Rolling Classical 2019

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'Schraffur' is an interesting term and a very apt description of his sound world. I'm not well versed in artistic techniques at all but it apparently means 'hatching' in English:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatching

pomenitul, Friday, 11 October 2019 09:58 (four years ago) link

I have no idea why Andris Nelsons is touted as the greatest living conductor, but his Beethoven cycle with the Vienna Philharmonic is a solid return to the MOR approach of the 1960s and 1970s, somewhere between Böhm, Szell and Karajan, I guess, which isn't a bad thing, since it comes with the added benefit of modern engineering.

pomenitul, Tuesday, 15 October 2019 14:14 (four years ago) link

i saw the pavone quartet live last week; i may be a rube but it was so minimal and muted (and weirdly lit! they played in the dark with only stand lights) that i made at least two "are they done tuning yet?" gag whispers to my plus one. the moments where melody crested up to swirl about a bit and then get sucked back down were quite nice but after forty minutes it didn't offer a lot more than what i heard in the first five.

Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 15:40 (four years ago) link

I'll give that Nelsons set a try; the only Beethoven cycle I own is the Chailly box on Decca, and that gets pretty symphonic power metal at times. I might like something a little more settled.

shared unit of analysis (unperson), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 15:48 (four years ago) link

Yeah, I don't get Chailly's aesthetic at all. Abbado's second (live) BPO set has similar aims and blows it out of the water.

pomenitul, Tuesday, 15 October 2019 15:50 (four years ago) link

Fun excerpt on how 'out' Bach was in his own time, from Gioia's new book:

“They never learned about Bach pulling a knife on a fellow musician during a street fight. They never heard about his drinking exploits.” https://t.co/4t8HuyaorK

— Jeff Beck (@jeffnbeck) October 16, 2019

All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Thursday, 17 October 2019 02:22 (four years ago) link

Heh, I had no idea.

pomenitul, Thursday, 17 October 2019 10:05 (four years ago) link

Cellist Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir is giving a solo performance at Scandinavia House in NYC on Thursday night. I'm thinking about going; I interviewed her back in June, and her album Vernacular is great.

shared unit of analysis (unperson), Sunday, 20 October 2019 15:17 (four years ago) link

Album was alright, a little too conservative for my money.

pomenitul, Sunday, 20 October 2019 15:21 (four years ago) link

Anybody interested in a series of decade-by-decade polls, starting in the 1800s? Just the works, curated by yours truly – we can discuss our preferred recordings as we go along. I was initially planning on doing albums, but it's too much of a hassle in the context of classical music.

pomenitul, Tuesday, 29 October 2019 09:48 (four years ago) link

Yes me interested

valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Tuesday, 29 October 2019 11:24 (four years ago) link

Well, as long as there's two of us… :)

I'll get started on it very soon.

pomenitul, Tuesday, 29 October 2019 12:06 (four years ago) link

I'll vote as well, if I know the things :)

Frederik B, Tuesday, 29 October 2019 12:07 (four years ago) link

It'll be chockfull of 19th and early 20th century warhorses. It's gonna get trickier post-1945, but that's just part of the fun.

pomenitul, Tuesday, 29 October 2019 12:09 (four years ago) link

Starting point? 1820s?

valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Tuesday, 29 October 2019 12:43 (four years ago) link

Here for it, mostly to learn

Le Bateau Ivre, Tuesday, 29 October 2019 12:46 (four years ago) link

I say we start in the 1800s, lest we miss out on Beethoven’s middle period.

pomenitul, Tuesday, 29 October 2019 12:56 (four years ago) link

Ballot polls or poll threads?

No language just sound (Sund4r), Tuesday, 29 October 2019 14:25 (four years ago) link

We did this once, for anyone who missed it: POLLERO!: ILM's Top 100 Notated Pieces of Music Since 1890

No language just sound (Sund4r), Tuesday, 29 October 2019 14:26 (four years ago) link

Oh, cool, I had no idea. Thanks.

I was thinking poll threads (one per decade), which I assume we haven't done before.

pomenitul, Tuesday, 29 October 2019 14:29 (four years ago) link

Nice idea. I'm happy to be schooled.

jmm, Tuesday, 29 October 2019 14:29 (four years ago) link

Poll threads sound great. I was a little nervous about doing that many ballot polls. :)

No language just sound (Sund4r), Tuesday, 29 October 2019 14:33 (four years ago) link

Understandably so! I'm going to do it pfunkboy/Michael B-style, which means there are bound to be some grave omissions, for which I'll profusely apologize in each thread.

pomenitul, Tuesday, 29 October 2019 14:42 (four years ago) link

I have to say, I mostly know about choral works...

Frederik B, Tuesday, 29 October 2019 15:00 (four years ago) link

Starting with 1800-1810 is fine by me! Op. 32 is one of my favorite things Beethoven ever did. I was just thinking that once you get to the 1820s you get some Beethoven vs Schubert suspense whereas for the 00s and 10s you've got Beethoven and... everyone else (well Rossini tbf)

valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Tuesday, 29 October 2019 15:08 (four years ago) link

You're right, of course. Beethoven will undoubtedly dwarf everyone else in the 00s but papa Haydn was still around (The Seasons, the final two Masses) and some minor masterpieces were penned around that time, such as Boieldieu's Harp Concerto. I'll try my best to make it a little less obvious…

pomenitul, Tuesday, 29 October 2019 15:35 (four years ago) link

I greatly anticipate this educational experience; I look forward to campaigning heavily for Quartet for the end of time 15 polls in

president of deluded fruitcakes anonymous (silby), Tuesday, 29 October 2019 16:04 (four years ago) link

I suspect there's be a good excuse to listen to the late quartets again. And then I'll definitely vote for Symphonie Fantastique :)

Frederik B, Tuesday, 29 October 2019 16:47 (four years ago) link

Best 'first symphony' in classical music history tbh

valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Tuesday, 29 October 2019 18:32 (four years ago) link

OK wow I just paid attention to Poulenc for the first time today

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V87wGyfUQiQ

that said, I’d prefer a single serving of you (flamboyant goon tie included), Wednesday, 6 November 2019 19:36 (four years ago) link

the 1810s thread has me digging into augustin hadelich. he's far too "shreddy" for my tastes. the recording of ligeti's violin concerto from this year is not bad- ligeti being a fairly astringent composer anyway - but this new cadenza by thomas ades, what the fuck, it is so bad and not in keeping with the rest of the piece. well i guess one can just stop listening after the fourth movement...

tantric societal collapse (rushomancy), Monday, 11 November 2019 15:36 (four years ago) link

special mention of note has to go out to the really hideous cover art as well

tantric societal collapse (rushomancy), Monday, 11 November 2019 15:37 (four years ago) link

Shreddy, really? I don't get that sense from Hadelich's Paganini at all. If anything, he gives the Caprices their due as proper music, which may or may not be a good thing.

Agree about the Adès cadenza, however. I could do without Adès's music altogether tbh, it's thoroughly mediocre.

pomenitul, Monday, 11 November 2019 15:40 (four years ago) link

love this Henriëtte Bosmans string quartet

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

💠 (crüt), Thursday, 21 November 2019 01:15 (four years ago) link

Oh, thanks. I hadn't heard of her before but that is a nice discovery.

No language just sound (Sund4r), Friday, 22 November 2019 14:16 (four years ago) link

getting unreasonably obsessed with kurt atterberg's piano concerto

ciderpress, Saturday, 23 November 2019 16:54 (four years ago) link

I listened to a set of his symphonies a few years ago and found them unmemorably conservative compared to, say, Stenhammar's 2nd, but I'd be curious to hear his Piano Concerto.

pomenitul, Saturday, 23 November 2019 17:01 (four years ago) link

it doesn't really do anything novel, just a nice bit of post-romanticism

ciderpress, Saturday, 23 November 2019 17:10 (four years ago) link

CBC's favourite Canadian classical albums of 2019: https://www.cbc.ca/music/our-20-favourite-canadian-classical-albums-of-2019-1.5335275?fbclid=IwAR01WQkjnQNtjLetJWsIk4KdMdpEMzChySg1jo8FFg9MWoOiJa0zovIJqjU

I wasn't going to post about Cicchillitti-Cowan since they are friends/colleagues but, yes, the album is really good. The Stafylakis piece actually integrates some metal influences into classical guitar music. Emily Shaw's Vespers and Cowan's Arctic Sonata also v good classical guitar albums from Ottawa/Montreal from this year.

No language just sound (Sund4r), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 15:16 (four years ago) link

Thanks, I'll check 'em out.

That Lisiecki and Abdrazakov are Canadian is news to me.

pomenitul, Tuesday, 3 December 2019 15:22 (four years ago) link

Lisiecki is from Calgary. Abdrakazakov seems to be Russian - they're probably counting that one bc of Orchestre Métropolitain?

No language just sound (Sund4r), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 15:26 (four years ago) link

Oh right, I misread (see ILX discussion about reading comprehension in Quebec).

pomenitul, Tuesday, 3 December 2019 15:28 (four years ago) link

Haha

No language just sound (Sund4r), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 15:32 (four years ago) link

RIP Mariss Jansons.

I don’t have a ton of his work in my collection but his LSO Live Mahler 6th is among the very best of that symphony.

valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 22:21 (four years ago) link

His Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff box sets contain some of his very finest recordings – they've helped me gain a newfound appreciation for these two composers, whose music I otherwise find problematic (not in the modern, woke sense, mind you). He was also an excellent accompanist (see the Grieg/Schumann Piano Concertos with Leif Ove Andsnes) and some of his less well-known projects, such as Johan Svendsen's Symphonies 1 & 2 with the Oslo Philharmonic, are as persuasive as it gets. I was never wholly won over by his much-touted way with Shostakovich, however.

pomenitul, Wednesday, 4 December 2019 08:40 (four years ago) link

Alex Ross's preliminary EOY list:

https://www.therestisnoise.com/2019/11/preliminary-end-of-year-list.html

We don't really see eye to eye (hear ear to ear?) but the Danish Quartet's Prism II and the Riot Ensemble's Speak, Be Silent both deserve to place. At the risk of repeating myself, I'm burnt out on Feldman, found Zosha di Castro's monograph to be full of hotshot smugness and have yet to hear George Benjamin's Lessons in Love and Violence (I'm generally a big fan, even though I'm less interested in his operas).

pomenitul, Wednesday, 4 December 2019 15:51 (four years ago) link

I’ll definitely plan to hear that Honeck/Pittsburgh Bruckner 9th - I cant think of a better US conductor-orchestra combo on record this decade

valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 4 December 2019 22:43 (four years ago) link

NAC in Ottawa commissioning a Philip Glass work in honour of Peter Jennings: https://abcnews.go.com/US/philip-glass-write-orchestral-work-honor-news-anchor/story?id=67679791

No language just sound (Sund4r), Thursday, 12 December 2019 20:09 (four years ago) link

shuddering with pleasure at the idea of Philip Glass composing 30 second stingers for news broadcasts

Swilling Ambergris, Esq. (silby), Thursday, 12 December 2019 20:25 (four years ago) link


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