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The classical what are you listening to now ? thread.

Henry Purcell - The Cares of Lovers
Rowan Pierce
Richard Egarr
William Carter

A beautifully recorded selection of works.
I particularly love Rowan Pierce's voice on this album.
 
Just tried a Jacques Loussier plays Bach LP. Didn’t really enjoy it very much so that’s another I’ll probably never play again.
 
A blast from the past.An enormously successful orchestra and conductor up to the late 60s.I grew up on recordings like this...wonderful soundstage,immediacy and sense of involvement.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00C6XBCOW/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

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Ms Frang's latest. And Mr Lifits', the reason I bought the recording. Frang opens and closes the disc with solo works, by Paganini for the opener, and a much better than anticipated transcription of Erlkoenig by Heinrich Ernst to close. Really, both pieces come off splendidly. In between, she is joined by the Uzbek wonder, and, as in their prior outing together, good things happen. The straight Schubert pieces sound nifty, as does the Schubert piece as transcribed first by Liszt and then by David Oistrakh. Miracle of miracles, the duo make the Paganini pieces sound musically satisfying, too. Near SOTA sound, with a smidge of brightness the only kvetch.


Amazon UK link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07XVCZ9V9/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21
 
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I’m currently going through another Tchaikovsky period.Poking through one my many stashes of cds throughout the house I’m a little surprised to find I have over 25 Tchaikovsky recordings.I’ve shamefully neglected him over the last few years but it’s been all Tchaikovsky for the past few days and so probably most of the next week is also taken care of...nice.I still haven’t finished with the magical ballets.Tchaikovsky is simply unbeatable for gorgeous sweeping passages of music.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0000013SN/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

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I used to have this specific Dutton issue of Sargent"s 1946 recording. I bought it for Isobel Baillie's contribution rather than other reasons, but as a part of a great performing tradition spanning right back to the eighteenth century it is fascinating on many levels. The least appealing thing for me was the rather weak and frequently slightly [pitch] flat tenor soloist. There were many more adept tenors for this music, so one wonders why he was chosen.

I only have one recording of Messiah these days, and by now it is also probably somewhat old fashioned compared to the latest trends in performance practice. Pinnock - recorded about thirty years ago on DG Archiv.

Best wishes from George
 
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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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A good recommendation, thanks. Had not come across this before. Can certainly hear why it is thought to have been an influence on Mozart's.
 
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I have been on a bit of a Shostakovich hit since reading Julian Barnes' The Noise of Time, a fictionalised personal memoir by the composer. Definitely worth reading if you are interested in Soviet-era history & culture.
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Anyway today is has been the 2nd Cello Concerto from 1967, in a wonderful performance by Peter Wispelwey which I think surpasses the dedicatee Rostropovich's Boston recording with Ozawa, and Heinrich Schiff's excellent recording with Maxim Shostakovich (the composer's son) & the BRSO.

The disc appears to be 2nd hand only (link below at amazon) but download is available from presto at https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7969288--shostakovich-cello-concerto-no-2

 
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Wagner: Prelude Act 1 Tannhauser. Barenboim, Staatsoper Berlin.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00005UW19/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

I can’t stay away from Barenboim’s Wagner. By far the most satisfying for me. Though this is the most bonkers- straight out of Stanley Kubrick. Check the Dr. Strangelove venue then later, the guest of honour. Laden with irony.

 
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Marvellous music in this requiem from1760.It sounds so “modern” it’s very hard to believe Mozart’s requiem had another 30 years to wait before being composed.
Francois-Joseph Gossec,who was Belgian and lived till 1829,was well able to adjust to changing political times,and went on to compose music for the French revolutionary regimes.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000058UU0/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21
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BrianPK, I've had 1-4 on my shelf since the 90s and don't think I've ever played them once. Crazy how that happens. Your post inspired me to take them off the shelf.
Hope you enjoy them,Frank.
My shelves are full of cds I bought over the years,listened to a couple of times,and if not immediately appealing,filed away and now just sit there making up the no’s.
As time passes I sometimes feel a little guilty about this as I know that if I would only make an effort to listen to them for a while,to familiarize myself,I could discover some gems but it’s a lot easier to immediately get my “fix” by effortlessly listening to my favourites.
 
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Holst 'The planets', Berliner Philharmoniker Orchestra- Herbert von Karajan.

One can simply not have enough versions of this piece of music.:)
 


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