What are you listening to?

[fergus]

A simply splendid CD!

That one was the first of the Vivaldi series from Naive that I bought. It was a bit too much for me at the time but now that I've gotten into some cantatas from the likes of Bach, Telemann and Weckmann, I ought to go back to this disc soon.

I think that you should find the Cantatas of Vivaldi less "heavy" and more accessible than JSB's Dave.

[fergus]

I had never heard of the Cluyten's set until you mentioned it. I have the Zinman & Vänskä sets in my basket. Perhaps I should drop one in favour of the Cluyten's then? And yes I do love Beethoven's Second Symphony.

I do not know the Vänskä set Seán so I cannot comment on it but I have the Zinman set almost since it was first issued and although it is a very good cycle I rarely play it any more....others have long since overtaken it in my collection. In relation to the Cluytens set it has consistently good performances in the big band, bold and assertive performance mode and it would certainly be the one that I would now recommend to anyone just coming to Beethoven and wanting to explore his symphonies....they will certainly get a sense of the power of his music and personality....just my opinion.

[fergus]

Schumann – Symphonies 3 & 4, BPO/von Karajan....



No. 3 continues the presentation of Schumann’s work with great power, energy and drive. The opening movement is a bold statement. The slow movements are played with great depth and grandeur and the blazing brass in the Finale is wonderful....von Karajan at his best!
No. 4 is a wonderful affair played with grace and charm. It has a great build up of power and tension in the final movement with a wonderful finale.

[DaveF]

Schumann – Symphonies 3 & 4, BPO/von Karajan....
No. 3 continues the presentation of Schumann’s work with great power, energy and drive. The opening movement is a bold statement. The slow movements are played with great depth and grandeur and the blazing brass in the Finale is wonderful....von Karajan at his best!
No. 4 is a wonderful affair played with grace and charm. It has a great build up of power and tension in the final movement with a wonderful finale.

I'm sold. Added to basket. :-)

[Seán]

I had never heard of the Cluyten's set until you mentioned it. I have the Zinman & Vänskä sets in my basket. Perhaps I should drop one in favour of the Cluyten's then? And yes I do love Beethoven's Second Symphony.

I do not know the Vänskä set Seán so I cannot comment on it but I have the Zinman set almost since it was first issued and although it is a very good cycle I rarely play it any more....others have long since overtaken it in my collection. In relation to the Cluytens set it has consistently good performances in the big band, bold and assertive performance mode and it would certainly be the one that I would now recommend to anyone just coming to Beethoven and wanting to explore his symphonies....they will certainly get a sense of the power of his music and personality....just my opinion.

Which I rate very highly indeed, so sold on that, thank you.

[DaveF]

Some wonderful French Baroque to finish off the evening with. Savall and Le Concerts des Nations come up trumps yet again. Everything I have by them is near flawless and together with the extremely high sound quality make many Savall recordings must haves imho.

[Seán]

Schumann – Symphonies 3 & 4, BPO/von Karajan....
No. 3 continues the presentation of Schumann’s work with great power, energy and drive. The opening movement is a bold statement. The slow movements are played with great depth and grandeur and the blazing brass in the Finale is wonderful....von Karajan at his best!
No. 4 is a wonderful affair played with grace and charm. It has a great build up of power and tension in the final movement with a wonderful finale.

I'm sold. Added to basket. :-)

I'm happy with the Chailly & Sawallisch sets and don't need anymore Schumann for now.

[Seán]

Oh Fergus don't miss the Sibelius on Thursday night.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=116

[fergus]

Schumann – Symphonies 3 & 4, BPO/von Karajan....
No. 3 continues the presentation of Schumann’s work with great power, energy and drive. The opening movement is a bold statement. The slow movements are played with great depth and grandeur and the blazing brass in the Finale is wonderful....von Karajan at his best!
No. 4 is a wonderful affair played with grace and charm. It has a great build up of power and tension in the final movement with a wonderful finale.

I'm sold. Added to basket. :-)

Just FYI Dave....some negative reaction to this set with our CMG colleagues which you may want to acquaint yourself with before you actually buy....just in case. I know that he is now out of fashion but I must say that I like most things that HvK did with Classical Music and especially with the BPO. As I have said I like the power, drive and energy behind these works.

[Seán]

Some wonderful French Baroque to finish off the evening with. Savall and Le Concerts des Nations come up trumps yet again. Everything I have by them is near flawless and together with the extremely high sound quality make many Savall recordings must haves imho.

Yes, I remember mcq recommending to us everything that Savall recorded.