What are you listening two?

[Seán]

Paul & Pepe thank you for the hugely informative comments on Falstaff. I have found Verdi's music heavy going however, Falstaff does have instant appeal.

[fergus]

I found the textutes and sonorities of the smaller forces to be quite interesting giving a somewhat different flavour to the symphonies. Enjoyable.

[Seán]

I must revisit my Schumann collection.

But for now it's back to Mozart:


Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony no. 29, 25 & 33
London Mozart Players
Jane Glover conducting.

I love the sound of the London Mozart Players and these are really gorgeous performances of Mozart's three symphonies. Jane Glover is a very fine conductor. Highly recommended.

[mcq]

A great version of the Goldbergs should be rhythmically pointed with an ever-escalating sense of forward momentum and articulated with lucidity, clarity and sense of purpose, without losing sight of the work's inner poetic qualities.  But, most importantly, the cumulative weight of the performance should leave the listener breathless with awe at the miraculous sense of internal balance that Bach achieved.  Sense and reason and heart and emotion are in constant dialogue here in Blandine Verlet's incredibly powerful version of this greatest of instrumental masterpieces.  

[mcq]

A superb version of the English Suites from Richard Egarr.  Rather like András Schiff, this is musicianship that is rather more notable for its overall clarity of line and its gently probing, patiently enquiring, thoughtful approach than any kind of virtuosic fireworks.  He plays a sweet-toned instrument which is beautifully reproduced by the Harmonia Mundi engineers.  Very highly recommended, this is a recording that feeds both head and heart.

[mcq]

A beautiful Brahms symphony cycle from Christian Thielemann.  Somewhat more old-fashioned than my modern references - Harnoncourt (Teldec), Manze (CPO) and Berglund (Ondine) - in that the lessons of historically informed scholarship are not immediately apparent.  Orchestral forces are on a rather larger scale, speeds are more leisurely and textures are more homogenised but there remains a lightness of touch and clarity of expression that belies Thielemann's pronounced sensitivity to the timbral sonorities of the modern orchestral palette and how they relate to the architectural structure of the music.  There is a nobility and grandeur to his readings which I find intensely moving and suffused with great emotional depth.  These are not polished, overly-sentimentalised performances but are perfectly weighted in their finely judged tempos which, whilst measured by today's standards, never strike me as ponderous or lethargic but simply pulse with a sense of natural urgency in line with the emotional ebb and flow of the music.  Strongly recommended.

It's worth noting as well that these performances are particularly good value for money because they come coupled with a DVD of Thielemann's live recordings of the piano concertos with Pollini and the violin concerto with Batiashvili which have previously been released on CD by DG to great acclaim.

[Jose Echenique]

A beautiful Brahms symphony cycle from Christian Thielemann.  Somewhat more old-fashioned than my modern references - Harnoncourt (Teldec), Manze (CPO) and Berglund (Ondine) - in that the lessons of historically informed scholarship are not immediately apparent.  Orchestral forces are on a rather larger scale, speeds are more leisurely and textures are more homogenised but there remains a lightness of touch and clarity of expression that belies Thielemann's pronounced sensitivity to the timbral sonorities of the modern orchestral palette and how they relate to the architectural structure of the music.  There is a nobility and grandeur to his readings which I find intensely moving and suffused with great emotional depth.  These are not polished, overly-sentimentalised performances but are perfectly weighted in their finely judged tempos which, whilst measured by today's standards, never strike me as ponderous or lethargic but simply pulse with a sense of natural urgency in line with the emotional ebb and flow of the music.  Strongly recommended.

It's worth noting as well that these performances are particularly good value for money because they come coupled with a DVD of Thielemann's live recordings of the piano concertos with Pollini and the violin concerto with Batiashvili which have previously been released on CD by DG to great acclaim.

I wondered about these performances since I already have way too many cycles. I agree completely, the Harnoncourt is perhaps my #1 choice among digital versions: superbly played and recorded, and Harnoncourt´s conducting is both sensitive and sympathetic. I also loved very much the Berglund, who uses a 60 something orchestra, not really a chamber ensemble of course, and about right in size for the forces Brahms himself used. I didn´t get the Manze, but Abbado has truly exceptional versions of the 2nd and 3rd in his BPO cycle. For a beefy old fashioned cycle I enjoy the Giulini with the VPO also in DG. And since I already bought the piano concertos maybe I will have to pass on the Thielemann, I also already have a previous recording of the 1st with the Munich Philharmonic and him that although not bad is not really outstanding.

[Seán]

Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 3
Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting.

[mcq]

Gorgeous, just gorgeous playing from Egarr here in the second book of the Well Tempered Clavier.  There is a delicate refinement at work here, a graceful subtlety, a controlled precision, as well as a gentle demeanor that I find very engaging.  He is very much the equal of the technical requirements of the score but what comes across very clearly are the music's cerebral qualities which are channelled beautifully by Egarr's meditative aspect and innately humble disposition.  A profoundly rewarding listening experience.

[markof]

Lovely balance of dynamic performance with rich sonics.