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The classical what are you listening to now ? thread.

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Over the course of the last couple work weeks, I streamed a big chunk of the Doric Quartet's discography in the early morning work hours. There's nary a weak recording in the bunch. Sure, the Aron Quartett breathe even more like into the criminally under-recorded Korngold works, and no one can make Adams truly compelling, and in the other rep, established faves probably remain established faves, but the Janacek quartets have no little intensity, the Schubert G Major rocks, and the Haydn works delight. Op 20 is rock solid, Op 64 too, but it is in Op 76, with a perfect combination of refinement and copious hints of rustic influences and idiosyncratic touches, where the Doric show they can compete with anyone. Here's to hoping they release and LvB cycle next year.
 
Michael Haydn’s Requiem...wonderful piece of music.
I originally saw the live performance on YouTube and thought it a revelation.
“It’s very interesting to read that both Mozart and his father Leopold were (as part of their duties) members of the orchestra at the performance of Michael Haydn’s requiem and that Leopold,in particular, had a difficult relationship with M.Haydn even though he appreciated his undoubted talent . . . professional rivalry?
It is thought that this requiem had a great influence on Mozart when he came to compose his own requiem 20 years later.”
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0021JLPNO/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

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Todd A said:
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Bartłomiej Kominek's Prokofiev disc starts off with Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet, and the playing is unremarkable and unexceptionable to start. As the piece continues on, something happens. One realizes that the unmannered playing, the potent but not harsh forte playing, the clean articulation and very fine dynamic control, and the very impressive but somehow un-virtuosic handling of the score's (and scores') difficulties all end up producing Prokofiev of near-Ovchinnikovian quality. True, in the Sixth Sonata that closes the disc, one can find a bit more to enjoy from, say, Wang or FFG, but this is no slouch of a performance. Apparently, Mr Kominek has transcribed Chopin's piano concertos for smaller forces, so he has various musical talents. I could not find another recording from him, though. Dux did him right and delivers SOTA sound, as is typical with the label.


Amazon UK link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M8LCJ5H/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21
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Ah, I didn't know there was a piano reduction of R&J. Who’s is it?
 
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Valery Afanassiev playing three of ol' Ludwig van's most famous sonatas. Afanassiev's main thing here is playing the music slower than slow. Op 13 is dreadful. Heavy, plodding, ugly, lacking energy, and including a lot of banging, it's almost as bad as Gould's worst. Somehow, though, the even more ridiculously slow 27/2 (9:58/3:25/9:14!) comes off reasonably well, if one takes it as a serious attempt at musical absurdism. Afanassiev achieves musical stasis in the opening movement and a strange sense of scale in the closer. Op 57 comes in at over a half-hour, and much of it sounds stiff, ugly, and ponderous, but in some passages he lets rip to exciting effect. He whizzes right by Pogorelich and straight into Barto territory in terms of self-indulgence, but he lacks the American's tonal finesse and fluidity. Afanassiev's discs usually sell at a premium, but I picked this up for an old school Naxos price (ie, $6), so it was worth it.
 
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The first LP I ever bought. In 1976 from a shop in Dorchester. I wonder if it is still there?
I haven't played this for thirty years. It still sounds fabulous.
 
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Got a couple listens in. The disc contains much fine piano playing, as expected. In some spots, one can hear the seventy-five year old use pedal a bit more generously than in years past to smooth out the sound, and the playing isn't as ironclad as a younger Freire might have provided, but older Freire is still better equipped than most other pianists ever. The music selections mainly serve to make the listener wish he'd record more. The two Scarlatti selections are especially compelling. The almost rushed feel and the robustness make one want to hear a full disc's worth of sonatas. And of course all the Spanish selections (Granados, Mompou, and Albeniz) make one simultaneously happy to hear the playing and unhappy more is not forthcoming. The DSCH selections are quite striking, the Rach predictably good, and the nearly half hour chunk of Grieg makes for an island of delightful sameness in an otherwise very mixed disc.

The recording sounds better through speakers than headphones. Through the latter, the sound can become a bit harsh up top at times, though it's still fully modern and more than acceptable.


Amazon UK link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WR1M61K/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21
 
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Mozart - Konzert fur Klavier und Orchester No 17 K453 and No 21 K467. Camerata Academica des Salzburger Mozarteums. Soloist Geza Anda. Vinyl, Deutche Grammophon. I haven't played this for years. This version of the 21 was used for Bo Widerbergs wonderful 1967 film Elvira Madigan.

 
Rawsthorne’s Piano Concertos on an old mono HMV LP - and yes, it does remind me very much of the opening theme to The Cruel Sea.
 
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