What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? IV

[gradus]

Beethoven PC3, Glen Gould/ Paul Paray, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, live recording
listening to I, sounds very straightforward, Gould playing Beethoven cadenza with aplomb

Gould here too in Brahms, his extraordinarily beautiful and deeply romantic approach to the late piano works should imv be more widely known.

[richardfinegold]

Gould here too in Brahms, his extraordinarily beautiful and deeply romantic approach to the late piano works should imv be more widely known.

I am not a fan of GG in Bach, but the two Beethoven Concertos with Paray were really good so I might try the Brahms

[smittims]

I bought the LP of Gould's Brahms Intermezzi when it was released in the UK about 1973 I think, and enjoyed it very much; I played the CD a few days ago.

. Some of his tempi are controversial of course, and in time I came to prefer Julius Katchen, but Gould's interpretations are very carefully considered. His disc of the four Ballades which appeared a few years later is also fine.

[richardfinegold]

The PJBE's Argo discs were virtually unchallenged in their field during the 1970s. I especially enjoyed 'Brass Now and Then', a deliberate pun as side one was 18th century and side 2 twentieth. We often played Gunther Schuller's Symphony for Brass and Percussion as a demonstration disc in the shop where I pretended to work at the time.

Today's choice, Brahms' second symphony, conducted by Pierre Monteux: his third of his four recordings, each made with a different orchestra, this one the Vienna Philhamonic. He takes the repeat in the first movement , extending it to 20 minutes. Oddly, although he said Brahms was his favourite composer, he never recorded any of the other three symphonies.

The Monteux Brahms Third was with the Boston Symphony, recorded in Edinburgh in 1956. It's available from Presto in a 4 CD collection called the Richard Itter collection, I’m presuming that the head of Lyrita must have taped this personally

[smittims]

Yes, you're right. Its available ithe UK as part of a 4-CD ICA set of Monteux broadcasts.

[richardfinegold]

More Monteux . Pristine Audio has 4 Boston SO tapes from Tanglewood, all recorded in stereo. I listened to first of these last night, from 1958. I subscribe to their streaming service and will be definitely seeking out the concerts from subsequent summers until Monteux died.
The 1958 concert is actually over 2 hours (one hopes for the sake of the elderly conductor that it must of been a relatively cool Western Massachusetts summer night). It started with a vey brassy work by Milhaud, Prelude from Eumenides. Then there are the Debussy Nocturnes, Ravel La Valse, Beethoven Lenore/3 and Prometheus extracts, and finally the Beethoven VC with Berl Senovsky.
I could do without the Milhaud, but the rest was very good. These forces recorded the Debussy in stereo so presumably contemporaneous with this concert. The live account adds some juice, particularly in last two. La Valse brings the house down with deservedly sustained applause.
I haven’t heard Leonore 3 Overture for a bit, but this was a rouser, reminding me of why it excited me so much as a teenager . I usually don’t care for the Prometheus overture but this was as good as it gets.
Senovsky was completely unknown to me but is absolutely first rate. Reminds me a bit of Francescatti with a fast vibrato and spot on intonation. I had never heard Monteux conduct an Beethoven concerto so this is a real treat.
Typing this makes me realize that Hindemith Noblissima Visione was also on the program. The Pristine app must of skipped right over it.
The sound, considering it the source , a 65 year old FM tape, recorded live with what was a young technology, is very good. There is some climax distortion, most prominent in the concerto (which makes me wonder if the usual practice of over amplifying a solo violin makes the rest of the orchestra more vulnerable to sounding a bit like being pushed to the back of a toothpaste tube). The Pristine notes for the subsequent Monteux issues seem to indicate that the source tapes improved each year as the engineers were on a learning curve

[smittims]

Sorry you didn't care for the Milhaud, he's a favourite of mine. This is the first I've heard of Monteux conducting Hindemith, another favourite.

My last piece was Delius' Suite for Violin and Orchestra, a souvenir of his days in Danville Virginia , a slight but charming work, played by Tasmin Little with the BBC Philharmonic and Sir Andrew Davis, who made some fine Delius recordings in the later part of his career, not least the choral works such as Song of the High Hills and Appalachia.

[Pulcinella]

In preparation for next week's BaL:

Shostakovich
Symphony 5
National Symphony Orchestra
Rostropovich

This 1982 recording is a watershed, according to Frolova-Walker/Walker.

[Ian Thumwood]

The more familiar Milhaud is excellent but when I explored his music further, I was really underwhelmed. Some of the piano works like the Household Muses are almost pointless. He is more interesting for the orchestral work and chamber work.

Of Les Six, Poulenc always seemed the best although I am intrigued by Tailleferre although I have not heard much if her music. What does perplex me is that they are all seen as the musical descendants of Satie who I cannot take serious and consider lightweight and frivilous. I think there is sometimes a simular fun element in Milhaud but there is just too much of the latter's music that is ordinary at best. I suppose he is a bit like Martinu who can be brilliant whilst also churning out masses to mediocre music. As with Milhaud, I wish I could like his music more but so much is unremarkable. It is a shame as music from the first half of 20th century was otherwise so rich.

[Jazzrook]

Following Radio 3’s Sunday Feature on Undine Smith Moore(7/7/2024) I discovered this impressive performance of ‘Chamber Music from the African Continent and Diaspora’:

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=bKc2qisngVk

JR

[silvestrione]

In preparation for next week's BaL:

Shostakovich
Symphony 5
National Symphony Orchestra
Rostropovich

This 1982 recording is a watershed, according to Frolova-Walker/Walker.

It certainly was for me, changed my view of the work for ever. Though I am thinking of a late night broadcast with the same forces, on R3 in the 80s (I think). I have the LSO Rostropovich recording.

[smittims]

Magnus Lindberg's Viola Concerto, on last night's TTN. I thought the orchestration was a bit heavy for a viola concerto, and I expect Lawrence Power did too, but overall it was a much pleasanter and more accessible work than I was expecting.

Ian , you say you wished you enjoyed Milhaud more. Well, I suggest you try listening to it more carefully. From what you say so far about Mihaud and Satie it looks as if you're not really listening. The idea that Satie is just a joker is a very outdated view of his music. Ravel and Debussy, for instance, both realised that his approach to composition was a seriously original step. Charles Ives was similarly misunderstood for the same reason.

[AuntDaisy]

Venice Baroque's 2012 "L'Olimpiade", a pasticcio of music from 16 composers - in preparation for Mark Seow's Early Music Show "Metastasio's Olimpiade" on Saturday.
Very lively & enjoyable, Opera Today compared Metastasio's plot to “Carry on up the Olympics”.

Act 1
Leonardo Leo Sinfonia
Johann Adolf Hasse Aria (Megacle) Superbo di me stesso
Baldassare Galuppi Aria (Licida) Quel destrier, che all'albergo e vicino
Giuseppe Sarti Aria (Argene) Oh care selve, oh cara felice liberta!
Josef Myslivecek Aria (Clistene) Del destin non vi lagnate
Giovanni Paisiello Aria (Aristea) Tu di saper procura
Davide Perez Aria (Argene) Piu non si trovano
Antonio Vivaldi Aria (Licida) Mentre dormi
Florian Leopold Gassmann Duo (Megacle, Aristea) Ne' giorni tuoi felici

Act 2
Antonio Caldara Aria (Aristea) Grandi, e ver, son le tue pene
Tommaso Traetta Aria (Argene) Che non mi disse un di
Johann Adolf Hasse Aria (Aminta) Siam navi all'onde algenti
Tommaso Traetta Chorus (tutti) Del forte Licida
Niccolò Jommelli Aria (Clistene) So ch'e fanciullo Amore
Luigi Cherubini Aria (Megacle) Se cerca, se dice 'L'amico dov'e?'
Leonardo Leo Aria (Aristea) Tu me da me dividi
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi Aria (Argene) No, la speranza piu non mi alletta
Baldassare Galuppi Aria (Licida) Gemo in un punto, e fremo

Act 3
Niccolò Piccinni Aria (Aristea) Caro, son tua cosi
Niccolò Piccinni Aria (Megacle) Lo seguitai felice
Davide Perez Aria (Argene) Fiamma ignota nell'alma mi scende
Johann Adolf Hasse Aria (Aminta) Son qual per mare ignoto
Johann Adolf Hasse Chorus (tutti) I tuoi strali terror de' mortali
Domenico Cimarosa Aria (Clistene) Non so donde viene
Johann Adolf Hasse Chorus (tutti) Viva il figlio delinquente

[Pulcinella]

Lined up for later, the new BBC MM CD, which arrived this morning, including a work by a composer whose name is new to me: Fazil Say.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fazıl_Say

Bartók: Violin sonata 1
Say: Violin sonata 1
Ravel: Tzigane
Waxman: Carmen Fantasie

Geneva Lewis (violin), Evren Ozel (piano: Bartók and Say), Sam Armstrong (piano, Ravel), Ryan Corbett (accordion, Waxman)

[richardfinegold]

Magnus Lindberg's Viola Concerto, on last night's TTN. I thought the orchestration was a bit heavy for a viola concerto, and I expect Lawrence Power did too, but overall it was a much pleasanter and more accessible work than I was expecting.

Ian , you say you wished you enjoyed Milhaud more. Well, I suggest you try listening to it more carefully. From what you say so far about Mihaud and Satie it looks as if you're not really listening. The idea that Satie is just a joker is a very outdated view of his music. Ravel and Debussy, for instance, both realised that his approach to composition was a seriously original step. Charles Ives was similarly misunderstood for the same reason.

Satie was very innovative harmonically. He was quirky, but his music has real substance.