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I think Bruckner at times rivals Mahler, at least when you compare their symphonies. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with any of Bruckner's other works beyond the symphonies. At their best, Mahler is better, but it is very hard to compete with Mahler's 2nd and 3rd symphonies.
Bruckner's symphonies have sometimes been likened to gothic cathedrals as the structure is their most noticeable feature and it's on this point that I'm reminded of Sir Thomas Beecham's amusing comment that Elgar's 1st symphony was the musical equivalent of St Pancras Station.Quote:
Originally Posted by stlukesguild
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Really, the only important works that Bruckner composed beyond the symphonies were his choral works which are probably best represented in the classic recordings by Eugen Jochum (Perhaps THE great Brucknerian):
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... or in the marvelous recent set on Hyperion:
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Of course, in his limitations Bruckner is rather similar to Mahler whose only works were symphonies... and song cycles that in most cases are not far removed from his symphonies. In my opinion, Mahler's masterpiece was Das Lied von der Erde.
It's because of Brahms greater breadth and his mastery in such a variety of forms (symphonies, choral works, chamber music, lieder, music for solo instrument, concertos, etc...) that I would give him the nod as the greater composer... although I think Richard Strauss' reputation will only continue to increase due to his mastery of orchestral music (the tone-poems and Alpine Symphony), the operas (a number of which are among the most frequently performed) and his wealth of lieder that goes well beyond the brilliant Four Last Songs.
Bruckner's symphonies have sometimes been likened to gothic cathedrals as the structure is their most noticeable feature...
Bach's music has also frequently been compared to the Gothic cathedrals.
...and it's on this point that I'm reminded of Sir Thomas Beecham's amusing comment that Elgar's 1st symphony was the musical equivalent of St Pancras Station.
It could be worse... Schoenberg's work too often strikes me as the musical equivalent of the Brutalist concrete bunkers of Moshe Safdie for the Montreal Expo:
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Well Goethe likened architecture to frozen music, but in this day and age both music and architecture have, unfortunately, very different meanings to when he made the comparison.Quote:
Originally Posted by stlukesguild
Just a little find. If anyone wants to listen to a large selection of classical radio online, then you can download (for free) itunes. From here you can select from a fairly large body of radio stations in classical, jazz, blues and pretty much everything else really. In the classical section you can listen to things like the Mozart/Baroque/Opera/channel and things like that. Not bad at all.
Currently listening to the Mozart piano channel!
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This disc, featuring Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica includes music by Sibelius, Arvo Pärt, Raminta erknyté, Robert Schumann, Michael Nyman, Franz Schubert, Stevan Kovacs Tickmayer, Shostakovitch, Lera Auerbach, Piazzolla, Georgs Pelecis, and Alfred Schnittke. Kremer illuminates the thoughts behind the musical selection with the following (from the liner notes):
"Out of the depths I cry to you." Countless poets and musicians have used these timeless words from Psalm 130. I feel they are especially urgent in our time, when the world is afflicted with greed, corruption, and false prophets...
In today's world, oil is ... used to sustain tyrannical regimes, be it in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Myanmar, or Russia. Despite painting themselves as advocates of democracy, their rulers engage in Soviet-style suppression of free speech, the show trials, and presumption of guilt. In these Orwellian states everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others. Drunk on oil, the worshipers of the golden calf seek to silence the opposition and build wall between peoples and states. Contrary to that, we, the worshipers of Art, believe it is our duty to build bridges and to stand up in support of those who are trying to build a more democratic society, those who are fighting for transparency and truth. Therefore, I would like to dedicate De Profundis to all those who refuse to be silenced, who understand that the real freedom is within us.
Yet my intention is not to make De Profundis a political statement, for politics represents only the surface of things, while the artists featured on this record affirm a deep-rooted personal expression that can resonate with anyone. For music, unlike authoritarian rulers, speaks with an outstretched hand, not with a clenched fist...
So, "out of the depths", these artists cry out for a better world, one that is not dominated by the superficiality of sales figures, ratings, self-promotion, and "small talk."...
Each of the twelve pieces selected for this album sends its own individual message to the listener... one that my colleagues and I have tried to illuminate. Now it is up to you, dear listener, to fuel your soul.
I spent yesterday afternoon with a pair of 2-disc sets:
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This set features a number of Boccherini's symphonies, including "La casa del Diavolo"; the Stabat Mater, and the Quintet G. 328. The symphonies are all quite nice... but the Stabat Mater and the quintet are something truly special. The Stabat Mater is scored for a small chamber orchestra and solo vocalist. The work is quite beautiful... and uniquely intimate in comparison with Rossini's or Pergolesi's Stabat Mater. The quintet is equally striking... enough to motivate me to explore more of Boccherini's chamber works.
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I have a good number of recordings by Yehudi Menuhin including the Bach violin concertos... but I just picked this set up for next to nothing... and it is worth far more than what I paid. Menuhin was still a teenager when he recorded this set... and yet they are played with such assurance and feeling. An excellent addition to Kremer, Szeryng, Grumiaux, and Milstein. The only other recordings I can imagine wanting are those of Heifitz and Rachel Podger. But not now.
*****
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This interpretation of the Stabat Mater is a world away from that by Boccherini which I played yesterday. Boccherini's work is deeply personal... intimate... heartfelt... scored for a solo vocalist (soprano) and small chamber ensemble. Rossini's Stabat Mater is clearly operatic... but what else would one expect of Rossini? Writing on his Petit messe solennelle, Rossini pondered, "Dear God, here it is finished, this poor little mass. Is this sacred music which I have written... or music of the Devil. I was born for opera buffa as you know..." Rossini might just as well have been speaking of the Stabat Mater. I am immediately struck at how "operatic" the second movement is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu_hkisDbMQ
The piece is fabulous... but seemingly suggests a swaggering character laden with braggadocio from an opera by Rossini (or Verdi). But the lyrics?
Her soul sighing
anguished and grieving
was pierced by a sword.
O, how sad and afflicted
was that blessed mother
of the Only-begotten,
who mourned and grieved
and trembled when she saw
the sufferings of her glorious son.
A bit of a disconnect between the music and the text? :lol:
Crackin' bit of Mahler on Tonight. BBC 4
A proper conductor that.
Can anyone recommend pieces that are in the same vein as the first movement of Nielsen's 5th symphony? I've been listening to this lately, over and over, and I can't get enough of this beautiful structure. I'm sure I'll be asked to better articulate what I mean by "the same vein"; but I can do no better than to say: any other piece that comes to mind when you listen to this movement of Nielsen's symphony.
Thanks!
It was a day for "light"... melody-laden opera/operettas:
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Richard Tauber was a singer of incredible natural fluidity... perfectly suited for Viennese operettas... which is what he was most known for. I have the marvelous Dutton recording of his songs/arias from Lehįr. This disc featured less well-known composers of Viennese operettas (beyond Strauss, Lehįr, Flotow, and Lortzing) including Oscar Straus, Robert Stolz, Emmerich Kalman, Paul Abraham, and Jaromir Weinberger.
*****
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I played this... in the Jeffrey Tate recording... last night...
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...and was so blown away I had to play it again. I've actually owned Karajan's recording of Hänsel und Gretel for at least 5+ years... but for whatever reason never got around to listening to it. A huge loss on my part. For an opera often described as a folk opera/fairy-tale opera/children's opera, Hänsel und Gretel could not boast of a greater pedigree. The tale upon which the opera was based was first collected and given serious literary consideration by the Brothers Grimm. The tale was related to the brothers by a certain young girl by the name of Dörtchen Wild... who would become Mrs. Wilhelm Grimm.
Engelbert Humperdinck was a precocious protégé of Richard Wagner who had spent time at the "master's" side dutifully copying Parsifal. It was his sister, Adelheid Wette, who requested that Humperdinck set to music her children's play of Hänsel und Gretel. She was so delighted with the result, that she insisted her brother expand his efforts... and compose an entire opera. Humperdinck was not immediately thrilled with the request... after all, as a sworn Wagnerian, he took a lofty view of the operatic calling. What would Wagner think!? And what chance did such an undertaking have in competition with those upstart Italian operas with all their sex and violence passed off as social commentary?
Humperdinck's sister prevailed... luckily for us... and the opera was composed and set for production at the same theater in Weimar where Wagner's Lohengrin had premiered. The Kapellmeister who accepted the opera was none other than Richard Strauss. Sensing the importance of the event, Strauss engaged the distinguished conductor of the Munich Opera, Hermann Levi (Wagner's favorite) to conduct the premier. When the singer employed to perform Gretel took ill, the premier was postponed for a week... and Levi was no longer available... so Strauss conducted the opera himself.
Hänsel und Gretel is almost a magical achievement in its seeming simplicity... its child-like joy... its folk-like melodies... and its spontaneity... in spite of the sophistication of the work: the mature, adult sub-texts, the sensuality and complexity of the orchestration... built heavily upon Wagner's Lohengrin and Parsifal with its spiritually uplifting moments of grace and benediction. Even the melodies that resonate with the honest simplicity of true folk music are largely Humperdinck's originals... masterful pastiches.
The work not only impressed Richard Strauss, it proved a smash hit. In London crowds flocked to Daily's Theater for the biggest show of the Christmas season, 1884. Gustav Mahler, then head of the Hamburg Opera, proclaimed Hänsel und Gretel to be a "masterpiece". Hänsel und Gretel holds the distinction of having been the first opera performed in its entirety on the radio in Europe (on the BBC) in 1923, and in the United States in 1931. In spite of the popularity of the work, for whatever reason it was never recorded before WWII... and after the war there was some hesitation in performing a piece in which the Witch puts children in an oven coming fresh upon the memories of Auschwitz.
Thus this performance by Herbert von Karajan, recorded in 1953, became the first recorded version of Hänsel und Gretel... and arguably the best. Karajan, in many ways, was ideally suited to the task... his great-grandfather, Theodor von Karajan had been a close friend of the Brothers Grimm. The cast was ideal... including Elisabeth Grümmer, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and Joseph Metternich. In spite of Karajan's reputation as a task-master and perfectionist, he avoided spending much time in rehearsals, responding and delighting in the opera's spontaneous nature. The overture comes from the test run-through during which Karajan kept the tape recorder running having learned this tip from Thomas Beecham.
The entire experience can only be described as "delicious".:)
Interestingly enough... there was one sour note to it all. Following the release of this recording, Wieland Wagner sent a letter to the producer Walter Legge exclaiming dismay that his old friend could have been involved in recording such a "mediocre, second rate" opera... and employing such masterful performers and performing it so well. Karajan and Legge both laughed off the comment and accepted it as the finest endorsement.
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*****
Following on the heels of Hänsel und Gretel seemed difficult. Surely any "heavy" or "serious" work would come of as leaden and pretentious in contrast. Thus I continued in the same vein... listening to the second operetta of this disc... the classic, Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow) by Franz Lehįr. There are two other fine recordings of this opera that I have... the famous version conducted by Lovro Von Maticic, and the relatively recent performance by John Eliot Gardiner. This recording, conducted by Otto Ackermann, was part of a series of recordings made by EMI after the war of classic German operettas. Many employ the same singers... as did the later Von Maticic performance. All of them are truly special.
Ackermann's Die lustige Witwe... indeed of all of his operetta recordings... are special in that he and his magnificent crew of singers... Elisabeth Schwarzkopgf, Nicolai Gedda, Erich Kunz, Emmy Loose, and Otakar Kraus... grew up with and loved this music... and after the horrors of the war it undoubtedly represented the best of a German/Austrian culture tainted by the Nazis.
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Philip Glass studied in Paris for two years with Nadia Boulanger and the French influence in this piece is unmistakable.
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Emile!!! What has gotten into you?! You're actually listening to a living composer???!!!:yikes:
I have posted some of his music on previous occasions although I am not particularly enamoured of his contemporaries. Glass is interesting because he makes a little go a long way. The other 'minimalists' seem to lack the melodic invention that I find indispensable to my enjoyment of music.Quote:
Originally Posted by stlukesguild
Itzhak Perlman was in The Colbert Report the other night. I'm ashamed to admit it, but this was the first time I've seen him perform, and I was pretty wowed. I like how Stephen Colbert exposes his viewers to stuff like this every now and then, too.
The interview:
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-col...itzhak-perlman
Performance 1:
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-col...--liebesfreud-
Performance 2:
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-col...spanish-dance-