Classical Music for Aficionados

P.S  The fact that  the Samsung Foundation  loaned her that  1704 Strad 
        helps a bit . Fantastic instrument  !

My putter died .

Interesting younger violinist very romantic and harmonic to the teeth .Born of Korean parents in Germany.
https://youtu.be/EmULX9QHCUU?t=1       Raised  and studied in Germany lives there as German Ciitizen(smart  lady} .


Chausson, Poeme Op25

I knew you would correct me . Too old to look it up at midnight, so I let a fool do it .

Did you bother with my clip? Doubt it .

Idagio is in BERLIN , case closed!

It’s hard indeed jim , get my 2nd vac tomorrow at the huge Vets hospital in Minneapolis .

I will certainly buy the Currenzis if available . Conductors are always interesting to me .
Right now I just play Brendel or Arrau . The ones I’ve heard in person ,I loved them when I heard them and  still do.
Scarlatti sounds good on a Tuba .

Now is the hour for Scotia , she will be welcomed with open arms to the EU .

Brendel was the first artist that made me see what Classical music 
can be with Schubert over 50 years ago. Will always  be my hero.

Great minds think alike 
jim,  I sat  not  20 feet away from Uchida at an outdoor festival in the Green Mountains of Vermont . It was a cool day in the mountains but 
her blouse was sopping wet  as she played Schubert. Got to talk to her
about Schubert , I spent 3 years in Japan in the Army but even for a 
Japanese she was very humble as she said " I love Schubert very much.". 

My 6th is on the way from Amazon , chose the 13$  CD version 
over the 55$ Vinyl  but might go back for seconds .

Best of Scottish luck,
Len 

P.S. I read the Tory Clown won't touch the Scottish Regiments on cuts .
Any more cuts and UK won't  have an Army .

All the Army Scotland really needs is one the size of the Irish .
And that's from a old war dog who gets his Enfield out of the closet
when the pipes whirl . Young Scots need to lose being cannon fodder
is somehow noble .It Ain't !

It has burned bright since I was a wee’un on granny’s lap,jim, and always
will.

I’m a penny tight, pound foolish semi-Scot myself .
Had one granny from the Groble’s and one from Florida area .
Both were in "The Daughters of Scotia " in Syracuse N.Y. and were very different but friends .

Can’t forget the Black Watch, my Great-grandfather died in it in 1915
which is why I am American .

Living in Germany I heard this and confirmed it my self.
The Germans had to get new machine gunners every few weeks
as most broke down in a few weeks .
By 1916 both sides seldom fired on wounded trying to drag , limp back to the own lines .
Exception were the Canadians which gave no quarter and were the ones
the Germans feared most .


Reason: Canada had 8 million population at the time and a million men
went through the grinder of WW 1.Most were immigrants trying to become real Canadians in the eyes of the English Canadians .

Canada had the best battle record in both WW1 and W ll but made sure
that never happened again in WW 11 in which they took the most
POW’s .


P.S . An analogy might be the London Scotts who had a great record .

True, but circumstances had a lot to do with it.

IMO General Currie in World War 1 had that crown .
A reserve officer and math teacher who using math
turned the Canadian Army into the greatest force
on either side . Without him and he alone the war
would have been longer and a million more dead.

All done by a teacher from Winnipeg who went from a Lt. Col reserve to
A General Who was going to be Commander of ALL British and Colonial
troops just as the the Canadians broke the last great repost of the Germans and they surrendered two days later.

You never hear about him because the Brits still think they have an Empire .(NOT a joke )

Well jim, not a few were Scottish immigrants ,


If you ever see the films showing the British troops getting readily off the landing boots on D -DAY ( I think every American has)got news for you,
they were Canadian and they got miles ahead of Brits and Americans
that grim day.

But must be said the Americans did have by far the worst beach .



In any event , perhaps the truest thing old Nappy ever said
was " There are no bad soldiers, just bad Generals " .

General Currie proved that ! In spades .

Wee snip for Jim.
For many years and still I always watch to see if the players
sing the National Anthem . Seldom not haft do.

This is THE only one of many hundreds that ever all did !



https://youtu.be/DtnZxso4V3Y

P.S. have you had your needles yet ?   Had my 2nd  three days ago , all seems well . UK seems to be ahead .

Yes , I have heard the Corries , had a CD and gave it to a Scottish student at the U of MN . Have to top up.

I had pain with my first on 3rd day, this is my 3rd day on the 2nd and almost nothing at all .


I believe it was "Scotland the Brave"  ?

If I got to chose it would be  "A Mans a Man for A" That "  

Seems sinful not  have one from a man who stood with Dickens for the common man.
Bobby forever !

 WhaGot my Currentzis today.
Shows me one thing , it is done from an Eastern Christianity perspective where life is always hard and we do not deserve
anything else as sinners .

In Western Christianity we are still sinners but joy still stops by now and then . In American " born again " quarters it seldom leaves.

As an Anglican I’m somewhere in between .

In3, the Allegro molto vivace sounds like that band could play any thing . Going to look for more them and him.

4- is very good as well,

IMO all in all this is a legit rendition .

Jim , I should have thought of Scot’s wha hae . My uncles took me to Burn's Night where I sung in in my
           McDonald of the Isles kilt .

This is one the best recording of one of THE greatest Symphony’s , it seems little heard .Certainly the most coherent !

https://youtu.be/hVS1OsA2h8o?t=2

My fave Orchestra is the Bavarian Radio Symphony and has been
for about 30 Years, In all that time never heard a blip.

Check this small clip with  wonderful early 6-8 Haydn Symphony's which every real music aficionado should hear.
They where written when Haydn wrote what he wanted , not what
his master wanted to hear . How sad can that be !

https://youtu.be/bqcVD0od1rc?t=1

Amen, rv. And because of that few will hear him.

Little something Bach wrote in his spare time ,

https://youtu.be/FHNLdHe8uxY?t=2

I have heard this music in that church a dozen times .
This Artist has perfect tempo for the music and the building !

Need some more , death to the virus !

He's timing his keystrokes to the acoustics of the building , pure genius !

A McDonald is a McDonald jim !


And I don’t recall seeing anyone doing it from memory !!

Small wonder they chose him to start the Organ week ,Cool as the proverbial cucumber.

I need more of him.


Check this , how in hell do you lay open the harmonics in Vivaldi on an Organ ?
And believe you me, Hungarian's are though audiences .

https://youtu.be/205VbtMOODA?t=1

I would not throw them away, I would burn them !

Nothing on this planet is as Holy  as CHILDREN !!!

Koh on The Melodia of the Bartok Solo Violin .
Though I have never heard it live , I dare say it could no be done better
If the 2 good recordings I do have are any clue .

https://youtu.be/-MBr8z_C3FY

Yes and a Christian Church with homes for the poor in its place .

Julia Fisher and Bach

https://youtu.be/PaGmBAIWO3E?t=1

One of the best America has , takes chance's . I'd like to hear her play Fishers instrument .

https://youtu.be/0Dvvciaozys?t=2

Seriously , the greatest 5th I have heard from the greatest Conductor of the last Century is this .

The sound is nothing to write home about , but the perfection of tempo and every detail brought in just as written
on the score blew me away as I followed it !
The musicians of the Halle did not like him , they truly loved him and it shows .

The Sibelius is uplifting  , what is better from music ?
.


https://youtu.be/-rnFyg_pWj0?t=14



I agree that Bruckner is better than Mahler .












century

There was a guy named Sit Thomas Beecham who made the best recording of a 5th I have ever heard written by a guy named Franz Schubert . It is on the EMI Great Recordings of The Century .

Some folk think the best ever 5th was written by one Shostakovich
and recorded by a Bernstein with the NYO .

Another group think a heavy drinking Swede named Sibelius is the greatest 5ther .

I know , fact certain , his 5th is the best sounding and played by the
foremost Finn conductor , one Osmo Vanska , at the helm of the Lahti Symphony . Said 5th is found on the BIS label in superb sound .

There are many in Moscow that are certain this and that Russian composer wrote THE greatest 5th . I would not know about that .
I am sure those in Wien that claim Mahler or Brucker is the best 5er
are wrong . LvB is FAR above those .

As you know , the hardest person to understand is yourself .

I like the Mahler lieder but his symphonies (except 1st) seem like a waste
of time to me , often like a dog chasing its tail .

I realize I most be wrong , so many others can’t be.

I recently listened to his 5th trying my best to like it . Even with one of
favorite bands , Orchestre symphonique de Montreal .

What seems to be beautiful to others seems nothing to me .
I’m of the straight -ahead Brahms is A + Mahler C- club,
even if I’m only one in it .

I suspect it is largely because I was a soldier for many years and
of my own doing was an Infantryman , aka aggressive  

Jim , after your elegant post , I bow to you.

With being almost 20 years in Germany , this is my German as it gets
group .

https://youtu.be/CfjG5ybOS2Q?t=19

P.S . ETERNA  was a DDR label .

Since it seems I may never see my beloved Germany again , I have to get as close to my Heaven as possible .

"Peer Gynt" , Perfect German Voices , with Masur and his Gewandhausorchester.

https://youtu.be/o4ed-5p2Efs?t=1

I like Bruckner , not in love like Bach or Brahms , but enough to listen
now and then .

This is my favorite recording .

The Maestro had come home to his Orchestra of 20 years for his last time.https://youtu.be/Az-kHLRQhsk?t=45
He was on deaths door in his 90’s and all , including him, knew it .
He was beloved by the Minnesota and they gave him ALL they had
and in a few months he passed . Just opening with Minnesota .

For whatever reason the label has a clip for every page. I have a full recording on second paste , about 6 months
before with the Frankfort Orchestra , you can see how frail he was yet he still was the most sought after Bruckner
Conductor in the world .

https://youtu.be/JNRzpASlh00?t=2


https://youtu.be/Az-kHLRQhsk?t=45

Don't ask me why I got the clip from the Frankfort Radio Symphony in 
the middle of my first paragraph  , Mister "Puter is acting up .
Just get the 2 at the bottom .

None of the German Radio Bands were ever second -rate .

I used to say what was the difference between an American house -painter and a German one .

Ans . Neither knew LvB ’s music from a rock , but the American says he doesn’t listen to that uppity trash, and the German said , O’ Great man, Great man !

When you get into the German grove, hard to live anywhere else , you always know where you are and where you are likely to be.

I did know that about Arrau . My wife and I often went down to Liepzig
in the DDR to hear the Gewandhaus and Masur , About 3 bucks US .
Americans could do that anytime .

At times we had been at the Berlin with von
Karajan the day before . Many the day we both thought Masur and company the better of the two.

Every man in the Gewandhaus was trained in the Leipzig School and
with the original Mendelssohn scores , Now . that’s old school !

Cheers .
Len

P.S., Jim , here is another Piano man who liked Masur . https://youtu.be/76DXQLbXEks?t=1
         I've said it and I don't regret it , You just don't need more .

Me either , She is the Voice of Orthodox Christianity  to God !

Every year towards Easter I play most of the greatest Religious Pieces.
On here 2 hours + will not fly . This Great Vesper from perhaps the Greatest Russian composer of modern times solves that and is fantastic .

https://youtu.be/XfDreatXYeU?t=3      Start



https://youtu.be/U2NSfTXjEPI?t=2    All Vesper

I have almost every one of his LP]'s,. Have had them many years and , as you say , they just get better.

Jim , IMO this is Classical Music .

My favorite when I hung around some lad’s from the Argyll and Sutherland in Germany . Still play it !

https://youtu.be/PDzP37DOhD0?t=1

Many of the National Service men stayed in Germany when they found out how well off the other side was.
And how the German lass’s had all their teeth .

More Classical .
https://youtu.be/XPcnZLeextk?t=2

Jim, our "Syracuse Scottish " wasn't all that much.

We did have one VERY good Piper , a 18 yr old lad who wandered in 
the Stadium in Syracuse during our Highland Games .
He had never head a pipe but in two years my uncle, Dan McGill , a good  technical piper, had  him winning solo in real Highland  Games
and us the odd ribbon .

And oh , he was 100 % Italian from a wealthy family who took the lad 
to Scotland and bought him the best pipes in the land !
 

simao, thanks for that great clip , Grieg forever .

Your word " enfolding "   is the one an old man has been grasping for over decades .

I thank you and God Bless You .

Well to each his own 0-10.

But Beethoven would never pass on Bach and likely cut the throat on who did that to his 5th.

Carmen might slide by .

Of course 0-10 , I thought that was the meaning both ways .
Stay Healthy !,Len

Even the kids !  This proves it .


https://youtu.be/c4QnVrbstXQ?t=10

O-10 in my old age I have come to the conclusion the genre chooses you,not you it .

Not much, Mahler always seems to me a dog chasing his tail .

What do you think of this O-10, perhaps the greatest recording ever made !

https://youtu.be/ldRUt5tU9A0?t=1

Very interesting Modern Mass intended for The Death of Christ .
https://youtu.be/wVRLoUknC9o?t=1
Never stops amazing me how amazingly musical of the highest order the Czechs are .

How true rok , everyone of us not in the 1% has been the frog in the warming pot for decades .
"Fascism is when you can't tell the difference between the State and the
Corporation."
B. Mussolini

A great masterpiece from a great master with about as energy as you could put on a score ! What’s not to like? I seldom listen to him only
because of time , But always great when I do.
Slav means "glory" more or less in Russian not Slavic . Imperial Russian Anthem is in the piece .Slave is one of the many French words brought into English.Still is except in Texas text books where GOP changed every word of Slave to "workers" .

I’ve heard of the Hegel all right, was required doing graduate History at Munster University in Germany .Don’tremember much 50 years later.I I'm sure you would get it with a Google . (If your are not always tried like me).
Hang in there buddy ,Cheers

Nobody knows all things German O-10 .Much less me .

Reads like a McDonald Menu .

Always amazing how this Great Pianist made the most difficult pieces
seem so simple and lovely.
https://youtu.be/a8MdCABDhSc?t=1


https://youtu.be/bTYCrbnlSFA?t=6

Guess so.

This is a piece of his that got me long ago, lyrics are taken from a Great American novel.
https://youtu.be/Un7l-CxvdEg?t=1

"A Death in the Family" by James Agee.

I have now doubt that Samuel Barber is the foremost American composers but the sound is wrong on this rendition

Speaking of Bach , this is rather good for young students .

https://youtu.be/PrIQbadXX74?t=1
Can't say which soloist is the best, both are great and it's a lot easier to get a excellent oboe than a strad .
But I will anyway , that little oboe queen has the soul of a GREAT musician ! She already is one .
Little known in US but Polish schools from k to Medical School are as good as any in Europe . And other places.