What classical music did you listen to today?

[JHC]

I thought it would be quite a change to revert back to the original purpose of this thread and actually say some thing interesting and even thought provoking about what you have been listening to as opposed to lists etc, no offence intended to anyone. what are your thoughts.

Have you been listening to any classical music today? If so, what was it, who wrote it, who performed it, and what were your thoughts about it? You may list as many works as you like, and any details you like.

I was busy teaching today, so I listened to a student of mine play Chopin`s Waltz in a minor, op. posth. Very nice work, one of Chopin`s easier works besides some of his Preludes; his ornamentation is good, and he does well with dynamics; needs to bring out the r.h. melody a bit more though.

Later I listened to excerpts from Bach`s b minor mass- one word- wow. :grin:

 

[White Knight]

Dmitri Shostakovich--Symphony No.11 in G Minor, Op.103 {"The Year 1905"}, featuring Mstislav Rostropovich and the London Symphony Orchestra. Gives one a sense of building doom and dread as to what will occur shortly regarding the horrific massacre of innocent, unarmed people by the tsar's army at the Winter Palace.
Bohuslav Martinu--Symphonies 3 and 4, both traversed by the Neeme Jarvi led Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.
Jean Sibelius--Symphony No.1 in E Minor, Op.39 and Symphony No.4 in A Minor, Op.63. The latter symphony reflects a particularly bleak juncture in Sibelius' life--especially in the work's beginning--but has always struck me as ending with a somewhat triumphant--though at the same time--ambivalent coda.

 

[White Knight]

I thought it would be quite a change to revert back to the original purpose of this thread and actually say some thing interesting and even thought provoking about what you have been listening to as opposed to lists etc, no offence intended to anyone. what are your thoughts.

@ Colin. Great idea, so why don't you lead the way and give us some examples of how you'd describe and react to some of the works you're listening to? :wave:

 

[JHC]

Thanks Steve, I am just about to have my music hour before bed so I will post tomorrow, it is a good way to finish the day I intend to revisit Mozart not sure what to play yet but it will be accompanied by a glass or two of red.:grin:

 

[White Knight]

Thanks Steve, I am just about to have my music hour before bed so I will post tomorrow, it is a good way to finish the day I intend to revisit Mozart not sure what to play yet but it will be accompanied by a glass or two of red.:grin:

Colin, Here's to hoping you enjoy both the music and your libations. :alc:
And, just in case the red doesn't "work", you can always turn to the white! :lol:

 

[JHC]

Well I started off with the best of intentions ‘a night of Mozart’ and selected a very well known piano sonata K.331. Played by a great pianist Murray Perahia he is from New York (The Bronx) b.1947 and has a very strong nasal accent (is that a normal Bronx accent?) but his playing is superb I have posted a link to the third mov Rondo “alla turca” everyone knows this and from what I understand is not a technically difficult piece, played here by Mitsuko Uchida IMO not as good as Perahia but still very good. I could not find Perahia's version on Youtube.....

That was the extent of the Mozart session because I remembered that sometime in the 90s Perahia injured his thumb which stopped his playing and had quite a long road to recovery during which he started to study and play Bach as a form of therapy and now has the great man added to his repertoire, I have his recording of the “English Suites” 1, 3 and 6. which filled in the rest of the evening another very good boxed set are his Beethoven Concertos. Off for a cuppa …chow!



Murray Perahia

 

[White Knight]

On Spotify:

Pyotr Chaikovskii--Symphony No.1 in G Minor, Op.13 {"Winter Dreams"}; Symphony No.2 in C Minor, Op.17 {"Little Russian"} and Symphony No.3 in D, Op.29 {"Polish"}. All three works feature the Eugene Ormandy led Philadelphia Orchestra. These three of Tchaikovsky's earliest symphonies are amongst my favorites of his symphonic output. I believe I am in the minority in this opinion, but I find all three to be emotionally rousing and inspirational. And on a frigid night like this, the First Symphony fits the weather--and my current mood--just perfectly.
William Walton--Symphony No.2, traversed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under John Pritchard. I am still sort of neutral about Walton and his symphonic oeuvre, as it does not--at least to my ears--seem to have a lot of passion or thematic drive. But I do intend to give him some more listens.
Dmitri Shostakovich-- Symphony No.11 in G Minor, Op.103 {"The Year 1905"}, ​once again featuring the RLPO, this time with Vasily Petrenko at its helm. One of my favorites by Shostakovich, with its beautiful elegiac themes and no breaks between movements.

 

[White Knight]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart--Symphony No.39 in E-Flat Major, K.543; Symphony No.40 in G Minor, K.550 and Symphony No.41 in C Major, K.551 {"Jupiter"}.
All three works feature Herbert von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart--Symphony No.40 in G Minor, K.550 and Symphony No.41 in C Major, K.551 {"Jupiter"},
both performed by the Prague Chamber Orchestra under Sir Charles Mackerras.
Gustav Mahler--Symphony No.6 in A Minor {"Tragic"} and Symphony No.9 in D,
both featuring Maestro Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic. I love Bernstein's "over the top" readings of Mahler and Tchaikovsky, and feeling in a kind of tragic frame of mind myself today, both he and Gustav are balm for my tortured soul.
Joseph Haydn-- Symphony No.24 in D Major; Symphony No.30 in C Major {"Alleluja"} and Symphony No.31 in D Major. ​All three symphonies feature Dennis Russell Davies and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. Nothing like a little pinch of Papa to raise one's spirits again.

 

[JHC]

Steve your mention of Tchaikovsky had me searching the shelves not for symphonies but for his chamber works (St Qt) which are so Russian in texture and very melodic. I thought I would post a bit of his sextet, I know you are a symphony man but these just may convert you :grin:

The String Sextet in D minor "Souvenir de Florence", Op. 70, is for 2 violins, 2 violas, and 2 cellos composed in 1890 by Tchaikovsky The work is in the traditional four-movement form, titled "Souvenir de Florence" as it was composed in Florance [funny that] premiered in 1892.

Here it is performed by a sextet from the music for one foundation which brings the performiong arts to children world wide. A link for anyone that is interested in this foundation http://www.linkedin.com/company/music4one

The Sextet
Just the last two movements any one with an gram of music in their body will be tapping their foot.

I will not comment on this performance but I have it performed by the “Borodin Quartet augmented with Youri Bashmet Viola and Natalla Gutman Cello they give an electric performance, the best that I have heard.

 

[White Knight]

Colin, Thanks. You are certainly right about my being a "symphony man", but I shall definitely listen to your posted links; you might have won a convert after all! Much obliged for your time and effort.

 

[White Knight]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart--Symphony No.38 in D major, K.504 {"Prague"} and Symphony No.39 in E-Flat Major, K.543,
both traversed by the Sir Charles Mackerras led Prague Chamber Orchestra. After all of Mahler's "Sturm und Drang", was in the mood for something a little lighter, but still substantial enough to hold my interest.
Sir William Walton--Symphony No.1 in B-Flat Minor,
featuring Andre Previn and the LSO. Giving this very popular British composer another whirl; still haven't "gotten" him the way I do Ralph Vaughan Williams, at least not yet.
Ludwig Van Beethoven--Symphony No.3 E-Flat Major, Op.55 {"Eroica"} and Symphony No.8 in F Major, Op.93,
both precisely and cleanly traversed by the Cleveland Orchestra under Maestro Szell. Nothing like some good old Ludwig Van to
cleanse one's soul.
Joseph Haydn--Symphony No.38 in C Major {"Das Echo"}; Symphony No.58 in F Major and Symphony No.35 in B-Flat Major. All three symphonies feature Dennis Russell Davies and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. First listens to all these works.

 

[White Knight]

Sir William Walton--Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in B Minor, performed by Jascha Heifetz and the Philharmonia Orchestra under Walton's baton. Although there is no denying that Heifetz is a master of his chosen instrument, overall--as with his for some reason Walton still hasn't "struck a chord" with me yet, and perhaps never will. I most enjoyed the third movement of the concerto, which in places had echoes of Vaughan William's London Symphony.
Dmitri Shostakovich--Symphony No.12 in D Minor {"1917"}, ​featuring Evgeny Mravinsky and the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. One thing for sure that Shostakovich can never be charged with is not being "over the top" with some of his symphonies, this one most definitely included.

 

[White Knight]

Benjamin Britten-4 Sea Interludes from the opera Peter Grimes, Op.33, featuring Leonrad Bernstein and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Ralph Vaughan Williams--The Wasps and Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, ​both performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Christopher Seaman.

 

[White Knight]

Dmitri Shostakovich--Symphony No.1 in F Minor, Op.10 and Symphony No.7 in C Major, Op.60 {"Leningrad"}, both rousingly performed by the Leonard Bernstein led Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The Leningrad is especially well done and heart-felt.
Gustav Mahler--Symphony No.7 in E Minor and Symphony No.5 in C-Sharp Minor,
once again featuring Maestro Bernstein, this time leading the New York Philharmonic.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart-- Symphony No.35 in D Major, K.385{"Haffner"}; Symphony No.36 in C Major, K.425 {Linz"} and Symphony No.38 in D Major, K.504 {"Prague"}. ​All three works feature the Berliner Philharmoniker under Maestro Karajan.

 

[cjvinthechair]

Hello - new to this site; don't know whether this is the sort of post you want to have....if not, no doubt will soon discover !
Am 'into' more unusual music, & am acquiring, on disc or download, a decent collection. Enjoy, on cold, boring evenings when I'm doing something mindless like, at present, transferring downloads to a second external hard drive, a concert from my collection, usually given some sort of theme to make selection a little easier !
Tonight, since the next transfer involves composers starting with 'E', thought I'd select music from the last group to be done - so, some 'D' music for a rainy Friday:
Ingolf Dahl - The Tower of Saint Barbara
Ikuma Dan - Symphony no. 3
Marc-Andre Dalbavie - Flute Concerto
Rihards Dubra - Mass Signum Magnum

If you tolerate me on the site, you'll find there's (almost) always a choral piece, or 2, at the heart of my listening !
Any (reasonably polite !) thoughts on the post/music welcome.
Clive.

 

[JHC]

Greetings cjv how about posting a brief example from your collection

 

[White Knight]

Ralph Vaughan Williams--Symphony No.4 in F Minor and Symphony No.6 in E Minor, both featuring Sir Adrian Boult and the New Philharmonia Orchestra. The Sixth for me always serves as a sort of "gateway" directly into his Seventh {"Sinfonia Antartica"}, adumbrating some of the same wonder--and terror--one can discern in the latter.
Antonin Dvorak--Symphony No.6 in D Major, Op.60; Symphony No.2 in B-Flat Major, Op.4 and Symphony No.4 in D Minor, Op.13. All three symphonies are performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under Witold Rowicki. I find Dvorak 6 to be on a par with his Seventh, Eighth and Ninth {"New World"}, all very powerful and compelling works, and amongst my favorites by him.
Felix Mendelssohn--Symphony No.1 in C Minor, Op.11 and Symphony No.5 in D major, Op.107 {"Reformation"}. ​Heard the latter symphony whilst driving on WQXR yesterday, and suddenly realized what a truly melodic piece it really is. At first I thought it might be by a British composer, but then narrowed it down to Mendelssohn just before the announcer came on after it had ended.

 

[White Knight]

Carl Nielsen--Symphony No.4, Op.29 {"Inextinguishable"} and Symphony No.5, Op.50, ​both traversed by the Ole Schmidt led London Symphony Orchestra.These are two of Nielsen's stormiest symphonies, guaranteed to get one's blood boiling to a fever pitch. They are simply awesome works, and I love them dearly!
Jean Sibelius--Symphony No.1 in E Minor, Op.39 and Symphony No.4 in A Minor, Op.63. Both works feature Paavo Berglund and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

 

[cjvinthechair]

Greetings cjv how about posting a brief example from your collection

Hello, Mr.(?) JHC ! Not sure what you have in mind - my downloads are almost all from YT (yes, I realize that might excommunicate me to start with !), or classical-music-online. My downloading skills aren't great, but I'd have absolutely no idea how to upload, unless it's just giving a link.
Don't imagine you just mean more samples of the sort of music I'm building a collection of, so.....happy to cooperate/compare notes etc. if that's what you mean & not beyond my technical idiocy, but clarification welcome.
Thanks. Clive.

 

[JHC]

@ Clive, no problem mate stay with what you are comfortable with, the uploading will come to you in time.