What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? III

[Petrushka]

I founds the Proms performance good rather than totally inspired while the Czech Orchestra really delivers on CD. I found the end so moving with the organ contribution judged to perfection.

[Bryn]

That Mahler cycle is available to view on the RCO website. Here is the 9th with Haitink https://www.concertgebouworkest.nl/e...-symphony-no-9

By the way, if anyone is looking for the Kerstmatinees DVD boxed set, there appears to be a single copy available at amazon.de for €41.37 with free p&p within Germany, or plus p&p to other countries. Just search for Kerstmatinees in the DVD section.

[Alison]

By the way, if anyone is looking for the Kerstmatinees DVD boxed set, there appears to be a single copy available at amazon.de for €41.37 with free p&p within Germany, or plus p&p to other countries. Just search for Kerstmatinees in the DVD section.

Good steer Nethersage. I cannot recommend this set highly enough!

[Arnold Bax]

Now:

Graham Fitkin:

Hook, Mesh, Stub, and Cud

Ensemble Bash

Icebreaker

Delta Saxophone Quartet

John Harle Band

Decca Argo 440 216-2ZH

Groovy tunes for a late night

[Bryn]

Good steer Nethersage. I cannot recommend this set highly enough!

What I had previously failed to notice is that there is also a Decca CD boxed set of the Kerstmatinees recordings. Bit more pricey than the DVDs.

[Beef Oven!]

Hector Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
London Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez

I'm actually preferring it to my HIPsters (JEG & Norry)

[Petrushka]

Hmm, I was disappointed in that but I'll have to listen again to see if I think the same after the intervening 11 months. I only gave it the one listen and have never been prompted to return to it. If I remember rightly I thought it lacked voltage.

Played the Pathetique tonight for the first time since my initial hearing last November and it's much better than I remembered. Perhaps I felt out of sorts that day or, more likely, had one of the many appalling colds that plagued me for most of last winter. Whatever, it was, I'd recommend all reviewers give a disc two auditions before rushing into print!

This Pathetique doesn't really lack voltage but, then again, it doesn't have the febrile intensity of a Mravinsky either. The Czech Philharmonic play very well with their distinctive horn sound and superb strings but I could have done with a lot more heft from the percussion, especially the cymbals who are disappointingly backward in the sound picture (this is a worse fault in the Romeo and Juliet coupling). Mercifully, this problem doesn't afflict the Manfred in volume 2. So, a long way from the worst Pathetique out there and if collecting this CPO/Bychkov series you'll certainly want it. I'd say try before you buy if you can.

[Bryn]

Hector Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
London Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez

I'm actually preferring it to my HIPsters (JEG & Norry)

Don't forget to check out their Lelio too.

[Beef Oven!]

Don't forget to check out their Lelio too.

I am listening to it right now!!! The Symphony having just finished!!! - great call, Bryn

[Bryn]

I am listening to it right now!!! The Symphony having just finished!!! - great call, Bryn

Are you playing discs from "The Complete Columbia Album Collection"? I get a bit miffed at the way one has to use the book to navigate to the right disc for some recordings. The slip cases themselves often carry bogus listings. The Adagio from Mahler's 10th being a case in point.

[Beef Oven!]

Are you playing discs from "The Complete Columbia Album Collection"? I get a bit miffed at the way one has to use the book to navigate to the right disc for some recordings. The slip cases themselves often carry bogus listings. The Adagio from Mahler's 10th being a case in point.

From the Sony CD that you pictured (that I ripped to my library). But I have the complete Columbia recordings too, as you'd expect.

[HighlandDougie]

What I had previously failed to notice is that there is also a Decca CD boxed set of the Kerstmatinees recordings. Bit more pricey than the DVDs.

If this is it:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01HV9BD8A/sr=1-1-fkmr0/qid=1507500573/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1507500573&sr=1-1-fkmr0

it's worth every penny. I bought a copy in Hong Kong earlier this year and have greatly enjoyed it. The RCO/BluRay Mahler symphony set also includes BH conducting the 9th - is that the same as the performance referred to earlier?

[Bryn]

If this is it:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01HV9BD8A/sr=1-1-fkmr0/qid=1507500573/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1507500573&sr=1-1-fkmr0

it's worth every penny. I bought a copy in Hong Kong earlier this year and have greatly enjoyed it.

The CDs are likely to offer better audio quality since the DVDs only have lossy data compressed AC3 or DTS on offer.

The RCO/BluRay Mahler symphony set also includes BH conducting the 9th - is that the same as the performance referred to earlier?

That is the set referred to. I have it on Blu-ray. Is there also a basic DVD option?

[Lat-Literal]

Russia - Part 2

Those born between 1891 and 1914. This includes Lourie's remarkable "Concerto Spirituale", albeit with poor sound quality, and Obukhov's "The Third and Last Testament", one of the first pieces to include electronics. Khrennikov is omitted for being unapologetically Stalinist and so too Ornstein as his origins were really Ukrainian and he was effectively an American. Also, there is no Shostakovich or Khachaturian here for the reason that they are obvious and there are no Tcherepnins as I have been ploughing that particular furrow for a while.

Alexander Mosolov - Tractor's Arrival at the Kolkhoz - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptgKwz7-Ej0
Vissarion Shebalin - Five A Cappella Choruses - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGu6ijMEmPc
Arthur-Vincent Lourié - Concerto Spirituale - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtDdBbHuXYA
Ivan Wyschnegradsky - Sonata for Violin & 2 Pianos - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-Qk43FStjo

Vaivara Gaigerova - Suite for Viola and Piano Op 8 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHkmhwkEstE
Igor Markevitch - Cantique d'Amour - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1qsTRSwO4c
Nikolai Golovanov - Mercy of Peace - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_U_u4jZxzs
Dmitry Kabalevsky - Childrens' Music - Piano Pieces - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctBZiZMz5A4

Evgeny Golubev - Piano Concerto No 1 in A minor - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zfFPtr44Ug
Alexander Veprik - Kaddish Op 6 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEQP8arJLmU
Gavriil Popov - Symphony No. 6 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2coPLN9WPtw
Nikolai Obukhov - The Third and Last Testament - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOTRsrk5rH8

[Arnold Bax]

Brian Eno:

Ambient 1: Music for Airports

Virgin Records (can't find the catalogue number, it's just so laid back, but a wonderful introduction to the working week