What are you listening two?

[fergus]

Furtwangler's version of Fidelio....





This is a live recording and the stage noise can be quite loud in places but not enough to take away from a wonderful performance.

[fergus]

I notice that your set is incomplete Seán. If you have not already heard them I would urge you to search out String Quartets Nos. 14 and 15; they are wonderful, particularly the magnificent No. 15. If you have it or know it then you will already understand what I mean.

No, I don't have it, thanks for the message.

I am sure that you would find it on Youtube somewhere Seán; definitely worth seeking out IMHO!

[Seán]

another Russian composer:



Alexander Glazunov
Symphony No. 7
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Tadaaki Otaka conducting.

This is a great performance of my favourite Glazunov Symphony. The Seventh contains one gorgeous melody after another. The colourful orchestrations are delivered with great panache by this splendid BBC orchestra. I LOVE it.

That reads like a strong recommendation.

Yes it is. It is a splendid set. Well you know what I'm like when it comes to Russian music. The rest of the music on that set is performed by the Russian State Orchestra not the Welsh ensemble. Their complete cycle is available on BIS. On CMG I was advised to get the Svetlanov cycle instead but having listened to excerpts I'd prefer Otaka's BBC cycle

[Seán]

As Ciaran said to Simon and me many moons ago: this is like Stravinsky on steroids:



Bela Bartok
Piano Concerto No. 1
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Mauricio Pollini - piano
Claudio Abbado conducting.

[Seán]

and to bring this listening session to a gorgeous conclusion:



Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 41
English Baroque Soloists
John Eliot Gardiner
I LOVE it.

[mcq]

Listening late tonight to Britten's solo cello suites and once again I'm staggered by their infinite emotional riches.  It may once have been conceived as hubris on Britten's part to conceive this music as a response to the Bach cello suites but the more we listen, the more we understand:  how heavily the emotional weight of the music hangs over us and how every note matters, in life as in art.  Astonishing, just an astonishing work of art that resonates more profoundly within me every time I listen.

[fergus]

Listening late tonight to Britten's solo cello suites and once again I'm staggered by their infinite emotional riches.  It may once have been conceived as hubris on Britten's part to conceive this music as a response to the Bach cello suites but the more we listen, the more we understand:  how heavily the emotional weight of the music hangs over us and how every note matters, in life as in art.  Astonishing, just an astonishing work of art that resonates more profoundly within me every time I listen.

I came to Britten's music very late which was a mistake on my behalf as the more that I hear of his music the more I like it. I am not familiar with this music but I would certainly would like to hear it.

[fergus]

Beethoven: Mass in C with Tommy Beecham....

[fergus]

Two great violin concertos played by Josef Suk....





Suk is becoming one of my favourite violinists of the past. He has wonderful technique and intonation. Suk's musical lineage is very impressive; his grandfather was also called Josef Suk who was a composer and his great-grandfather was Antonin Dvorak.

[markof]

Did you enjoy that one Mark? I have not come across that CD in all of my searches of Early Music.

Hi Fergus,
Listened to this a few times now and a strong recommendation.

I came across it in a recent Gramophone pick and the history is very interesting.

Here's a paste from the review at allmusic
"The audience of Renaissance enthusiasts at which this release is aimed may well be able to get an idea of its contents from the packaging, but others may be less sure of what they're getting into. Here's a brief rundown: the album includes the contents of a single choirbook from the British Library, presented by one Petrus Alamire to Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon around 1516. All of the 34 pieces are sacred motets. Alamire, whose adopted name was a sequence of note names within the medieval hexachord system, was indeed a diplomat and a spy, as well as a music scribe and a singer and composer of some talent. The choirbook did not, however, contain any kind of coded message. It was simply a collection of choice pieces Alamire had gathered in his travels, something like "things you might not have heard or been aware of." Finally, the choir performing here is also named Capella Alamire. Some of the pieces are a cappella, and some are done with the loud or outdoor Renaissance forces, here represented by the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble. So, The Spy's Choirbook is not necessarily a candidate for basic Renaissance collections, but all the music is smoothly performed, and along the way are some nice finds that have never been heard on recordings anywhere else. The trio of La Rue motets on the first part of the program are prime examples of that composer's Josquin-like balance, and the second part contains an intriguing sequence of four settings of the same text, Dulces exuviae, by Josquin, Jean Mouton, Alexander Agricola, and an anonymous composer. The Spy's Choirbook in its own time was something of a connoisseur's selection of High Renaissance motets, and that is what it remains today."