What are you listening to now?

[Zevy]

Schubert Symphonies...

...Nikolaus Harnoncourt. In the middle of the "Great" C major symphony.
Great music!

[Sorrano]

Samale/Phillips/Cohrs/Mazzuca

You can watch here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LJuesGvtSs

Thanks, I will have to check that out as I get the opportunity.

[Sorrano]

...Nikolaus Harnoncourt. In the middle of the "Great" C major symphony.
Great music!

That is among my favorite Symphonies and a good stepping stone to Bruckner's Symphonies.

[Sorrano]

This morning, as near as I can recall what the radio announcer said, I heard Pleyel's Symphonie Concertante in D Major. I tuned in in course of the piece, so I am not sure if it was the first movement, but it sounded very much like the Prometheus theme of Beethoven.

[Zevy]

This morning, as near as I can recall what the radio announcer said, I heard Pleyel's Symphonie Concertante in D Major. I tuned in in course of the piece, so I am not sure if it was the first movement, but it sounded very much like the Prometheus theme of Beethoven.

I don't mean to promote anything here, but I found something that is most helpful when listening to a piece of music that can very accurately help identifying it. There is an app that I have on my smartphone by the name of "Shazam", that can "listen" to a few seconds of music and identify it immediately. It also saves time, as I don't have to wait for the announcer to tell me what is playing.

[Humoresque]

Well firstly things weren't the same again after the Eroica - Beethoven expanded the classical form. We could go round in circles as regards to the true heirs of Beethoven as this debate has been going for well over a century and it's no good relying on composers opinions of other composers - Tchaikovsky for instance considered Brahms a poor composer, well behind Rubinstein. (This I have never understood).

I think the influence of Beethoven's 9th on Bruckner is quite clear, but as to resembling Beethoven, well Brahms doesn't resemble Beethoven either and thank goodness as they are both unique composers with their own voice.
I'm aware of Schoenberg's evaluation of Brahms (especially in relation to rhythm) but I can't agree on the harmonic point - where in Brahms is there anything resembling the Tristan chord or Liszt's bagatelle in no key? The Walker Liszt trilogy is an excellent read.

Sir Simon Rattle has this to say in relation to Bruckner's 9th "Bruckner moved harmony forward to a stage Wagner did not dream of. Bruckner was exceedingly important to Berg. You see so much of the same harmonic world, how much they share in their music. There are certain harmonic imprints in Berg’s music which are so similar to Bruckner’s. Webern was also connected to Bruckner: he was a wonderful Bruckner conductor, to say the least. Quite different from Schoenberg, who was more attracted to Brahms."

This debate is really outside the remit of 'what are you listening to' and perhaps would be better in a separate thread?

I won't pursue this 'debate' any further except to say that, notwithstanding stretching form to its limits, Beethoven was a classical composer. And Brahms became that period's last musical caryatid.

Today I've been listening to Kleiber's incandescent "Tristan und Isolde" with the Staatskapelle Dresden from 1982 in the recording studio. It's wonderful to hear Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Kleiber's reading is intense, febrile and remarkable. I especially adore the Prelude to Act 3, at 2h 37' 33". Those growling low bass lines in the strings, followed by a delicate move upwards through the overtones (harmonic series) fill me with love and admiration. It's addictive. There is real pleasure in pain.

I have Barenboim's version with the Berliners from 1994 and it just doesn't reach the heights of Kleiber (who was widely praised for his version). In his recent book "My Life With Wagner", Christian Thielemann talks about Carlos Kleiber and refers to him as a "musical erotomaniac".

Listen for yourselves!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF4zN-Okonc

[Sorrano]

I don't mean to promote anything here, but I found something that is most helpful when listening to a piece of music that can very accurately help identifying it. There is an app that I have on my smartphone by the name of "Shazam", that can "listen" to a few seconds of music and identify it immediately. It also saves time, as I don't have to wait for the announcer to tell me what is playing.

Thanks for the heads up on that. I will have to look into that.

[Peter]

Bruckner symphony no.9 / Gunter Wand

[Sorrano]

Bruckner: Symphony No. 9, 4th Movement.

Thanks for the link, Peter! This is not a bad reconstruction!

[Harvey]

Just finished the opera Der Freischutz.

[Peter]

Just finished the opera Der Freischutz.

When's the premiere?

[Peter]

Bax - 'Spring fire symphony' - a fine work but the influence of Debussy is clear.

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

[Harvey]

When's the premiere?

Good one!

[Harvey]

Yesterday evening:

Berlin Philharmonic, Sir Simon Rattle, at Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan.

Boulez Éclat
Mahler Symphony 7

Wonderful concert!

[Zevy]

Mozart: Flute & Harp Concerto, Wolfgang Schulz [Flute], Nicanor Zabaleta [Harp], Karl Böhm/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Mozart: Clarinet Concerto, Harold Wright [Clarinet] Boston Symphony Orchestra / Seiji Ozawa