Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #18)

There's a bust of Otto Klemperer in the foyer of Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, home of LA Opera. Klemp was at the helm of the Los Angeles Philharmonic during the 1930's.

 

How about Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije suite? I'd recommend the Reiner Living Stereo disc (called Hovhaness/Prokofiev/Stravinsky - Orchestral Works). Mr Hoffman also says it's the best Kije ever.

 

How about this?

 

Angels From the Realms of Glory

In a way, this may not belong on a "Classical" list, but in a way it does:



We all know Maddy Prior from Steelye Span and we all don't know the Carnival Band from from a hole in the ground. But we, that is to say I, have heard and enjoyed much Earlie Musique. The process the Carols performed on this disc go through is essentially the same that a Medieval tune goes through on its way to becoming a Thomas Binkley record. Maddy and friends searched for earlier versions of popular carols, sometime finding alternate melodies and/or lyrics and orchestrated the songs with instruments associated with the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Maddy Prior has a perfect Early Music voice—a tad low, usually covered save for the ringing top notes and devoid of vibrato. There's a curious spiritual quality in these versions of these popular carols, akin to the aura that attaches to the best of Early Music, like Jordi Savall's Marin Marais or Monteverdi, a bit more glow 'n' glory.Maddy and company are recorded with early Digital Audiophile techniques—whatever low-level resolution may be lost to the early Sony converters is made up for by the simple mike-ing and atmospheric production. You can still find sealed copies for normal money which is pretty good for a record company [Saydisc, a division of Nimbus] that's been absent for about a decade.

 

Also—Vinylophiles should hunt down the King's College Cambridge Christmas recordings on Argo. Fantastic audio capture in many of the early productions, like my absolute favorite On Christmas Night.*:

http://www.christmaslpstocd.com/shop/media/ccp0/prodsm/onxmasnight_londonsymphony052.jpg

*I'm posting the link 'cause the image is Huge.

 

Here is one I have had for several years and enjoy!

1 Hodie Christus Natus Est Schütz 6:02
2 Behold, I Bring You Glad Tidings Purcell 10:15
3 Soberana Maria Anon 2:46
4 Alleluja! Freuet Euch, Ihr Christen Alle Hammerschmidt 3:50
5 Noe! Pastores, Cantate Domino Bouzignac- 4:23
6 O Magnum Mysterium Gabrieli 4:38
7 Ach Herr, Du Schöpfer Aller Ding Schütz 5:25
8 Christe, Redemptor Monterverdi 4:27
9 Singt, Ihr Lieben Christen All Praetorius 3:01
10 Angelus Ad Pastores Ait Hassler 3:28

 

Well golly!, Look at what I found Tuesday in the $1 bin at Amvets!

 

Among my favorites:

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=60125

Apparently also available under another number, perhaps with texts?

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=46989

Please ignore the stuffy, self-important ClassicsToday review in the first link; this work, not very well known on this side of the Atlantic, is a real charmer, and I can't imagine a more winning recording of it. It's a perfect antidote to all those bombastic "The Three Tenors, the Three Irish Tenors, Kathleen Battle, Jessye Norman, Andrea Boccelli, the Canadian and Empire Brasses, the New York Philharmonic, and the Combined Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Robert Shaw Chorale join Lady Ga Ga and the Dixie Chicks to sing Silent Night" atrocities so common during the Christmas season. I caught it on tape from the radio years before I chased down my own copy (this was before the Internet, you see, and obscure Czech vocal works on Supraphon weren't exactly common currency in most US record stores back then), and with nary a text it was love at first hearing for me.

The reviewer has this much right: it's not a traditional Latin mass, but rather a series of movements in which, basically, some shepherds or rustics see the Star and get excited about the birth of the Christ child. Ryba was a Czech schoolmaster and an exponent of what, I think, is known as the "Czech Pastoral School"; if memory serves, he didn't have a particularly happy life and died early. This example of his music, however, is irrepressably cheerful, and there's not a hint of the slickly commercial about it.

 

I'll second that--another winner. Norrington before he hit the big time as a HIP orchestral conductor, and I think he shows himself to be far a better chorusmaster. This, incidentally, originally appeared on LP as part of a three-record set, one each devoted to baroque (this one), contemporary, and I forget the third. I think it was on the Argo label at that time. This disc was by a wide margin my favorite segment of the box.

[Edit] Should have looked at your second picture before firing off this post. I think that's the very LP box, although the cover has changed from what my parents had.

 

Autographed, yet. Lucky you! Maddy Prior is an interesting artist, and as you suggest there's a lot more to her than the Steeleye Span stuff, enjoyable as much of that is. I may need to have a look for this one, once I start buying CDs again (self-imposed moratorium to make up for a couple of big hardware purchases a month or so back).

Another delightful disc on the invariably expensive, oddly-to-say-the-least-named Saydisc is a compilation by another of those "hole in the ground is better known" presumably pickup groups called Sneak's Noyse. Here's a link:

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Now...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1290180148&sr=8-1

 

That's My LP sleeve. I don't recall the box set, but have owned and enjoyed many of the Argo analogue recordings from King's College Cambridge. The repertoire of this LP is pretty much the same that David Babbitt selected for the San Francisco Bach Choir's annual Christmas concerts. They would perform in the round, playing with Praetorius' antiphonal effects. Doesn't quite translate to a recording, you really have to hear this music in concert to get the full effect.

 

Excellent disc, last time I looked it was still in the collection.

 

Ooops! Sorry about that....

 

I came back to say: Egad! I have a copy of this record, and that's a realized price in some auction, not just some Amazon seller's pipe dream. Anybody care to give me 800 for it?

http://collectorsfrenzy.com/Details.aspx?id=370358664200

 

Along similar lines to Robin’s excellent suggestion for classical Christmas music (traditional carols, anyways), is Robert Shaw’s "Many Moods of Christmas" recorded in ‘63 on RCA and again later (‘83?) on Telarc.

 

Thanks to all for their recommendations!

 

Sure.

I'd also recommend Corelli's so-called Christmas Concerti as it's a great excuse to hear Corelli's dazzling Opus Six set of Concerti Grossi. Here's a favorite recording, easy to find dirt cheap:

 

The CD was recorded by Mr. McGrath and sounds great.

 

I would expect at least something along this line and perhaps even a corner displaying some photos of landmark performances by the BPO with at least Karajan since the orchestra hall was built after Karajan had taken over the BPO conductor position ...

 

Mahler

Well, this is interesting. I'm not a novice when it comes to Classical, but with something like 250 Classical discs, I never bothered with Mahler. Like most of you, I've seen many write that they just don't understand Mahler and can't make much sense of him.

My own faves are Haydn, Marais, Tchai, Bach, Handel and Mozart, among others. Yes, and I have lots of Beethoven, including all the symphonies. Adding to my hesitation with Mahler was the concern there'd be too many "operatic" movements as I saw sopranos listed here and there on the discs I browsed through over the years. Turns out so far this is not the case.

So anyway, how long can you resist giving Mahler a shot, even though there seems to be a significant number of Classical fans who don't care for the guy's compositions (while others consider him one of the greatest). There seems to be little middle ground.

I know some do see Mahler as an "acquired" taste. But after listening to Slatkin's Mahler No.2 (Telarc) and Bernstein's No. 1 (Sony), I'm here to tell ya I'm enjoying these symphonies "right off the bat." I'm not having to work at it. Got No. 1 playing right now. Great drama and wonderful melodies on the quieter movements. Sometimes the transitions can be a bit jarring, but to me this adds to the interest (even though I wouldn't want most of my music to have this particular trait).

Rather than getting a boxed set, I'm doing the work to pick the discs singly, going mostly by recommendations you guys have made in the past and some I've seen on other forums. On the way to me now is No.9 (Boulez, DG).

Next on the "to order" list is No. 6 (probably Boulez, possibly Solti) and No. 4 (Reiner RCA Living Stereo). No. 5 I haven't decided yet. No work at all on my part to enjoy Mahler's music; it's more work to pick the discs out of the myriad of catalog out there. Just my two cents ...

 

Get the Bernstein Mahler Box—NOW



This is the Resurrection to keep, and right now Bernstein's first Mahler cycle is going for less than two sawbucks.

BTW, the Boulez 6th and the Reiner 4th are keepers.

http://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Comple...QT98/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290199104&sr=8-1

 

I never understood how some classical buffs try to 'wean' newcomers onto serious music. 'Start with Mozart sonatas, then try a little Schubert. Have you heard of Chopin? Okay, now you're ready for BEETHOVEN! Here's Brahms, a little more challenging. Now, let that stew and then come back in a couple months. If you're up to it, we'll get to Mahler by the end of the year.' Makes no sense to me. I listened to Mahler's Ninth within two months of getting seriously into classical. It resonated big time. Mahler's music speaks to our times like few other composers. If you are into this concept, check out Norman Lebrecht's new book, Why Mahler?: How One Man and Ten Symphonies Changed Our World.

 

Agree. Fortunately, that's not how I grew my classical collection. Besides Mozart (of course) some of my first discs were Bartok, Stravinsky and Brahms. Never did become a Bartok fan, though. Before I had much composer knowledge, I went by the published reviews and the recommendations of a friend. Mahler I could just never get a consensus on - so ya gots ta jump in try it on for size.

I'll check out the book...

 

Robin, thanks for the reinforcement of my plans on the 6th and 4th.

Yes, I've seen that box talked about quite a bit here - and that's the discussion that started me thinking "Mahler" a couple of months ago. One thing became clear: though others may be fine, if there's any box to get, that's the one.

 

My first intro to classical was a ton of Beethoven. It has taken me a very long time to appreciate Haydn as a result, for when I used to listen to Haydn, I keep wishing he'd take things further and be more like Beethoven. These days, I can appreciate him for what he is, an excellent Classical period composer.