What are you listening to?

[fergus]

^^ Sorry Fergus, but I don't think that if I listened to the Canteloube for the next week, I'd ever get to like it... far too saccharine I'm afraid..

I cannot comment on the Upshaw/Nagano as I have not heard it but I suspect that it may suffer from the same poor interpretations as others that I have heard; these songs need to be sung for what they are i.e. folksongs and not as grand opers arias.
However, perhaps when you are an Opera expert you will return to your disc above!!!

[fergus]

you are of course right about the Opera.... the above disk (£1 in a charity shop, bizarrely new & sealed) seems to sum up everything I dislike about 19th century Italian Opera, and reinforces the fact that it's not a genre I'm ever really going to take to... HOWEVER...

strangely, I do like Purcell's Dido & Aeneas (I have 2 versions) so I thought that maybe I should dip my toe in the waters of Baroque opera, which I realise is a little different. To aid this process, I have purchased:



which I intend to watch before the Rameau, and will give each of them a fair hearing. If it's not for me, they can go back on ebay where I'll get most of my money back, but I really hope they do 'click' with me....

I think that is a very wise move my friend i.e. buy the stuff on Blu Ray that you are at least somewhat familiar with musically and work from there. You can then develop a feel for artistic directors or whatever they are called and if you like one particular style then follow up on that. Remember, when you are watching Opera you are also watching a Stage Production and there are so many different interpretations of how that can be done so that is a minefield as well.
I had at one time in the past toyed with your idea myself but when I did some research into it I backed off due to the points above.
I really like Dido & Aeneas as a work so let me know how you get on with that Blu Ray.

[fergus]

Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4....



....these are two really strong interpretations and performances.

[fergus]

Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4....

[fergus]

of the two versions of the Brahms, which would you say you prefer, Fergus?

The von Karajan and the Abbado cycle are two really fine cycles. One would not be without either but if one had to choose one would slightly favour the von Karajan ; I think that it has more force and drive which adds a little bite to Brahms, something that is often needed here.

[Jared]

^^ Thatnks Fergus; I have the 70's Karajan cycle:



as well as the Jochum:



both of which I personally rate highly, but are of course very traditional. I guessed the Abbado set would also be a strong contender in this field, which is why I asked. I priced up the MacKerras today, but its a little dear on Amazon for the time being...

[fergus]

^^ Thatnks Fergus; I have the 70's Karajan cycle:

That is the same set as my one above Jared....my one is just a later 3 CD box set wich also includes the Tragic Overture and the Haydn Variations.

Keep an eye on the Mackerras....it is a very good and different one to have.

[cybot]

On double vinyl from the Teresa Stearne days of the Nonsuch Label , Paul Jacobs on the magnificent Bösendorfer Imperial with it's "rich sonorities and the extra bass notes no other piano offers. The recording itself is transcendent; open, luscious and with an enormous dynamic range. There's tremendous presence here, and a quality best described as an absence of manipulation...." so says Alvin Gold and I would be churlish not to agree with him!

[fergus]

Knowing only some of his keyboard music I was intrigued to see this on a recent trawl and thought that it might make for an interesting listen. I was not disappointed as I thought that the music was delightful. One could place it somewhere in the realm of late Haydn and Mozart and early Beethoven but with a very distinctive voice of its own.

For any interested patriotic Brits out there “God Save the Queen” is cleverly interwoven into Symphony No. 3!

[fergus]

Cello sonata.