Recent Listening and Purchases....

[shostakovich]

Nice to see Shostakovich info appearing. I have a Monitor record with Oistrakh-Mravinsky-Leningrad. I wonder if Oistrakh-Mitropoulos-NYPO did come first.

Checking notes on my 2 recordings, it seems Shostakovich was just finishing up the concerto when (in 1948) Andrei Zhdanov, hatchet man minister of culture, called a meeting of soviet composers where he lambasted them for "western decadence". Prokofiev and Shostakovich were his main targets. I have no idea what music set him off. I think Prokofiev had recently written music for Romeo and Juliet and Alexander Nevsky. Shostakovich had written his lightweight Sym #9. Decadent???? No way!

In any case, Shostakovich withdrew his violin concerto from publication. Five years later Stalin died.

[In Testimony (the movie) Shos remarks that Prokofiev died the same day (or within a day). "Poor chump!" is his comment.]

In 1955 Oistrakh was first to perform the concerto. Since Stalin was dead, that was not as much bravado as I had thought. Still, other violinists were leery of risking the establishment's wrath.

The Soviet Union under Stalin produced a bundle of wonderful music, but it was a horrible place to live. We're very lucky. We get the music and live in a free (so far) country. (My fists are clenched, but I'm resisting political commentary.)
(The other) Shos

<small>[ 01-29-2004, 09:24 PM: Message edited by: shostakovich ]</small>

[bignaf]

got 3 CD's from library.
Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire" with Boulez. I had part of the score beofre and played some of it to myself and liked it. but I can't stand Sprechgesang (half singing-half talking) so I gave up on it in the middle.
upon Serenity's recomendation I took a CD of Kodo, a group of mainly Japanese percussionist who play world music. it was good for world music. cool rhythms. like most world music it had a strong taste of contemporary pop music which I dislike. but it's fun listening I might even take out another CD.
i finally managed to get hold of a Balinese gamelan CD. it's a Semar Pegulingan Gamelan (rare type of gamelan, nowadays). it is the one that was maintained by Colin McPhee while he was in Bali. he was (is?) the leading authority on Balinese music, and wrote the big book I'm reading about it. only one piece on the CD is in the traditional Semar Pegulingan (music of the love goddess) style. they play pieces borrowed from the repertoire of other types of gamelans such as Gambuh and Gong Ageng. I'm enjoying it a lot. I'll take out more Balinese music.

[thornhill]

Nice to see Shostakovich info appearing. I have a Monitor record with Oistrakh-Mravinsky-Leningrad. I wonder if Oistrakh-Mitropoulos-NYPO did come first.

The NYPO recording was made on 1/2/56

<small>[ 01-30-2004, 12:41 AM: Message edited by: thornhill ]</small>

[shostakovich]

The jacket notes on the Monitor record are by Oistrakh, taken from a 1956 newspaper article. So, clearly, the Mitropoulos recording came first. Thanks for checking, Thorny.
Shos

[thornhill]

Just picked up:

Lotte Lenya sings Kurt Weill
-The Seven Deadly Sins
-Berlin Theater Songs

awesome CD

[Bones]

While I was moving some of the (many) boxes of my old cassette tapes, I happened to see one that I remembered but haven't listened to in at least 10 years. It's the "Unknown Puccini" and I listened to it this weekend. Placido Domingo sings several songs by Puccini. These are really good songs and are typically Puccini. I recommend this recording, especially to those Puccini fans on the board (you know who you are).

[bignaf]

songs, as in songs for voice and piano? or are they selections from operas? the only song of his I know is the one he re-worked later into Musseta's waltz.

[bignaf]

never mind. this is really unknown puccini.
Never heard of it before. thanks, Bones.

[bignaf]

listening to a CD with some of Ligeti's etudes (played by Aimard, I already own that). and with short versions of Reich's "clapping" and "pieces of wood" combined with Aka Pygmy music. I'm becoming a fan of pygmy music too!

[bignaf]

Aimard plays "pieces of wood" (originally for 5 sets of clives) with overdubbing on piano. I find this version far more succesful than Reich's original.

[The Great Carouser]

Someone sent me this link and I'm privledged to share it with you all. It's a .wav file so it may take a bit to load for those of you who aren't streaming.

http://home.comcast.net/~sdownin/movies/maestro_music.WMV

I couldn't get the URL button to function properly so the link isn't named. I call it 'French Horn sampler'.

<small>[ 05-02-2004, 05:34 PM: Message edited by: The Great Carouser ]</small>

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Thank you so much, GC. I played it twice. Saved it for sharing with the family later. Oh, my.

French Horn.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

I e-mailed GC's French Horn file to several people in my office (can't keep a joke to myself) and I've been hearing random musical squawking and honking all day. Not only that, a loggie of my acquaintance forwarded me this nifty e-mail file this afternoon and it is the same French Horn performance. Loggies can't strip headers, so I counted, and there were nine stops for that e-mail from me, to back to me.

I saw an engineer try to train a loggie to strip headers once, but he gave up after ten minutes. Mutual non-comprehension. Fun for me.

[bignaf]

lol

[piqaboo]

Was bedeutet "loggie"?

A 9-forward trail is quite long, IMLE.
I have one friend who forwards jokes directly back to me (and a long dist list of recipients).

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Logistician.

[dai bread]

Now that's what you call a comedian! I liked the audience participation too.

[BenODen]

*laugh* That's prtty funny. Too bad my French wasn't up to catching all the things he said!

[OperaTenor]

Am currently listening to Mozart's Bassoon Concerto in B flat K 191. I really like bassoon, and this is delightful. This was preceded by Eine kleine Nachtmusik, and the Oboe Concerto in C K 525.

[BenMurphy6]

Got a new recording of Mahler's 3rd, by Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (great Mahler orchestra). Really, this is just a fantastic recording...one of my best overall Mahler recordings (and I have a bunch). Should be released in the US soon, and on SACD...