What are you listening to?

[fergus]

I have the Sanderling/VSO, Blomstedt/SFSO, Vänskä/Lahti, Bernstein/NYPO & Maazel/VPO complete cycles. I have listened to Symphony No 1 from the last two but haven't had time to listen to all of the symphonies in order to form an opinion. I agree with you on HVK he leaves me cold, I only have a couple of the EMI recordings but none of the DG.
I think that the Sanderling is a steal for around €10 on Brilliant Classics, it's a vastly underrated cycle in my opinion. Blomstedt never disappoints and the SFSO are in fine form throughout whilst the Vanska/Lahti recordings are a real joy, I have them in a 15 CD BIS box set. I am fond of all three sets. The Bernstein and Maazel come highly recommended too and that's why I got them.
After all that are you any the wiser?

I like HvK doing Sibelius I must say but then rhat's me....

I agree with Seán 100% on the Sanderling Dave....I would start there. Seán also played me some of the Vanska and I was hugely impressed. I do not own it yey but I will!

[Seán]

I have the Sanderling/VSO, Blomstedt/SFSO, Vänskä/Lahti, Bernstein/NYPO & Maazel/VPO complete cycles. I have listened to Symphony No 1 from the last two but haven't had time to listen to all of the symphonies in order to form an opinion. I agree with you on HVK he leaves me cold, I only have a couple of the EMI recordings but none of the DG.
I think that the Sanderling is a steal for around €10 on Brilliant Classics, it's a vastly underrated cycle in my opinion. Blomstedt never disappoints and the SFSO are in fine form throughout whilst the Vanska/Lahti recordings are a real joy, I have them in a 15 CD BIS box set. I am fond of all three sets. The Bernstein and Maazel come highly recommended too and that's why I got them.
After all that are you any the wiser?

I like HvK doing Sibelius I must say but then rhat's me....

I agree with Seán 100% on the Sanderling Dave....I would start there. Seán also played me some of the Vanska and I was hugely impressed. I do not own it yey but I will!

Fergus, are they on EMI or DG? I have read very good reports of the DG recordings. Mine are on EMI.

[fergus]

Fergus, are they on EMI or DG? I have read very good reports of the DG recordings. Mine are on EMI.

They are on DG Seán....they are cold but I like Sibelius that way.

[DaveF]

Fergus, are they on EMI or DG? I have read very good reports of the DG recordings. Mine are on EMI.

They are on DG Seán....they are cold but I like Sibelius that way.

I think mine is the EMI version too. Thanks for the recommendations Sean. I already had some of those in mind alright as I remember you speaking about them before. I've often seen plenty of Vanska/Lahti recordings of Sibelius' work in Tower. I havent bitten yet but I suspect I will soon.

[fergus]

This is a collection of beautiful music that is beautifully performed and sung.
The Vivaldi Gloria RV589 is a restrained but lovely version.
The performance of the soprano in Handel’s Gloria is a stand out performance with her crystal clear tone.
The Handel Dixit Dominus is another impressive work and performance with wonderful choral singing from the Monteverdi Choir.

[mcq]

Fergus, are they on EMI or DG? I have read very good reports of the DG recordings. Mine are on EMI.

They are on DG Seán....they are cold but I like Sibelius that way.

I agree, that partial cycle by Karajan on DG is icy cold but so very powerful. Incidentally, Sibelius considered Karajan his favourite interpreter of his music. With regard to favourite cycles, Vanska (BIS) is a modern classic and Maazel (Decca) is seriously underrated. Don't forget Colin Davis wiith the LSO on RCA - warmer than Karajan and consistently impressive in this music. I've also heard interesting things about Segarstam on Ondine.

[Seán]

The Bernstein collection is magnificent. Over the last few days I have listened to:

Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 1

Jean Sibelius
Symphony No. 1

Dmitry Shostakovich
Symphony No. 5

Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 82 (perhaps it's not for the pursit - I'm talking about you Dave [wink] )

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 1 (first two movements)

Ralph Vaughan Williams
Symphony No. 4

New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein - conducting

[fergus]

To me some versions of M4 are on the dark side while others are infused with a sense of joy. This version is, for me, somewhere in between which makes it interesting for me. The first movement has, I think, a large element of apprehension. The second movement is not nearly as eerie as others; it is almost reticent. The performance of the slow movement is a thing of beauty albeit on the darker side with a sense of hesitancy about it; it is ideal music for the strings of the BPO and those lush, lyrical passages are beautifully played. I like the voice of Edith Mathis in the final movement and she especially sounds wonderful in the higher registers.

[Ciaran]

Mahler 7, conducted by Otto Klemperer. I was surprised that this existed, and was very curious to hear it, given Klemperer's authority in Mahler. For some reason it's never been widely available and I hunted far and wide without finding a copy. At some point, though, I downloaded an MP3 of it. I'd forgotten it until I got my new Squeezebox Touch and the software for that found it on my PC. Now I was able to stream it to my dCS Scarlatti DAC and listen -- I don't much care for listening at the PC -- and it was fascinating. It's often very slow -- I wouldn't make it a first choice -- but he finds an awful lot going on below the surface that other conductors seem to miss.

The sound quality of the MP3? More than acceptable through my system, rather to my surprise!

[DaveF]

The sound quality of the MP3? More than acceptable through my system, rather to my surprise!

There is no audible difference between high bit rate mp3 and CD. ;-)