What are you listening to now?

[Megan]

Brucker, Rondo in c minor for string quartet.

For Bruckner & Brahms listeners , tune in for a treat on Radio 3, 7:30 this evening.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mk963

[Sorrano]

Definitely one of my favorite Gershwin tunes. Was this the piano version from the songbook or a sung performance?

This was sung with (but not by) the orchestra.

[Roehre]

Actually, there is one CD I haven't even taken out of its wrapping yet :
Couperin, Harpischord Pieces, Blandine Verlet (Harmonia Mundi, 2 CD set). My question to Roehre would be : should I bother?

To be honest: I don't know.
Blandine Verlet certainly made some IMO not really convincing records.

But one of her recordings, an (5LP!) album with Bach's complete Clavierübung, i.e. including the Italian concerto, the suites and the Goldbergs, was shouted down by the critics for her pushing and pulling the music. But this "appraisal" being unknown to me, I listened with open mind and discovered a lovely and both emotionally and intellectually very sound performance, with the "pushing and pulling" strictly related to the "breathing" of the music (and differing from what we take for granted in the phrasing in these pieces, including the Goldbergs).

If this is her approach in Couperin, it might work out very well. But unfortunately the contrary might be true as well.

Hence: not knowing her Couperin, I am afraid I am unable to advise you in this.

[Sorrano]

Brucker, Rondo in c minor for string quartet.

For Bruckner & Brahms listeners , tune in for a treat on Radio 3, 7:30 this evening.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mk963

Sounds like a wonderful program! I've probably missed it already and unfortunately, would not have been able to catch it at work, anyway.

[Quijote]

To be honest: I don't know.
Blandine Verlet certainly made some IMO not really convincing records.

But one of her recordings, an (5LP!) album with Bach's complete Clavierübung, i.e. including the Italian concerto, the suites and the Goldbergs, was shouted down by the critics for her pushing and pulling the music. But this "appraisal" being unknown to me, I listened with open mind and discovered a lovely and both emotionally and intellectually very sound performance, with the "pushing and pulling" strictly related to the "breathing" of the music (and differing from what we take for granted in the phrasing in these pieces, including the Goldbergs).

If this is her approach in Couperin, it might work out very well. But unfortunately the contrary might be true as well.

Hence: not knowing her Couperin, I am afraid I am unable to advise you in this.

OK Roehre, I'll take that as a "Yes" !!!
By the way, couldn't you start up an LvB quiz like Peter did a while ago? Or even a more "general classical music" quiz? That would be fun for all of us, I assure you.

[Quijote]

What about an "A-Z" Beethoven quiz? I'll come clean and admit Roehre and I already played this on another site, but it's fun anyway. I'll also come clean and say that it can only last for about 6 or 7 rounds (certain letters posing problems). I'll come even cleaner and say Roehre won it hands down, but I'll take him on again with some new sources I have!
I'll launch it now on a new thread. I hope Michael joins in too, whatever he thinks of me. With R & M, we have no chance, but I'm a sucker for punishment.

[Roehre]

Today:

Mahler:
Symphony no.3 in d “Sommermorgentraum” (A Summer’s morning dream)
Browsing through the sketches and letters regarding this symphony, and reading the score following the music, a couple of hopefully interesting remarks:

Mahler completed the work in October 1896 by finishing the 1st mvt.
Until then, i.e, late summer early fall 1896, the Symphony was called “Symphony no.3 in F “Sommermittagstraum” (A Summer’s afternoon dream). It was at that stage that the originally planned 6th mvt was dropped, to re-emerge as the finale of the 4th symphony.

How many quotes has Mahler (un-?)consciously integrated in the 3rd?
We all mention Brahms 1st’s Finale (opening i), and Beethoven opus 135 (Finale)
But there are more, e.g.:
Wagner: Walküre: Death’s motiv (I bar 27ff and 164ff)
Mahler, Finale 2nd symphony (I bar 139ff)
Liszt: Dante symphony (I bar 168ff – the trombone solo)
Mahler ’s own “Ablösung im Sommer” and „Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen“ (III)
Haydn: Symphony 88 mvt 3 trio (III bar 111ff)
Liszt Rhapsodie espagnol (III bar 292ff)
Mozart Sonata KV331 variations (III 310ff)

[Sorrano]

Roehre, is there a specific program that these quotations adhere to? They seem to me to be quite varied, at least stylistically.

[Roehre]

Roehre, is there a specific program that these quotations adhere to? They seem to me to be quite varied, at least stylistically.

The origins may be stylistically (very) different, but within the context they don't stand out, which obviously is exactly what Mahler must have conceived in using/applying them.
They all fit well within the frame work of this Nietzschian work: the 1st mvt "Summer marching in" (death [winter] defeated: Wagner, Dante) and the 3rd mvt depicting "what the animals in the forests tell me", with Cuckoo, post horn, bird song a la finale 1 (no mentioned in my orignal posting), the Haydn quote and the optimist Spanish feeling of Liszt (and Glinka, btw).
The underlying laughing at critics (the Cuckoo again) contributes to the generally positive feeling at another level here.

In the Finale (What love tells me) there is a little passage which has strong connotations with Verdi's La Traviata (an opera about love [well, which opera doesn't, but nevertheless])

[Preston]

Mm, I don't know about that. I find that period string instruments have a kind of weaker yet harsher tone when compared to their modern equivalents. Generally speaking, I don't care too much for them as solo instruments (but I find that they can sound electrifying in ensembles). But it's also important to keep in mind that we are dealing with recorded sound here, and there is much more going into what you hear than just the instrument. The microphones used, the mic preamps used, the placement of the mics, the room in which the recording took place, and the EQ and effects used all have a massive impact on the finished sound of a recording. It sounds to me like mics were placed very close to the cello in this recording - you can hear a lot of the sound of the bow on the strings, the fingers on the strings, and breathing. It makes for a very expressive, intimate, exciting recording, I think. This doesn't always work, but I think it worked very well here.



I think these recordings are generally on the fast side, which is part of what I like about them, and what I expect you would not like! Often performances on period instruments tend to be faster, which, depending on the situation, is supposed to be more in line with the practices of the day and the intentions of the composers. Of course one must be careful not to take that too far and wind up with what Peter Jan Belder calls "Turbo Baroque"!



No, the Baroque cello is just a cello as they were in the Baroque period. It is a member of the violin family (violin, viola, cello, bass). The viola da gamba is a different instrument entirely. You can read about the viol family here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viol - and if you search around YouTube you can find some videos of people playing viols.

Chris, sorry for the delay in my response. Thank you for the information.

[Sorrano]

This morning:

Goldmark: Prometheus Bound

[Roehre]

Today:

Mahler:
Symphony no.4 in G

Maconchy:
Music for strings (1983)

[Sorrano]

This morning:

Clementi: Symphony No. 3 (Finale)

Chopin: Waltz Op. 64, No. 1 Minute

Berlioz: Rob Roy Overture

[Roehre]

Today:

Mahler:
Symphony no.5 in c-sharp

Maconchy:
Overture Proud Thames (1952)
Symphony for Double String Orchestra (1953)

2 Arte Nova CDs
Oswald von Wolkenstein and his Italian contemporaries
Minnesänger-Troubadours-Trouvères
Music from the 12th-14th centuries

[Roehre]

Today:

Mahler:
Symphony no.6 in a “Tragische”

Van Hoof:
Symphony no.2 in A-flat (1941)