Album of the Evening

[austinpop]

On 6/7/2020 at 1:25 AM, Teresa said:

I like all of Mahler's Symphonies except No. 8 "Symphony of a Thousand".

Let’s win your heart then! Please listen to the Georg Solti version on Decca from 1972.

 

Just PM me if you have trouble locating.

[austinpop]

2 hours ago, ted_b said:

Rajiv, where do you put Jared’s recordings/Ivan Fischer’s performance of the Mahler cycle? I’m ignorant of Mahler basically so no dog in this fight (except my friendship and work relationship with Jared)  Btw they never did the 8th given the resources involved. 

 

Hi Ted,

 

Fischer's solid overall. The earlier Channel Classics releases are well recorded. The standout to me is the last one they released, Mahler's 3rd. That is an outstanding performance AND recording.

 

I can totally understand why the 8th is a challenge!

[austinpop]

6 hours ago, Teresa said:

It’s the music not the performances I dislike, for me, Mahler’s 8th has way too much of the type of singing I dislike.

Ah, understood. No worries.

[austinpop]

3 hours ago, WAM said:

Mahler 8 is not exactly my favorite Mahler symphony, but I like the story of this one:

 

 

 

What's the story?

[austinpop]

12 minutes ago, AnotherSpin said:

 

www.classicalcdreview.com/horenstein.html

www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/dec98/mahler.html

 

Thanks, very interesting! Will have to look for this disc - it's not on Qobuz.

[austinpop]

Another lovely recording by Dausgaard and the Seattle Symphony. That said, I'm still struggling to really get into Nielsen. None of the pieces I've heard so far have really grabbed me.

 

I know, I know — in re the recent Mahler 8 discussion — all a matter of taste.

 

[austinpop]

2 hours ago, Teresa said:

 

One of my favorite SACDs!

[austinpop]

 

Alessandrini breathes fresh life into these overtures.

[austinpop]

On 6/12/2020 at 3:35 AM, Bob Stern said:

Nielsen

 

On the DaCapo album Teresa recommended, I greatly enjoy "Pan and Syrinx", "Helios" and the last 2 movements of "Snefrid".

 

For the symphonies, my favorite performances are Bernstein and Schonwandt.  I haven’t heard the new Dausgaard/Seattle.

 

@austinpopNielsen's 4th symphony is both his best and his least raucous.  Next best are 3 and 5.  The others are much less well regarded.

 

Thanks. I'm quite enjoying the Da Capo album. 

 

And you're right, his 4th is quite engaging. Listening to this version:

 

[austinpop]

[austinpop]

 

Love the binaural recording!

[austinpop]

 

Very enjoyable performance by these legends. Average recording quality.

 

BTW — finally found a Grieg piece I actually enjoyed: the Holberg suite. 

[austinpop]

 

Interesting to hear the original and final versions of one of my favorite violin concertos.

[austinpop]

 

This is a decent Beethoven 9th, but can’t compete with the giants. What I loved was the Choral Fantasy. I’m buying this album for that alone!

[austinpop]

On 7/1/2020 at 6:41 PM, graham said:

I agree.

Ondine half price sale at Chandos finishing soon.

 

Agree +1. I like a lot of Vogt's albums on Ondine. Sadly the 50% sale seems to have ended prematurely, as I do not see any discount on the Chandos site.

[austinpop]

19 hours ago, austinpop said:

 

Agree +1. I like a lot of Vogt's albums on Ondine. Sadly the 50% sale seems to have ended prematurely, as I do not see any discount on the Chandos site.

 

Chandos.net support responded to my email, and restored the sale for today. I picked up several Vogt albums, including my very favorite below. At £6, what a steal!

 

[austinpop]

I was checking this out on Qobuz, and saw it had 6 Beethoven piano concertos. Wait, what? There’s a 6th?!

 

 

Turns out Op. 61a is a piano transcription of the violin concerto, and it’s lovely!

[austinpop]

17 hours ago, zyberguran said:

 

 

Speaking of Beethovens violin concerto - here's a wild and innovative version that I listened to the other night!

Listening to it now. Really excellent! I’m a big fan of the Naïve label.

 

 

EDIT: Just finished listening. WOW. You weren’t kidding. This is indeed a fresh and uninhibited rendition. Loved it!

[austinpop]

13 hours ago, Musicophile said:

There's another "6th" one. the Chorfantasie op 80, which isn't very well known.

 

 

Here’s a really excellent recording and performance of the Choral Fantasy, Opus 80.

 

[austinpop]

On 7/15/2020 at 7:33 PM, Teresa said:

Ole Bull's works for Violin and Orchestra: Sæterjentens Søndag (The Herdgirl's Sunday), Concerto In A Major, Concerto Fantastico, I Ensomme Stunde (Melancolie), La Verbena de San Juan, Et Sæterbesøg (A Mountain Vision)

 

Very melodic and quite beautiful music IMHO.

 

Enjoying this. Uncommonly beautiful music for an Ole Bull.  

[austinpop]

A new release by Jordi Savall on Alia Vox. I’ve only heard symphony 1 so far, and I already love it.

 

[austinpop]

16 hours ago, austinpop said:

A new release by Jordi Savall on Alia Vox. I’ve only heard symphony 1 so far, and I already love it.

 

 

BTW - Qobuz's price on this album is outstanding, perhaps even an error: $10.99 hi-res, $5.99 hi-res Sublime. The other usual outlets are many times more, as this is a 3-disc set, after all.

[austinpop]

On 7/18/2020 at 12:24 AM, austinpop said:

A new release by Jordi Savall on Alia Vox. I’ve only heard symphony 1 so far, and I already love it.

 

I’ve been savoring this album, listening to a symphony a day, and I again urge you - run, don’t walk, and buy this album at only $10.99 on Qobuz for a 3-disc set at 24/88.2.

[austinpop]

4 minutes ago, bobfa said:

Downloading now.  WE TRUST YOU !  Well I do.  

Enjoy it! For me it’s with a cask strength single malt. 😉

[austinpop]

Snapped up a bunch of dirt-cheap hi-res albums from Qobuz’s big download sale at https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/page/qobuz-fest-2020 and now listening.

 

This album at all of $4.50 is fantastic in both performance and SQ.