https://youtu.be/IcsgOIAcypQ?list=RDIcsgOIAcypQ&t=1
There are two bands with an add between . Second is full Symphonic playing wonderful with no sheets , a miracle from ELEMENTARY kids !!!!
Shame on the rest of us .
Classical Music for Aficionados
This is what can be done with very young children and nobody else does it ! https://youtu.be/IcsgOIAcypQ?list=RDIcsgOIAcypQ&t=1 There are two bands with an add between . Second is full Symphonic playing wonderful with no sheets , a miracle from ELEMENTARY kids !!!! Shame on the rest of us . |
If you don't want to pay NYT, there is a copy of article here, complete with video and audio links: https://russia-insider.com/en/culture/russian-punk-maestro-currentzis-jolts-classical-music-coming-n... |
Savior or Charlatan? A Punk Maestro Jolts Classical Music The conductor Teodor Currentzis — anarchist, goth, guru — has burst out of the Russian provinces and scaled the classical heights. coming to NYhttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/arts/music/teodor-currentzis-shed-verdi-requiem.html |
Laura Downes here, but you have to get thru the introduction Pianist Lara Downes Plays Clara Schumann and More! Live from the WRTI 90.1 Performance Studio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJfa5OBOff8 |
Thanks Newbee, will try to find that recording. Just read a wonderful piece about Bach! "I’ve talked to people who feel they know Bach very well, but they aren’t aware of the time he was imprisoned for a month. They never learned about Bach pulling a knife on a fellow musician during a street fight. They never heard about his drinking exploits—on one two-week trip he billed the church eighteen gorchsen for beer, enough to purchase eight gallons of it at retail prices—or that his contract with the Duke of Saxony included a provision for tax-free beer from the castle brewery; or that he was accused of consorting with an unknown, unmarried woman in the organ loft; or had a reputation for ignoring assigned duties without explanation or apology. They don’t know about Bach’s sex life: at best a matter of speculation, but what should we conclude from his twenty known children, more than any significant composer in history (a procreative career that has led some to joke with a knowing wink that “Bach’s organ had no stops”), or his second marriage to twenty-year-old singer Anna Magdalena Wilcke, when he was in his late thirties? They don’t know about the constant disciplinary problems Bach caused, or his insolence to students, or the many other ways he found to flout authority. This is the Bach branded as “incorrigible” by the councilors in Leipzig, who grimly documented offense after offense committed by their stubborn and irascible employee." more here: https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/js-bach-rebel |
Speaking of the Schumann Concerto, here is the 11 year old Martha Argerich playing it in a decidedly UNgentle manner that someone just sent me. Miraculous for an 11 year old. Sound quality is very primitive. https://slippedisc.com/2019/10/unbelievable-martha-argerich-aged-11-plays-schumann-concerto/ |
jcazador (and others of like mind) Your comment to me on 10/6 "...peaceful, my kind of music" caused me to think of you when I finished listening to my most recent acquisition. This is a recording by Lara Downes on Steinway & Sons titled "For Love of You. Clara and Robert Schuman". I bought this because I like her music and I follow her as other recordings of that label. I had no great expectations, in fact I had a major reservation - I had burned out long ago of that highly regarded war horse, his Piano Concerto. Short version - I was drawn in and swept away by the program, her performance and the recording quality. The piano concerto is the most gentle version one can imagine and reflects the spirit of the program. This is, really, a program which engages and relaxes simultaneously. I cannot endorse it more highly to you. Enjoy if you can. |
On maturer reflection: it's clear that there's some compression going on in the Sony recording. This is a bad thing and a good thing. I initially warmed to it, because I was able to set one volume at the opening of the first movement, and didn't have to fiddle with the remote again. On the other hand, it certainly takes away from some of the more massive dynamic contrasts. The problem is that with other recordings I often find myself riding the volume on the remote control, effectively providing my own spur-of-the-moment compression. When then loudest fff are set not to break the speakers, the pp passages aren't as audible as I'd like. Hmmm. |
There is a nice short documentary on Teodor Currentzis on you tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMv7Ag_j58A |
rvpiano -- Yeah! That Mahler Des Knaben Wunderhorn recording is indeed my favorite record of all time. I have three copies -- one CD and two Vanguard LPs (my wife accidentally put a scratch in my first one and guiltily tracked down another). Thanks to my recent purchase of a Mytek Brooklyn Bridge DAC, the CD is now just as emotionally involving as the vinyl. Mahler's music and the artists' performances, especially those of bass-baritone Heinz Rehfuss, act as a time-machine, effortlessly transporting me back to a lush, magical, sometimes terrifying ancient Europe. |
It was RV who introduced me to Currentzis. For the most part, I like his interpretations. The Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto is one of my new favorites. I listened to an album of Micheal Gielen that had two performances of the Mahler 6th, both were quite different from the other. Check it out. My fav is the Horenstein performed live- That audience is sooo quiet. Bob |
Finally getting around to listening to the Currentzis Mahler 6. After the overwhelming Tchaikovsky Pathetique it was a must-listen. So, not as transformative, but interesting nevertheless.. Tempos are generally brisk in movements 1 and 2, with just occasional moments of noticeable rubato. His orchestra is incredibly together, and the Sony recording is very fine. There are a number of details of the score that come through more clearly here than any other recording I know. The slow movement is superlative (but then I'm a sucker for Mahler's slow movements). It's different to Bernstein, but I'll definitely want to listen to it again. Here the tempo is "just right", and the slow ebb and flow and ultimate build to the climax perfectly judged--definitely not just a long sentimental bonbon--more truly emotionally draining. (Barbirolli: remember, each piece of music only has one climax.) Has anyone else heard it? I'd be curious to get your impressions. |
Newbee, Actually, Rachmaninoff became so depressed after the first performance of the First Symphony because of adverse criticism, he stopped composing for a while and never returned to it. It’s the First Concerto that he revised later on in life. The Symphonic Dances are indeed a departure from his usual style. |
RV, do you think this accounts for the resemblance to his Symphonic Dances? Interesting that his 1st symphony could be so similar to his last (symphonic) works. Wonder how his unreworked version would compare to the Symphonic Dances. BTW, the Symphonic Dances are my favorite orchestral works by Rachmaninoff. They have everything that really wakes one up, nothing here to drowse to. :-) |
rv, I finally got around to the Ozawa/Zimmerman Rach 1 st.. Is everything you said it was . To be honest he has always been a peripheral composer to me , more because of time than anything else . Bach has always taken at least 1/3 of my listening time since the first note. Put in Brahms , Schubert and early music and well over 50% . That said , I saw another rendition of Rach 1 with Leif Ove Andsnes and the BerlinerPhil , listened , and it seemed right up there as well . Cheers |
Sv Richter Here is the Richter documentary "The Enigma" in 2 parts. Highly recommended. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfJVpjI3wJM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVhxqEN9j7k |
Newbee thanks, i have that, love it, peaceful, my kind of music https://www.amazon.com/Shostakovich-Piano-Works-Dmitri/dp/B0000SWNIO |
@jcazador Hi Jeremy I have seen Ashkenazy a few times and one of the best was a Beethoven cycle in Glasgow. He was with the SNO and within a fortnight he treated us to the five Beethoven Piano concertos and the Choral fantasy. How he remembered all those notes I will never know but it was incredibly enjoyable all the same. although not what I would say my favourite pianist i think he is a very ejoyable pianist and one of the best Beethoven interpreters that I know. |
For a change from the 17C, I’ve started an Elgar survey. Kind of fascinating to go back and see what CDs I bought years and years ago, when I was guided primarily by the successive editions of the Penguin Stereo Guide and reviews in Gramophone (before it got dumbed down). Starting with Symphony #1. Surprised to find I own Handley, Judd and Marriner, rather than what I’d expected (i.e. Boult, Barbirolli or Solti). |
@jcazador Oh jeremy you lucky lucky man having experienced Rachmaninov playing live. I would love to have been so fortunate but unfortunately he was already dead when I was born but I do consider myself very lucky that I have seen a lot of the other greats. I have a little nugget from Arrau about Rachmaninov that when Arrau was playing in concert one day he didn't know that Rachmaninov was in the audience and at the end of the recital Rachmaninov asked if he could taik to Arrau. Of course Arrau said yes and they struck up a conversation about the recital especially about Beethoven's 32 variations in C minor Arrau had just played. Rachmaninof told Arrau he had never heard of the piece and Arrau was cool to Rachmanonov after that. I thought Arrau a terrible snob after that , after all how could you not forgive a wonderous pianist, composer and conductor of not knowing a minor piece by Beethoven. I must say I did think a little less of Arrau after that, oh and another thing he said was that although Rachmaninov was a great pianist everything he played he turned into pure Rachmaninov ( I call that sour grapes ). |
In RICHTER: THE ENIGMA, Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997), one of the greatest pianists of all time, breaks his life-long silence and allows himself to be interviewed for this autobiographical film. He evokes his wild childhood, his encounters with the great names in the music world, his performance debuts, and his activities as a concert artist in the troubled Soviet Union. Acerbic and unpredictable, Richter reveals himself here with disarming candour and humour. The programme includes previously unseen archival footage, a wealth of performance excerpts, and works by the following composers: Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Liszt, Mozart, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Ravel, Saint-Saens, Schubert, Shostakovich, and more.
|
“I was only six when I first heard Rachmaninoff perform, and I attended his concerts regularly for the next twenty-two years until his death in 1943. I heard him play not only his most of his own compositions, but the entire standard repertoire that he chose to perform in public. I also had the good fortune to hear him in the role of conductor. Sergei Rachmaninoff has been the most important musical influence of my life. His sheer presence commanded a respect which was formidable. The simplicity of his approach to the keyboard was a model of perfection which I have strived to emulate.” Earl Wild Now listening to Earl Wild's Legendary Rachmaninoff Song Transcriptions |
Here’s a nice outing by the Glasgow Philharmonic you won’t hear streaming . Dia beanachadib Alba The de facto Scottish National Anthem. https://youtu.be/iYOBFj8jhS8?t=2 IMO, Scottish Pipes are a classical instrument . https://youtu.be/a9nZ_qqf70I?list=RDa9nZ_qqf70I&t=3 That was also the opinion of my three grandparents born in Scotland . |
+1 0n Wild-Horenstein , Rachmaninov Concertos too. I really think Wild was one of the most fearsome virtuosos of the twentieth century , he could be compared to ANYONE !! He had such an easy virtuousity that he made everything look too easy so he was dismissed because he wasn't making a shed load of faces while playing Rachmaninov's Third Concerto. Another great pianist who I think is the same is Marc-Andre Hamelin , again he has this way of playing which can encompass anything you just have to look what look what he did for Alkan's works. I would love to se him tackling some of the great keyboard works of Bach , I bet he wouldn't slow down for the decorations int the repeats.RV I love Zimmerman , I know you don't like Liszt but I find his Liszt very palatible ( the Sonata and Totentanz ) do remember though that if you don't like a pianist playing Liszt don't blame Liszt ( old saying from Brendel ) |
I overlooked these PC's by Zimmerman and Ozawa as well. Wild and Horenstein's performances of all four have been my 'go to' versions for years. Yet, I've not hesitated to order a new CD on your recommendation. I have Liszt's PC's by the same forces which I also recommend as you did the Rachmaninoff. Thanks for posting you thoughts on this. |
Just heard the most incredible performance of the Rachmaninoff First Concerto there is to my knowledge. Krystian Zimerman with Seji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony, on Idagio. I don’t know how this recording ever eluded me over the years. Brilliant beyond imagination, with recorded sound to match. You owe it to yourself to listen to this interpretation. Rachmaninoff shines! |