What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? IV

[vinteuil]

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Lassus St Matthew Passion Theatre of Voices dir Paul Hillier

how come I had never heard this before? It is a wonder.

It was on the Finnish station yle.klassinen the other day (my replacement for R3), and I have obtained a CD.

yle.klassinen played the whole work. Sadly I cannot imagine R3 getting near

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[oliver sudden]

Boulez, Sonatine. Gazzelloni and Tudor.

Gosh this is a full-blooded rendition.

[HighlandDougie]

I don't have a recording of the first performance (January 8 1972) and didn't know it was around. Has anyone more information about this please?

There is a reference in a brief piece by Norman Kay in Tempo in 1972 to the BBC broadcasting on 12 April 1972 a recording of the first performance (8 January 1972). In fact, according to Radio Times, it was broadcast on Sunday 16 April 1972 at 12 noon (First performance of Symphony No 15 by Dmitri Shostakovich SOVIET RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA conducted by MAXIM SHOSTAKOVICH at a concert in the Moscow Conservatoire of Music on 8 January - (Soviet Radio recording).

I haven't yet discovered any further reference anywhere to the Soviet Radio recording. The Melodiya recording was made "shortly after" the 8 January performance (no date is cited in the notes accompanying the Melodiya reissue nor in the sleeve notes of the original MK issue (nor the HMV or Angel issues).

[CallMePaul]

The UK premiere of the Shostakovich Symphony No 15 was on November 20 1972 played by the New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Maxim Shostakovich. I vividly remember listening to the live broadcast on Radio 3. The National Youth Orchestra Prom took place on August 23 1973 conducted by Sir Charles Groves and I well remember the TV broadcast

When I was in my 20s I heard Sir Charles conduct the Royal Liverpool Phil in this symphony (preceded by Brahms' 1st piano concerto with Claudio Arrau as soloist. It is the only time I have heard this work live, although I have the Barshai recording on CD plus Ormandy on LP (I almost never play LPs now).

[bluestateprommer]

While the "WCMAYLTN?" threads are generally dedicated to listening to recordings rather than radio stations (internet & otherwise), I'm listening literally at the moment of this posting to WRTI's Philadelphia Orchestra Sunday concert relay, with Betsy Jolas' b tunes going on now, with Nicolas Hodges:

https://www.wrti.org/the-philadelphia-orchestra-in-concert/2025-03-24/david-robertson-conducts-works-by-bernstein-copland-betsy-jolas

WRTI presenter Melinda Whiting actually provided a 'running commentary' on the opening of b tunes, since the visual stage element was obviously missing on the radio. I would have preferred explanation beforehand rather than over the opening itself, but it is what it is.

On the recordings side, have been recently working through the CPO 4-CD reissue of orchestral works of Erich Wolfgang Korngold. A very good set and generally good listening, with some refreshingly honest commentary in the liner notes, where one reads between the lines, about why EWK has fallen through the cracks, in a way that makes the neglect both unfortunate but also understandable to some degree. (In other words, Brendan Carroll or Jessica Duchen didn't write CPO's liner notes.) Based on this set, Korngold's concert works are worth reviving beyond the Violin Concerto, but at the same time, IMVHO, Korngold is best taken in small doses, one work at a time.

[Tapiola]

A kind Forum member (I forget who, sorry) sent me a recording of the Maxim Shostakovich Melodiya LP but it got lost in a change of computer. I believe it appeared in a boxed set which was available for about 10 minutes before it disappeared and I was too slow!

Hi Petrushka. I have pm'ed you...

[richardfinegold]

I’m on vacation so listening on the phone to a Schubert Mass led by Carlo Maria Giuliani on Bavarian Radio-apparently number Six. Schubert’s liturgical music outside of Ave Maria is unknown to me.

[Stanfordian]

Johann Sebastian Bach – ‘Cantatas for Bass’ – Thomas Quasthoff
Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen (Gladly I bear the cross), BWV 56
Der Friede sei mit dir (Peace be with you), BWV 158 (1727)
Ich habe genug (I have enough), BWV 82 (1727)
Thomas Quasthoff (bass-baritone)
Members of the RIAS Kammerchor / Daniel Reuss (chorus master)
Berliner Barock Solisten / Rainer Kussmaul (direction/violin)
with Albrecht Meyer (oboe)
Recorded 2004, Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Dahlem, Berlin
Deutsche Grammophon, CD

[pastoralguy]

I’m on vacation so listening on the phone to a Schubert Mass led by Carlo Maria Giuliani on Bavarian Radio-apparently number Six. Schubert’s liturgical music outside of Ave Maria is unknown to me.

I listen to a lot of music on the ‘phone at work. Whilst hardly’Hi-Fi’ it’s amazing how involving it can be.

[Barbirollians]

I’m on vacation so listening on the phone to a Schubert Mass led by Carlo Maria Giuliani on Bavarian Radio-apparently number Six. Schubert’s liturgical music outside of Ave Maria is unknown to me.

There was an excellent Warner Classics box of Schubert Masses conducted by Sawallisch . I have got a great deal of pleasure from it .

[smittims]

'Van Beinum conducts Elgar':

Overture Cockaigne

The Wand of Youth suites 1 and 2

Cello Concerto
Elegy

early '50s Decca recordings. Some of these were the first since Elgar's,own , and they set new standards. Charlie Pini's interpretation of the concerto was widely preferred to that of Pablo Casals.

[pastoralguy]

Elgar. Symphony No.2 in Eb.

Sir Adrian Boult conducting the Scottish National Orchestra. Recorded in The Glasgow Concert Hall, 21st and 22nd of September 1963.

It’s great to see this recording finally make it to cd. I’ve listened to various LPs but I’ve yet to hear an Lp that doesn’t disappoint.

[vinteuil]

Alkan Sonata de concert in E major op 47 (Moray Welsh, cello, and Ronald Smith, piano).

This on yle.klassinen.

Unfortunately alkan in Finnish means "I'm starting", so the composer on the yle.klassinen website is rendered as I Begin.

I thought at first it might be an obscure Israeli composer...

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[smittims]

Tchaikovsky: Symphony no.4 in F minor. The Vienna Philharmonic orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwangler. HMV ALP 1025 (though my copy is a digital download).

Listening to this recording which , on paper, looks as if it should be a winner but which has always had a poor press, made me think about Tchaikovsky's reputation and worth. He has always been one of the most popular classical composers, never out of fashion among listeners , though often disparaged by professional critics. I'm finding I love his music more as I get older. This was a studio recording made in the Musikvereinsaal by Lawrence Collingwood, and , as with changes in fashion of the music,it's become fashionable to value Furtwangler's broadcast tapes more than his studio recordings. I've always felt this is too simplistic, as I feel a studio recording often has aspects a live performance lacks, in care and attention to detail. .

[vinteuil]

... Tchaikovsky's reputation and worth. He has always been one of the most popular classical composers, never out of fashion among listeners , though often disparaged by professional critics. I'm finding I love his music more as I get older.

I just find all the heart-on-sleeve emoting tiresome

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