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The classical what are you listening to now ? thread.

I don't quite know how I've missed out on Dutilleux for so many years. I'm really liking his works and looking forward to exploring more of them. If you like Debussy and Stravinsky's ballets you should like this music. Any other fans here?


 
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Much love for Dutilleux's music here. Especially Tout un monde lontain of which I must have about five recordings now.

Takacs quartet recording of his quartet is worth hearing. The orchestral song cycles Correspondances and Le temps l' horloge (written for Renee Fleming) very good.



Ironically I am listening the Pierre Boulez BPO recording of Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms right now... Boulez cold shouldered Dutilleux's music and hogged all the limelight for his own, and so Dutilleux never got the attention he deserved. But IMO his music is far superior to Boulez's.
 
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alanbeeb said:
Boulez cold shouldered Dutilleux's music and hogged all the limelight for his own, and so Dutilleux never got the attention he deserved. But IMO his music is far superior to Boulez's.
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That's an interesting observation. Boulez was very fussy about what he recorded, though. No Faure, Milhaud or Poulenc I can see, nor Falla's main works, though he did record the Harpsichord Concerto and El Retablo. Hard to compare Dutilleux and Boulez - so different. I do listen to Le Marteau though I haven't got into anything else.
 
alanbeeb said:
Ironically I am listening the Pierre Boulez BPO recording of Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms right now... Boulez cold shouldered Dutilleux's music and hogged all the limelight for his own, and so Dutilleux never got the attention he deserved. But IMO his music is far superior to Boulez's.
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IMO Boulez was a poor conductor of Stravinsky's music just listen to Stravinsky conducting his own music in the big box set , and what he did to Schoenberg's music is unforgivable apart from the Boulez Moses und Aaron. .
 
A bit more on Boulez and Dutilleux - https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/apr/28/classicalmusicandopera1

herb said:
IMO Boulez was a poor conductor of Stravinsky's music just listen to Stravinsky conducting his own music in the big box set , and what he did to Schoenberg's music is unforgivable apart from the Boulez Moses und Aaron. .
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What Schoenberg did to Schoenberg's music after Gurrelieder is fairly unforgivable IMO. :)

Well Boulez's Symphony of Psalms wasn't entirely satisfactory.... but I'm not convinced by Stravinsky's own conducting of that piece with the Canadian orchestra he recorded it with in 1960s - seems very weak and listless.

Whereas Simon Rattle also with BPO doesn't do a lot for me either. I seem to recall that Boulez BPO recording was top in BBC R3 Building a library a few years back. Will have to give Bernstein a shot again.
 
herb said:
IMO Boulez was a poor conductor of Stravinsky's music just listen to Stravinsky conducting his own music in the big box set ....
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I have the big box and while some of it is very good, other recordings have been surpassed by various conductors. I wouldn't say Boulez was "poor" in Stravinsky but he's variable. It's worth cherry picking Stravinsky - there are plenty of recordings to choose from. I'd include Ansermet for works like Renard, Le Baiser De La Fée and Le Chant Du Rossignol which have more charm, and CSO/Ozawa for my definitive Rite of Spring.

I have a particular fondness for the Pokrovsky Ensemble version of Les Noces. It's pretty nuts, with very earthy Russian vocalists, but it swings like the clappers. A real Russian wedding.


For Les Noces it's well worth checking out Bronislava Nijinska's choreography. She was as much a genius as her brother Nijinsky.

 
Schubert Symphonies 8 & 9 - Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Herbert Blomstedt (DG)

This young fellow was in his mid nineties when he made these recordings, but they sound as fresh as if he‘d discovered them yesterday. Excellent sound from DG, with nice heft in the lower registers. Tempi are well judged throughout.
Highest recommendation!
My only regret is that I didn’t buy this sooner…
 
A rare visit from me to this room. Can you help fine people? Bach*, Academy Of St.Martin-In-The-Fields*, Neville Marriner*, Thurston Dart – Brandenburg Concertos (First Version - First Recording). Philips – 6700 045. 2 x LP boxset. 1971.

What's the story and what was the hoo ha behind this recording all about bitd? Was it about the early manuscript that they played from, Dart's arrangement, period strings, everything about it?

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Ingmar Bergman's version of The Magic Flute.
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I vividly remember seeing this 1975 Ingmar Bergman film version of The Magic Flute a very very long time ago. I have occasionally looked for a copy, wondering if it wouldn't live up to the rose-tinted memory. I have finally bought it and it doesn't disappoint.

Sung in Swedish with occasional Swedish sub/surtitle boards (English subtitles available), this production tells the story without taking itself too seriously. The first scene dragon is a hoot as are the other animals and some of the props that appear throughout. Some aspects are of its time but overall I think it's a charming, not very conventional but very entertaining movie-style-first alternative to serious stage-style-first opera video productions.
 
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A wet day after days of sunshine, so I'm only just catching up with the Whitsuntide Cantatas.

I've got as far as yesterday and BWV 68, and am enjoying the wonderful second movement, a duet between the treble and viole de gambe, beautifully sung by a virtuosic boy on the Teldec version. Magic.
 
I'm sure you guys listen to Record Review on R3 on Saturdays and recently two favourites came up - The Firebird and Jeux. The Firebird got the green light for Montreal/Dutoit and no argument there.

Jeux is something else - an extremely episodic ballet with constant tempo changes and one of the most challenging scores I can think of. It's mysterious, enigmatic but at the same time exquisitely detailed and it has to sound like a film score rather than a generic concert piece. My own favourite for a long while has been Cleveland/Boulez who own the piece as far as I'm concerned. The programme introduced me to some other contenders - a live Boston/Munch from the 50s, and Les Siecles/Roth. CBSO/Rattle was the choice over a near dead heat with Boulez, but I would have given it to Boulez. The presenter seemed to like Paris/Makela which I found far too earth bound in this mercurial music - I'm not one of his fans. But Roth was very interesting indeed, just as he was in Firebird. I think this orchestra and conductor are making some of the best recordings in recent years and I'm going to listen to more of their recordings.

Any more Roth fans out there?
 
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