What Classical Music Are You Listening To Tonight?

[bart]

Originally Posted by AudioNut

Well, I guess so . . . it ought to be cheap . . . ."Rund Funk - Sin fonie" sounds like something vulgar

Rundfunk means radio station, and not even a very sin-ful one Julian!

[bart]

And to end the evening in a delicious way, I'm playing a ...new acquisition.

W.A. Mozart - Complete sonatas for keyboard and violin Volume 5
Gary Cooper & Rachel Podger



I ordered 2 of them (there are 7 in total, the 7th being a 2-SACD set), and after hearing Volume 2, the first one to arrive, I simply had to order them all (I admit it, I suffer from OCD, like most of us AA'ers ).
Sound, playing, it is all fabulous.

Julian, for this, I blame you!

[AudioNut]

And to end my evening in a nice way too. . .

Listening to an ancient Columbia 360 Stereo LP

Vladimir Horowitz - In His First Recordings of
Beethoven Pathetique Sonata
Debussy - Three Preludes
Chopin - Two Etudes
Chopin - Scherzo No. 1 in B Minor

Absolutely gorgeous piano playing beautifully recorded on this 50 year old LP. Solo piano shows off every tick and pop on old LP's,
and I'm always very happy when I play an old record with none of those defects.
This is a perfect copy with no surface noise and it is extremely enjoyable. Horowitz was an extraordinary
pianist and this is a real showcase of his remarkable skill.

[Toccata]

I received this Bach recording today and I love it! Superb sound--the piano has lots of presence, but there is plenty of hall sound, and Günther's playing is wonderful. He doesn't try to mimic a harpsichord--he uses a fair amount of pedal and dynamics and reminds us he is playing a concert grand PIANO! He leans more toward the romantic end of the continuum than a historically informed performance, which is fine with me.

[AudioNut]

Listening to . . . . Julia Fischer - David Zinman - Bruch & Dvorak

Dvorak - Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53
Bruch - Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26

Julia Fischer - Violin
Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich - David Zinman, Conductor

Good music, Good violin, Good orchestra, Good recording. Although quite gentle concertos, probably too complex to listen to at the very low volume setting demanded by very early morning listening. Need to be played louder to get the full impact of the performances. Recommended though, even as background music!

Now, playing this CD in low light makes it quite obvious why I prefer LP's.
My old eyes can't read a damn thing on the back of this tiny little case with its tiny little writing.

Give me LP album covers any day. Either that or get a magnifying glass to put beside my listening chair.

[cma29]

It's a beautiful morning here in the Midwest and I'm enjoying...

Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D major 'Titan'
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer



Very nice music from Mahler (this must be one of his most tuneful symphonies) superbly performed by Fischer and his Budapest Festival Orchestra band. The sound is excellent with good dynamic range, detail and appropriate bass.

[cma29]

Originally Posted by AudioNut

Listening to . . . . Julia Fischer - David Zinman - Bruch & Dvorak

Dvorak - Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53
Bruch - Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26

Julia Fischer - Violin
Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich - David Zinman, Conductor

Good music, Good violin, Good orchestra, Good recording. Although quite gentle concertos, probably too complex to listen to at the very low volume setting demanded by very early morning listening. Need to be played louder to get the full impact of the performances. Recommended though, even as background music!

Now, playing this CD in low light makes it quite obvious why I prefer LP's.
My old eyes can't read a damn thing on the back of this tiny little case with its tiny little writing.

Give me LP album covers any day. Either that or get a magnifying glass to put beside my listening chair.

Julian - forget reading the liner notes. Just look at Julia Fischer's picture while listening to the music. To me her face looks like that of an angel who descended from heaven.

[cma29]

Trying one of my 'old' recordings (old for me is 20 years)...

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64 (excerpts)
Charles Dutoit, Montreal Symphony Orchestra



Great music making by Dutoit and this excellent Quebecois orchestra. The Decca recorded sound, captured at the St Eustache church in Montreal, is sumptuous.

[cma29]

In the mood for ballets today...

Delibes: Sylvia & Coppelia
San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, Martin West



This music is a little fluffy, but the amazing Reference Recordings recording is what makes this disc a must-hear.

The booklet, on page 15, features a note on the producers Marina and Victor Ledin. What caught my eye is that they personally own 100,000 recordings (I wish they had talked about the system they use to listen to all this music).

[cma29]

More French music...
Debussy: La Mer, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé - Suite No. 2, Boléro Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan



This is a classic from 1964. The sound of the BPO strings is sumptuous and is a joy to hear such beautiful orchestral playing. The recording, done at the Jesus-Christus Kirche, is outstanding. Selected as one of Gramophone Magazine's 100 Greatest Recordings.