What Are You Listening To?

[brianvds]

I don't know that I'd think of the conservatives vs progressives duel as "quaint". It certainly continues today. Remember over on the old music site we frequented how there were those who seemingly couldn't stomach anything composed before 1900... and dismissed anything written after that year that they deemed "old fashioned": Puccini, Strauss, Aaron Copland, etc... while there were also the opposites who could not handle anything from Schoenberg onward... and they often even struggled with Strauss, Stravinsky, Mahler, Debussy, etc... We certainly have the same dichotomy in the visual arts. There are those who cannot abide anything before Modernism and almost any aspect of "realistic" or figurative art. At the same time, we have the ARC and their ilk that swear by Romantic Realism. I remember reading in Paul Klee's journals the suggestion that it is not enough to have a negative philosophy... a philosophy of what you do not like, One must more importantly have a positive philosophy... a philosophy of what you admire and strive for.

I suppose it's true that the battle continues. I just no longer pay much attention to it.

 

[brianvds]

Another one of those "progressive" Romantics that Brian probably doesn't like.

I actually rather like Mahler, or at least some of his work. But perhaps no surprise that I seem to prefer his earlier symphonies to the later ones.

 

[brianvds]

Of Mozart's last ten piano concertos, this one is one of the less popular, but I find it as gloriously beautiful as the rest:

 

[stlukesguild]

I don't know how you can term any of Mozart's piano concertos... from no.8 onward... "less popular". These concertos are one of the most exquisite bodies of work in the whole of classical music. Even the earliest of these contain wonderous passages and movements. There's always that game of "If composer x had lived 10 years longer what do you wish he had composed more of?" I certainly wish Mozart had written 3 or 4 more operas, a few more choral works, and more for the clarinet. Most of all, I wish he had composed more concertos for the violin and piano.

Since were on these great concertos:

Nos. 25, 26 & 27

Concerto for 3 Pianos (as well as Poulenc's Concerto for 2 Pianos and Beethoven's Piano Concerto no. 1... for 1 Piano )

 

[brianvds]

I don't know how you can term any of Mozart's piano concertos... from no.8 onward... "less popular". These concertos are one of the most exquisite bodies of work in the whole of classical music. Even the earliest of these contain wonderous passages and movements.

Well, I did say less popular, not less good or plain unpopular. But some do get played more than others. We are in agreement that they are exquisite.

There's always that game of "If composer x had lived 10 years longer what do you wish he had composed more of?" I certainly wish Mozart had written 3 or 4 more operas, a few more choral works, and more for the clarinet. Most of all, I wish he had composed more concertos for the violin and piano.

Or a double concerto for piano and violin. Or a few more concertante symphonies. So much he could have done instead of wasting time on opera.

 

[brianvds]

Speaking of piano concertos, YouTube suggested this to me:

Never heard of this guy before, but the concerto is actually very listenable. What a treasure trove there is to be discovered among the more obscure figures...

 

[stlukesguild]

It was always funny over on the music site when the group would attempt one of those lists of the 20 or 50 greatest composers, that we had individuals who would argue that Beethoven was far greater as a composer than Mozart, Schubert, Wagner, and even Bach. But their opinions didn't take into account Mozart's operas and choral works, Wagner's operas (just the instrumental highlights), Bach's wealth of choral works, and Schubert's lieder... because they didn't like vocal music. Richard Strauss, Verdi, Bellini, Puccini, Donizetti, Handel, Verdi, etc... fared even worse. Vivaldi would often get the shorty end of the stick based solely upon their experience with only the concertos... not the sonatas and other more intimate instrumental works, or the choral pieces and operas. It seems rather like underestimating the merits of Bernini, Rodin, and even Michelangelo because you prefer painting to sculpture.

 

[brianvds]

It was always funny over on the music site when the group would attempt one of those lists of the 20 or 50 greatest composers, that we had individuals who would argue that Beethoven was far greater as a composer than Mozart, Schubert, Wagner, and even Bach. But their opinions didn't take into account Mozart's operas and choral works, Wagner's operas (just the instrumental highlights), Bach's wealth of choral works, and Schubert's lieder... because they didn't like vocal music. Richard Strauss, Verdi, Bellini, Puccini, Donizetti, Handel, Verdi, etc... fared even worse. Vivaldi would often get the shorty end of the stick based solely upon their experience with only the concertos... not the sonatas and other more intimate instrumental works, or the choral pieces and operas. It seems rather like underestimating the merits of Bernini, Rodin, and even Michelangelo because you prefer painting to sculpture.

Perhaps they were just deferring to Stravinsky's opinion.

Personally I don't see the point of such lists. They don't have any effect on anything, or teach me anything I don't know.

 

[Hermes2020]

Speaking of piano concertos, YouTube suggested this to me:

Never heard of this guy before, but the concerto is actually very listenable. What a treasure trove there is to be discovered among the more obscure figures...

Thanks, he's new to me as well; it's always exciting to discover a new composer. His name sounds Finnish.

 

[Dave Woody]

Search...YouTube

Revised Music For Guitar and Low Budget Orchestra

Two performances on YouTube will surface.
Zappa's original studio version and an Ensemble Modern recording.

 

[stlukesguild]

I just took a shot on Amazon and entered the search terms "Mozart Oboe" and came upon this. I have the Oboe Concerto on a disc with the flute concertos but the Flute Quartet is something new for me along with the Oboe Sonata... that is actually one of the violin sonatas transcribed for oboe. A lovely disc... perfect music for Friday evening after the long work week and after a lovely take home Italian dinner topped off with tiramisu.

 

[stlukesguild]

A lovely HIP interpretation of Mozart's Violin Sonatas featuring the splendid Isabelle Faust.

Then I turned back to the oboe with this disc of opera arias transcribed for flute oboe and piano. Delos Records is a label that dates back some 40 years and has released more than a few truly splendid recordings of which this is yet another. Brian may want to explore Zuckerman's efforts here as a means of experiencing some fine operatic favorites without the singing... that he so dislikes.

 

[brianvds]

Can't possibly go wrong with Bach...

 

[stlukesguild]

For whatever reason, I never got around to really exploring Bach's keyboard concertos until maybe 5 years ago. I had an early HIP recordings by Gustav Leonhardt (I believe) on harpsichord that dated back to the late 80s or thereabout. I was really blown away when I finally heard Murray Perahia perform these:

Perahia's recordings of Mozart's piano concertos are among the very finest. There were classical aficionados who argued that Perahia was not suited to Bach's works... but he has become one of the finest Bach performers of our time. He brings both a certain muscularity... that is almost inherent in the piano as opposed to the harpsichord. At the same time, years of performing Mozart result in a classical fluidity. The only other performances I admire nearly as much are those by Angela Hewitt and Glenn Gould (Brian's favorite vocalist ).

 

[brianvds]

The only other performances I admire nearly as much are those by Angela Hewitt and Glenn Gould (Brian's favorite vocalist ).

At least he's not a soprano, though he does do the countertenor thing now and then.

I have never heard of the lady who plays in the video I posted, but I rather like the performance. And one can always hope for a page turning mishap, just to see if she actually knows the piece well. I get this impression the page turner is terrified of her.

 

[brianvds]

One of my favorite bits by Sibelius, slowly building up and up, culminating in a kind of sweeping, passionate ecstasy:

 

[snoball]

 

[stlukesguild]

This undoubtedly required a lot of editing. The music teacher in my school has said that group performances on Microsoft Teams or Zoom are impossible because of the lag in streaming... especially if some students have slower services. I thought teaching Art was bad enough online. Honestly, the work I get is garbage compared to what the kids can do when I'm right there... circulating the room... giving them feedback and motivating the slackers. But Music and PE? Jumping jacks in your office in front of your computer?

 

[snoball]

This undoubtedly required a lot of editing. The music teacher in my school has said that group performances on Microsoft Teams or Zoom are impossible because of the lag in streaming... especially if some students have slower services. I thought teaching Art was bad enough online. Honestly, the work I get is garbage compared to what the kids can do when I'm right there... circulating the room... giving them feedback and motivating the slackers. But Music and PE? Jumping jacks in your office in front of your computer?

I agree, impossible without a lot of editing but I thought it was great.

 

[stlukesguild]

We got a bit of Indian Summer over the last few days and so we decided to put the grill to work again with some steaks and a few Black & Tans while listening to Merle: