Album of the Evening

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For fellow fans of English classical music, I'm really  enjoying this on repeated listens at the moment.  Lots of big, noble tunes and v. decent SQ.

 

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I'm not a big Brahms fan, but from an initial listen,Ticciati, the SCO and Linn have excelled themselves with this ( as they did previously with the Schumann symphonies set)

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21 hours ago, semente said:

Sound quality is a bit harsh but the performances are thrilling, with a lot of slapping and kicking, in a sweet and sour manner that reminds me of Mravinsky's recordings of Tchaikovsky's 4, 5 and 6th:

 

 

Interesting, what format?

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1 hour ago, semente said:

 

Redbook. I wonder if the original is a Melodiya recording.

 

Thanks, I thought maybe SACD.

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16 hours ago, austinpop said:

Exploring MQA classical albums on Tidal, and found this gem

 

Likewise:

 

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2 hours ago, austinpop said:

This album is not available in MQA

 

I didn't realise Tidal has territorial variations.  For UK at least the MQA (96KHz) is catalogue # 79657598.

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On 5 April 2018 at 6:03 AM, austinpop said:

Exploring MQA classical albums on Tidal, and found this gem:

 

 

Really enjoyed the Sibelius, haven't heard the Walton yet.

 

Just listened to this, a great recommendation.  Sibelius is one of the few great composers I've struggled to get into, but  I heard this piece  first at Proms last year, very appealing. Any recommendations as to which of the symphonies to try (I like a big tune)?

 

From my explorations  of Tidal/MQA, I find this hits the spot:

 

 

especially #7 which I find very fine.

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25 minutes ago, austinpop said:

I credit the Osmo Vänskä/Minnesota cycle on BIS.

 

Great. I'll try on Tidal first..

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1 hour ago, austinpop said:

Bruckner is the composer I've struggled to get into

 

 Well, they say you can't like both Mahler and Bruckner ( although I do)

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20 minutes ago, rando said:

This album jumps out at me as mixing the first and last

 

Thanks for the recommendation.  My impression hitherto has been that Sibelius's music is cool and  cerebral rather than the romantic and tuneful that I favour; this may simply be down to my ignorance and limited exposure to his music.

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37 minutes ago, Daverz said:

 

The Violin Concerto is the place to start, I think.

 

Symphonies 1 & 2 are fully in the tuneful Romantic symphony tradition.  It's with No. 3 that he becomes more enigmatic, though I'd never say outwardly cerebral.  I'd skip to 5 and 6 and then come back to 4, 7 and 3.

 

Thanks, a useful "road map" to Sibelius.  I will give it a try.

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Chandos recent releases have been on something of a roll as far as my tastes go -  these 2 in 24/96 going  to the top of my list for recordings of the respective  works and with the first of course a particularly timely release:

 

 

 

 

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For late romantic symphony fans, packed  with big tunes.

 

A Tidal discovery for me https://tidal.com/album/19815977  in UK at least.

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https://tidal.com/album/68790357

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At the risk of repeating myself, album of the morning:

 

 

“For the Fallen”

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For me the pairing of the Manfred and Kobayashi is pretty much the ultimate romantic symphony combination (even though you can sometime hear his exertions), so this is really something:

 

 

https://tidal.com/album/52223381

 

I now make a point of seeking out Exton stuff on Tidal, pretty much uniformly  excellent recordings from Kobayashi, Ashkenazy, Lazarev, Inbal etc 

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Discovered on Tidal, a different RVW symphony cycle with plenty of muscle and menace:

 

 

https://tidal.com/album/30071768

 

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Liked these so much via Tidal that I’m now working my way through the SACD box set.  If not already familiar with them, well  worth a listen, like  a sunnier Beethoven/Schumann cross and exemplary CPO SQ. #6 is particularly interesting -  mixing styles and periods across movements   

 

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Getting to be my favourite RVW symphony cycle - superb:

 

 

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7 hours ago, Musicophile said:

Who would have thought I'd one day write such a negative review of a Vänskä / Minnesota recording

 

I understand that sentiment and too had high expectations  for their Mahler cycle to date.  I absolutely love 2,  but have been somewhat disappointed with 5 and 6.  For me, the  latter ( my favourite Mahler symphony) in particular lacks the drama and “bite” in the outer movements found in Solti CSO for example.

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Tidal, in the “devil’s format”.  I always seem to get a piece of grit in my eye when listening to this...

 

 

 

 

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Talk of the hairs on the back of the neck is perhaps an overused audiophile cliche, but in this case (#5), what a performance: January 1945, in Berlin, in an (sometimes audible) air raid, and above all in stereo...

 

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