Records Recently Heard of music composed after 1791.

Its true, it wasn't simply the change in the economic and political position of the composer that led towards romantic subjectivism; music, like all the art forms was caught up in the romantic movement of the times, although it was a very late starter. Music seems to be the most conservative of the art forms and always a long time behind literature and visual arts.

This is seen at the end of the romantic movement, composers are still plugging away with romantic music long after its become old hat elsewhere. And it has now managed to merge seamlessly into post-modern ecleticism, with so much of contemporary western art music is self-referencing and/or paying conscious homage to past examples, or joining up with new age spirituality and other examples of the retreat from reason.

We may be going on the same track. Bruckner's 5th is probably my favourite of his symphonies - possibly because it is the 'purest' of them least concerned with the self and concerned to a much greater degree with musical structure and processes. I can definitely stand repeated listening to it without analyzing it.

Brahms 4th (all time no.1 symphony for me ).... especially the first movement, again the musical processes seem more important than any perceived subject matter. The finale is built on a Bach quotation, worked out as variations in a passacaglia.... an early example of homage to the past perhaps. In this case the quotation is not part of a personal narrative as in "I'll use this quote because it is very significant to my life" but "this is a good tune to build a set of variations on."

 

Dear Alan (forgive the earlier double ll). We seem to agree, then. All music is great as long as it is good. So, why are you waiting for posting more on non baroque music? :MILD: I do mean it!

 

I think that this is post-1791:


Anyway, it arrived tonight and it's great.

 

Last few days have been taken up with lots of new things.... I got a turntable a few weeks ago and ebay is now my oyster for 2nd hand classical.

So on the menu recently has been lots of Shostakovich in surprisingly good recordings from the Soviet era, including first recording of the 15th Symphony (1972) conducted by Maxim Shostakovich and Moscow RSO.... somthing more real about it than western readings I've heard, maybe its the sourness of the brass, which is truly painful at the climax of the finale - which is as it should be.

Also Schnittke symphonies from the USSR Ministry of Culture Orchestra & Rozhdestvensky - no.3 is especially interesting, very like some works of John Adams at some points but interesting for its deliberate references to Bach and baroque style in general in the 2nd movement, and wierd instrumentation including synths, electric guitars and harpsichord. The first movement is a clear homage to the opening of Rheingold. Fascinating. I have no idea what the Brezhnev era authorities would have made of it but obviosuly they allowed performance, publication and pushed it to the west as symbolic of the Soviet peoples' desire for peace and understanding blah blah.

For light relief have been listening to Brahms - Haydn Variations, Dresden Staatskapelle conducted by a youngish Claudio Abbado in early '70s - this recording seems never to ahve made it to CD which is a shame as its very fresh and alive.

Also Dvorak 6th, what a glorious happy symphony, Istvan Kertesz and LSO on an old Decca LP - and I'd say it sounds more alive than anything I've heard on CD.

 

I always loved Barbirolli's HMV recording with the Vienna Phil. (Liked it so much that we had the chorale as our wedding music). I have only the vinyl, but I believe it's available on CD in combination with some other Brahms bits and pieces.

 

Lots of things been played here in last few weeks.... but lots of Sibelius in last few days, courtesy of cheap vinyl from ebay.

5th and 7th symphonies from Maazel and VPO, these must have been pretty unfamiliar to the VPO in the early '60s when they were recorded. Slightly odd phrasing but very effective and stunning recorded sound.

Just been listening to 3rd symphony, Ashkenazy/Philharmonia. Its sort of neo-classical. Sibelius 3rd and 4th symphonies must have been a huge breath of fresh air when they were first heard.

 

Cortot's and Moravec's Chopin

 

Resphigi 'Birds/Brazilian Impressions' Paul Paray, Detroit SO, on Mercury Living Presence. Probably very corny, but I love it, and the sound quality is awesome.

 

Ah yes, that's a cracking record. Never released on CD, bafflingly. The realisation of the percussion tick-tocking has never been equalled, the cello and trombone solos are wonderfully soulful, and the bassoons at the start of the third movement - I've never heard such a woody sound. The brass in the last movement climax do seem to be difficult to reproduce cleanly - or maybe the grittiness I hear is the way they really sounded?

Another Melodiya to look out for (and another recording you will only find on vinyl): Kyril Kondrashin's version of The Execution of Stepan Razin. Terrific!

And... Mravinsky's Melodiya recordings of Shostakovich's 6th and (particularly) Sibelius' 7th symphonies with the Leningrad PO - both among my favourite records ever.

And Svetlanov's versions of Manfred and The Tempest with his hyper-Soviet USSR SO. Such excitement! They don't make 'em like that any more. To which some might say "just as well", but not me.

 

Ah yes!
The Russian interpretations of Shostakovich's or Tschaikowsky's music were always my favourites. Today this music is played differently and the only interpretations I would really like to have are those of Gergiev or Gennadi Rosdesvensky. Unfortunately I never saw any of Gennadi's recordings anywhere after 1995.

What I also like are the interpretations of Karel Ancerl. Recently Supraphon released a collection of CDs with all his recordings remastered (Karel Ancerl Gold Edition). In this collection there is a lot of music composed after 1791 ( ). The remastering is not the best (even if with 24bits 96kHz) but the interpretation I really like. Those who have good printed original Supraphon LPs are better off.

 

Have dug this bad boy out again chez PeteH...

In case you can't read that ( ), it's the Korniev / St Petersburg Chamber Choir version of the Rachmaninov Vespers. Pretty good it is too - the singing isn't immaculate by any means, with some intonation problems in the soprano lines in particular, but it's still better in this respect than 90% of the choral recordings out there, and obviously the authentic Russianness counts for a lot in this of all works.

I bought a gigantic pile of all sorts of things in the current Virgin sale - Vasks, Birtwistle, MacMillan, Simpson, Karlowicz, Lyapunov, Chausson, Zemlinsky, etc. etc. - and I'll get back to you all once I've had a proper go at some of them. I also got Angela Hewitt's set of the Goldberg Variations, but I don't think Bach really qualifies for inclusion in this thread.

 

Pete, Rachmaninov's Vespers (more correctly, the Easter All-Night Vigil) is one of my favourite pieces of music. Few bits of music I've ever heard have more "soul". This is THE version:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...791047?_encoding=UTF8&s=music&v=glance&n=5174

Now very hard to get, it features the Russian State Academy Choir under Alexander Sveshnikov, and it was released in the 1970s, winning the Grand Prix du Disque. As I've said elsewhere, the fervour with which these card-carrying party members sing this music makes you realise that the soul of Old Russia never really died.

 

Ok, It isnt a record, but I went to see Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra playing Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" and Shostakovich's 15th symphony at the Sage last week. FANTASTIC. Loved the Romeo and Juliet, one of the best interpretations I've heard. Shostakovich's 15th is one of my favourites (although it does take some getting used to) and it was great to see it live, the percussionist's were particularly impressive, but Gergiev took the first and third movements slightly too fast for me, and they didnt seem to stick together properly. However, The second and last movements were really well done, they beat the recording ive got with Haitink conducting. The sage is really a great concert hall, accoustically brilliant, real treat compared to the concerts we get in the local leisure centre...

Alas, as always, I got stuck next to the one person who decides to rattle their tablets in the middle of a quiet section in the music

 

For some reason I missed this thread just now and resorted to posting some short musings over in the one full of interminable prehistoric keyboard music . So if you want to read about Chausson and Zemlinsky Double Deccas, pop over there and take a look.

 

Now playing chez PeteH is Malcolm Binns playing Balakirev and Rimsky-Korsakov, Hyperion's The Romantic Piano Concerto volume 5.



There are three works on the CD, namely Rimsky-Korsakov's piano concerto from 1882/3 and Balakirev's op. 1 and op. posth. concertos. The Rimsky and the early Balakirev are both fairly slight works at less than 15 minutes each, sounding rather like Chopin played with a vaguely St Petersburg accent. The late Balakirev work is over half an hour long and rather more characteristic - the slow movement in particular taps into the same vein of Slavic melancholy found in the slow movement of Balakirev's glorious and echt-Russian first symphony, if without quite such an unforgettable tune.

Thoroughly sensible, extremely well-played performances (David Lloyd-Jones conducting the English Northern Philharmonia on excellent form) and excellent recording as you'd expect.

 

An old favourite:



I have the vinyl, bought about a million years ago, but in line with my policy of replacing vinyl with CD, I picked this up cheap in Amazon UK's sale. It also has the Brahms double concerto (the original vinyl had only the Beethoven). Two great pieces wonderfully played.

 

tones, that GROC Beethoven / Brahms is a truly wonderful record. I'd have to admit, though, that for me it's more like one great piece (Brahms) and one eccentric but pleasant enough work (Beethoven), wonderfully played! I've never been that much of a fan of the Triple, but the Brahms would be amongst my top five all-time favourite works.

 

I admit that the Triple is a bit of an oddity, Pete, but I prefer it to the Brahms. I guess that's a question of being more familiar with it - I bought the vinyl not long after it came out. It excited a bit of attention because few had ever bothered with it and the use of the three great Russian soloists at a time when Rostropovich in particular was under somewhat of a cloud with the Soviet authorities.

 

I really thought I'd already posted this on here, but having performed a quick search I can't find it, so here goes:


Herbert Howells: Stabat Mater, Rozhdestvensky / LSO & chorus / Chandos. Stirring, searing stuff - it's a bigger and more ferocious work than the Hymnus Paradisi, and reminds me slightly of Walton's Belshazzar's Feast in its highly-strung dramatic intensity, which can become slightly wearing by the end of its 51-minute span.

Unfortunately for me I didn't realise that the reason my copy was going cheap was because the CD had just been deleted and replaced by a two-for-one reissue also including the Missa Sabrinensis, which is apparently similar but even better, so I'm currently on the lookout for a separate copy of that (or failing that a cheap copy of the reissue and I'll get rid of this ).

Performance is very good and the sound quality is good too, if perhaps not quite at Chandos's highest standards (the bigger climaxes tend to get ever-so-slightly congested-sounding). The choir is decent too, which is always a relief.

 

I've always liked Oistrakhs recording of the Beethoven/Brahms pairing with Fournier. Can't remember who the piano player was..
What are you going to do with all your records then Tones? You must have quite a job to chase all of them down?