What are you listening to now?

[Decrepit Poster]

Not a lot of listening since my last report. Heard this performance of Haydn's Symphony No.31 "Hornsignal". Fine horn work!

Sticking with Haydn, I heard one of my favorite bits from his "Mass in Time of War".

Did you/do you play any instrument?

Aye. I was for some years a euphoniumist, after a fashion. Lost my chops following dental work circa 1989. No great loss to music. I was never more than a flawed mediocrity. Did a bit of very light conducting (mostly patriotic and ceremonial music) for about a year during the early-mid eighties. Became halfway comfortable at it, but not for a second considered myself a "real" conductor. Even back then I knew I didn't have the ears for serious work. Adapted music of various sorts for combined brass and woodwind quintets, including several of B's military wind band works. (These were matters of necessity. The groups I belonged to never sported more than one each bassoon and oboe (and rarely more than one flute) so couldn't perform old wind pieces in their original instrumentation.) Lest ye think I toot my own horn here, I again stress than I make no pretense at being particularly good at any of this.

Most people don't have perfect pitch DP. I bet Beethoven did though!

I suspect so. Either that or supremely exceptional pseudo-absolute pitch. My money's on perfect. Which reminds me of a fond memory. Back in the dark ages, a musician friend and I were driving to or from lunch. I was in a particularly happy mood at the time and began humming a passage from one of the standard Haydn symphonies...I forget which. At some point I broke off and asked him to identify the piece. He could not. I told him. His reply: "No, that's in [key signature of the work in question]." This shows that he couldn't or wouldn't acknowledge the work when song in the wrong key and that I had no idea what key I was singing in. Getting the intervals right was good enough for me. (It's highly likely that whatever I hummed it in was somewhat off true pitch for that key.)

So many of us hearing people take our hearing for granted.To hear music truly is a gift.

I'm lucky in that my loss is not yet as great as B's. I still hear most orchestral instruments. The ones I have trouble with tend to be high pitched percussion such as triangle. There's an important triangle part near the end of Mahler's fifth symphony. I've not heard it in years. (Cranking up the volume to make it audible leads to severe distortion and ear pain.) I didn't mind so much at first, since my mind readily filled in the missing part. I nowadays find myself unable to do so. Maybe I ought to buy my own triangle and a copy of its part in the symphony so I can play along. Wouldn't that be something? LOL

[AeolianHarp]

Thanks for your interesting post DP. Yes, you could get a triangle lol.I am always fascinated how such a little thing can be heard so loudly in an orchestra.They are kind of cute.
I am glad that your hearing loss is not as extensive as Beethoven's. Wasn't that such a cruel fate for him? And he dealt with it so courageously.
Here's another treat for you DP. Pathetique on fortepiano- a great performance!

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ButtZVb4dm0[/YOUTUBE]

[AeolianHarp]

W. A. Mozart: Fantasia for harpsichord [or fortepiano] in D minor (KV 397) / F. Caldara.

One of my fave Mozart compositions- sounds stunning on harpsichord!!!

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEBXmBhY7rg[/YOUTUBE]

Now listen to this on a modern piano- what the....?! So MUCH is lost! No eerie singing of the strings- it becomes insipid and tame.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv7IXK6qbY4[/YOUTUBE]

[AeolianHarp]

The Fantasia on fortepiano:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xE1XzWYwb8[/YOUTUBE]

[Chris]

I have always loved that Mozart Fantasia too. I played it at a piano recital once, along with a Fantasia of my own that I was inspired to compose by this piece.

[AeolianHarp]

I have always loved that Mozart Fantasia too. I played it at a piano recital once, along with a Fantasia of my own that I was inspired to compose by this piece.

Hey Chris! I'd like to hear your Fantasia!

[Decrepit Poster]

I listened to all three KV397 links. Enjoyed 'em all. I know you'll ask AH, so here's my assessment, based on hearing 'em only once through except for the fortepiano, which I heard trice. Interpretively I favor the fortepiano. Sound wise, I favor the fortepiano.

Me being me, I dug out my CD of Mitsuko Uchida playing KV397 on modern piano. To keep things somewhat fair, I played it through my computer audio system. I must say the piano as played by Ms Uchida is a rewarding experience. Its sound is, in its different way, as agreeable as the linked fortepiano. I agree that the linked modern piano somewhat straitjackets the sound in an overly monochromatic matter. Not so here. Interpretively, Ms Uchida easily delivers the goods. Her conception is different from the fortepianist's but equally valid. I might prefer it, but could easily be content rotating between the two.

A fascinating aside. Ms Uchida's rendition is two minutes longer and ends differently than any of the links! Here's what the CD notes tell us ... KV397 was left, and originally published, unfinished. "The Breitkopf Gesamtausgabe 'completed' it with 10 unsuitable and perfunctory bars, which, unaccountably, have been allowed to remain in all subsequent editions." Ms Uchida chose to jettison those ten bars and round out the work by a return to its opening arpeggios, as Mozart himself does with the C minor fantasia. Read in to that what you may. It works for me.

ADDENDUM: Those wishing to hear the work with Uchida's ending may do so here.

[AeolianHarp]

She is a good pianist for sure. I quickly saw a clip of her playing this on you tube but I didn't listen to it all as I much prefer the older keyboards!
What did you think of the Pathetique?

At the moment I am listening to Ronald Brautigam, sonatas 2 and 3. Very early ones from Beethoven- but still brilliant! Different to his later ones but still great.

[Decrepit Poster]

While watching a music video (I forget which) online yesterday, I spied a link to the movie "Farinelli". Clicked it out of curiosity. It soon dawned on me that a linked excerpt from the film once graced this forum. Being late in the day, I watched only about twenty minutes, then saw the rest this afternoon. It's interesting and well make, though it smacked of unreality. Sure enough, a visit to Wikipedia confirms that the film portrays its characters quite differently from their real-life counterparts. Still, I enjoyed it.

For those not in the know, Farinelli was and is considered the greatest of castrato singers. For the film his singing voice is a combination of female soprano and male countertenor, recorded separately then merged in studio. True castrati no longer being produced, there is no audible documentation of what they really sounded like...save one. That singer is, however, past his prime, and reputedly very uncomfortable with the recording process. Still, it gets better as it progresses...and as we acclimate ourselves to a nowadays alien sound. Here's the link.

As to Farinelli the movie, several alternate postings appear at YouTube, one of which includes English subtitles.

[Harvey]

Am listening to Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Ormandy.

May as well add that after the Missa, I listened to Beethoven's violin concerto, then the first 57 minutes of Fidelio on DVD and sadly have to quit there because it is getting late.

[AeolianHarp]

Harvey, I watched the first act of my Fidelio DVD last night- it is brilliant!

DP- I clicked on the Castrato link, thanks for that. I have wondered what they sounded like and had always thought no recordings of one existed.

It was interesting but I have to say I didn't like the singing- I found it creepy, but I am glad to have heard it as this guy was a piece of musical history.Some people say his voice was in decline at that time, who knows!

I found a documentary on you tube about the Castrati- I will watch it at some point- saw a few clips of it.

I also googled Farinelli- he was friends with Mozart and Handel wanted him to come to London and sing in his operas! I wonder if we would find his singing as good as they did back then?

[AeolianHarp]

Apparently this guy is the nearest we get to hearing how a castrato would have sounded. Paulo Abel do Nascimento had an endocrine disorder which meant he didn't go through puberty:

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

And there is also Radu Marian, another one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOoy17PPHRI

You'd think Radu was female!!!!

[Harvey]

Harvey, I watched the first act of my Fidelio DVD last night- it is brilliant!

Rocco and I caught up to you. We just finished Act 1 a few minutes ago. At the same time I am working my way through Bellini's La Sonnambula opera on DVD. And I am sure when we finish Fidelio we will be ready for another trip through La Cenerentola. Besides that, I just ordered CD and DVD of Friedrich von Flotow's Martha opera.

[AeolianHarp]

Rocco and I caught up to you. We just finished Act 1 a few minutes ago. At the same time I am working my way through Bellini's La Sonnambula opera on DVD. And I am sure when we finish Fidelio we will be ready for another trip through La Cenerentola. Besides that, I just ordered CD and DVD of Friedrich von Flotow's Martha opera.

I shall watch Act 2 tomorrow- I have some groceries to get and hurry back home to get ready for tonight. I'm going to see the Escher Quartet play Beethoven's opus 130!

[Decrepit Poster]

Didn't get to do much listening yesterday. As such I confined myself to revisiting lighter works and performances of which I am particularly fond. Highlights were:

• Rossini's William Tell Overture as performed by the Cologne New Philharmonic Orchestra under Volker Hartung. For once trombones are allowed the prominence I believe they are due...especially during the storm! It is divided into two video. Here's the first.

Lover of the sound of well played horns (both natural and modern) that I am, I can't long absent myself from this adaptation of selections from Weber's Der Freischutz as performed by eight members of the Berlin Philharmonic. They are, in my opinion, the premier currently seated orchestral horn section. Stefan Dohr on first. Sarah Willis down low. No weak links in between. What more could one hope for?

This morning I heard/watched Daniel Barenboim conduct the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in the fourth movement of B's ninth symphony. I found it a decidedly good performance, but not "magical". I appreciate that Barenboim and/or his recording engineer allows to bass drum to sound properly loud in the closing section, an all to rare occurrence. (My take is that if B didn't want a loud bass drum there he wouldn't have written it.) On the other hand, there is a passage early in the movement where the fundament is laid by the low horn. Its color should, in my estimation, dominate. It doesn't. But again, as an overall performance I enjoyed it.

...I am sure when we finish Fidelio we will be ready for another trip through La Cenerentola.

The Van Stadt / Abbado filmed Cenerentola is one of my most treasured opera productions (I have it on DVD), along with Bergman's movie of Magic Flute, the Teresa Stratas / Bohm flimed Salome, and the old Furtwangler / Siepi / VPO filmed Don Giovanni. (I'm also quite partial to much of Solti's early stereo, audio only, Ring Cycle.)

AH: Sorry, I forgot to quote your recent vocal links. I've little to say at the moment but might chime in later.