Ghost -- Elizabeth

Nothing wrong with a song about Elizabeth Bathory.

I recently ventured into a realm seldom visited any more thanks to now wretched hearing... large scale full orchestra works. Listened to / watched two of favorite Sibelius works, his violin concerto and second symphony. As is so much of his music, they tend toward dark, moody and oft intense.

For the concerto I chose a long-time favorite filmed interpretation, that of the Chicago Symphony under Daniel Barenboim, Maxim Vengerov soloist. I own this performance on DVD, it being one of my very first DVD purchases back when few classical music DVDs existed, not that all that many exist even now.

The second symphony is heard in another filmed concert performance, Leonard Bernstein leading the Vienna Philharmonic. I link only its final two movements.

I listened to the concerto yesterday morning, when my hearing seemed about as "good" as it ever get these days. This allowed me a reasonable amount of pleasure from what I heard. I did listen to the symphony until this morning, with my hearing about as wretched as it ever gets. Not much joy there. I was tempted to throw in the towel numerous times.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Dec 5 2016, 02:42 PM

Several piano-centric pieces I've listened to multiple times recently. All are filmed performances rather than audio only.

...That old chestnut Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No.2, Valentina Lisitsa piano. I've never found my "ultimate ideal" interpretation of this work. This one comes as close as any, closer than many.

...Prokofiev Toccata Op 11, HJ Lim piano. This work was unknown to me until early this year.

...A long-time favorite warhorse, Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto, movement three (finale), A.S. Ott soloist.

I'm listening to one of the few christmas songs I actually like. The Pogues & Kirsty McColl: Fairytale of New York

Couple of filmed performances showing off the Berlin Philharmonic's French Horn section, in my opinion pound for pound the strongest orchestral horn section at this time:

An arrangement for horn ensemble of music from Weber's opera Der Freischutz. Lowest notes ostly provided by Sarah Willis, the section's sole female member.

The closing few minutes of Mahler's first symphony. The horn section stands part way through, as specified by the compose but not always adhered to in performance.

Possibly my favorite interpretation of a favorite piano work, Lazar Berman playing Franz Schubert's piano sonata D.960, his final piano sonata, an audio-only performance. This piece somewhat breaks mold from what I normally link in being contemplative and possibly ethereal, even during its flashier moments. This particular take is slower than most, with dark resonant sound that in my opinion suits it well. It's a long work, made more so by Berman taking the often ignored first moment exposition repeat.

And now for something completely different. A filmed performance of Dmitri Shostakovich's brief "Parody" (from a ballet score) performed by the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra under Pavel Kogan. I originally heard this performance as one of several encores included on an early DVD purchase whose main work was the Shostakovich 10th symphony. It's an out and out hoot. I like that the orchestra retains something of the old-style Russian take-no-prisoners raw sound, nowadays all but extinct (at least in top-tier Russian orchestras). The conductor seems to be enjoying himself. Quite a contrast from the refined Schubert/Berman combo.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Dec 19 2016, 06:39 PM

Spent part of Christmas Eve with Beethoven. Listened to his piano sonatas No.11-13 played by Maurizio Pollini. Of the three, No.11 is far and away my favorite. I linked Pollini's take on it earlier this year so won't do so now. Also listened to the 5th piano concerto, Pollini as soloist with his son conducting the orchestra.

ADDENDUM: This morning, 26 Dec, I listened to the an old radio broadcast of Saint-Saens Symphony No.3 ("Organ") performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim. As with Beethoven, I linked it some time ago so won't bother to now.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Dec 26 2016, 04:48 PM

And now something similar to Decrepit's selection; Babymetal - Karate

Yesterday afternoon I discovered a performance of Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata played on a modern reproduction of what is purported to be one of Beethoven's favorite fortepianos, Viviana Sofronitsky soloist. Have listened to it four times since then. I enjoy the combo of fortepiano sound and ms Sofronitsky's interpretation, the opening movement in particular, but it's all good.

Over the last some days I've listened to bits and pieces of a number of filmed performances of Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto. The one the interested me most overall is by the Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra under Pablo Gonzalez, HJ Lim soloist. Here it is beginning part way through the final movement.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Jan 1 2017, 12:19 AM

OMG, I LOVE this!!!! That was Awesome!

Love it!

Bahahaha That was weird seeing Tink so enthusiastic!


You must watch the show!

Is it free on the internet? Like on YouTube?

That's a good question. This one is watching it on Netflix. Khajiit thinks SubRosa said it was originally made for the web so maybe.

*update*
Found a link for you!
I don't know if the one I linked is free but there are other videos accompanying it that do seem to be free.

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: Dec 31 2016, 05:12 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwED4C5FJuo

Yeah, I'm a Nightwish fan now.

This post has been edited by Callidus Thorn: Jan 3 2017, 10:00 PM

Now that is just plain freaky how much alike they look and sound !!!

\m/