What are you listening to now?

[hal9000]

Consecration of the House Overture Op. 124

Does anyone know of a recording of this piece that has a similar tempo to this, but with better clarity?

[AeolianHarp]

I also have the Op.126 Bagatelles by Schiff. They're played on a Franz Broadmann fortepiano, which is lovely. I have the CD set that also includes two versions of the Diabelli Variations played on the FB fortepiano and the other on a Bechstein piano, and for good measure Op.111. I really like Schiff - I have his sonatas which I value highly. If you haven't listened to them already, his lectures on all of the Beethoven sonatas are real gems.

On the mp3 album I have by Schiff he plays Beethoven's Broadwood.

Glad to see another fortepiano fan! The fortepiano to me brings out the emotions and colours of the music so much more.

Just listen to opus 2, no 3 on this 1790 piano- the last two movements are ohhhh...the beauty of the Adagio is stunning...the intensity of the Scherzo is powerful!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8thhPaHUh4

I also have an mp3 album of Ronald Brautigam playing this too on fortepiano ( a new Paul Mc Nulty one) and his playing is out of this world...Ronald is totally my favourite!

Yes, I have bookmarked the lectures to listen to sometime.

[AeolianHarp]

Wow listen to the first mvt of the Moonlight on a Viennese 1790 fortepiano! God, it gives me shivers- it is so atmospheric and devastating... can't you just hear the heartbreak?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-cfMzhkQfc

A modern piano cannot capture the atmosphere like this...if anyone can find one I will eat my slippers.

[hal9000]

On the mp3 album I have by Schiff he plays Beethoven's Broadwood.

Glad to see another fortepiano fan! The fortepiano to me brings out the emotions and colours of the music so much more.

Just listen to opus 2, no 3 on this 1790 piano- the last two movements are ohhhh...the beauty of the Adagio is stunning...the intensity of the Scherzo is powerful!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8thhPaHUh4

I also have an mp3 album of Ronald Brautigam playing this too on fortepiano ( a new Paul Mc Nulty one) and his playing is out of this world...Ronald is totally my favourite!

Do you happen to have a link for it? It's another I think I must add to my collection. And Badura Skoda's now by the looks of it.

I've been slowly collecting Ronald Brautigam's sonatas ever since you mentioned him in the Op. 111 thread. They are wonderful.

[AeolianHarp]

Do you happen to have a link for it?

For whom and what? The Andras Schiff on Beethoven's Broadwood?

It's another I think I must add to my collection. And Badura Skoda's now by the looks of it.

I have been downloading...got a new file of Paul now..the Moonlight is awesome!

I've been slowly collecting Ronald Brautigam's sonatas ever since you mentioned him in the Op. 111 thread. They are wonderful.

Gosh he is so brilliant isn't he! He plays Beethoven amazingly! I'm only a beginner myself but there is something in his playing that exceeds other pianists who play Beethoven- the only way I can describe it is smooth. Have you heard him play the Hammerklavier sonata?!!! OMG is all I can say.

I have seen him play Schumann's piano concerto live too.

[hal9000]

Yeah, the Schiff.

Incidentally that was the first piece of Brautigam's that I heard, and listening to Beethoven's sonatas on a fortepiano is something else, and Brautigam's playing is crystal clear.

Badura Skoda's Moonlight that you posted above sounded... fresh, which I think is saying a lot considering the cultural bastardisation of that piece.

[AeolianHarp]

Here it is:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beethovens-B...%27s+broadwood

The mp3 album doesn't seem to be there anymore- but the CD is.

Incidentally that was the first piece of Brautigam's that I heard, and listening to Beethoven's sonatas on a fortepiano is something else, and Brautigam's playing is crystal clear.

Something else indeed! I think close to how Beethoven envisioned it.

Badura Skoda's Moonlight that you posted above sounded... fresh, which I think is saying a lot considering the cultural bastardisation of that piece.

I agree...I studied this sonata on a Coursera course on his sonatas and it was nothing to do with moons and ladies in Gothic novels, the way people seem to associate it with!
The first movement is meant to be a little dark, gloomy, atmospheric and have a hazy sound- and the pedal is meant to be held down the whole time in this movement- which a modern piano fails at- it will sound muddy if you do that. The fortepiano is the right piano for this.

Here's an article on the superiority of the fortepiano for historical music:

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/ente...4849621.php#/0

New/modern is not always best!

[AeolianHarp]

And here is the last mvt of the Quasi una fantasia sonata:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qALIojn1-2Y

That bass! Notice how driving and wild it is?! The fury and passion!!!

This sonata is meant to emotionally devastate the listener, and the fortepiano allows a good pianist to do that.

[AeolianHarp]

This lady plays it really well on fortepiano too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tattSl7O-s4

[Michael]

Moonlight Sonata! Beautiful version here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZuSaudKc68

[Harvey]

A wonderful Danish soprano whom I discovered through hearing her performance in the live Handel's Messiah I recently purchased, which is performed by the Academic Orchestra and Choir in Copenhagen and conducted by Morten Topp.

[Chris]

Beethoven - Christus am Ölberge (Christ on the Mount of Olives), Op. 85

Wangenheim/Deutekom/Gedda/Sotin/Philharmonischer Chor der Stadt Bonn/Chor des Theaters der Stadt, Bonn/Orchester der Beethovenhalle, Bonn

Beethoven did not think very well of the libretto by Franz Xaver Huber, and it really isn't very good. But it communicates some of the human drama of the Agony in the Garden, and Beethoven does provide some fine musical moments. The piece is rather obscure today, although the final chorus does enjoy some popularity among church and school choirs.

[Harvey]

German Language Messiah. The link is a highlights set that I just listened to and am hooked, so I just ordered a complete set. What better combination than German language, Janowitz, and Messiah!

Meanwhile, the rest of my evening was spent listening to Beethoven's Symphonies, 1-6, Gunter Wand.

[Michael]

Beethoven - Christus am Ölberge (Christ on the Mount of Olives), Op. 85

Wangenheim/Deutekom/Gedda/Sotin/Philharmonischer Chor der Stadt Bonn/Chor des Theaters der Stadt, Bonn/Orchester der Beethovenhalle, Bonn

Beethoven did not think very well of the libretto by Franz Xaver Huber, and it really isn't very good. But it communicates some of the human drama of the Agony in the Garden, and Beethoven does provide some fine musical moments. The piece is rather obscure today, although the final chorus does enjoy some popularity among church and school choirs.

Listening to the same work today, although a different recording.
(Judith Raskin, Richard Lewis, Philadelphia Orch. Ormandy.)

This work became hugely popular in England (with different lyrics - not just a translation). The final chorus was known as Beethoven's "Hallelujah".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK-IHpN1HBs




.

[Chris]

Haydn - Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze (The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour On the Cross)

Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
Armin Jordan

I am listening to the original version for orchestra, but Haydn also adapted it for choir and orchestra and for string quartet. He also personally approved a piano version.

This is an unusual work. It was composed for the Good Friday service at Cádiz Cathedral in Spain. The bishop went up to the pulpit and pronounced the first sentence said by Jesus on the cross. Then he went and knelt before the altar. At this time there was music. Then the bishop went back up to the pulpit and pronounced the second sentence and went back to the altar and again there was music. Things continued in this manner for all seven words.

So this work contains seven musical reflections on the seven words, along with an introduction and a finale. That Haydn was able to compose a work with seven consecutive slow movements that remains engaging throughout is a testament to his brilliance. A magnificent work indeed.