What Are You Listening To?

Oh man I love Heilung. Great new-old music and like nothing I've ever heard before. I have that performance on vinyl and it's one of the best sounding albums I have. They did a great job of the live recording and my audio system is pretty good and the percussion sounds amazing. I would love to see them live.
 
I spent Sunday morning breakfast with coffee and Chopin's Nocturnes...

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A bit later, I locked myself into my den/office/studio to work on my latest WIP while listening to my Peter Gabriel playlist on Spotify:

Peter-Gabriel.jpg
 
I have been a Beethoven fan since childhood, but I have never actually listened to all his stuff. I am now remedying this, thanks to YouTube: I have decided to meander my way through all his numbered opuses, and then dig into the WoO ones. He published quite a few relatively uninteresting potboilers in his career, but on the whole, thus far my journey is like a walk through paradise. :)
 
brianvds said:
I have been a Beethoven fan since childhood, but I have never actually listened to all his stuff. I am now remedying this, thanks to YouTube: I have decided to meander my way through all his numbered opuses, and then dig into the WoO ones. He published quite a few relatively uninteresting potboilers in his career, but on the whole, thus far my journey is like a walk through paradise. :)
Click to expand...
My favourites are the Beethoven string quartets. It is a wonderful journey to listen to all of them in sequence, which takes a fair amount of time. Of the lighter works I like to compare recordings of the Diabelli Variations made by different pianists. At the moment l favour Paul Lewis and John O'Conor. I've also spent weeks listening to different recordings of Beethoven's piano sonatas.
 
Brian's post reminds me that I haven't listened much to Beethoven. Right now I'm giving this favorite recording of his piano sonatas (Stephen Kovacevich) another listen.

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Honestly string quartets have long been among the knottiest works for me to come around to appreciating... not merely Beethoven's but also Mozart's, Haydn's, Schubert's, Shostakovich', etc... I remember reading a review/commentary on Beethoven's quartets in which they were compared to a conversation among peers... each instrument taking equal or near-equal roles. So perhaps my taste runs more toward the aristocratic... with the dominant instrument (Violin or Piano concertos, opera arias, etc...) :unsure:

Besides Kovacevich' recordings of the Beethoven sonatas I have the box sets by Emil Gilels (not the complete cycle), Alfred Brendel, Maurizzio Pollini, and Wilhelm Kempff (my "go to set" most times) as well as selected sonatas by Rubinstein.

My taste has always leaned toward vocal works... including Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and Mass in C... as well as the Choral Symphony... followed by concertos, works for solo instruments (ie. Bach's works for solo violin or cello)... and symphonic works. For me, the core of Beethoven includes the symphonies, the violin concerto, the piano concertos, the piano sonatas, the above-listed choral works, and the song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte. I need to really be in the mood for the string quartets. Having said this... I must admit to owning several recordings of the quartets including those by the Busch Quartet and Budapest Quartet as well as the Alban Berg Quartet.
 
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An introduction to the Belcea Quartet, whose complete recordings of Beethoven's string quartets I own. For anyone wanting to take the journey through the Beethoven quartets, I can recommend them for their fresh performances and the brilliant sound of the recordings. I also own complete recordings by the Takacs Quartet and the Dover Quartet. All of these are wonderful and I still don't know which set I prefer. I regard the Alban Berg Quartet highly as well.

A side note: I am an audiophile and, though I acknowledge the brilliant musical offerings in earlier recordings by groups like the Busch Quartet, I am also looking for quality of recording. I know I will be accused of being crass, but that's me!

 
stlukesguild said:
Brian's post reminds me that I haven't listened much to Beethoven. Right now I'm giving this favorite recording of his piano sonatas (Stephen Kovacevich) another listen.

View attachment 29558

Honestly string quartets have long been among the knottiest works for me to come around to appreciating... not merely Beethoven's but also Mozart's, Haydn's, Schubert's, Shostakovich', etc... I remember reading a review/commentary on Beethoven's quartets in which they were compared to a conversation among peers... each instrument taking equal or near-equal roles. So perhaps my taste runs more toward the aristocratic... with the dominant instrument (Violin or Piano concertos, opera arias, etc...) :unsure:

Besides Kovacevich' recordings of the Beethoven sonatas I have the box sets by Emil Gilels (not the complete cycle), Alfred Brendel, Maurizzio Pollini, and Wilhelm Kempff (my "go to set" most times) as well as selected sonatas by Rubinstein.

My taste has always leaned toward vocal works... including Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and Mass in C... as well as the Choral Symphony... followed by concertos, works for solo instruments (ie. Bach's works for solo violin or cello)... and symphonic works. For me, the core of Beethoven includes the symphonies, the violin concerto, the piano concertos, the piano sonatas, the above-listed choral works, and the song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte. I need to really be in the mood for the string quartets. Having said this... I must admit to owning several recordings of the quartets including those by the Busch Quartet and Budapest Quartet as well as the Alban Berg Quartet.
Click to expand...

Stephen Kovacevich is one of my heroes. He (when he was still Stephen Bishop) introduced me to the Bartok piano concertos when I was in my early twenties. I own his complete Beethoven piano sonatas.
 
Speaking of piano. Both the videography/dancing and the music they are doing it for is beautiful.

 
This live recording of Under the Surface (Bettie Serveert) made me feel momentarily alive this afternoon. No small feat, that.
 
Marc said:
View attachment 29834

Quite good of course, but not zinging for me.
Click to expand...

I first discovered this quartet in my teens, when I was perhaps not quite ready for it, though I remember thinking the trio section from the second movement was absolutely magical. Nowadays I think the entire work is perhaps the most magical of all his quartets; particularly the slow movement, one of the most moving things he ever wrote.

But so it goes: we all react differently.
 
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