Listenin' to Classical Music and Conversation

Now playing: Johannes Brahms - Viola Sonatas, Op. 120, Nos. 1 & 2; 2 Piano Rhapsodies, Op. 79 - Yuri & Ksenia Bashmet - recorded 2017

 

Now playing: Frederick Delius - Violin Sonatas - Susanne Stanzeleit, Gusztáv Fenyő - recorded 1994

 

This wonderful LP arrived today. Great playing and sound. Arrau's weighty sonority is perfect for Brahms.

 

I must lead a sheltered life, I had to look up NSFW

Interesting label, not too Tactful with that cover

 

I guess it suits the title....could have been worse!

 

Breakfast listening on a Saturday morning, recorded in 1962 when it was the Fifth:



A fine version of a piece many of us will have in multiple versions. I'm liking the remastering of these Bernstein albums, this one is from the 16 CD 'This is Leonard Bernstein' box.

 

Just for something different, ordering a book from Amazon, rather than a pile of CDs :

 

The upcoming Zoltán Kocsis box with his Philips recordings now has a pre-order price tag of 95 euros on Amazon Germany and Italy; on Amazon France it's a few euros cheaper. JPC's price is 120 euros. It's pretty steep for 26 CDs. These sets are getting pricey compared to a few years ago.

The contents of the set (in German):

• CD 1 & 2 - Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge
  CD 3 - Beethoven: Klaviersonaten Nr. 1, 5, 8, 17
  CD 4 - Chopin: Walzer
  CD 5 - Liszt: Annees de pelerinage (drittes Jahr: Italien)
  CD 6 - Grieg: Klaviersonate e-moll; Lyrische Stücke opp. 12 & 43
  CD 7 - Wagner / Liszt: Transkriptionen aus Opern; Wagner / Kocsis: Transkriptionen aus Opern
  CD 8-11 - Debussy: Fantasie für Klavier & Orchester; Klavierwerke; Ravel: Klavierkonzerte
  CD 12 - Rachmaninoff: Klaviersonate Nr. 2; Preludes; Etudes
  CD 13-20 - Bartok: Klavierwerke
  CD 21 - Mozart: Klavierkonzerte Nr. 11, 17, 19
  CD 22 - Liszt: Klavierkonzerte Nr. 1 & 2; Dohnanyi: Variations on a Nursery Song für Klavier & Orchester
  CD 23 / 24 - Rachmaninoff: Klavierkonzerte Nr. 1-4; Paganini-Rhapsodie; Vocalise
  CD 25 / 26 - Bartok: Klavierkonzerte Nr. 1-3; Musik für Saiteninstrumente, Schlagzeug & Celesta; Rhapsodie; Scherzo

 

Looks great, I have the Brahms 2nd with Arrau/Haitink and it's great. I think The Philips/Haitink recordings are really underrated in general for both sound and performance, like Karajan/DG any piece of music I'm interested in for the right price and condition I will buy blindly

 

Listening to "Russian Violin Concertos - Khachaturian / Prokofiev / Glazunov" performed by Julia Fischer with the Russian National Orchestra led by Yakov Kreizberg on PentaTone.

 

When I ordered it, I thought I was getting the 2-LP set of both Concertos! I ordered the 2nd Concerto today from the same seller.

 

Thank you for alerting us to the price decrease! I think that (new) price is a bargain for having the work of such a gifted artist gathered in one box.

 

Shaded Dog 1s/1s Pressing, a tad noisy per condtion (strong VG+) but it sonds great, was just listening to Solti's rendition on DG last night

 

Now playing: Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach - Hamburger Sinfonien, Wq. 182 - Ostrobothnian Chamber Orch., Sakari Oramo - recorded 2013

 

Now playing: Oliver Knussen - Symhonies Nos. 2 & 3; Ophelia Dances; etc. - Philharmonia Orch., Michael Tilson Thomas, London Sinfonietta, Nash Ensemble - recorded 1981, 1983

 

Look what I got today, a really nice record issued in 1973. Producer: Rachel Elkind. Liner note by Robert A. Moog.

 

Up before the birds this morning. I have my Sumatra dark roast steeping in the French Press and putting this CD into the player as I continue my traversal of the collected Karajan( it should be fun to compare these 60s versions with his later 70s, 80s):

 

CD.

 

And now this CD. These are excellent! I see that DG has seen fit to release ( or license?) this for 180 gm vinyl.

 

But there is no such thing as NSFW when you are telecommuting ...

 

Unlike the Grumiaux big box, I already have most of these Philips recordings so this is a skipper for me ...

 

Now playing CD39 - Cantatas Nos. 38, 93 & 33 from the following box for a first listen ...

 

...with current workplace technology, which routinely records every keystroke and action that you take on a device...that is no longer true.

Companies nowadays load their devices with spyware to track what workers are doing (and viewing) at all times. I am afraid sometimes to open CNN or the New York Times site because of the images that may pop up.

 

I heard about the company Websense years ago that provides the capability to companies to monitor the computer screens of their employees. You are right, when you VPN into your work computer, your own computer is the slave and watched 100% of the time by your host computer ...

 

DH has a pretty interesting YouTube video concerning Shostakovich’s 8th symphony and the available recordings.