Today's Listening
Sun, Oct 28 2012, 8:09PM
An eclectic Sunday today, with much of my listening being prompted by various posts and threads here. Along with other bits and pieces ;
Beethoven Violin Concerto - Kreisler/Barbirolli
Pimens' Narrative from Boris - several versions
Tosca Act 1 - Stefania Woytowicz, Sandor Konya, Kim Borg cond. Horst Stein
Victoria Requiem (1605) - The Sixteen
Bach Cello Suites 1&2 Guitar Transcriptions - Goran Sollscher
Otello Act 1 - ROH broadcast of last Saturday.
Sun, Oct 28 2012, 9:50PM
#2
RE: Today's Listening
JKH, I've been listening to the, just arrived, EMI box of Schubert Lieder on Record. In due course I'll be submitting some thoughts for your consideration!
Chris
Sun, Oct 28 2012, 10:32PM
#3
Bax' symphonies with Bryden
Bax' symphonies with Bryden Thompson, the complete cycle.
Bax is new to me, and I feel torn between admiration for his complex textures and imaginative, colorful orchestration and slight irritation caused by the occasional pomposity of his strictly neo-Wagnerian output. Since Mahler's post-modern approach of the Wagnerian heritage, Bax' dead-serious homages appear rather out-of-time and place, specially since he wrote his symphonies more than a full generation after Mahler.
What's really attractive in Bax's music is the stylistic unity of these pieces: in fact when you listen to them in a row (like I'm doing) they almost sound like a super-symphony with 7 movements.
Thompson's cycle appears to be eclypsed by Vernon Handley's more recent one, and it got some so-so reviews. Can't judge that myself, since I don't know the Handley cycle. But I can hear that in some fast segments there is a lacking sense of forward motion and some loss of concentration in the slower movements. But that's rather subjective. The sound is glowing and sonorous, with an occasional roughness that fits the music well.
Mon, Oct 29 2012, 2:38PM
#4
RE: Bax' symphonies with Bryden
Bryden Thompson's cycle is excellent and is not in my opinion eclipsed by Vernon Handley's and although a great enthusiast for Handley, with a large number of his recordings, in this case I would stick with Thompson. I also prefer the sound to that of the BBC Manchester studio which sounds to me like artificial reverberation has been added. I think it's a pity Chandos didn't record Handley in Ulster where he has made some fine recordings for Chandos in better sound.
The greater challenge to Thompson comes from the five symphonies which Lyrita recorded with various conductors in superb (Decca engineered) sound. In particular the disc with No1 from Myer Fredman & No7 from Raymond Leppard is outstanding.
As it happened I listened late yesterday to Thompson conducting Kenneth Leighton's 'cello concerto with Rafael Wallfisch; a very fine performance of an intense work in superb sound and the 3rd symphony: Bryden Thompson would seem to have been an underated conductor.
Earlier yesterday in a little more standard repertoire mode I played an old favourite LP; Bach violin concertos with Perlman, Zukerman Barenboim & the ECO at its best: wonderful!
Mon, Oct 29 2012, 6:04PM
#5
RE: Today's Listening
Mahler for me tonight.
I am not a great Mahler fan,or indeed big orchestral works.One exception,Mahler's ninth symphony. That is something else.
Klemperer and Walter are great,even believe it or not Karajan,but I am going for Tennstedt.Terrific
EMI sound.
Mon, Oct 29 2012, 6:55PM
#6
RE: Bax' symphonies with Bryden
The greater challenge to Thompson comes from the five symphonies which Lyrita recorded with various conductors in superb (Decca engineered) sound. In particular the disc with No1 from Myer Fredman & No7 from Raymond Leppard is outstanding.
Agree totally with this. I can live with either the Lyrita or Thomson. Some don't like the slightly swimming-pool acoustic of the Thomson cycle but for me it suits this music. For some reason Lyrita never did #3.
Anyone who appreciates Thomson should try his Martinu symphony cycle, one of my all-time surprise finds. He and the SNO more than give every other version I've collected over the years (all Czech orchestras) a run for their money.
Mon, Oct 29 2012, 8:06PM
#7
RE: Bax' symphonies with Bryden
Bax' symphonies with Bryden Thompson, the complete cycle.
50milliarden, I don't know the whole of BT's cycle but what I have heard is extremely slow in comparision to other cycles (even the fairly leisurely David Lloyd-Jones on Naxos). That is not important so much is works like the monumental 2nd and 6th but it seriously undermines the more classical first symphony.
You mention Handley. That was well-praised but seems to me to be overrated. I find his tempi (unlike Thomson's) to be rather too fast thereby robbing the music of both gravitas and sonority. That latter consideration is all-important in this composer who, as you have probably already heard, was fond of dense textures and thick scoring.
Incidentally, I note from Chandos.net that the Thomson set is now deleted. Can I assume, then, that you have picked it up cheap from somewhere?
Mon, Oct 29 2012, 8:10PM
#8
RE: Bax' symphonies with Bryden
For some reason Lyrita never did #3.
Tagalie, the reason is that Lyrita were filling in the gaps and no.3 was already available in the Barbirolli recording.
Mon, Oct 29 2012, 8:33PM
#9
RE: Bax' symphonies with Bryden
For some reason Lyrita never did #3.
Tagalie, the reason is that Lyrita were filling in the gaps and no.3 was already available in the Barbirolli recording.
There was also an RCA recording of the 3rd conducted by Edward Downes. Lyrita didn't do the 4th either. There was at the time a Revolution LP of the 4th conducted by Vernon Handley with the Guildford Philharmonic. The sound was awful (maybe we can blame the orchestra and/or the hall). For some reason the same label's Joyce Hatto's recording with Handley and the GPO of Bax's Symphonic Variations sounded better. The other Handley-GPO Revolution LP featured Bax's The Tales The Pine Trees Knew and Moeran's Serenade in G. The sound on that one was tinny too.
When all is said and done I prefer the Lyrita recordings of the Bax symphonies to those of Thomson and Handley. I have not heard the Lloyd Jones but expect them to be quite good based on what recordings of his I have heard.
Tue, Oct 30 2012, 11:53PM
#10
RE: Bax' symphonies with Bryden
Actually the now disgraced Barrington Coupe (husband of Joyce Hatto) was quite a pioneer with some of his recordings in Guildford. I don't think the Downes has ever appeared on CD but I would have liked to have heard the (genuine) Hatto Bax which seems to have been well received.
For Bazza I believe that the full Chandos catalogue including deleted CDs is available as download from their Classical Shop in lossless or MP3 format. It's the only download site I use as it's simple and most items are avilable as lossless.
Wed, Oct 31 2012, 1:41AM
#11
RE: Bax' symphonies with Bryden
I have not heard the Lloyd Jones but expect them to be quite good based on what recordings of his I have heard.
Lloyd Jones set out to de-mist Bax and Naxos gave him a recording to suit. The whole set is way too close-miked and airless for my taste, too prosaic, but lots of people like it. It rather reminds me of the fad amongst pianists, about 40 years ago, for in-your-face Debussy - everything clarified, no impressionistic nonsense. Thankfully that seems to have passed.
Speaking of which, and since JKH started this thread talking about current listening, I've been engrossed in Gordon Fergus-Thompson set of Debussy's complete piano music. It bowls me over, and in my collection easily stands comparison with, amongst others, Kocsis, Richter and Michelangeli. In terms of recording quality it's quite the best solo piano recording I've ever heard, totally natural, undistorted, no gimmicks. I haven't waded into the old versus new recording debate elsewhere on this forum, but to my ears this 1989 issue demonstates what recording engineers can do when they get their act together.
Wed, Oct 31 2012, 2:06PM
#12
RE: Today's Listening
Switched from Bax to more neo-wagnerian "heavies": Glière's 3rd Symphony, "Ilya Murometz".
In the Leon Botstein/LSO version. Unfortunately I don't have Harold Farberman's earlier (1978) recording on CD - I've got it on LP, and it made a big impression when I first heard it.
I know Farberman's recording got some pretty bad critics because of his slow tempi (92 minutes vs. 72 for Botstein!) but I always loved it. Farberman's slow movement sounds gorgeous, at almost 30 minutes you tend to forget time and place, as you get completely engulfed in the impressionist sonorities of Glière's score. Botstein clocks the movement in 22 minutes, and that's too fast, imo. Normally I'm in favour of a strong feel of forward motion, but not in this movement.
Time to dig up the old record player and give Farberman a spin, I guess.
Wed, Oct 31 2012, 3:01PM
#13
RE: Today's Listening
Thanks for the comment on Lloyd Jones's Bax, Tagalie, I haven't heard it either but don't think I'll bother!
Thu, Nov 1 2012, 2:55PM
#14
RE: Today's Listening
Good topic JKH!
This am, Haydn piano concerto 11 in D - Michelangeli, De Stoutz, Zurich chamber orchestra, HMV - 1975 recording (cassette). Very appealing work - a lot of depth and differing moods in the slow movement.
Can't help but think that Michelangeli's playing goes a bit further than bright and bold - he hammers it a bit! (Bazza don't get excited - hammers is a musical term. Ish.)
Mark
Thu, Nov 1 2012, 7:05PM
#15
RE: Today's Listening
Unfortunately I don't have Harold Farberman's earlier (1978) recording on CD - I've got it on LP, and it made a big impression when I first heard it.
I'm in the same boat and coincidentally brushed off the Faberman last week for the first time in eons. I still like it, but I prefer the Downes version, which I have on cd. A little crisper than Faberman without losing the atmosphere, and a better recording.
If you like gigantic musical wallows try Respighi's Sinfonia Drammatica, very much in the same vein as Ilya Murometz.
Given all the discussion of the Victoria Requiem I have retrieved a recording (Tallis Scholars) from the shelves and put it aside for tomorrow evenings listening.
Today it has been mostly Mozart symphonies (English Concert/Pinnock) but also a new recording of piano music by Iain Burnside inc. a piano version of Vaughan Williams Job and Five Preludes by Ivor Gurney.