# How About...List What Recording You Just Listened To And What You Thought About It.



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

I am always looking for new things to listen to as I know many others here are. So, I was thinking maybe to give someone else an idea of something new to listen to, or perhaps a little different way to discover new music you might not have heard before, we (as a collective) could list what recording we just listened to and give a short review?

Maybe something like this...

I'll admit I do not listen to a lot of Baroque. I know the major works by Vivaldi & Bach, some Telemann, etc. I had a CD of Albinoni's Adagio's but beyond that I haven't really listened much to Albinoni. So I looked through my CD's to find something new to listen to today and came up with this.

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I had never listened to it before so I gave it a spin. It's a 2 CD set and I enjoyed both discs. I thought Christopher Hogwood and The Academy Of Ancient Music sounded great! The period instruments sounded crisp and clear and didn't sound harsh to me. It was perfect for what I call "relaxing on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon music". The quality of the recording itself sounded good and I would easily recommend it to anyone who likes Baroque. I would have no problems giving it a 5/5.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Thanks for the heads-up. I didn't know that Manze used to work for Hogwood. Nice cover art too.

One of the last CDs I listened to yesterday was a CD-R, a transfer I made a few years ago of a Hall of Fame LP, containing Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 5, "Egyptian". Mr. Gerber has written that it was recorded in 1952. Richter is the pianist; Kondrashin conducts the Moscow Youth Orchestra (who play well). The sound is typical for the time and place, maybe better than average. Richter has most of his hair.

The recording has had many issues by many outfits, and is probably on YouTube more than once. Rather than bore you with my estimate of its quality, you can download my transfer (well, 20 of you can) here.

https://download.yousendit.com/QlVqeW56Q0N5UkZqQThUQw

It'll be up for 14 days or 20 downloads, whichever comes first.

I hope this post comes close enough to your concept, _rdb_, to not be considered a highjacking.


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

You're right on with the theme Hilltroll  Thanks for posting the recording. I downloaded it and will hopefully get a chance to check it out tonight. I like both Richter and Kondrashin, and I have never heard Saint-Saens Concerto No. 5 (I've heard 2 & 3 I think). So it's a win all around for me


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## larryfeltonj (Feb 27, 2012)

A timely thread in which for me to do my first post here. I recently decided to work my way through the "100 Greatest Operas" list which has been floating around the internet, so I went to the public library, seeking out number one on the list (Wagner's Ring series). A copy of Das Rheingold wasn't available, so I started with Die Walküre (by the Staatskapelle Dresden).

I'm listening to the first part as I type this. I've been listening to the extended conversation between Siegmund and Sieglinde. If I have any radically different impressions when I get to the end of the opera (or even of Act I) I'll post them here.

It's hard not to love the sense of musical drama and tone poetry Wagner brings. I've been convinced for quite some time that Wagner is the basis of a great deal of movie scoring (I'm not a musicologist or critic, so if this is a cliché, slap me around for it). 

Oooh, Sigmund is doing something which resembles an Italian aria now. Now Sieglinde has joined in. 

Wonderful stuff. I wish I were watching instead of just listening, though. I can put on nearly anything by Verdi, Rossini, or Gilbert and Sullivan, and enjoy it from beginning to end as a musical work. I suspect that I'd enjoy the Ring cycle much better in person, if my butt could stand the sheer length of the performance.

I'm going to give Die Walküre an A++, with the stipulation that unless a live performance sweeps me away much better than the CD has thus far, I'd move Verdi up at the expense of Wagner.


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

I've only heard Karajan's Ring Cycle on CD, although I have a couple others.

I have the Boulez/Chereau DVD box set of the entire cycle and one Sunday when I was sick sat and watched all 4 operas, only breaking to go to the bathroom and get a bowl of soup :lol:. I think Wagner would have been great at writing scores for movies as well.

I have been working on a couple box sets. Both of composers that are pretty unfamiliar to me.
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Elgar: Orchestral Works with Sir John Barbirolli. Elgar is another guy that I really have not heard much beyond Pomp & Circumstance. I own a few other Barbirolli recordings and as usually he excels wonderfully at getting some great performances. I haven't finished the whole set yet but I'm liking more and more of what I'm hearing and finding there is a lot more to Elgar than a piece played at graduations  I enjoyed Symphony #2 a lot and I really like Sospiri, Op. 70 a lot. It sounded very Mahler to me.

The other set I've been flipping back and forth with is this one.
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Salvatore Accardo plays Paganini. I've heard the 24 Caprices played by Perlman before but beyond that my knowledge of Paganini is also pretty limited. I wasn't really familiar with Accardo (I honestly don't know many Violinists, Perlman, Stern, Menuhin, Mutter and maybe a few others) but he's one hell of a player. I've listened to the 24 Caprices and the smaller works (everything but the 6 Concertos as I have been saving those for last) and so far it's pretty impressive. I'm sure most violinists and those who are fans of virtuoso violin works have already heard it but if you haven't, it's definitely one you will want to check out. I've heard a few people say there isn't much depth to Paganini's works because everything is a show piece for Violin or because he wrote them on Lute or Guitar instead of like most composers who composed on a Piano, but I've heard some stuff I really liked. Le Streghe, Op. 8 instantly pops to mind. I also liked the Sonata For Violin & Orchestra, "La Primavera" as well. Very cool playing.


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