Would the written description include any mathematical theory? Use of colors? German language? Maybe a CD megabox set to the winner?
No. Just the music as I heard it, as well as I could describe it, which would include some chords, general feeling, and perhaps some instrumentation.
Listening to Mahler Symphony No. 5 conducted by James Levine with the Philadelphia Orchestra. 1978 on RCA. Excellent sonics and powerful performance on the old original CD release!
Is anyone familiar with this Haitink recording of Brahms and Dvorak? I like what I have heard from both composers but have never listened to the Hungarian Dances or Slavonic Dances so I ordered this CD pretty cheap to try them out. Hopefully the performances and sound quality are good as I expect they will be from the Concertgebouw Orchestra on Philips.
Both sets of works were originally for piano, four hands and then orchestrated later--unless I'm much mistaken, not always by the composer himself. No time to consult resources like Wikipedia at the moment, but if I'm not much mistaken Dvorak had a hand in doing some of the Brahms ones and maybe vice versa. In all events, I'd strongly recommend hearing them in their keyboard form as well. There's no shortage of recordings out there (albeit not nearly as many as of the orchestrations), but in CD format for the Dvorak I can commend the Labeque sisters for predictably lively, spirited performances. In the Brahms, I also have the Labeques on LP (haven't played it in a long time, but dimly recall it may not have been quite up to their Dvorak) and also Brendel and Klein; by contrast, my two or three accounts on CDs are perfectly enjoyable but in no way "distinguished" enough to go far out of your way to get. Veri and Jamanis on the old PriceLes$ cheapie label is as good as any of them, I guess. I'd be astonished if the Labeques and Brendel & Klien hadn't made it onto a CD at some point. I can give a "negative" recommendation: stay away from any recording that puts "four hands" (two players, one piano) music on two pianos, four hands. You might not think so, but four hands music does not sound at all the same when so transferred.
Jean-Yves Ossonce New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Massanet: Orchestral Suites Scenes pittoresques Scenes napolitaines Scenes de feerie Scenes alsaciennes Naxos, 1995 excellent natural sound
I pulled this to listen to the Stravinsky: 3 movements from Petrouchka, as I read an article by Jed Distler & Patrick Rucker in Gramophone revisiting this 1972 DGG recording.
Listened to this on LP from the reprint : Orchestral Suite No. 2 is the best here with Hans-Martin Linde on flute. Bach: Orchestral Suites Collegium Aureum
My first set of the Brandenburg Concerti was by these forces, released on the BASF label. Back in those days I had the silly idea that one should own one "best" version of any work and no more, so when I received the Smithsonian Chamber Players set as a gift, I disposed of the Collegium Aureum one. Since then, I've reassembled the series on a mix of Time Life and Victrola pressings.
Karel Ancerl Czech Philharmonic Martinu: Piano Concerto No. 3/Josef Palenicek, piano Martinu: Bouquet of Flowers
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra The First 70 years box disc 5 - Overtures 01 - (9:15) Weber: Euryanthe, J. 291 Overture - Rudolf Kempe & Bamberg Symphony Orchestra 02 - (13:13) Mendelssohn: "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Op.2,overture (Allegro Di Molto) - Witold Rowicki & Bamberg Symphony Orchestra 03 - (8:11) Beethoven: Overture "Coriolan", Op.62 - Joseph Keilberth & Bamberg Symphony Orchestra 04 - (10:32) Schumann: Manfred, Op.115 Ouvertüre - Fritz Lehmann & Bamberg Symphony Orchestra 05 - (7:27) Verdi: La Forza Del Destino Overture (Sinfonia) - Ferdinand Leitner & Bamberg Symphony Orchestra 06 - (8:11) Nicolai: Die Lustigen Weiber Von Windsor (The Merry Wives of Windsor) Overture - Wolfgang Sawallisch & Bamberg Symphony Orchestra 07 - (9:19) Weber: Oberon, J.306 Overture - Clemens Krauss & Bamberg Symphony Orchestra 08 - (9:18) Beethoven: Music to Goethe's Tragedy "Egmont" Op.84 Overture - Eugen Jochum & Bamberg Symphony Orchestra
1962. I think this is Rampal's best version of the Bach Flute Sonatas. The sound is excellent. disc 5 of the first Erato Rampal box set.
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition A Night on Bald Mountain Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol Karel Ancerl Czech Philharmonic Supraphon, 2002
Elliott Carter: Interventions, for piano and orchestra Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano BBC Symphony Orchestra/Oliver Knussen
On Sirius XM today, I heard segments of Schubert's A Major piano sonata (no. 20) performed by one Shai Wosner (as the announcer had it; the SoundHound application on my phone identified it as being by Jeno Jando). I must say, what I heard caught my attention; while the pianist did not capture the force of the more dramatic passages in the way my benchmark Friedrich Wuhrer did, presumptive-Wosner's general sound world was right on the money. Anybody here familiar with his work more generally? I'll confess to having heard nothing else played by him, at least not knowingly.