an attempt at a general "What are you currently digging re. classical music" thread

should we continue to update this thread or start a new one in '13?

probably start a new one I guess?

re: recent ground covered here - I love Prokofiev's piano music a lot; have probably mentioned it on this thread already but this disc is just terrific. Freddy Kempf is my kinda pianistBruckner I love to pieces, I'm really interested in Celibidache's Bruckner cycle - I didn't buy it at Tower in NYC (RIP) on a tour in '98 because those were lean times and buying a whole symphonic cycle was beyond my means, but I did get his 6th later on which I'm listening to right now - it's tremendous imo. Celibidache on Bruckner: "For me, the fact of Bruckner's existence is God's greatest gift." Now that's a guy whose Bruckner I wanna hear

Thread isn't dated, and we are also seeing the first and last 50 posts. Go w/whatever.

re: Dillon: making my way through, heard the interviews and I'll note it as 'interesting' the way such a high-modernist is interested in the occult "but not in an Alesiter Crowley way god forbid" and uses it as a strand in this work. That and classical conceptions of science in the age of quantum mechanics.

I love the complexity of line and shape, and also the fact that it isn't gigantic - different sets of small of ensembles to percussion and bits of electronics that aren't immediately obvious. But bcz of the themes and James' love of rock (before Webern got in the way, natch) marks this as what I think prog rock would sound like if those guys had any wild classical technique crossed w/a mode of rock indiscipline. But their sources were Wagner and other 19th century, from what I can tell.

also taking home a vox box of haydn string quartets. heavenly. and such nice recordings.

i will keep trying with bruckner. sometimes it taakes me a while.

It's funny how when this thread is bumped it gets so much more action than the 'Rolling Classical' thread. Something abt the title idk?

I have had Nine Rivers on my hard drive for about a year, keep waiting for the 'right time'. But I should prob just start in with it chunk by chunk.

listening to bruckner's 4th right now just to show i'm a nice guy.

^^ enjoyed hearing that in "bronson" a while back — 7th is probably better if y're still not convinced

xp it could the tentative tone that invites ppl who might feel intimidated otherwise

i am listening to k.a. hartmann's 1st sym which is a blazing piece of modernism that fits in nicely w/ prokofiev and roussel's 3rd syms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRe-G-wxg24

yeah, it did nothing for me. then i put on dvorak and mahler symphonies and everything is okay again...

you like mahler but you can't get down w/bruckner? idgi tbh

there's no telling with people.

mahler gives me more to hold on to. i'm very fragile. i need a helping hand every now and then.

makes sense to me. they are often mentioned side by side and I get why, but they use the same basic building blocks for vastly different purposes. Mahler, like Debussy, is all about the state of interruption, unwanted polymorphism, the perverse flow of mind. Bruckner comes from the baroque concept of huge unbroken blocks of one specific affect. I actually think that based on just the feelings I get from their music Bruckner and Dvorak are closer kin.

love dvorak. who knows what my problem is. i'm listening to more haydn right now. cuz i'm your grandma. though i was thinking of putting this on and i don't know if your grandma would like it. so loud.

http://www.audiophileusa.com/covers400water/20645.jpg

which dvorák do u recommend jon

I think all the symphonies from 5 onward are amazing. See if you can listen to #9 without prejudice, I know that's hard with warhorses but it deserves it. They are very sensitive to their interpreters-- you gotta have a performance with the right balance of creaminess and sting. Sticking to the Supraphon label is not a bad idea.

And the four late tone poems based on macabre czech fairy tales (The Noon Witch, The Golden Spinning Wheel, The Water Goblin and... the other one...)

Does the download link for Dillon's Viridas on this page work?
http://5-against-4.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/james-dillon-nine-rivers-world-premiere_31.html

I got #1 and 2 before it no problem. Quite possibly I am doing something dumb.

Max Richter's recomposition of The Four Seasons from this year is all Minimalist Baroque pastiche (ala early Nyman), deriving most of its entertainment from playing with expectations. Not difficult listening by any means, and I expect it'll be ubiquitous in documentary soundtracks for some while.

The whole piece is presently on YouTube (here's a playlist), and here's a pleasant video sampler.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MYmjJjMnb8

Nevermind re: the Dillon download, it worked this time (even though I did everything the same as before?)

damn file sharing services what are we payin' em for?! >:[

i've gone back to s1sk for my classical needs but even that's not good enough

there was a w h a t . cd freeleech a few days ago which i managed to miss completely

re: Dvorak I rep hard for Rusalka. Just lovely.

I have pretty much the same thing with Bruckner. Apparently Brian Eno has been banging his head against that wall his whole life too, so we're in good comapny.

Yes, comapny.

to me the Bruckner to start with is Te Deum. I get pretty caught up in both his bio & his piety though, there's almost a celebrity/idol/tragic figure aspect to him. he's a little creepy! but anyway yeah - I think the religious/spiritual/personal-struggle aspect of Bruckner is a big part of why I'm drawn to him. Which is why again Celibidache is really worth checking out, I think his Bruckner is really romantic.

man I'm gonna listen to some more of that right now

Bachfest on WKCR right now and very nice it is too. Heard a few cantatas plus Segovia playing Partita no. 2. this morn at 4am.

Yep. I turned that on by accident yesterday afternoon. Within the Bachfest was also a celebration of Pablo Casals birthday.

"Baroque and Roll: Townshend on Purcell

The Who guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend talks about the band's career and reveals the influence on his songwriting of Baroque composer Henry Purcell.

When Pete was a struggling 20-year-old musician he was turned on to Purcell by his manager, Kit Lambert. It was Kit's recommendation of Purcell's Gordian Knot Untied that struck the loudest chord with Pete, awakening him to a lineage in English music that seemed strangely familiar. Immersing himself in the music, he soon set about writing The Who's first album.

Pete reveals how he drew on Purcell's dramatic genius for his most intriguing compositions. From his first mini-rock opera to his masterpiece, Tommy, and from his enduring Lifehouse project through to his current musical endeavour, there has always been a Purcellian presence.

Broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday, 27th October 2009."

I don't know if it works outside of Denmark, but the public radio station records a lot of classical concerts and puts them on their website. Some of it is quite interesting:

The New Nørgård-symphony. No 8

Concert with The Dessners from The National, including Bryce Dessners' works Lachrimae and Big Sur, the former of which is quite good.

looking forward to hearing the nørgård

V. exciting!

yeah psyched for the Norgard too. Hope I get a chance to listen with all the family around the place.

happy new year from the previn household!

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/734972_10151987355982137_1524864941_n.jpg

I like a lot of Previn/LSO/EMI recordings from the 70s. They still have that sound I love so much in the 60s decca Monteux/LSO sides.

also 60s/70s classical sleeves get me emotionally so bad

full disclosure, after staring too long at the Ansermet Le Sacre du Printemps sleeve, I went wilding in Central Park.

Chaya Czernowin - this disc paints a ruinious landscape at times. Sahaf is the highlight, in part due to its set-up for - among other other things - guitar and sax. You often think she is not only making use of vast skyscraper- type 'scapes but blowing it out further into the universe for thousands of light years. Its only now that this becomes visible.

Another day, another Finnissy: Kagami-Gishi for flute and harp makes use of his time spent studying gagaku music. Reading an article on him and his interests in folk culture are vast: aboriginal music, Sicilian and Eastern European folk and so on, but he always stamps his own personality on whatever he is interested in. You could say 'Finnissy music' but I feel like I want to find out more and listen to the sources. So there.

Ferneyhough - La Terre Est un Homme. This is a radio recording from a concert that took place about two years ago. Everyone re-discovered this neglected orchestral piece. I can sorta see it...

Bernd Alois Zimmermann - Orchestral sketches. Implies bitzy and all, but they are substantial.

Heinz Holliger - Pneuma.

How are people doing w/Dillon? Not worrying at all about how it fits, a piece here and there...Introitus is a cracker.

Have been hitting these hard this past few days:

http://www.thomasmusic.net.au/images/products/HMC90181820.jpg

https://d3mfbaa198drag.cloudfront.net/assets/products/346222/large/346222.jpg

Plus I watched Tony Palmer's great 'O Thou Transcendent' - a portrait of Ralph Vaughan Williams featuring some sterling performances and a great deal of background info previously unknown to me.

Starting 2013 listening to Mahler's Symphony No. 6. I bought the 2009 box of Leonard Bernstein-conducted Mahler symphonies a while back, and put one in whenever I've got an hour-plus to kill (which isn't often).

I've decided to start the new year with as much Conlon Nancarrow as I can listen to at one time. The first cut on NHK’Koyxeи's Dance Classics Vol.1 had hints of Conlon Nancarrow, which is what started the gears in motion that led to this. I decided it might be a good time to listen through all his player piano music.

Have started what may turn into a full-chronology Alban Berg listening project (he being one of those composers with manageable output), with opp. 1-3 under my belt so far. Still struggling a bit to get much sense out of the songs, but the piano sonata op. 1 and string quartet op. 3 are really unfolding for me after some concentrated listening. If anyone has recommendations for specific recordings of these things, or for any of what lies in the future (Altenberg-Lieder, 4 clarinet/piano pieces, 3 orchestral pieces, Wozzeck, chamber concerto, Lyric Suite, Lulu (+suite), violin concerto), I'd love to hear them!

(for the operas, DVD suggestions are of course particularly welcome!)

pollini in the piano sonata iirc

i think james levine is good in the orchestral music

that is a really good idea by the way

who else has a relatively small oeuvre, if not of webern or varese level concision

debussy, ravel

debussy is smallish, i think i am probaby familiar with 80% already

is there anyone from prior to the late 19th century?

ugh wikipedia has an 'impressionist music' infobox covering ravel debussy and satie

Not properly prior to the late 19th century I guess, but Borodin?