Quote:
Originally Posted by mal4mac
If you want something that is full-blooded and not the prissy performance that this work is often given, then you could try this one. Nobody goes to sleep when Stokowski conducts.
http://youtu.be/IzSQZveguUQ
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mal4mac
If you want something that is full-blooded and not the prissy performance that this work is often given, then you could try this one. Nobody goes to sleep when Stokowski conducts.
http://youtu.be/IzSQZveguUQ
I have been trying to play a piano arrangement of this as it's a particular favourite piece of mine but the rendition here is nothing less than superb.
Really beautiful playing that won't be bettered.
http://youtu.be/7ERK1S_BJdU
Thanks - that was fun. Real fireworks! "Third Ear" says Stokowski used "more winds than Handel and an enlarged body of strings for a total of 125 players." He gets a top recommendation there, but that's along with 9 other disks (!)Quote:
Originally Posted by Emil Miller
Prissy - that describes Marriner's Decca version exactly (though his earlier Argos version is supposedly better...)
Anyway, my taste (today) is PI, so I've plumped for Norrington - here's a beautiful, but not prissy, clip from Water Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNRc8EBbDbs
The Water Music and the Royal Fireworks Music are not my favorite works by Handel. They reek a bit too much of all that is worst in English music: pomposity, pretension, Brian's noted "prissy-ness", and a lack of real elegance. His Italian cantatas, operas... or for his later English music, his Alexander's Feast the Coronation Anthems, and of course the great oratorios (ummm... The Messiah?) are stunning.
Nevertheless, I agree that in this case it may be the conductor. Sir Neville Mariner is not bad. I still hold a soft spot for his Mozart recordings... simply because it was he who really sold me on Mozart through the recordings used in Amadeus. But like Leonhardt and Harnoncourt,,, two other early HIP (Historically Informed Performance) conductors, his performances often seem tame by today's standards. Interestingly enough, he would have been criticized for his excessive speed years ago when all music... Classical and even Baroque... was played as if Mahler had written it: orchestras of 150 instruments, lush layers of strings, slow, stately performances laden with gravitas... or treacle... and no thought whatsoever given to the original orchestration and instruments used. Stokowski is always fun to listen to... but in almost every instance you get more of Stokowski than you do of Handel or Bach. Pinnock seems closer to my ideal... but I like Jordi Savall: a full balls to the wind HIP performance!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsTq46JK7EU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOSna...eature=related
Maybe equalled? I caught this last week on Radio 3:Quote:
Originally Posted by Emil Miller
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...Ebene_Quartet/
Their Ravel/Debussy/Faure disk is a worthy Grammy winner IMHO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Hywiv8jXU
Agreed, they really work at what they do and it shows in the performance.Quote:
Originally Posted by mal4mac
If they stay together, they have a great future. I didn't go for the pop music videos on display but in serious music they know what they are about.
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Solveig's Song - Norway
Peer Gynt
Soloist - Barbara Bonney
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHbI2...eature=related
''She played Bach. I do not know the names of the pieces, but I recognized in them the stiff ceremonial of the Frenchified little German courts and the sober, thrifty comfort of the burghers, and the dancing on the village green, the green trees that looked like Christmas trees, and the sunlight on the wide German country, and a tender cosiness -
And in my nostrils there was a warm scent of the soil - and I was conscious of a sturdy strength that seemed to have its roots deep in mother earth, and of an elemental power that was timeless and had no home in space''.
(W. Somerset Maugham)
Magnificat
BWV 243/1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUEFs...eature=related
Quote:
Originally Posted by Musicology
The quote is from Maugham's short story 'The Alien Corn' but in the film version, she plays a Schubert impromptu although I don't remember which one.
Ah, yes, there is the film industry for you !
Quote:
Originally Posted by Emil Miller
Well it was part of a quartet of Maugham's stories in one film and Eileen Joyce played the piano, although it was Francoise Rosay who played the pianist. This is the introduction to it: quite something to see Maugham on film.Quote:
Originally Posted by Musicology
http://youtu.be/WmERUgyjmWc
'An elemental power that was timeless and had no home in space'.
Mmm !!
Something like this meets that description. This music even brings to mind that famous verse -
'The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof'. (Psalm 24)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bem-a...eature=related
I would like the opportunity to be boring and mundane about a work that is already revered for the brilliant piece that it is.
Ladies and Gentleman here is (something you all know well) the most beautiful and moving piece of ART ever composed. The euphony of the strings in harmony with the gentle piano play moves me literally to tears every time it embraces my ear. The music penetrates the atmosphere like no other sound you will ever hear as even the air is inspired to twirl in a slow, melancholic waltz in awe of the beauty that surrounds it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY3W22uu0iM
This recording is very well known and was for many years considered one of the best in the catalogue. It is a work of chrystaline beauty and of course very moving, as shown by its use in David Lean's great British film Brief Encounter.Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick_Bateman
http://youtu.be/hubyFqSUaGA
Here's some music that has stuck with me for some odd reason...
Robert Helps "Hommage a Faure'" (1972)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBfxCHRtmwQ
While we are on Rachmaninov, here's his great Paganini variations, truly one of the greatest works written for the piano with orchestral accompaniment. When the Dies Irae kicks in at the very end, it simply leaves the listener staggered.
http://youtu.be/TJ2dY5wRfm4
Oboe Concerto
BWV 1053/1
''The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul'' (J.S. Bach)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYGpP...eature=related
Going to London Philharmonic at the end of June to listen to Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto #3 as well as Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony.Quote:
Originally Posted by Emil Miller
I can't go to this Thursday's performance of Rach 2. Which is devastating.
Presumably you will be seeing it at the Royal Festival Hall if you are in London.Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick_Bateman
I don't think you will be disappointed with the third concerto which, to my mind, is even better than the second. Rachmaninoff had one of the greatest musical minds of any century and it takes, not only a musical sensibility but also a prodigious technique to play him. Who is the soloist on June 6th?
Tchaikovsky's 6th is another great work in the Russian repertoire but it ends in a somewhat a negative way. Strangely, it's the one that conductors seem to prefer as it's the most frequently performed but I think that the last movement is too much of a change after this very typical Bernstein performance with the NYSO, at which the audience applauded before the last movement was played.
http://youtu.be/EbEGSbipAA8
I've always thought the same with regard to the 3rd. But the 2nd movement of the 2nd concerto moves me like no other piece for piano and it must be such a transcendent experience to hear it live in concert. I enjoy Tchaikovsky's 6th and it will be a fantastic warm up prior to the 1812 Overture at Highclere Castle in July (complete with 200 live cannon and fireworks.)Quote:
Originally Posted by Emil Miller
Yes it will be at the HUGE Festival Hall on the Southbank. Looking forward to the Saison Poetry room as well that is housed within the Hall.
If the cannon aren't kept at some distance from the orchestra, they might well drown them out at the end , but everyone should see the 1812 played at some time in their life. It may seem hackneyed but the audience response is always amazing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick_Bateman
I've just checked out the pianist for your concert and here he is playing the final part of the Rachmaninoff 3rd, I don't know the orchestra but the conductor is Lorin Maazel.
http://youtu.be/GjRGip5aNhs
Some years ago I was with a friend driving along the rocky north coast of Devon just after a terrific rainstorm and we were ploughing through huge pools of water. She switched on the radio and this music was playing, which perfectly caught the mood of the moment.
http://youtu.be/2-F5dmRV5Bc
"The organist Bach has previously played here rather too long, but after his attention was called to it by the Superintendent, he has at once fallen into the other extreme and has made it too short."
J.S. Bach
"Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild"
Cantata
BWV 79/1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmio2...eature=related
More from JSBach's extensive biography:
In 1722 he left Prince Leopold's services to become cantor at St Thomas's church in Leipzig, an important post offering a higher salary which was becoming increasingly necessary for the support and education of his large and growing family. Bach's stay in Leipzig was not particularly happy for him, being marred by constant conflict with the authorities. His attempts to obtain a new position failed, and in 1750 he died of a stroke following a disastrous operation intended to improve his failing eyesight.
:iagree:
Here's something from a brilliant Vietnamese virtuoso. Check out his other videos to see what piano playing should be.
http://youtu.be/drQe8ER57uE
While working today, I listened through the entirety of Die tote Stadt. What a stunning opera - a Korngold fanboy I may be, but it cannot be denied that this holds up well against any of its Straussian predecessors. It really is a masterpiece.
And this is, quite possibly, my favourite baritone aria of them all...
I might watch the Royal Opera House production of Le nozze di Figaro tonight. We'll see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF655YJolQI
I have it on DVD - it's a great production. Dorothea Roshmann's Countess is particularly brilliant.Quote:
Originally Posted by Neely
Yes it's a good one. I went through a Figaro thing last year where I kept playing this version and another one. I also saw two productions of it, one in Sheffield and the other at the Royal Opera House itself (with some of the same cast as in the DVD). This was one of my rare visits to London.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lokasenna
Edit: Jesus, I've just seen one of the adverts above; Classical Music Dating Site (or something) isn't the internet unreal at times?
Here are those fiery Venezuelan kids again playing it better than anyone else.
http://youtu.be/RcAGFgPCigw
That really is stunning - I think that's the best performance of the Bacchanalle that I've heard.Quote:
Originally Posted by Emil Miller
Quote:
Originally Posted by Emil Miller
This is beautiful. The ending is so powerful.
It sure beats rock, rap, or whatever they call that noise.
I've been listening to Mahler again after a rather lengthy interval (I've been focusing upon broadening my grasp... and my collection... of the Baroque). Today I listened once again to the young Simon Rattle's iconic recording of Symphony no. 2 "The Resurrection" and was blown away once again.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3072/...3db150b1fe.jpg
Here is a brief outtake of Valery Giergev's performance with the LSO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGyvl9McMGs
**************
In other classical news, I just made what must be the greatest bargain purchase yet this year. This 15 disc set:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3039/...48f78d1160.jpg
This set consists of 15 discs by Paul Van Nevel and the Huelgas Ensemble, a brilliant vocal and instrumental group specializing in the performance of "early" music (especially medieval and Renaissance). Each of these discs was already released independently and most are still in print. I already owned two of the discs in this set as well as several other discs by the Huelgas Ensemble, but at a price of just over $30 US for more than a dozen highly regarded discs of medieval and Renaissance music... with a sizable catalog and beautiful packaging... I could not turn this one by.
Now if only they would offer Solti's "Ring" or Keilberth's "Ring" at such a reasonable price, I'd be in heaven.:yesnod::smash:
Well, the weather outside might be gloomy, but after my travels it is nice to be back in England.
So, I'm currently contemplating the pile of books in my 'to read' corner, mulling over a cup of tea, and enjoying some wonderful Vaughan Williams...
This is a lovely folk song and video. I've often wondered what it would feel like to be in a 1000 year-old cathedral or castle.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lokasenna
Since finding this website I've become aware of a few things that I was completely oblivious to before. Maybe not oblivious. I knew that something was off. We're sorely lacking that "wealth of tradition." And we've raised the "cheap compromise" to an art form.
When I used that word "lovely" in my first sentence, I actually felt inhibited. (Yes, we have our inhibitions; we lack the English sexual license.) I didn't know there was anyone in the world today who used the word lovely. That word isn't used where I live. Men, and even women, would feel more comfortable taking a gunshot wound to the head than using that word.
There's something in the language. People can't think too well without words, and so when the words are lost, the people revert to Neanderthals. They say it isn't possible to "devolve," but I wonder.
You've got Jane Austen. Sandpoint here is very proud to be the birthplace of Sarah Palin. Apparently, Sarah attended North Idaho College for a couple of semesters. The library of NIC is amazing in that it has practically new 8-year old history, literature and science books on its shelves. I mean, someone dusts them. But you can see that the books are never touched. If a book is 5 years old, it may have been checked out once or twice 5 years ago, and not since. And they get new books that are hardly touched... Our only culture is the NRA.
oh, ignore me! I'm always in my own world and have no idea what the thread is about!
I was wondering that as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Vonny
I think Vonny was trying to express the envy she feels for people who are comfortable with 'Culture with a Capital C' and have a heritage of which they are proud and unashamed.
However we have our share of 'Neanderthals' too, Vonny!
Agreed, it will take another couple of millenia before the US are able to think in terms of culture in the European way despite examples of early peoples having lived there in the distant past. When it comes to Neanderthals, although there may be significant numbers of them in what are sometimes referred to as the 'flyover states' of America, you would have to go along way to find examples as numerous as in London, where tattoos and piercings abound and a general air of primitivism makes London an ideal place for students of anthropology.Quote:
Originally Posted by kasie
This is a lovely folk song and video. I've often wondered what it would feel like to be in a 1000 year-old cathedral or castle.
Since finding this website I've become aware of a few things that I was completely oblivious to before. Maybe not oblivious. I knew that something was off. We're sorely lacking that "wealth of tradition." And we've raised the "cheap compromise" to an art form.
Obviously Europe and Asia have a far greater history of culture which has led to our building primarily upon those traditions... and to a good extent, to that of Africa as well. The Australian art critic (ironically in connection with his view of the dominance of American culture) speaks of the "cultural cringe"... the feeling that one's native culture is crude and provincial in contrast to the culture of another cultural center.
This comment reminds me of Emerson's question as to whether it would be better to live in a nation lacking a great cultural history... but one that is in the ascendant (I believe he uses the early Roman Republic as an example) or a nation at its peak, which has a great history and culture... but is probably facing slow decline (here the late Roman Empire is the model). Emerson clearly leans toward the former... embracing the nobility and even heroism of defining a new nation. Myself... I would prefer the latter... but ultimately the choice of where and when we are born is not ours.
Having said this much... and noting that I am far from a champion of chauvinistic nationalism... indeed I will freely admit to being far more infatuated with the cultural history of Europe, the Middle-East, India, and Japan than I am with that of the United States... I will nevertheless state that I believe you underestimate America's cultural contributions. For a nation barely 200 years old, the US has produced any number of major literary figures. Walt Whitman, Edgar Allen Poe, and T.S. Eliot are certainly as influential as any foreign counterparts of the same period of time. To these three we might add Melville, Dickinson, Hawthorne, Ambrose Bierce, Ezra Pound, Robert Frost, Hart Crane, Henry James, William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Nathaniel West, Ernest Hemingway, Cormac McCarthy, Philip Roth, Thomas Pynchon, Donald Barthleme, John Barth, and quite a few more as being among the leading writers of the last 100 years.
American contributions to music is even greater considering the innovations of jazz, blues, and rock-n-roll. Most popular music today... whether American, European, or even Asian... is deeply rooted in these American musical forms. While America has not produced a classical composer to rival Richard Strauss or Stravinsky (let alone Beethoven) they have been among the leaders in post-WWII music where we find composers such as Howard Hanson, Virgil Thompson, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Alan Hovhaness, Walter Piston, Morton Feldman, Morten Lauridsen, Erik Whitacre, George Rochberg, George Crumb, David Lang, Steve Reich, John Adams, Philip Glass, Peter Lieberson, Joseph Schwantner, John Cage, Harry Partch, and a great many more.
The same may be said of the visual arts. Among the most memorable images of the last century, a great many were created by American photographers. The US is certainly the leading producer of film and television... including more than a few directors that will surely survive among the great artists of the 20th century. In the field of the traditional visual arts, New York has ruled the art market since the 1940s when the Abstract Expressionists became the first America artists who were leading the Europeans. Since then most of the major art movements have begun in the US: Pop Art, Color Field Painting, Conceptualism, Minimalism, Pattern Painting, Neo-Expressionism, Neo-Geo, Photo-Realism, etc... This doesn't even touch upon architecture and the American innovations of Skyscrapers and superhighways.
Again... America has yet to produce a Goethe or Dante or Shakespeare or Picasso or Mozart... but for a nation that has only really come out of the the period of colonization and the construction of modern functioning cities, American culture is not as provincial and crude as you may imagine.
When I used that word "lovely" in my first sentence, I actually felt inhibited. (Yes, we have our inhibitions; we lack the English sexual license.)
Who is "we"? Seriously, in spite of the US history of Puritanism (inherited from Britain one might do well to remember) and certain highly vocal Puritans active in American politics, I've never thought of the British as more licentious than Americans. Now the French on the other hand... :hand:
I didn't know there was anyone in the world today who used the word lovely. That word isn't used where I live. Men, and even women, would feel more comfortable taking a gunshot wound to the head than using that word.
There's something in the language. People can't think too well without words, and so when the words are lost, the people revert to Neanderthals. They say it isn't possible to "devolve," but I wonder.
You've got Jane Austen. Sandpoint here is very proud to be the birthplace of Sarah Palin. Apparently, Sarah attended North Idaho College for a couple of semesters. The library of NIC is amazing in that it has practically new 8-year old history, literature and science books on its shelves. I mean, someone dusts them. But you can see that the books are never touched. If a book is 5 years old, it may have been checked out once or twice 5 years ago, and not since. And they get new books that are hardly touched... Our only culture is the NRA.
Where exactly are you living? I mean if you are frequenting biker bars, fly-fishing tournaments, gun shows or certain rural communities in Alabama and Mississippi you might feel that the culture as a whole were populated by Neanderthals out of Deliverance... but I would assume that one might find such communities... cut off from progress and evolution... everywhere in the world. Personally, I use the word "lovely" from time to time (sometimes even ironically!:yikes:) and I have also been know to employ "marvelous", "sensuous"... and even "lush". But then again... I'm an artist... so I must be gay.:rolleyes5::sosp::ack2:
Sorry to see that you missed Scott Fitzgerald from the writers StLukes, I hope he's included in the leading others referred to.
Now I am expecting delivery of a couple of tee shirts from New York: a present from an insistent friend. I asked her to send plain ones only, because I'm thinking of ironing on this transfer of an iconic symbol of American music, although obviously I didn't tell her that.
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/448...rtontshirt.jpg