# my listening project



## science

Here is the list of *recommendations I've obeyed*, along with the list of kind people who recommended them! This is in order. (If you want to make some recommendations, please do! I very greatly appreciate all recommendations.)


Sorabji (1892): Opus Clavicembalisticum - Ogdon 1988 - KenOC, Wood, arcaneholocaust
Donizetti (1797): Lucia di Lammermoor - Sutherland 1961 Decca - ArtMusic, Wood, Bas
Bantock (1868): Fifine at the Fair - Beecham on EMI - AH music, ShropshireMoose, Wood, Burroughs
Beethoven (1770): Missa Solemnis - Klemperer 1966 EMI - GGluek, Wood, Burroughs, Rhythm
Berlioz (1803): Benvenuto Cellini - Davis 1972 Philips - some guy, Wood, Burroughs, Rhythm
Bartók (1881), Eötvös, Ligeti: Violin Concertos - Kopatchinskaya - senza sordino, Wood, Burroughs, Rhythm
Ohana (1913): Works for Orchestra - Tamayo 2000 Timpani - Prodromides, Andolink, dgee, Rhythm
Romitelli (1963): Index of Metals - Octors 2005 Cypres - dgee, Wood, some guy
Bach, JS (1685): The Well-Tempered Clavier - Schiff (ECM) - arcaneholocaust, TurnaboutVox, GioCar, alypius, SimonNZ, Rhythm
Berg (1885): Violin Concerto - Kranser, Webern - Mahlerian, TurnaboutVox, Burroughs, Wrahms, Trout, Rhythm
Martinů (1890): Cello Sonatas - Isserlis, Mustonen (BIS) - GioCar, arcaneholocaust, alypius, TurnaboutVox, SimonNZ, Rhythm
Bach, JS (1685): The Well-Tempered Clavier - Gould - Jonathan Wrachford, Burroughs, GioCar, Bas, Rhythm
Mahler (1860): Das Lied von der Erde - Ludwig, Wunderlich, Klemperer - GGluek, arcaneholocaust, Trout, SimonNZ, Rhythm


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## science

Today I listened to the 13th work commanded by my talkclassical.com friends: Mahler's _Das Lied von der Erde_, performed by Ludwig, Wunderlich, and Klemperer.

















_Dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod.... 
Wenn nur ein Traum das Leben ist,
Warum denn Müh' und Plag'!?
Ich trinke, bis ich nicht mehr kann,
Den ganzen, lieben Tag!_

(Dark is life, dark is death.... 
If now a dream life is,
why work and worry?
I drink until I no more can,
the whole, blessed day!)

Even with the comforts of modernity, we still (at least those of us cursed with a heart for justice) have to witness and endure enough horrible stuff to ruin life. Like Li Bai who wrote the original Chinese poems that these lines come from, or my hero Omar Khayyam, perhaps like Mahler (though I don't know about him) when he composed this, I hold that alcohol and music are among the best consolations we have for this life.

I'm particularly grateful for this recommendation because Mahler as a whole remains something of a mystery to me. I see that so many people here are intensely passionate about his music, but it has never affected me that way.

Mahler's 2nd symphony ("Resurrection") was one of the first works of classical music I bought (I cannot remember who the performers were and I lost the CD when I moved to Korea). Though I heard it many times, it never really struck me.

Other than that, this work is the Mahler I've heard most. I first got the Reiner recording, and only recently got this one, so that I've only heard this one a few times. (This was perhaps my fifth time.)

I think I really appreciate Klemperer's conducting as well as the engineering; I really appreciate the horns in this recording, and the orchestra as a whole comes off so dark and rich. This is definitely a work that is growing on me, thanks in large part to this recording.

So to GGluek, arcaneholocaust, Trout, SimonNZ - thank you so much for recommending this fine recording of this find work to me! (And to Rhythm for prioritizing it.)

In fact, I made a clerical error, and should have prioritized Beethoven's _Fidelio_ above this, but without the error I would've been stuck; and now, I am stuck until either I receive _Fidelio_ or further recommendations change the prioritization.

Thanks again to everyone for all recommendations!


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