NWR The "What are we listening to?" Thread

[Colin Wills]

Discovered this bit of nostalgia. I couldn't sing then either.

 

[Alex Jagger]

I played that many years ago in quite an important London concert series. I can think of few conventionally notated pieces which emerge in so varied a manner according to who is playing it! Susan Bradshaw told me that Pierre Boulez was very annoyed by this piece, feeling that he'd lifted the material wholesale from his second sonata.
I like Barraqué's music very much, its sensuality feels no need whatever to mollycoddle its listeners, but its aesthetic for some reason now feels as dated as Messiaen's pre-1960s work.

The cigar smoking Susan Bradshaw?

 

[Thom Blach]

Indeed-little ones and lots of them!

 

[Alex Jagger]

Indeed-little ones and lots of them!

She had a habit of tapping the ash on the hands of particularly poor students.

Don't ask me how I know that

 

[Alex Hills]

She had a habit of tapping the ash on the hands of particularly poor students.

Don't ask me how I know that

The options for 'encouraging' one's weaker students are much diminished these days (for the better, obviously)... One of the RAM's violin teachers - now sadly departed - was still regularly to be found sneaking a quick cigarette in the loos in between lessons in the c.2010, though.

 

[Ian Hampsted]

The legendary Arthur Brown with ‘footsteps in the desert’: sounds a bit like Bowie here in his latter years

 

[Jeremy Caan]

Sisters & Brothers - Eric Bibb, Rory Block, Maria Muldaur

 

[Jonathan Kalman]

 

[Chiu Lin]

didn’t know Lodi is a wine town too.

 

[Jeremy Caan]

Takes me back, mofos: The MC5 announce first album in over 50 years, American tour

How'll they make enough to cover the insurance?

 

[Po-yu Sung]

Karajan 1988 BPO in Japan. Mussorgsky- Pictures at an exhibition.
30:08 Great Gate of Kyiv. The reason I always wanted to see the city (but never made it). p.s. I know there is no real Great Gate there. But still.

 

[David Pope]

I'm in Switzerland at present I'm on a train from Zurich back to Bern, having been to a sparkling performance of Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri at the opernhaus. A tremendous evening, with Cecilia Bartoli in excellent form in the title role.

 

[Po-yu Sung]

I'm in Switzerland at present I'm on a train from Zurich back to Bern, having been to a sparkling performance of Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri at the opernhaus. A tremendous evening, with Cecilia Bartoli in excellent form in the title role.

Lucky you got the ticket!

 

[Saina Nieminen]

20 years ago I still had dreams of becoming a music teacher or something intended for us less talented musicians. I was preparing Prokofiev's flute sonata (hardest piece I ever played) when I gave up on music and went to books instead. Easier, and now in hindsight with the 'rona putting a stop to performing, a better idea. But with Prokofiev being Ukraine's most famous composer, I've been listening to a lot of the flute sonata - but played by a pro, not me. Pahud is amazing. Here's his earlier recording. I might actually like this earlier one more than the more polished, later one he recorded with Stephen Kovacevich. I'm not sure polish and Prokofiev go together. Except that later recording always makes me change my mind about this when I hear it. Anyway, Pahud is really amazing. I don't think I've ever heard anything bad or even mediocre from him.

 

[Anthony Taylor]

Ice Fleet by Kauan, an Estonian post-rock/electronic act. The vinyl comes complete with a tabletop rpg if that's your thing.

 

[David Pope]

Lucky you got the ticket!

Tickets at the Zurich opernhaus are very expensive. Mine was 98 Swiss francs and that didn't give a full view of the stage. Next price up was 220 francs!

 

[Thom Blach]

Karajan 1988 BPO in Japan. Mussorgsky- Pictures at an exhibition.
30:08 Great Gate of Kyiv. The reason I always wanted to see the city (but never made it). p.s. I know there is no real Great Gate there. But still.

A very interesting performance. I've always found the Ravel cinematification of the craggy original to be completely at odds with its nature, but in the end why not? the opulence of the BPO and Karajan's mastery of transition are entirely appropriate and slightly weird, which gives its own pleasure.

 

[Charles Muttar]

A very interesting performance. I've always found the Ravel cinematification of the craggy original to be completely at odds with its nature, but in the end why not? the opulence of the BPO and Karajan's mastery of transition are entirely appropriate and slightly weird, which gives its own pleasure.

Miles better than Henry Wood's orchestration, though!

 

[Po-yu Sung]

A very interesting performance. I've always found the Ravel cinematification of the craggy original to be completely at odds with its nature, but in the end why not? the opulence of the BPO and Karajan's mastery of transition are entirely appropriate and slightly weird, which gives its own pleasure.

Ravel and Mussorgsky have the odds in their nature as French and Russian!
Saying that, Ravel didn't hold back on his colour brush pen, this is one of the great orchestration of his.

 

[Dan Vyvyan]

I've recently been devouring Olivia Laing's excellent but distressing book The Lonely City, which among other things has a great chapter on Andy Warhol. These two from that circle really did love each other in the final analysis.

And talking of lonely I wouldn't want Mr Pop feel left out. 75 next month and fully deserving of a honorary free TV licence for this effort alone

 

[Jonathan Kalman]

 

[Dan Vyvyan]

I'm making tacos. Texas Monthly described the inside cover of ZZ Top’s 1973 LP Tres Hombres as “perhaps the most famous and salivating example of Tex-Mex food porn of all-time"

 

[Thom Blach]

By no means everything here is unmissable but the unimprovably consequential and salient perfection of Wilhelm Kempff playing 'Fur Elise' at 37.40 should make anyone's day. Heartbreaking.

 

[Dan Vyvyan]

If you said this classic banger by Tina Turner was the greatest cut of the 1960s I wouldn't disagree.

Likewise, Deep Purple's bombastic workout of the same, complete with 4 minute 'Also Sprach Zarathustra' intro, one of the most preposterous covers ever committed to vinyl.

 

[Po-yu Sung]

The concert 2019 in Munich I had the fortune to be there, I didn't realise it was M. Jansons last concert at "home" of his orchestra.
There were Brahms sym no 4 and other Strauss work, but these songs with orchestra really touched me. Sarah Wegener replaced Diana Damrau on that day but she was good.