Listenin' to Classical Music and Conversation

Listening to "Buonamente - L'e' tanto tempo hormai" performed by the Helianthus Ensemble with Laura Pontecorvo (flute) on Brilliant.

Sonatas, canzonas and sinfonias

 

Double bonus points, you too have a feline listening partner. As do I, mine is a tuxedo cat, Baby.

 

I agree. And they used tube equipment for a long time. They made some wonderful recordings over the years.

 

Listening to "Bruckner - Symphony No. 7" performed by the Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Herbert Blomstedt on Denon.

 

Thanks! It was a nice find at the price (which was my main sticking point against it to begin with).

I'm looking forward to the deep dive.

 

Number 9 on CD.

 

I recently listened to a 1993 album of duets by Elisabeth Sonderstrom (soprano) and Kerstin Meyer (mezzo).



Very nice, as you would expect. The pieces were by various composers, but the recording concluded with Rossini's 'Duetto buffo di due gatti' (The Cats' Duet). Couldn't find this duo's work on Youtube, but here is a version by Kiri Te Kanawa and Norma Burrows (less than 3 mins.)

 

The notes indicate that Abravanel was in his eleventh season with the orchestra, which would date this to 1957-58. It was also available in stereo. A stamp on the back says "This monaural recording will give brilliant reproduction on stereophonic equipment". I wouldn't go quite that far, but it sounds pretty good.

 

On the turntable:

 

For 45 cents, you can't complain about the SQ ...

 

In the CD Player:

 

I only have Elly Ameling Vols 1 & 2 ...

 

And now it’s on to Prokofiev for me ... the Piano Sonata No. 9.

 

Saint Matthew Passion on the Berlin Digital Concert Hall:

 

Good performances, beautiful label, but dull sound. This is an RCA Record Club pressing, so that might be a factor. Producer: John Fraser. Engineer: Stuart Eltham. Marriner recorded these works with the orchestra in the late 70s for Philips.

 

You don't know me. I can complain about anything....

 

Looks like a four manual organ. Do the liner notes identify it or say where the recording was made?

 

I'm loving these concerts from the Berlin Phil.

 

I actually have the four-CD box set with fat booklet, but on Discogs the four discs are only listed singly. I guess they were sold that way? Until I looked today, I was aware of only the box set. Whatever form they come in these are--all four--beautiful recordings.

 

I saw a used 4-CD box set on Amazon a while back with some hefty asking price ...

 

Weather report: 84 here this afternoon. 76 right now. COVID-19 report: 312 cases. 2 dead. 12 in hospital. 55 recovered. 243 at home. 20 new cases in past 24 hours. Tested: 3,521. Percent positive: 8.9%. I am encouraged that the number in hospital is that low, but who knows what's coming.

 

The number always looks reasonable when not many tests are run ...

 

No information is provided, but I feel pretty sure it was made in the Tabernacle. The organ had been rebuilt by Aeolian-Skinner 1945-48 and was mostly new.

 

Despite the title, these are not concert recordings; they were made in RCA's Hollywood Studio No. 2, 8/24-25/61 (Octet) and 8/29-30/61 (Quintet). For the Octet, Heifetz is joined by Israel Baker, Arnold Belnick & Joseph Stepansky (violins), William Primrose & Virginia Majewski (violas) and Gregor Piatigorsky & Gabor Rejto (cellos). For the Quintet, it's Heifetz & Baker (violins), Primrose & Majewski (violas) and Piatigorsky (cello). The matrix code gives a 1962 date for this, but the notes are copyright 1964. Producer: Peter Dellheim. Engineer: David Hassinger. Dave Hassinger is best known as the engineer of Rolling Stones hits like "Staisfaction" & "Paint It Black" and for producing The Electric Prunes & The Grateful Dead. He also engineered Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow.