What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? IV

[smittims]

I still prefer Narciso Yepes' first recording (the Decca one) to any other, for the variety of tone and expressive range of his interpretation. So far as I know, it seems to have been the first recording of the work, twenty years after its composition.

[richardfinegold]

Lalo Symphonie Espagnole, Francescatti/Mitropolous NYP.
This was actually part of an Ormandy box; the pairing on the disc is the Walton VV with Philly. The finale of the Lalo was astounding; I’ve never heard it played with such a combination of accuracy and fire by the soloist

[Master Jacques]

This is an outstanding record IMO - in the Rodrigo concerto Garcia has toppled my previous favourites Williams/Barenboim after 35 years.

I know what you mean. It's not just the delicious Tansman coupling which makes Garcia's Aranjuez disc a "keeper". For me, it finds a niche next to my own particular favourite of the Rodrigo warhorse, which happens to be Julian Bream's second recording (with Rattle and CBSO), marvellously coupled with the Arnold and Takemitsu ('To the Edge of Dream') concertos. Though his older version with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Eliot Gardiner is hardly inferior, in its various couplings. Williams/Barenboim is in the same, treasurable bracket for me, also.

[smittims]

I'd draw readers' attention to two older recordings, interpretations which in my view have not been displaced.

Lalo, Symphonie Espagnole: Alfredo Campoli, Eduard van Beinum.

Rodrigo: Julian Bream , Melos C.O. Colin Davis.

This last was praised for it searchingly profound slow movement, no dreamy escapism.

[CallMePaul]

Tippett: Piano Concerto & Symphony No. 2

Steven Osborne (piano)

London Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner

• Release Date: 29th Nov 2024
• Catalogue No: LPO-0129
• Label: LPO
• Length: 67 minutes

https://www.prestomusic.com/classica...-symphony-no-2

A little surprised to see this from Osborne, in direct competition with his Hyperion recording with the BBCSSO under Brabbins, but presumably he's not under an exclusive contract with them.

This was Andrew McGregor's Disc of the Week yesterday and it sounded fine.

[Ian Thumwood]

I think the Miles Davis / Gil.Evans Aranjuez killed off my enthusiasm for this piece. 'Sketches of Spain ' thrilled me when I first heard it but I think 'Mile's Ahead' and Porgy & Bess were more successful . The rest of rhe Spanish material on the record works better

[frankbridge]

Stockhausen: Samstag aus 'Licht'

Some Americans on Deutsche Grammophon, I suppose

I was in Berlin a while ago, and the splendid CD store on Friederich Strasse actually had the CDs on the shelves for most of the cycle of 'Licht' and I was sorely tempted, I must confess, but as they were the Verlag edition only at 110 euros a pop rather than DG, I resisted the cravings. But as Karlheinz had made it on the cover of the Beatles 'Seageants Peppers Lonely Hearts Club` I was fortunate to have friend to download the 'Samstag' for free. Sterling work!

[smittims]

Iet (Henriette) Stants: String Quartet no.2 (1921):

A remarkable achievement for an 18-year-old composer, who , I heard, three years later write to a friend that 'the life of a composer is not for me' and gave up for many years.
A pupil of Willem Pijper, her music is a little like Mahler, moving to Berg. Why she didn't follow up such a promising work remains a mystery. Incidentally , the first letter of her name is a capital 'i'.

The quartet is in four short movements, exhibiting considerable variety of expression and style, (i.e. it;s not the same music all the way through) much as Priaulx Rainier's quartet of 1939 (her first mature work) does.

[Serial_Apologist]

I think the Miles Davis / Gil.Evans Aranjuez killed off my enthusiasm for this piece. 'Sketches of Spain ' thrilled me when I first heard it but I think 'Mile's Ahead' and Porgy & Bess were more successful . The rest of rhe Spanish material on the record works better

Interestingly, Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez was cited as a cultural emblem for Franco in a R3 documentary series on music and fascism a few years ago.

[pastoralguy]

Tippett: Piano Concerto & Symphony No. 2

Steven Osborne (piano)

London Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner

• Release Date: 29th Nov 2024
• Catalogue No: LPO-0129
• Label: LPO
• Length: 67 minutes

https://www.prestomusic.com/classica...-symphony-no-2

A little surprised to see this from Osborne, in direct competition with his Hyperion recording with the BBCSSO under Brabbins, but presumably he's not under an exclusive contract with them.

I’ve been listening to this through my ‘phone at work and I’m very much looking forward to hearing it through the big Hi-Fi later this week. Superb work from the LPO fiddles in the cruel first movement!

[Ian Thumwood]

Interestingly, Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez was cited as a cultural emblem for Franco in a R3 documentary series on music and fascism a few years ago.

I did no know that but you get wierd cultural indicators such as Real Madrid being pro Franco still being mentioned today.

I have a bit of aversion towards Spanish composers and just feel that alot of it is a bit kitsch. Not aware of any other music by Rodriguez but I have been very underwhelmed by the likes of Albeniz and have to say that Mompou is no better than Einaudi. It pales in comparison when you consider music produced by other nations . I feel that Gil Evans truly elevated Spanish music with this record yet this seems like a one off. I feel that South American music is underrated and seems to be more successful. Spain has never produced a composer as great as Villa Lobos in my opinion.

I quite like some of L'Arpeggiata's reinterpretations of Spanish and South American baroque music yet I cannot escape the idea that the greatest composer from Spain was Scarlatti and he was Italian. I probably need to check out Soler too. Boccherini is yet another example if a foreigner working in Spain and eclipsing the locals.

The issue for me is that Aranjuez is the ultimate Spanish classical composition but it is the classic case of familiarity breeding contempt . The Gil Evans Sketches of Spain gave Spanish music more integrity than it deserves yet I still think it is nothing like as good as Miles Ahead.

[vinteuil]

I have a bit of aversion towards Spanish composers and just feel that a lot of it is a bit kitsch. Spain has never produced a composer as great as Villa Lobos in my opinion...

... you might like to start with Cristóbal de Morales, Francisco Guerrero, Alonso Lobo, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Luis de Milán, Alonso Mudarra, Luis de Narváez, Antonio de Cabezón, Juan Bautista José Cabanilles, Francisco Correa de Arauxo

.

[cloughie]

... you might like to start with Cristóbal de Morales, Francisco Guerrero, Alonso Lobo, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Luis de Milán, Alonso Mudarra, Luis de Narváez, Antonio de Cabezón, Juan Bautista José Cabanilles, Francisco Correa de Arauxo

.

…or even Manuel de Falla or Granados.

[smittims]

Nights in the Gardens of Spain, El Amor Brujo and the Three-cornered hat are surely more profound and substantial than most of Villa-Lobos' output. I enjoy Villa-Lobos for its vitality and colourful sonority (though Falla and Turina have at least as much of that) , but I don't find so much memorable thematic material there. Montsalvatge is also worth investigating. His Sinfonia de Requiem is a very moving work.

[Master Jacques]

Interestingly, Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez was cited as a cultural emblem for Franco in a R3 documentary series on music and fascism a few years ago.

I don't know what Radio 3 had to say, but it's important to be clear about what the Concierto de Aranjuez did and did not stand for, inside and outside Spain. It is complicated.

Inside the country, Rodrigo's music (here and elsewhere) was a perfect fit with the Franco regime's encouragement of historical neo-classicism with a modern twist, presenting a nostalgic image of Golden Age Spain as a glorious dream, through which the Spanish people - in desperate straights economically at the time - could bolster their morale. A distraction, in a sense, from nasty realities. But it has never been considered particularly emblematic inside Spain, where many other equally popular musical compositions (and films) share its nostalgic, historicist appeal.

For outsiders, the middle movement's vibrant picture of an exotic, mysterious Spain (a picture largely invented in 19th-century France) proved a great soundtrack to encourage tourists to visit Andalusia and the coastal resorts, as the regime opened up to the rest of the world. It was promoted heavily abroad, to help restore the country's bank balance - and it worked. That's why the Concierto de Aranjuez is more emblematic for foreigners than for the Spanish themselves. It was a question of capitalism, rather than Fascism.