Classical Listening

Anybody here listen to Alfred Schnittke? I just discovered him on Last.fm. His piano quintet (lamenting the loss of his mother) is among the moodiest of moody Russian music (is moody Russian redundant?). It is painful beauty.

Here are videos of the 1st and 3rd movements; the latter video having some nice pieces of art:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwKgR7eIKCk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8neNuW19JM

My favorite moment in the 3rd movement (aside from the opening dissonance) is around 3:26, when the escalating terror (not unlike a horror-movie musical sting) breaks into a gentle ebb of relief.

I don't know about the relative merits of the Sibelius set that you picked up, although ultimately all that matters is that you like it. I personally have several "classic" older recordings with Sir Thomas Beecham:

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You can't beat Heifitz on violin... but the set with the 7th and several tone poems is the one that really turned me onto Sibelius. I picked up his late symphonies with Karajan:

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These were among the highest rated by various classical music guides. Eventually I picked up a box set of the complete symphonies and tone poems by Nemee Jarvi... perhaps the best Sibelius interpreter.

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I also have a few of Collin Davis' great live recordings...

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... and I know that Naxos' new Sibelius recordings with the New Zealand Symphony have been highly regarded... but how many recordings do you need by a single composer whose not Bach or Mozart?

I spent last night listening to one of Sibelius' Finnish heirs, Kalevi Aho, who studied directly under another great Finnish composer, Einojuhani Rautavaara.

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Powerful stuff! I'll be looking into more of his work in the near future.

I have a few things by Schnittke...

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... and I've heard good things about this one...

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But I must admit that I haven't listened enough to have formed much of an opinion one way or the other.

Such a long post ... some of my favorites:

Schubert's late Piano Sonatas (love Schnabel's playing of D959)
Beethoven's Bagatelle Op.119 for Piano (especially Serkin's version)
Haydn's Piano Sonatas (not many choices, my complete set is McCabe's)
Mozart Piano Concertos (especially Serkin's for No. 21 and 23)
The disc I always listen to on my car is a Heifetz' disc for Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5, a Violin Sonata and String Quintet K516

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Originally Posted by Mutatis-Mutandi

Cool, I'll definitely have to play around with Naxos.

And, Lok, this is the set I bought. Now, I'm far from being an expert of classical recordings, but these sound beautiful to me.

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Ah, haven't seen that one before... but it looks good! Let us know how you find it!

I've heard maybe 4 or 5 takes on Sibelius's 5th, and the Karajan (Deutsche Grammophone of a performance from the 70's or 80's? I can't find the cover art for the single disc version on the web, but it's probably the one on St. Luke's collection) is probably my favorite. I don't own it, at the moment, though, and haven't heard it in more than ten years (I once had a cassette recording off of a library disc). But I'm perfectly content with one I do have by Simon Rattle w/The City Of Birmingham Orchestra.

The only things by Sibelius that I've stuck with are the 5th Symphony and the Violin Concerto, but they are probably my favorite two classical things to listen to (well, top 5 anyhow).

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Currently listening to this collection of Norwegian folk songs from the Middle-Ages onward. The singers are a trio of young women perform these songs a capella in a manner not far removed from the Anonymous Four. A lovely collection.

A first listen to this:

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Karl Ignaz Weigl (Vienna 2 February 1881 – 11 August 1949) was one of the many composers whose career was truncated by the rise of the Nazis. Weigl's father was a Jewish banker and keen amateur musician. The composer studied under Alexander Zemlinsky. He continued studies at the Vienna Music Academy and the University of Vienna. His classmates includes Anton Webern. At the age of 23 he was appointed by Mahler as his rehearsal conductor. His circle of friends included Zemlinsky, Mahler, Schoenberg, and Webern. In 1903 the Vereinigung scaffender Tonkunstler was founded by Zemlinsky, Schönberg and Weigl under the patronage of Mahler, and was programmed much ‘new’ music, including works by Mahler, Richard Strauss, Zemlinsky, Schönberg , Pfitzner, Reger and Bruno Walter, as well Weigl’s own compositions.

In 1906 Weigl left the Vienna Opera to concentrate on composing, and his chromatic harmonies and imaginative orchestration, which did not follow the musical path of his friend Schönberg, achieved considerable success. His Phantastisches Intermezzo, was performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Furtwängler, and the Rose Quartet premiered several of his chamber works. Other champions of his work included George Szell and the Busch Quartet. In 1929 joined the music department of the University of Vienna, and his students included Hanns Eisler, Erich Korngold and Kurt Adler.

In 1933 the political, and cultural, map of Europe started to change. The rise to power of the Nazis saw the start of discrimination against non-Aryan musicians and music. After Hitler annexed Austria in March 1938 Weigl’s music was removed from publisher’s catalogues, and exile became inevitable. In October 1938 he arrived in New York with the conductor Kurt Adler and the cellist Emanuel Feuerman. His letters of recommendation from Schönberg, Richard Strauss and Bruno Walter cut little ice in America, and Weigl struggled to survive giving private lessons. Later he held several teaching posts on the East Coast, but these were a far cry from the post in Vienna that he had left. Karl Weigl died after a prolonged illness in August 1949, eleven years after he had arrived in New York.

After this denouement it would be pleasing to report a revival of interest in Weigl’s music, but sadly this has not been the case. Stokowski gave the premiere of the Fifth Symphony Apokalyptische in New York, and other performers including Richard Goode have performed his compositions. Admirably BIS have recorded his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies together with the Phantastisches Intermezzo. Both the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies were composed by Karl Weigl in America, and the poignant sub-title of the Fifth says it all - Apocalyptic.

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I travel frequently to Gothenburg, Sweden, and it seems the orchestra there (GSO) really favors Schnittke. Hopefully I'll find time to check out a live performance in the next few months!

I think Frank Zappa may be one of the most under-appreciated artists of our time. It was wonderful that he got a chance to hear his orchestral stuff performed before he died. This is the last recording of any Zappa music before his death.

Enjoy.

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Originally Posted by Mutatis-Mutandi

I think Frank Zappa may be one of the most under-appreciated artists of our time. It was wonderful that he got a chance to hear his orchestral stuff performed before he died. This is the last recording of any Zappa music before his death.

Enjoy.

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It was good but not great

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Originally Posted by Mutatis-Mutandi

I think Frank Zappa may be one of the most under-appreciated artists of our time. It was wonderful that he got a chance to hear his orchestral stuff performed before he died. This is the last recording of any Zappa music before his death.

Enjoy.

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Zappa under-appreciated? He had heard much of his orchestral work performed long before any illness overtook him. In fact, he had the problem of fighting off requests to perform his works. He simply didn't trust that symphony orchestras would give the music enough rehearsal time to produce credible performances. You should read his autobiography for his take on dealing with orchestras and their performances of his work.

IMO, much of his best art music isn't the "serious" classical stuff anyway. Get the album Studio Tan for some of the best cases in point.

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After watching Raging Bull, yes.

Yes... Listening to Modernism with all its angst-laden Expressionism and the "abstraction" or atonality, serialism, and non-traditional tonality can be a much needed tonic at times... but returning to works of the older composers laden with such beauty leaves you absolutely speechless at times and doubting whether Modernism represented an improvement?

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Undoubtedly the greatest loss in the history of music... Franz Schubert dead at 31.

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Originally Posted by Neely

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OvsV...eature=related

After watching Raging Bull, yes.

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Probably among the 10 most famous pieces ever composed. I went to a concert where it was played and when the main theme came in, a woman sitting with a man next to me started crying and he put his arm around her. It does that to a lot of people judging by some of the comments on the video.