What are you listening to now?

[Peter]

Beethoven 9th symphony Ferenc fricsay/ BPO - the best recording of this work I think!

[Harvey]

Beethoven 9th symphony Ferenc fricsay/ BPO - the best recording of this work I think!

It is my favorite out of about 40 Ninths that I have.

[Peter]

Brahms Piano concerto no.1 in D minor.
Dvorak symphony no.6

[Harvey]

Bruch Violin Concerto #1, then will listen to Lalo Symphonie espagnole, followed by Vieuxtemps Violin concerto #5--all on one CD.

[Michael]

Binging on the late Beethoven quartets for the past few days.
Today it's Opus 127. The scherzo is totally off-the-wall (in the best sense).

[AeolianHarp]

Beethoven : Symphony no.2 Op.36
Chamber version for Piano trio

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

[Peter]

Elgar Enigma Variations and Cello concerto / Barenboim, Jacqueline du Pré

[hal9000]

Binging on the late Beethoven quartets for the past few days.
Today it's Opus 127. The scherzo is totally off-the-wall (in the best sense).

While not having the same forward momentum, it's always sort of reminded me of the scherzo from the 9th, even down to Beethoven hinting at starting the trio again at the end only to deceive and end the movement. Opus 135's scherzo is mental (again in the best sense). The coda to the last movement is one of Beethoven's absolute best. The seeds of impressionism.

Beethoven : Symphony no.2 Op.36
Chamber version for Piano trio

Levin's chamber version of the 4th piano concerto on the same CD is also worth checking out.

Incidentally I was listening to Levin's Mozart Piano Concerto 15 earlier on. The third movement is delightful.

[Peter]

Elgar's symphony no.2 in Eb - my favourite passage at 29' - 31' the glorious climax of the slow movement - wonderful!

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4oLNgPj8sA[/YOUTUBE]

[Harvey]

Beethoven, nine symphonies, Klemperer.

[Harvey]

Franz Berwald, Four symphonies.

[Michael]

The coda to the last movement is one of Beethoven's absolute best. The seeds of impressionism.
Opus 135's scherzo is mental (again in the best sense).

I take it that your link was referring to the coda of Opus 127. It certainly does sound impressionistic as played by the Tacaks! I've six or seven recordings of this work but I don't have that one. Methinks I may have to rectify that!
As for Opus 135, the scherzo is indeed mental and I would rank it as my favourite of all B's scherzos. The trio section is the most exhilarating music I've ever heard.

This extract describes it well:

"Then an extraordinary eruption occurs, a fortissimo section where the lower instruments are stuck in an infinite whirling loop while the first violin, berserk, goes off on an impossible tangent. This eventually spirals down to a quiet unison, where, for a brief instant one hears the four simple pitches that the movement is based on. Finally the opening section returns in all its bumptiousness."

I love every screechy discordant note of this scherzo and the infamous trio is about one minute in. There are much better versions of this movement but I put this one up because you can see the performers. I don't know how they can appear so impassive while playing this extraordinary music but I suppose it demands their utmost attention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRN99WjxmNw




.

[hal9000]

I've always liked this one

"[About the grand fugue] the fugal form is still perceptible beneath all the tumult, whereas in the trio the tumult comes divested of all art, like a bolt from the blue. However, even when Beethoven seems to have lost all self-control, and to have worked himself into the wildest frenzy, he sees the world with eyes that are as clear as ever. But he is not afraid to draw asisde the curtain that veils the abyss. He knows no fear of chaos out of which matter is made form, because he is aware of his power to give form to all his eyes have seen." - Walter Riezler, in comparing the Grosse Fuge with the trio

The moments in which Beethoven "draws aside the curtain to the abyss" are always exhilarating and sometimes pretty terrifying. Those moments are just another part of what makes Beethoven's work resonate with me. Other examples being the development section of the first movement of the third symphony, and the recap in the first movement of the 9th. "Awe-inspiring in the same way that a vision of the avenging angel would be. One's eyes would be dazzled by his radiance, even though one's heart would quake in terror." - Anthony Hopkins

[Peter]

Continuing my Elgar season: Symphony no.1. There are so many wonderful passages, but how about these two for a taster, both from the finale - 46' and the exhilarating coda 49'
In a few weeks time I shall be visiting Elgar's grave to pay my respects.

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

[Michael]

The moments in which Beethoven "draws aside the curtain to the abyss" are always exhilarating and sometimes pretty terrifying. Those moments are just another part of what makes Beethoven's work resonate with me. Other examples being the development section of the first movement of the third symphony, and the recap in the first movement of the 9th. "Awe-inspiring in the same way that a vision of the avenging angel would be. One's eyes would be dazzled by his radiance, even though one's heart would quake in terror." - Anthony Hopkins

I totally agree with you on those two examples. The development section of the first movement of the "Eroica" is as long as some early symphonies by Haydn or Mozart and it covers more tonal ground, with a huge build-up culminating in that completely right "wrong" horn entry!
Even after the real recapitulation, Beethoven still modulates wildly on the sharp and flat sides of E flat major. He's really showing off with a balancing act.
But the first movement of the Ninth really takes the crown following a weird development section where B does the opposite of the Eroica and doesn't prepare us at all for that mighty recapitulation.