What are you listening to RIGHT NOW?

[vinteuil]

Beethoven's Mass in C, Op. 86
It's a pity. This piece is excellent, but just not quite as sublime as the Op. 123. And since that piece isn't exactly over-performed, and they're both very difficult, this almost never gets played.

"But my dear Beethoven, what is this you have done now?"

[dwil9798]

Zemlinsky: Der Zwerg. Kenneth Riegel as the dwarf and Inge Nelson as the Infanta. Conducted by Gerd Albrecht.

Sadder than any Puccini tale, written by the most under-appreciated composer of all time . . .

[Raftuniversity]

Beethoven's Mass in C, Op. 86
It's a pity. This piece is excellent, but just not quite as sublime as the Op. 123. And since that piece isn't exactly over-performed, and they're both very difficult, this almost never gets played.

"But my dear Beethoven, what is this you have done now?"

The quoniam tu solus is probably my favorite fugue ever. It's crazy.

[vinteuil]

Beethoven's Mass in C, Op. 86
It's a pity. This piece is excellent, but just not quite as sublime as the Op. 123. And since that piece isn't exactly over-performed, and they're both very difficult, this almost never gets played.

"But my dear Beethoven, what is this you have done now?"

The quoniam tu solus is probably my favorite fugue ever. It's crazy.

It's good, but it's not quite Große

[KGill]

Celso Garrido-Lecca, born 1926, Peruvian composer. Currently listening to his Second String Quartet played by the Cuarteto Latinoamericano. It's really impressive music - has a strong postmodernist fixation which is really interesting while not degenerating in the slightest into random noise a la Lutoslawski. (Sorry, I do love Lutoslawski, but his string quartet is IMHO one of his worst pieces. Compared to his symphonies or song cycles, there's really not much there.) The Garrido-Lecca is actually highly melodic/harmonic and quite beautiful, sometimes even in a more traditional sense.

[KGill]

Revueltas - performing version of La Coronela, conducted by Gisele Ben-Dor. This is his masterpiece; it's a shame he died before he could complete it. It is amazing music, coarsely vulgar and oddly beautiful. (I think he includes satires of the upper class, among other things.) Right now on 'Los Caidos' ('The Fallen Ones'), the second-to-last number, which is truly moving - it varies between darkly polytonal, brassy climaxes, taps, and quietly pure and sad F-sharp major string passages (interrupted by the introduction of wiry bitonality by a solo violin). The crazy last number (which I just reached) is even more striking. It is a crass imitation of some kind of cheerful oompah-ish march tune, completely jarring after the unearthly writing of the previous part. To me, this work is just one more affirmation that Revueltas was the single greatest composer of all time from the Americas.

[sbeckmesser]

Wagner. Beginning of Siegfried Act III. LIVE from the Bayreuth Festival streaming from Spain Classical Radio at 128 kbps. Good sound, good performance, musically. Apparently it is your typical Eurotrash staging, to judge by pics on the Web.

--Sixtus

[sbeckmesser]

Ligeti: Le Grand Macabre Anyone able to see the NY Philharmonic's performance 2 weeks ago?

No, but I wish! The car horns at the beginning are great.
Of course, I also love Berio's un re in ascolto, but he's not really contemporary anymore...but Birtwistle is! Gawain, anyone?

Would've loved to see that, too. Read it was pretty impressive. My favorite is when the metronome starts ticking away as the comet nears, but the car horns and doorbells are great too. Pretty neat stuff!

I saw this in person not once but three times. First was an open rehearsal in which I brought my score (for once, a reasonably priced 20th century opera). I also caught two of the performances. Had a great time. It's a great example of modern musical theater, especially with the staging employed. The soprano who sang Gepopo (head of the secret police) gave a way-over-the-top performance, even when dressed as a spider. The young countertenor who sang the Prince bears watching -- talented musically and dramatically. The production -- audio only, unfortunately -- is available for streaming over the Web by visiting the NY Philharmonic website. I'm looking forward to next seasons's Cunning Little Vixen, by Janacek, staged by the same team.

--Sixtus

PS: Do check out Ligeti's piece for metronomes. Great fun to listen to at least once.

[CC-on-the-Forums]

J. S. Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 3

Absolutely divine.

[dwil9798]

I saw this in person not once but three times.

Very jealous. Mr. Gilbert isn't my favorite conductor, but I'm happy he is bringing more of this music to the general public.

I'm looking forward to next seasons's Cunning Little Vixen, by Janacek, staged by the same team.

One of my favorites, though I think Messiaen's Saint Francois d'Assise is more overdue for a performance.

[sbeckmesser]

Messiaen's Saint Francois d'Assise is more overdue for a performance.

The Messiaen has been performed recently in Europe and the production is on DVD. It is a mammoth task to undertake and, to judge by the cost of the score (see the recent Messiaen discussion in the Score Requests section) enormously expensive to do. Being unable to afford the score and to judge the work only by that DVD performance and the 2 CD recordings I have, I frankly would prefer to have the Janacek, much as I love most of Messiaen's other music (with the exception of the Quartet and the incredibly thorny Livre d'orgue). The NY CIty Opera's production of the Janacek, with sets and costumes by Maurice Sendak, is way overdue for a revival. If I could call forth big Messiaen, I'd rather have La transfiguration de notre seigneur Jésus-Christ , which is just as rarely performed as his opera.

--Sixtus

[number9los]

john field - Nocturne #1

[allegroamabile]

The coda to Tchaikovsky's Marche Slave.

Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Antal Dorati

[Gesamtkunstwerk]

Wagner's Ring (as a summer project). Just finished Siegfried Act II while following along in the libretto. I think my German class is starting to pay off...!

[allegroamabile]

Spohr- Nonett in F major, Op. 31: I. Allegro

Linos Ensemble