Ralph Vaughan Williams born this day in 1872: In The Fen Country, from one of my first RVW cds, (EMI 'British Composers' series), New Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult conductor, 1991.
On the turntable: A 1971 release Tchaikovsky / Saint-Saëns – Piano Concerto No. 2 / Piano Concerto No. 2 Turnabout – TV 34421S
That's the one I got. And, yes, I think they did a great job with the mastering. I've thoroughly enjoyed the set.
I listened to just the Art of Fugue again tonight via Qobuz so it was uninterrupted. Some really spectacular playing.
First listen to a CD from the just-arrived Living Stereo Volume Two set: CD 5, recorded 1956. Nice performance and sound. The discs are shorter than in Volume 1, guess they ran out of bonus material. Okay by me, lets me listen to something shorter when desired without having to remember what else on the CD I need to listen to. Oh, and the box was free
MS 7058, issued 1967. Copland recorded 1/3/67, Philharmonic Hall, NYC. Bernstein recorded 7/22/65, Manhattan Center, NYC. Producer: John McClure. Engineers: Fred Plaut & Raymond Moore. 1970s pressing. On the back is a name & the date 4-3-75. Bernstein previously recorded Serenade for Columbia in 1956 with Isaac Stern & the Symphony of the Air. The Copland was premiered in Aeolian Hall, NYC, 1/11/25, with Walter Damrosch conducting & Copland's teacher Nadia Boulanger playing the organ in her first American appearance.
Dipping into the new box again, CD 12, recorded in 1958: It must have spectacular sound as per the cover, it has a Miracle Surface
Right now I am listening to this wonderful compilation. It is CD 78 from the Karajan box set. I also have the LP version in my collection. I have not listened to the LP for a longtime so I could not say whether it or the CD have better sound. But the CD sounds tremendous through my headphones. I am near the end of my journey through the 1960s Karajan/Berliner section of the box( CD 82 is the last one).
IIRC, I have this LP but also the Adagio and Adagio 2 CD's I bought back in the early 90's. Still excellent recordings due to the outstanding string section of the BPO and decent performance.
And now some Stravinsky. Interesting. I still prefer Stravinsky conducting his “Symphony in C”, but there is nothing wrong with this recording.
Listening to CD 1 from "Music From The Middle Ages" performed by Studio Der Fruhen Musik on Virgin Classics. Estampie: Instrumental Music From The Middle Ages
NP: Glass Violin Concerto No. 2, "The American Four Seasons" Robert McDuffie, violin LPO Alsop I'm going to be honest here and say that all of the Philip Glass I've heard so far hasn't done much for me. I liked his Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 pretty well, but I think that overall his later work is dull. I'm going to keep trying and I don't regret buying recordings of his music, but so far there haven't been any musical rewards.
I don’t have a lot of his music, but I have found that the pieces I like the best sustain an interesting mood which becomes helpful when working on something requiring intellectual concentration. In order words, background which somehow lends itself to stimulating “the little grey cells”, to quote the famous fictional detective.
The second half of CD3 for a first listen: Johannes Brahms - Symphony No. 4 - Mackerras/SCO - 1997 DDD First time hearing this symphony. The third set the bar high!
