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Joined: November 06 2012
Location: here
Status: Offline
Points: 8856
Posted: August 18 2013 at 17:22
TheGazzardian wrote:
Polymorphia wrote:
Speaking of Mozart scores: My brother just moved out and I have inherited his room. In the closet, on the floor, I found study scores of Mozart's 40th and 41st symphonies. I've been trying to figure out what the hype about Mozart is all about, and maybe this is my opportunity. It struck me as humorous that, in my house, you can find symphonic scores lying around in the strangest of places.
I love Mozart, he is one of my top composers, so I certainly encourage you to explore his works. But I have this to say on the note of "What's all the fuss" ... except for the academic approach (which doesn't help anyone but future composers), the fuss is always generated by the following: A lot of people like him. I like Mozart a lot because I like his compositions, but if you don't, there's nothing magical or different about them than anything you do like
That's the way I approach it generally, but I can't help feeling when I can't appreciate something that people have buzzed about for years that I'm missing out on something. That's why I give music like that multiple chances. I also often have strange entry points for most artists, so I explore a bit more of their discography. I didn't start liking Beethoven until I heard this piece:
On another note, I usually appreciate more modern recordings over older ones. While I respect the "soul" in the older recordings, I often find I am missing out on the sonic depth of the orchestrations. Anyone feel the same way?
Joined: January 24 2010
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 8769
Posted: August 20 2013 at 21:04
I've been delving back into the Beethoven symphonies conducted by Bruno Walter with the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestras. They are in a complete cycle on the Music and Arts label that i would highly recommend.
What a delight!
Joined: January 25 2008
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline
Points: 8443
Posted: September 01 2013 at 23:17
I am really enjoying the classical education I'm receiving via threads like this as well as my "PROG VS. THE WORLD" polls. Just listened/watched on YouTube to five different versions of Brahms' first piano concerto and have been listening to Olivier Messiaen today/tonight. Amazing stuff! That Turangalîla-Symphonie is INCREDIBLE!! I've got to hear it again and again! Wow!
Joined: January 24 2010
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 8769
Posted: October 25 2013 at 20:52
Sony has just released a budget box set of the Tchaikovsky symphonies with Eugene Ormandy. I was listening to No. 1 at the store today, and it sounds wonderfull.This set includes the Manfred Symphony and the Symphony No. 7 in E flat.Also included are the Piano Concertos and other orchestral works.
Joined: January 24 2010
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 8769
Posted: October 31 2013 at 08:20
I just picked up an lp set of the last six symphonies of Mozart, conducted by the late Sir Thomas Beecham. These were recorded in the early fifties for Columbia, and have never made it onto CD, but reissued on this CBS Odyssey label. Beecham is the perfect conductor for Mozart, his way of interpreting music just right for a composer such as this. All the delight and wonder and elegance in the orchestral texture and phrasing are there, in spades! Highly recommended.
Joined: January 24 2010
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 8769
Posted: November 01 2013 at 20:40
Attention: Shostakovich fans. Today, i just heard for the first time Arturo Toscanini's NBC Symphony broadcast recordings of Sym. 1 and 7, and they are stunning! He goes deep into the score, and brings out all you can imagine in these works. Something i am going to return again and again, i tell you.
Joined: January 24 2010
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 8769
Posted: November 18 2013 at 17:07
This week, i heard for the first time what for me are definitive versions of the two student, un-numbered symphonies of Anton Bruckner, the Symphony 00, and the Symphony 0.
Sym. 00-Elyakum Shapirra conducting the London Symphony Orchestra (1972)
Sym. 0-Henk Spruit conducting a mix of a couple of Dutch orchestras (1952)
Both are available as free downloads at John F. Berky's abruckner.com site. The propulsive force and orchestral texture of both recordings are exemplary. Highly recommended.
Joined: January 24 2010
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 8769
Posted: January 31 2014 at 20:34
Just heard (again) a great Bruckner Symphony 8 recording with Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival in 1967-it is intense and luminous-one of the very best Bruckner-Karajan of all time.
Joined: September 03 2013
Location: Rio de Janeiro
Status: Offline
Points: 1607
Posted: February 04 2014 at 16:56
presdoug wrote:
Thought i'd start a thread for specifically The Symphony, those by any composer, from any period, and interpreted by any orchestra or conductor.
I have over 1,000 recordings of symphonies, ranging from Haydn to Shostakovitch. Symphonies are something that i devote a lot of my listening time to, and are for me, the pinnacle of musical expression.
My favorites are the towering edifices of composer Anton Bruckner, especially his last three ones, with his 8th Symphony being the greatest one ever written by anybody, imho.
Bruckner's 8th expresses for me the inexpressible, and it is hard for me to put into words what it signifies for me.
As far as interpreters of symphonies go, i am almost exclusively an Historical recordings collector (before 1960) with my focus mainly on the 1930s and 40s, with a whole host of conductors like Furtwangler, Walter, Koussevitzky, Beecham, Barbirolli, Abendroth, Schuricht, Stokowski, Monteux, Knappertsbusch, Mengelberg, van Beinum, etc.
Other favorite symphony composers of mine besides Bruckner include Mahler, Beethoven, Sibelius, Elgar, Brahms, Haydn, Berlioz, Tchaikovsky and Richard Strauss.
I would love to hear from other members who love symphonies!
Hi Doug, I'm glad to find this topic you created, just found it by case and no doubt I'll come back here often, it's just nice for me to check out the comments and suggestions here because since my childhood up to date I've known very very little about symphonies - I only know Brahms' Symphonies 3 and 4, which I enjoy very much, and the nine Beethoven's symphonies, which I love. It would be wonderful to have the privilege of listening to the incomplete Beethoven's 10th, that one he could not conclude. From Beethoven I feel his majestic "symphonic vein" even when I listen to his Concerts for Piano, what a delightful experience I have!
I agree with you - the symphony is the pinnacle of musical expression, unfortunately Chopin never composed any symphony, I like very very much his compositions. But I was always curious about these other composers from the Romantic and Classic Eras, so I'll give a break to prog right now and begin to download the symphonies mentioned here from Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Strauss, Mahler, Berlioz, Bruckner, Haydn, etc. I'm sure it will be a long and fabulous journey of superb discoveries, as the Classical Music world is for me the most fascinating. But to be honest these masterpieces are not worth of being achieved in ".mp3 files"... Hence it will be so nice when I get to buy their CDs recorded by Deutsche Grammmophon for instance.
Thanks again for this great thread, I was feeling the lack of an exclusive Classical Music topic in this Forum.
Edited by Rick Robson - February 04 2014 at 17:14
"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." LvB
Joined: October 16 2006
Location: FL, USA
Status: Offline
Points: 17493
Posted: February 04 2014 at 17:12
Presdoug, what do you find interesting about older recordings? I can tell you, besides the obvious sound quality difference, hearing older recordings has its magic in some cases but not always for me. To be able to sit through a mono, full of hiss and noise recording it really has to be something else, think Furtwangler conducting Beethoven's 9th (not the classical EMI recording - which I love - but his 1954 one available in many editions including a Tahra one), but unless is something like that, I suffer with mono recordings.
Also, of course the fact that my biggest passion in music is Bach (with Handel very close) doesn't help: baroque performance practices have certainly improved IMO and I usually much prefer HIP versions rather than grotesque romanticized ones (with some exceptions like Klemperer's slower-than-hell bnut out-of-this-Earth St Matthew Passion).
For Bruckner, I could never go without my Jochum, Karajan, Tinter, and specially, Wand. Same for Shostakovich. As I said, mono recordings have to be of really extraordinaire performances to make me rush to them.
Joined: January 24 2010
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 8769
Posted: February 04 2014 at 21:02
Rick Robson wrote:
presdoug wrote:
Thought i'd start a thread for specifically The Symphony, those by any composer, from any period, and interpreted by any orchestra or conductor.
I have over 1,000 recordings of symphonies, ranging from Haydn to Shostakovitch. Symphonies are something that i devote a lot of my listening time to, and are for me, the pinnacle of musical expression.
My favorites are the towering edifices of composer Anton Bruckner, especially his last three ones, with his 8th Symphony being the greatest one ever written by anybody, imho.
Bruckner's 8th expresses for me the inexpressible, and it is hard for me to put into words what it signifies for me.
As far as interpreters of symphonies go, i am almost exclusively an Historical recordings collector (before 1960) with my focus mainly on the 1930s and 40s, with a whole host of conductors like Furtwangler, Walter, Koussevitzky, Beecham, Barbirolli, Abendroth, Schuricht, Stokowski, Monteux, Knappertsbusch, Mengelberg, van Beinum, etc.
Other favorite symphony composers of mine besides Bruckner include Mahler, Beethoven, Sibelius, Elgar, Brahms, Haydn, Berlioz, Tchaikovsky and Richard Strauss.
I would love to hear from other members who love symphonies!
Hi Doug, I'm glad to find this topic you created, just found it by case and no doubt I'll come back here often, it's just nice for me to check out the comments and suggestions here because since my childhood up to date I've known very very little about symphonies - I only know Brahms' Symphonies 3 and 4, which I enjoy very much, and the nine Beethoven's symphonies, which I love. It would be wonderful to have the privilege of listening to the incomplete Beethoven's 10th, that one he could not conclude. From Beethoven I feel his majestic "symphonic vein" even when I listen to his Concerts for Piano, what a delightful experience I have!
I agree with you - the symphony is the pinnacle of musical expression, unfortunately Chopin never composed any symphony, I like very very much his compositions. But I was always curious about these other composers from the Romantic and Classic Eras, so I'll give a break to prog right now and begin to download the symphonies mentioned here from Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Strauss, Mahler, Berlioz, Bruckner, Haydn, etc. I'm sure it will be a long and fabulous journey of superb discoveries, as the Classical Music world is for me the most fascinating. But to be honest these masterpieces are not worth of being achieved in ".mp3 files"... Hence it will be so nice when I get to buy their CDs recorded by Deutsche Grammmophon for instance.
Thanks again for this great thread, I was feeling the lack of an exclusive Classical Music topic in this Forum.
Welcome, Rick, and thanks. Plumbing the depths of the symphonic world, man, the benefits are astronomical, friend! Let me know how your journey progresses.
Joined: January 24 2010
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 8769
Posted: February 04 2014 at 21:20
The T wrote:
Presdoug, what do you find interesting about older recordings? I can tell you, besides the obvious sound quality difference, hearing older recordings has its magic in some cases but not always for me. To be able to sit through a mono, full of hiss and noise recording it really has to be something else, think Furtwangler conducting Beethoven's 9th (not the classical EMI recording - which I love - but his 1954 one available in many editions including a Tahra one), but unless is something like that, I suffer with mono recordings.
Also, of course the fact that my biggest passion in music is Bach (with Handel very close) doesn't help: baroque performance practices have certainly improved IMO and I usually much prefer HIP versions rather than grotesque romanticized ones (with some exceptions like Klemperer's slower-than-hell bnut out-of-this-Earth St Matthew Passion).
For Bruckner, I could never go without my Jochum, Karajan, Tinter, and specially, Wand. Same for Shostakovich. As I said, mono recordings have to be of really extraordinaire performances to make me rush to them.
Welcome, an honor to have you in the thread! I think I love the old "atmosphere" in historical recordings that has become so important to my appreciating classical music over the years. Also the "white knuckle" or "hell bent for leather" type of conducting a la Furtwangler that hooks me, hiss and mono limitations be damned!
Joined: January 24 2010
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 8769
Posted: February 04 2014 at 21:25
^Yet, i also like the sheer allure of the music in someone like Beecham, or the magisterial and granitic approach of Klemperer, as well. (I love Klemperer's Messiah recording)
Joined: November 06 2012
Location: here
Status: Offline
Points: 8856
Posted: February 04 2014 at 21:50
I'm a fan of that giant, impressive sound that the symphony is supposed to have, which is why I like more modern recordings as they catch the intricacies of the orchestration much better. But conducting doesn't cross my mind as often as composition, specifically orchestration.
Joined: October 16 2006
Location: FL, USA
Status: Offline
Points: 17493
Posted: February 05 2014 at 08:55
presdoug wrote:
^Yet, i also like the sheer allure of the music in someone like Beecham, or the magisterial and granitic approach of Klemperer, as well. (I love Klemperer's Messiah recording)
Klemperer had a way with things... The opening chorus of his St Matthew Passion lasts longer than some entire versions of the work I'd say but it is hold together so magnificently.
On Beecham, don't get me started on his uber-atrocious Messiah recording using Goosens ridiculous version...
Joined: January 24 2010
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 8769
Posted: February 05 2014 at 16:36
The T wrote:
presdoug wrote:
^Yet, i also like the sheer allure of the music in someone like Beecham, or the magisterial and granitic approach of Klemperer, as well. (I love Klemperer's Messiah recording)
Klemperer had a way with things... The opening chorus of his St Matthew Passion lasts longer than some entire versions of the work I'd say but it is hold together so magnificently.
On Beecham, don't get me started on his uber-atrocious Messiah recording using Goosens ridiculous version...
I like the Beecham Messiah, though more to the point with Sir Thomas are his Delius, Richard Strauss, and Berlioz recordings, imo. Those latter ones are essentials for me.
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The Symphony
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TheGazzardian wrote:
but it is hold together so magnificently. 
I did not know Joe Jackson wrote a symphony.