What are you listening to now?

[Roehre]

Today:

Palestrina:
(Church music for today, Peter & Paul)
Motet Tu es Petrus (p.1572)
Missa Tu es Petrus (a parody Mass with parts of the motet as cantus firmus)

Liszt:
Franz Schuberts Märsche für das Pianoforte übertragen S.426

Maxwell Davies:
Naxos-string-quartet no.2 (2003)

[Hofrat]

Smetana overture to "The Secret." I did not know that Smetana could compose counterpoint. I am impressed.

[Sorrano]

Smetana overture to "The Secret." I did not know that Smetana could compose counterpoint. I am impressed.

He was just being secretive!

Today:

Scarlatti: Clavier Sonata in B-flat (performed by Bela Bartok)
Debussy: Beau Soir" (sung by Barbara Streisand)
Gershwin: An American in Paris (performed by Toscanini & the NBC Orchestra)

[Roehre]

Today:

Liszt:
Mélodies hongroises d’après Fr. Schubert S.425

Schubert (arr.Liszt):
Die Rose op.73/D.745 S.556 (1822/1833)
Der Gondelfahrer op.28/ D.809 S.559 (1824/1883)

Schubert (arr.Zender):
Der Gondelfahrer op.28/ D.809 (1824/1986)

Maxwell Davies:
Naxos-string-quartet no.3 „Iraq-invasion“ (2003)

[Preston]

Smetana overture to "The Secret." I did not know that Smetana could compose counterpoint. I am impressed.

He was just being secretive!

LOL!

[Sorrano]

This morning:

Tchaikovsky: Suite from Sleeping Beauty
Bruckner: 3rd Movement from 7th Symphony (it's rare the radio will play something from Bruckner)

[Roehre]

Today:

Liszt:
Sorées de Vienne – Valses-Caprices d‘après Fr.Schubert S.427 (1852)

Maxwell Davies:
Naxos-string-quartet no.4 (2004)

[Roehre]

Today:

JSBach:
Goldberg-variations BWV 988
Freddy Kempf / this month’s BBC MM CD. Not really a bad performance , but why those accelerations? Overall not an example of clarity either. Looks a bit unbalanced and unripe to me.

Rachmaninov:
Transcriptions (RimskyKorsakov/Schubert/Kreisler/Bizet/Bach/Mendelssohn/Tchaikovsky)

Maxwell Davies;
Naxos-string-quartet no.5 “Lighthouses of Orkney and Shetland” (2004/’05)

Mason:
Lighthouses of England and Wales (1988)

[Peter]

Brahms - symphony no.2 (Mackerras), just right for a hot summer's day!

[Roehre]

Today:

Suchon:
Elegy and Toccata for piano, strings and percussion (1971) (R3: TtN)

Ockeghem:
Requiem Mass (R3: discovering music)

Maxwell Davies:
Naxos-string-quartet no.6 (2004/’05)

[Peter]

Today:

JSBach:
Goldberg-variations BWV 988
Freddy Kempf / this month’s BBC MM CD. Not really a bad performance , but why those accelerations? Overall not an example of clarity either. Looks a bit unbalanced and unripe to me.

Rachmaninov:
Transcriptions (RimskyKorsakov/Schubert/Kreisler/Bizet/Bach/Mendelssohn/Tchaikovsky)

Maxwell Davies;
Naxos-string-quartet no.5 “Lighthouses of Orkney and Shetland” (2004/’05)

Mason:
Lighthouses of England and Wales (1988)

What do you make of Gould's 'Goldberg' and do you prefer his later recording to the famous one? Gould himself I think later renounced the earlier recording.

[Roehre]

What do you make of Gould's 'Goldberg' and do you prefer his later recording to the famous one? Gould himself I think later renounced the earlier recording.

I think Gould's 1955 recording is very difficult to surpass (as played on the piano that is). It's a pity that he omits (IIRC) all repeats and so "just" lasts 39minutes (this Kempff takes 70 minutes) and that the sound quality shows its a bit of its age, but his 1980s recording is IMO mannered.

[Chris]

I prefer the later recording, but that may be because I heard it first. The increased sound quality adds quite a bit to it too. I like that he took some repeats in the later recording, but on the other hand, it's kind of weird to repeat just the first half of just the canons.

When it comes to piano recordings of the piece, I like Charles Rosen. He doesn't have the crazy energy and control of Gould, but he does offer a more "correct" interpretation, I would say, and he does take all the repeats. Trevor Pinnock has a wonderful recording on harpsichord.

[Roehre]

Today:

Ives:
Holidays: Fourth of July (1913?)

Paganini :
Le Couvent du Mont St. Bernard for violin, men's chorus and orchestra (1830) (R3: Ao3)

Maxwell Davies:
Naxos-string-quartet no.7 “Metafore sul Borromini” (2005)

Respighi:
Vetrate di Chiesa (1927)

[dice45]

Goldberg Variations -- Ragna Schirmer

Hello Peter and Roehre,

I think Gould's 1955 recording is very difficult to surpass (as played on the piano that is). It's a pity that he omits (IIRC) all repeats and so "just" lasts 39minutes (this Kempff takes 70 minutes) and that the sound quality shows its a bit of its age, but his 1980s recording is IMO mannered.

Gould's 1955 performance can be surpassed quite easily IMO (i prefer the 1955 to the 1982 as well; i too find the 1982 version mannered, brainy, intellectually constructed).

Gould has a pianistic virtue: each hand is completely independent in the rhythmic sense from each other .... and he uses this virtue in over-abundance, IMO. By allowing himself quite an amount of rhytmic flexibility between his hands, he "pulls the notes and chords apart" and thus makes the whole sound more transparent than you would expect to be possible on a modern piano -- and he does so without disrupting the bigger rhythmic picture, so to speak.

But when you compare his performance with a very good harpsichord performance (Wanda Landowska e.g.) where no phrasing fancies are done because they are not necessary -- the harpsichord is transparent by itself -- then you may come to the conclusion yourself that Glenn Gould's rhythmic fancies are violations indeed.

Recently i stumbled over a young German lady performing the compete Händel harpsichord suites on a modern piano; her play was so convincing that i bought the 3 CD set and started to find out what else she had put on record ... surprise ... her very first recording were the Goldberg Variations. I had to hear this and although Wanda Landowska remains my all-time favourite AFA the Goldberg Variations are concerned, her performance proved to me that the work can be played on a modern piano in a very transparent way. She played it without any rhythmic fancies, without any fancies at all; her play has a mesmerizing intimacy on the more quiet variations. I would not like to miss this performance. Never boring, always fascinating. And showing new insights.

Her name is Ragna Schirmer and right now her Goldberg Variations are playing. HintHint, not only her Händel but also her Haydn performances i would like to recommend; i consider them crown jewels!

Good night!
Bernhard