What are you listening to?

[Jared]

Delius - Violin Concerto (Tasmin Little/Andrew Davis, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Chandos)

how are you doing with these Concerti now, Darren?

It would be fair to say I owed Sean one... ;-)

[bombasticDarren]

Mozart - Requiem (Sheila Armstrong/Janet Baker/Nicolai Gedda/Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau/Daniel Barenboim, John Alldis Choir/English Chamber Orchestra, EMI)

[fergus]

Mahler - Symphony No.7 (Michael Gielen, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiberg, Hanssler)

I was not sure whether or not I had that one Darren so I actually had to look it up! I obviously do not remember a note from it. Did you like it?

I think it's a significantly undervalued symphony and this recording was excellently detailed - it sounded rather unhurried and I think this works in it's favour considerably....

Thank you for that Darren. I must dig it out again so!

[fergus]

I can´t speak for Messiaen and Dutilleux Jared, they are too avant-garde for me too, but I do love (a lot) the Ravel songs. Maybe put away the Fleming disc for now, but if you ever encounter again some of the Ravel songs give them another chance.

Pepe... I hear and agree with what you're saying.

One thing I'd like you to bear in mind is that if you'd had 'met' me 5 years ago, my experience of Classical Music wouldn't have been much more than a Strauss Waltz, Dvorak's New World, Mendelssohn's Scottish, Vivaldi's 4 Seasons, Mussorgsky's Pictures, Holsts's Planets, Beethoven 5, a bit of unnamed Sibelius and a hearing of Mahler 5, which I hadn't really liked, and several interminable sittings through Don Giovanni (I still haven't forgiven Mozart for that one).

I was brought up in a house where the spoken word of Radio 4 was King, and classical music was very seldom heard.

Now, I like Victoria, Vaughan Williams and 'most' things in between. I now like choral, vocal, orchestral, chamber and instrumental in equal measure, which would have been unheard of for me 5 years ago...

... so like Matt, Darren & Sean, I've come quite a long way in a relatively short space of time, but realise there is still a long way to go...

And that´s perfectly good Jared, no one expects you to digest 1000 years of written music just like that. Remember that what you read here are just friendly opinions with diverse points of view that on good will want to help. Music shouldn´t be like a bitter pill that has to be swallowed, it should be enjoyed, but very often a little extra effort is needed and the dividends pay handsomely in the long run.

Excellently put Pepe!

[fergus]

Mozart - Requiem (Sheila Armstrong/Janet Baker/Nicolai Gedda/Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau/Daniel Barenboim, John Alldis Choir/English Chamber Orchestra, EMI)

I have not come across that one before....how did you like it Darren?

[bombasticDarren]

Albeniz - Rapsodia Espanola & Cocierto Fantastico

Turina - Rapsodia Sinfonica (Jean-Francois Heisser/Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Warner Apex)

[bombasticDarren]

Mozart - Requiem (Sheila Armstrong/Janet Baker/Nicolai Gedda/Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau/Daniel Barenboim, John Alldis Choir/English Chamber Orchestra, EMI)

I have not come across that one before....how did you like it Darren?

It's the most full throated reading I have of the Mozart Requiem Fergus. I can imagine it might be too excessive for some tastes, but it is rather exciting and I like it greatly...

[fergus]

Rautavaara - Symphony No.8 The Journey (Leif Segerstam, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Ondine)

Did you enjoy it Darren? I would be interested to know what you thought of the set as a whole.

[Jared]

[fergus]

Mozart - Requiem (Sheila Armstrong/Janet Baker/Nicolai Gedda/Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau/Daniel Barenboim, John Alldis Choir/English Chamber Orchestra, EMI)

I have not come across that one before....how did you like it Darren?

It's the most full throated reading I have of the Mozart Requiem Fergus. I can imagine it might be too excessive for some tastes, but it is rather exciting and I like it greatly...

What an interesting comment Darren....let me know how you get on with the Bruckner Te Deum if you decide to listen to it as that may well be a clincher.