What Classical Music Are You listening to Now? III

[Bryn]

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op. 13, 14/1, 14/2 and 22 (Tobias Koch) fortepiano by Johann Gottlieb Fichtl. Vienna, 1803, from the "In search of new paths" triple album:



which was delivered today.

There are those here who would wince at the buzzing stop employed near the opening of the Rondo: Allegro of the Pathétique.

[Mandryka]

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op. 13, 14/1, 14/2 and 22 (Tobias Koch) fortepiano by Johann Gottlieb Fichtl. Vienna, 1803, from the "In search of new paths" triple album:



which was delivered today.

There are those here who would wince at the buzzing stop employed near the opening of the Rondo: Allegro of the Pathétique.

Well I checked out the variations in op 26 and it’s every bit as creative as D959. The way the voices are staggered, the way the phrases are ornamented - all totally freely I think.

Rübsam and Koch are both really exploring ways of presenting contrapuntal music on a keyboard instrument. I think they would approve of each other.

A few days ago I compared Koch to Bezuidenhout’s Sturm und Drang Mozart CD - that’s not fair. Koch is far bolder than Bezuidenhout.

(Ooo - the funeral march has started.)

[BBMmk2]

Back to this after several years.....

Glorious record! My joint favourite with Donohoe/Rattle.
A recording of stunning realism and tonal brilliance, with performances that demand your focussed attention...then invite your imagination to fly free.....all from the very fondly-remembered Studio 7 in Manchester. How many albums do we all have from there, I wonder?





Bartók: Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 2 & 3

Gianandrea Noseda, BBC Philharmonic, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

• Released on 01/09/2010. Chandos CD.

Most excellent recordings!

[BBMmk2]

David Zinman conducts Beethoven
Symphonies Nos.1-9
Tonhalle Orchestra
David Zinman.

[Stanfordian]

Richard Strauss
Sonatina No. 2 for winds ‘Happy workshop’ Op. posth. (1945/46)
Wind Serenade, Op. 7 (1881)
Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble / George Vosburgh
Recorded 2019, Kresge Theatre, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Reference Recordings, new CD release

[Mario]

ELGAR SIR E

CC in E min Op 85

Comparing

New S O – Harrison B – Elgar Sir E
RPO – Cohen R – Mackerras Sir C

Mario

[Bryn]

Now, Sonatas 12 to 15, (fortepiano by Nanette Streicher, Vienna, 1816):

delightfully creative exploitation of the instrument's colours, etc.

[RichardB]

Is this the best performance of the Goldberg Variations I've ever heard? I can't think of a better one.

[visualnickmos]

ELGAR SIR E

CC in E min Op 85

Comparing

New S O – Harrison B – Elgar Sir E
RPO – Cohen R – Mackerras Sir C

Mario

Forgive my ignorance, but what is CC?

[Bryn]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is CC?

Cello Concerto. Surely the soloists were a giveaway?

[Mandryka]

It’s certainly one of the most poetic, rapt and meditative AoFs I’ve heard on a modern piano. Lots of utterly pointless dynamic variation. But they all do that.

[Serial_Apologist]

Is this the best performance of the Goldberg Variations I've ever heard? I can't think of a better one.

In playing the main theme he pulls at the beat in the way a jazz pianist would a slow ballad, though. Is this "legitimate"?

[RichardB]

In playing the main theme he pulls at the beat in the way a jazz pianist would a slow ballad, though. Is this "legitimate"?

Jazz pianists didn't invent this kind of rhythmic flexibility, it's idiomatic in the tradition (both French and Italian) that Bach's music had evolved from, and also idiomatic to the instrument, since its lack of dynamic variability means that rubato and ornamentation are crucial for giving shape to the music. Rondeau is quite unusual in adding more ornamentation to the repeat of the theme than Bach had already written into it, but his rhythmical approach to the Variations isn't particularly extreme by the standards of historically informed performance of baroque music. One thing I particularly like about his interpretation is that he often adopts relatively slow tempi in order to give space to the sounds and their interrelationships, rather than treating the Variations as a virtuoso showpiece - it's actually more of a compositional showpiece, I would say.

[jayne lee wilson]

One of the most timbrally and musically engaging and (shock news...) elegantly played in another ear-opening series.....9 comes across wonderfully well in an aptly intimate acoustic....
Everyone listens and responds closely to each other. The big full horns are a joy throughout.


Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 9, 10 & 11

Arthur Schoonderwoerd, Cristofori

• Released on 17/02/2017 by Accent
• QOBUZ LOSSLESS

[Joseph K]

Beethoven 8 - Les Concert des Nations/Savall

Mozart - 12 Variations on 'Je suis Lindor' in E flat major K.354, Sonata in G major K.283, Fantastia in D minor K.397 - Kristian Bezuidenhout - fortepiano