Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #54)

Chopin: Recital. Pollini, EMI UK.

Another great Chopin disk.

 

Listening to the CD layer now.

 

Glad you are enjoying it. Pollini's Chopin is not to my taste.

 

Newer is not always better ...

 

As someone who has subscribed to the local orchestra in various locales for the past decade and change, I've heard lots of new and unfamiliar music. The problem is that so little of it was interesting. It is generally either uptown avant-garde, academic esoterica, or pointless gesturing. Or worst, experiments with tape or found sounds or "unique" instruments that produce the most pompous cacaphony imaginable. And I like to think that I've given each piece a chance...it's not like I'm going to do anything else for the 20-30 minute span they seem to usually take. I've liked a few, but not many (in fact, the Concerto-Fantasy by Philip Glass is the only one that particularly comes to mind).

I'm fine with the unfamiliar. I love the unfamiliar - it means I get to find new things to love. But if I'm just going to be given an endless diet of pieces which are at best unmemorable fanfares over dissonance don't expect me to be jumping for joy.
Of course, the attitude that I should eat my broccoli before getting to the stuff I actually enjoy hardly helps. It just seems that most modern composers either lack a gift for the lyric and melodic, or that they had such inclinations forced out of them at conservatory.

It isn't about the unfamiliar...I've been shown many new pieces I've loved at concerts. But the thing is, they're generally only new to me. Something about the modern world of music composition is profoundly broken, and produces works which are of interest primarily to other musicians. Instead of recognizing this as a fallacy, audiences who fail to embrace these works are criticized as closed-minded counterrevolutionary upper crust snobs who just don't get it, and if only the regular folks would show up they'd get it in a heartbeat. Effectively the composition establishment would rather double down on their systematic failure to engage audiences rather than acknowledge the profound problems their approach has caused.

For myself, I'll stick with music I enjoy. I don't care where it comes from, but I don't care for being told I should enjoy something when I do not.

 

I saw the NSO play Dutillieux's Tout un monde lointain. . ., concerto for cello & orchestra, composed in 67, last year. They played it three years before.

Next week they're playing Aho's Clarinet Concerto, composed in 2005. They've also played the following this season

Adam's Violin Concerto (1993)
Daugherty's Red Cape Tango (1993)
George Walker Sinfonia No. 4 "Strands" (2012)
Widmann Violin Concerto (2007) US Premier
Currier Time Machines (2007)
Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1 (1957)

as well as a couple of pieces from the late 40s

The National Opera performed Jake Heggie's Moby Dick (2010) to sold out houses. Next year they're preforming Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites (1957) and Catán's Florencia in the Amazon (1996).

I'd say new music is doing pretty well here in DC.

 

Now listening to "Handel - German Arias" performed by Emma Kirkby and the London Baroque on EMI Angel vinyl.

 

The Dutillieux Cello Concerto I saw last year was fantastic. Moby Dick was great was well. Looking back on this season, I wish I could have gone to more.

 

Listened to earlier. "Bach - Six Trio Sonatas" performed by Holm Vogel on Capriccio vinyl.



Not enough room on turntable to rest a box set for photo purposes.

 

Now listening to "Palestrina Masses" by The Tallis Scholars on Gimell vinyl.

 

I actually have this on my listening pile now; I got the BIS SACD with Christian Poltera for $3 at J&R's liquidation sale. I'm not per se opposed to new music, I just don't like it when the onus is on me for not liking a lot of what's out there.

 

I see your point. I just would not have called it risk-taking. Commissioning new works from both established and developing composers have been part of the business a long time. Recently Anne-Sophie Mutter have been active, too. However, I would also give the props for H.H.

 

Enjoying a ND of Stokowski's La Mer.

 

My first question in this classical music thread as newbie in classical music:

Very popular among music fans in Holland is the minimal music of 'Canto Ostinato' by the late Simeon ten Holt. That's why I'm amazed it's just mentionned once at SHTV by classical music fans.

Despite that, I'm trying here to ask my question: there are more cds (I don't see any SACD) to find of Canto Ostinato. Which performance cq cd is being seen as the best one?

For people unknown to this fine music:

 

Music is intended to offer something positive for the spirit (even tragic music). It should never be a burden to listen to it (although sometimes it may require an adjustment). The participants in this thread have been doing this so long, we may forget to indicate that our statements represent our opinions only.

For me late 20th century music is something I listen to, but not that often. There are times when I will start listening to a work, only to realize it is not what I want to hear at that moment. (That happens with other music, but not very frequently.) There are other times I find it gripping. One thing that helped me was trying to play some moderately dissonant 20th century music for clarinet. Practicing it over and over helped me understand its musicality (despite the shoddy caliber of the performer).

 

Now listening to "Hildegard Von Bingen - Ordo virtutum" performed by Sequentia on DHM.

 

Now listening to "Adrian Willaert - Motets" performed by The Boston Camerata Motet Choir on Nonesuch vinyl.

 

I couldn't agree more.

Absolutely! (of course, that is just my opinion)

I recall a rainy day about 5 years ago, one of those windy, cold, rainy annoying Monday mornings. I was listening to the Schoenberg string quartets by Arditti. The dissonant, angular music so perfectly matched my mood and the weather, that I was able to instantly appreciate the music.

I don't own a ton of 20 century music, but I would not be without what I have (Schoenberg, Part, Lutoslawski, etc.)

 

I had that LP many decades ago. Those Nonesuch albums, together with the David Munrow recordings, were my introduction to pre-Baroque music.

 

Mine neither if you are referring to his DG recordings. His earlier performances with EMI though seem like a different pianist IMO.

 

For whatever reason, minimalist composers (except perhaps Part, if you consider him a minimalist) don't get that much attention on this forum. I listen to Steve Reich a bit (as well as Morton Feldman). I don't know the work you reference, but I'll check it out on Spotify or MOG.

From the description in Wikipedia it sounds like choosing the instrumentation you prefer could be even more important than sound quality.

 

Now listening to Disc 3 - Ravel from "Marcelle Meyer - Ses enregistrements 1925-1957" on EMI.

 

I could certainly give the EMI stuff another listen, but I prefer my Chopin (and other romantic era piano music) more romantically interpreted. (see: Cortot, Arrau, Moravec, Moiseiwitsch, Kemal Gekic.)

 

Likewise. The one that started it for me was "Music Of The Gothic Era" by Munrow. I actually bought it because I liked the album cover but then the music was something I had never heard before so I kept on exploring.