you on that one (I'm at work); it's from a complete set, but I cannot remember which label.