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

Elgar’s own recordings of his symphonies

hmmm, what do i have from that era

the cortot, thibaud, casals trio is great, i have their recording of beethoven's "archduke" and schubert's piano trio no. 1

the early recordings of rhapsody in blue are nice (if abbreviated) - i prefer the acoustic version to the subsequent electric version though

haven't heard elgar conducting his symphonies, but the violin concerto with yehudi menuhin from 1932 is great

pushing bast '38, but schonberg's recording of pierrot lunaire and stravinsky's second rite of spring (both from 1940) are great shit

gieseking's first recording of the emperor concerto (i think it's from '35?) is nice

RAG, are you a fan of Sunn O)))? If yes, I recommend Anna Thorvaldsdottir, a living composer whose albums Aerial, In The Light Of Air and Aequa are all amazing. They don't sound like "classical music" in the Bugs Bunny sense at all; at times they remind me of Autechre or Einstürzende Neubauten.

https://burningambulance.com/2018/12/28/anna-thorvaldsdottir-2/

https://burningambulance.com/2015/09/08/anna-thorvaldsdottir/

willem mengelberg's beethoven symphonies are fantastic (for old recordings)

i've only heard aequa but it rules

Thanks for all the recs.

I really think Havergal Brian's Gothic and Mahler's Das Klagende Lied fit into my "prog rock epic" orifice very nicely. They have that dramatic panoramic quality, big awesome landscapes traversed in exciting ways.

Bartok has long been on my list, Art Zoyd comparisons helped that along.

Went to a performance of Mahler's 9th last night. It was incredible and worth checking out. Surprised how lengthy it was and how fast it blew by.

1st movement of Mahler 9 is about as good as music gets imo

the first person i ever read repping for Mahler was C Bukowski!

Are there many "show must go on" stories like this one?

Five weeks after the outbreak of the Gulf War, 23.2.1991, the audience filled the Jerusalem Theatre: Jewish-American violinist Isaac Stern arrived in Israel as an act of solidarity with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Zubin Mehta.

A deafening alarm sounded in the hall, disrupting Mozart's Concerto No. 3 for violin and orchestra. The orchestra players went offstage to wear their masks, and Stern stepped off the stage, too, wanting to continue with the concert, but it was impossible to continue playing the concerto while the musicians wore masks. He decided to play the Adagio from Bach's Sonata Violin No. 1 in Bach Minor, with the alarm still wailing in the background, and the audience stood up and burst into applause, which was accompanied by a siren. Stern wore no mask. He later said that he did not believe that Saddam Hussein would launch Scud missiles at Jerusalem, its mosques and the extensive Arab population
– (Jerusalem Theatre)

The concert was filmed – while he plays, many of the audience are in gas masks, so it's slightly disturbing to watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZFWV0UIuNM

Another famous concert in adversity was Shostakovich's 7th symphony in 1942.

keep coming back to kyle gann's hyperchromatica

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW_ZBcqe5KQ

was listening to DJ Rupture/Julius Eastman Memory Depot the other day - sick album.

I’ve gotten obsessed with Ştefanu Nicolescu since hearing Ison II on a BBC Radio 3 concert and made my own YouTube playlist since so little is officially available to stream

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjXRMRMaO8qd5234s3IZiQHy35gVGPR3j&si=CXA7QZkslXvxcewG

wow, this certainly justifies your enthusiasm

soooo many ads tho

https://kamdzhalov.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/G%C3%B3recki_Symphony_No_3-bigger-grey-1080x675.jpg

This is a good, if mournful, listen. Lisa's voice is pretty understated in this recording, no doubt in service to the material.