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Continuing my weekend Brahms theme into this week and several versions of his gorgeous Second Symphony:

Seán wrote:Continuing my weekend Brahms theme into this week and several versions of his gorgeous Second Symphony:

Which one did you like best Seán?

Next October 10th I will hear the Second with the Chicago Symphony and Riccardo Muti. I´m looking forward to it. And 3 days later I will hear Fabio Biondi with L´ Europa Galante. I will have a very busy and rich musical autumn.

Jose Echenique wrote:

Seán wrote:Continuing my weekend Brahms theme into this week and several versions of his gorgeous Second Symphony:

Which one did you like best Seán?

There's no contest for my affections: Harnoncourt and the BPO first, then Levine, Chailly & Bernstein

Next October 10th I will hear the Second with the Chicago Symphony and Riccardo Muti. I´m looking forward to it. And 3 days later I will hear Fabio Biondi with L´ Europa Galante. I will have a very busy and rich musical autumn.

You lucky man! I would dearly LOVE to hear the CSO (in Mahler, Mahler & Mahler) and Biondi & L'Europa Galante too.

Recently, Donaldopato (on CMG) was disappointed that he couldn't travel to hear his beloved Kansas City Orchestra in concert and his only option was to hear Biondi and Galante performing locally, he wasn't going to bother attending the concert as he had never heard of them, I urged him to go, he did and he enjoyed the it immensely.

<There's no contest for my affections: Harnoncourt and the BPO first, then Levine, Chailly & Bernstein>

I´ll second that.

Muti´s recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra is warm and lyrical, a very beautiful recording, so I´m excited to see what he can do with the CSO.
We will get 2 big romantic symphonies in the program, first the César Franck Symphony, and then the Brahms Second.

Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream
Frans Bruggen
Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century

Jose Echenique wrote:<There's no contest for my affections: Harnoncourt and the BPO first, then Levine, Chailly & Bernstein>

I´ll second that.

Muti´s recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra is warm and lyrical, a very beautiful recording, so I´m excited to see what he can do with the CSO.
We will get 2 big romantic symphonies in the program, first the César Franck Symphony, and then the Brahms Second.

Mention of the Phildelphia Orchestra brings to mind what looks like a lovely 12 cd set on Sony and can be had for a very good price on amazon:

The two outer movements of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.1 were taken at quite a pace with rigorous accompaniment from the Szell and the orchestra. I had visions of that being the way a youthful Beethoven might have played the work. The slow movement was beautifully played at a suitably slow pace and it displayed great feeling and sensitivity. Another stand out performance from the Beethoven concertos was the slow movement of the Piano Concerto No. 3; it was played beautifully with a sense of something akin to pathos or a distant yearning....it was gorgeous. Overall the piano playing has great fluidity to it and it is very expressive and graceful, especially in the slow movements.

I primarily bought this set for the two Brahms Piano Concertos as I had read good things about the performances. They certainly did not disappoint. They were played with vigour in the outer movements while the slow movement were played with great feeling and sensitivity.

On vinyl....





Listening to the Bartok Sonata one can only begin to contemplate and comprehend how fiendishly difficult this piece must be to play. The sound world that it portrays as a result however is full of colour and excitement and is definitely an interesting listen.

This Bononcini is Antonio Maria [1677-1726], because as you well know there´s also Giovanni Bononcini, the eldest brother, and better known as one of Handel´s rivals in London (Porpora was another).
Antonio Maria had a more modest but very respectable career, working mostly in Modena and Vienna.
The Stabat Mater a quattro is performed often, but this is the very first recording and modern performance of the big Messa Concertata a cinque, a wonderful work.
This 80 minute disc was recorded live in January of 2012 in the Wiener Konzerthaus, and it´s just amazing how the forces of Concerto Italiano cope with it. Of course when you have people like Sara Mingardo, Raffaella Milanesi and Sara Fulgoni in the chorus you know you will be able to handle even the most intricate contrapuncti.
Another treasure in the invaluable Concerto Italiano discography.

Faure - Fantasie for Piano and Orchestra

Franck - Variations Symphoniques for Piano and Orchestra (Alicia de Larrocha/Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Decca Eloquence)