What Classical Music Are You Listening To Tonight?

[Toccata]

Originally Posted by rbbert

Is this available on SACD? I have the 24/96 download from qobuz, and it is fabulous.

No, sadly. My Esoteric CD/SACD player upsamples (I have it set for 4X), so it makes RBCDs sound pretty darn good...assuming they had decent sound in the first place!

[Toccata]

I received this CD today. The main attraction was Olga Amelkina-Vera's "The Heaven's Hundred," a very powerful and virtuoso tribute to those killed during the Ukrainian protests last December. I attended the world premiere this summer in LA and was blown away. Matt is a first rate virtuoso who also plays with great feeling. The recording is very close and dry, so it sounds as if he's playing in my living room!

[cma29]

More Resurrection...

Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C minor 'Resurrection'
Sir Georg Solti, Chicago Symphony Orchestra



I cannot get enough of this symphony so I'm collecting versions that seem to hold promise. I lived in Chicago for several years before my son was born so I consider the CSO a hometown orchestra. Here they are playing this gorgeous piece in the former Medinah Temple, a beautiful arabesque building in the River North neighborhood I used to walk by all the time. This interpretation is intense and the glorious CSO brass get their chance to shine. The tempos and pace are good. The recorded sound has excellent presence, clarity and transparency, but the massive climaxes do not have the visceral impact I get from the Fischer SACD (very few recordings do, so may not be a fair comparison). Overall, an excellent addition to the collection.

[rbbert]

I don't know if you have investigated, but with interest in Mahler being what it is for the last 40+ years not surprisingly there are several websites devoted to discussions and comparisons of most of the available performances of each of his symphonies (including Das Lied von der Erde). Worth reading.

[cma29]

Originally Posted by rbbert

I don't know if you have investigated, but with interest in Mahler being what it is for the last 40+ years not surprisingly there are several websites devoted to discussions and comparisons of most of the available performances of each of his symphonies (including Das Lied von der Erde). Worth reading.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check it out.

[cma29]

More stuff from Presto...

Beethoven:
Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60
Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 'Pastoral'
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer



I've seen this mentioned here a couple of times and it's hard to have too much Beethoven, so I wanted to try it out. Out of the two symphonies the highlight for me was the Pastoral. The woodwind playing is excellent and Fischer sprinkled the wind players among the strings for a cool, fresh effect. The chosen tempos work well for the piece, but I was left wanting for more intensity from the timpani during the thunderstorm. The period performances with the hard sticks really make that sound good. Overall, a good addition but it does not displace my favorites for these works.

[cma29]

A recommendation from Julian...

Ramirez, A:
Misa Criolla
Navidad en Verano
Navidad Nuestra
José Carreras (tenor)
Coral Salvé de Laredo, Sociedad Coral de Bilbao, José Luis Ocejo, Damián Sanchez



It's nice to hear music in my own language and this disc takes me back to my childhood when I used to go to church with my parents. Of course, we did not have such musical talent or harpsichords in our church. The recording, done in a church in Cantabria, Spain, is excellent.

Here is some background on this music:

In 1963 the Argentinian composer Ariel Ramirez wrote a Mass based on South American popular melodies. The hugely popular 'Misa Criolla' included the five major parts of the Catholic liturgy (Kyrie, Credo, Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei) but also instruments from the Andes folk idiom.

[Toccata]

I got around to the Quintet today--again, superlatives fail me!

[AndyPandy]

Yes, I agree they ^^ are very good. Great recording by Supraphon, as usual.

[cma29]

Now...

Schubert:
Symphony No. 9 in C major, D944 'The Great'
5 German Dances with 7 Trios & Coda, D90
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer



The fresh take on the C major symphony is the use of natural horns with their sneery timbre which you hear right away during the opening bars. Besides the horns, I enjoyed the playing of the BFO winds throughout the piece which were captured extremely well by the Channel Classics recording. Overall, a good performance but I don't think it surpasses Abbado with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe on DG.