Classical Listening

[stlukesguild]

The Holidays are commonly accompanied by music. What have you Classical Music lovers among us been listening to over the Holiday Season?

Right now I'm listening to Valery Gergiev's Nutcracker:



In the wrong hands, Tchaikovsky's famous ballet can be reduced to sentimental schmaltz but Valery Gergiev unleashes a Nutcracker that is fiery, fierce, and performed at lightning speed (He fits the entire ballet on a single disc!). Gergiev seems to be a conductor who inspires love or hate. Personally, I love him. I don't think a single individual has done more for the revival of Russian music in the last couple of decades... and damn it! He "discovered" Anna Netrebko... which is enough to immortalize him in my esteem.

[Lykren]

The Holidays are commonly accompanied by music. What have you Classical Music lovers among us been listening to over the Holiday Season?

I've been listening to Sviatoslav Richter's recording of the Well-Tempered Clavier, and am currently listening to Beethoven's Missa Solemnis for the first time.

[stlukesguild]

I quite enjoy Richter's WTC... although it wouldn't be my first choice... a bit to Romantic for Bach IMO. A first listen to Missa Solemnis? Enjoy!

[Lykren]

What's your favorite WTC, then? The only other one I've listened to is Gould's.

[stlukesguild]

I just finished this stunning disc:



Michael Praetorius was the son of a disciple of Martin Luther. As such, he became one of the greatest composers for the Lutheran Church... and one of J.S. Bach's greatest predecessors. This concert consists of Awaiting the Messiah: A Lutheran Advent Service and A Vespers Service for Christmas Day. The selections come from his voluminous Musae Sioniae and the Polyhymnia caduceatrix which collected literally more than a thousand of Praetorius' chorale and song arrangements. The Vespers Service for Christmas Day includes Praetorius' beloved Es ist ein Ros entsprungen...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YxHeg01KV8

The work then ends with the other, equally well-known, In dulci Jubilo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3p6nAaOmyU

[stlukesguild]

What's your favorite WTC, then? The only other one I've listened to is Gould's.

Gould is essential for almost all of Bach's keyboard works... although I quite love Ralph Kirkpatrick's performance of clavichord...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXgAAlmy_iA

Angela Hewitt's first performance of the WTC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKx7ePuIsi0

Where both Gould and Richter (for better or worse) inject much of their own personal... at times "quirky"... interpretations upon Bach... Hewitt strikes me as far more "transparent". What I am hearing seems like Bach and not "Gould's Bach" or "Richter's Bach".

Andras Schiff's recordings are also absolutely splendid... the recent second recording of the WTC has rapidly become seen as the recording to beat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk8H5c_p0z4

[Lykren]

I enjoyed Schiff's French Suites very much, I suppose I should look into his Well-Tempered Clavier as well. I actually had an opportunity to see him perform the English Suites here in southern California, but (tragically!) missed out.

[chrisvia]

I usually listen to, at least, Handel's Messiah, but this year I was a bit more unconventional because I've recently become infatuated with Rachmaninoff's piano concerto no. 2. I listened to this almost exclusively during my vacation. But, beginning yesterday I've paired my nightly reading of Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain with Richard Strauss's Eine Alpensinfonie.

[Emil Miller]

I usually listen to, at least, Handel's Messiah, but this year I was a bit more unconventional because I've recently become infatuated with Rachmaninoff's piano concerto no. 2. I listened to this almost exclusively during my vacation. But, beginning yesterday I've paired my nightly reading of Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain with Richard Strauss's Eine Alpensinfonie.

Anybody who isn't a soulless dolt will respond to Rachmaninov's 2nd concerto, but The Magic Mountain and Eine Alpensinfonie are heady stuff conceived during the First World War. While Mann's masterepiece is an obvious literary landmark, music is open to interpretation and this performance is as near to heaven as mere mortals can hope to achieve this side of the grave:

http://youtu.be/xK7z2NhUrsQ

[Chance33]

I've always loved
You are Broken by Jorge de Oliveira
It's a more modern classical piece but I absolutely love the mix of piano and strings. It's an intricate song and absolutely beautiful and quite emotional too.

[stlukesguild]

I did get around to Handel's Messiah... a week or so after Christmas. The version I chose was that by The Sixteen conducted by Harry Christophers.



The Sixteen have been one of the leading ensembles performing performing classical vocal works... and their performance here only adds to their reputation. A truly marvelous recording.

[Lykren]

I have a recording of Rostropovich and Richter playing Beethoven's cello sonatas, but it's a live recording and the quality doesn't seem too good. Can anyone tell me whether they did a studio recording as well?

[stlukesguild]

I've yet to come around to these... then again, many critics have suggested that for whatever reason, Beethoven's cello sonatas were not among his best work. This is surprising considering the expressive potential of the cello. Both Bach and Brahms were far more successful with the instrument. I wonder if Beethoven's failing to achieve something really masterful with the cello is part of the reason that there was so little among the repertoire for the instrument... until the late 19th and 20 centuries?

[LitNetIsGreat]

Chopin Nocturnes again, a good complete version available here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V60USaluxGA

Essential listening when torrential rain is pouring at your windows (again) with candles lit and everyone else is asleep. Chess books on you lap optional. Beer a necessity.

[Lokasenna]

Chopin Nocturnes again, a good complete version available here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V60USaluxGA

Essential listening when torrential rain is pouring at your windows (again) with candles lit and everyone else is asleep. Chess books on you lap optional. Beer a necessity.

You can never go wrong with Chopin, and the Noctures in particular are superb music for almost any situation.