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What are you currently listening to?

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Author Topic: What are you currently listening to?  (Read 96690 times)
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Albion
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« Reply #1095 on: February 08, 2021, 02:19:06 am »

The 1989 BBC broadcast.



 ;D
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"A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it." (Sydney Grew, 1922)
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« Reply #1096 on: February 08, 2021, 04:16:14 pm »

Bliss Piano Concerto Solomon (piano) New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Adrian Boult

Carnegie Hall New York 10th June 1939 World Premiere Performance

This is the APR cd Bliss Premieres Vol 1 (APR 5627) The cd also includes the world premiere broadcast of Adam Zero conducted by Constant Lambert. Sadly,there never was a Volume 2. I can only wonder,what APR would have included on the cd,if it had ever been released? This is a fascinating cd. The recording of the Piano Concerto,from acetates,is not in,exactly,state of the art,current,sound! :o ;D Some 'patching' has been performed,where an acetate was relaced by another one,during recording. (The recording of Adam Zero,from shellacs,courtesy of Lady Trudy Bliss,is in better sound) Yet,according to Ian Lace,at Musicweb (underneath,Christpher Fifield's review) "Never mind the quality of the sound in the Concerto, you will probably never hear more exciting accounts of these vibrant and dramatic works". And,imo,the dodgy sound,somewhat,adds to the feeling of being in some kind of time machine. An exciting release,imho!


Still playing! ;D
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Albion
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« Reply #1097 on: February 08, 2021, 04:26:24 pm »

Good lad! The Bliss PC is seriously underrated...

 ;)
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"A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it." (Sydney Grew, 1922)
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« Reply #1098 on: February 08, 2021, 05:19:22 pm »

I really am going to have to stop listening to it,aren't I?!! ;D I understand that there has been some criticism of it as being a bit noisy and overblown. I don't find that! Anyway,I think you could say that about certain war-horses'! Indeed,there's much reflection and repose amongst the grand gestures and rhetoric. I love it!! :)

Adam Zero conducting by Constant Lambert. This a great score. I,particularly like,The 'Night Club Scene'. I couldn't believe emi had left that bit out,when I bought the,otherwise great,cd of Handley conducting the Meditations on a Theme of John Blow and Checkmate Suite. I thought! They left (arguably?) the best bit out?!!! :o  I was like.... :o :o :o,when I realised what they'd done!! (I was listening on wireless headphones). I like the whole score;but the 'Night Club Scene' has to be a highlight!! Luckily,it's in the Bliss box set and the Naxos cd of the complete score,but.......
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« Reply #1099 on: February 08, 2021, 05:53:39 pm »

Bliss Violin Concerto Alfred Campoli (violin) BBCSO conducted by Sir Arthur Bliss

This is the BBC Radio Classics cd,that pairs the Violin Concerto with Bliss conducting his ballet,The Lady of Shalott.
I like the Violin Concerto. I seem to recall Colin (Dundonnell) saying he preferred it to the,more well known,(and,recorded) Piano Concerto. Although,it may have been someone else?!! Good stereo sound. The recordings date from 1968.
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« Reply #1100 on: February 08, 2021, 06:50:31 pm »

I really am going to have to stop listening to it,aren't I?!! ;D

Er, no!

 ;)

Adam Zero conducting by Constant Lambert. This a great score. I,particularly like,The 'Night Club Scene'. I couldn't believe emi had left that bit out,when I bought the,otherwise great,cd of Handley conducting the Meditations on a Theme of John Blow and Checkmate Suite.

Some of Bliss' finest music is in his four ballets:

Checkmate (1937) - Naxos 8.557641

Miracle in the Gorbals (1944) - Naxos - 8.553698

Adam Zero (1946) - Naxos 8.553460

The Lady of Shalott (1958) - BBC Radio Classics (Carlton) 15656 91842


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"A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it." (Sydney Grew, 1922)
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« Reply #1101 on: February 08, 2021, 06:57:41 pm »

Bliss Violin Concerto Alfred Campoli (violin) BBCSO conducted by Sir Arthur Bliss

This is the BBC Radio Classics cd,that pairs the Violin Concerto with Bliss conducting his ballet,The Lady of Shalott.
I like the Violin Concerto. I seem to recall Colin (Dundonnell) saying he preferred it to the,more well known,(and,recorded) Piano Concerto. Although,it may have been someone else?!! Good stereo sound. The recordings date from 1968.
I prefer the Violin Concerto too. I must admit to having been unaware of this recording of it with Campoli and Bliss himself at the helm. The older one I have is of Campoli but with Adrian Boult conducting the LPO. The couplings are Bliss's Introduction & Allegro, and Theme & Cadenza.  It's a Decca Eclipse LP and so, assuming it's a re-issue, I checked up to find it was originally issued in 1956, the year after its composition, (LXT 5166) in mono only, of course. Are you familiar with this reading, cilgwyn?

Given that the 'fi' on the Campoli/Boult version is not very 'hi', I did invest in (the much missed) Lydia Mordkovitch version with BBC National Orchestra of Wales, under (the equally missed) Richard Hickox, which The Times reviewer described as a "fiery, almost gipsy interpretation".

The bottom line is, I assume I'm missing something by not having this version with the fiddle player for whom it was written and the composer on the rostrum. Obviously, I'm hoping you might talk me out of shelling out for it but I have a nasty feeling you're going to say, "Oh no, it's indispensable."  :D
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« Reply #1102 on: February 08, 2021, 07:31:53 pm »

I must admit,I'm no expert on this work. Also,I'm not a big one for Violin Concertos,generally. Not that I hate them!! ;D There are a couple I do like,however! This has good stereo sound. Not as good as the Chandos,no doubt;but one of the best of the BBC Radio Classics,I've heard. I'm very happy with,at the moment. One review,I read,describes this performance as being more expansive,than Campoli's earlier one. It also has an interesting and rewarding fill-up (not keen on that term,really!). As to whether I like it as much,or better than the Piano Concerto? I wouldn't go as far as that. But,it's obviously,an underrated work in the Bliss canon. I think it's probably more subtle? The Bliss is a bit of a crowd pleaser,in some ways! The Violin Concerto strikes me (listening to it,now) as being on a similar level of inspiration. Probably higher? Less flashy. More heartfelt! Yes,I think it is actually a finer work!
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« Reply #1103 on: February 08, 2021, 07:44:41 pm »

I must admit,I'm no expert on this work. Also,I'm not a big one for Violin Concertos,generally. Not that I hate them!! ;D There are a couple I do like,however! This has good stereo sound. Not as good as the Chandos,no doubt;but one of the best of the BBC Radio Classics,I've heard. I'm very happy with,at the moment. One review,I read,describes this performance as being more expansive,than Campoli's earlier one. It also has an interesting and rewarding fill-up (not keen on that term,really!). As to whether I like it as much,or better than the Piano Concerto? I wouldn't go as far as that. But,it's obviously,an underrated work in the Bliss canon. I think it's probably more subtle? The Bliss is a bit of a crowd pleaser,in some ways! The Violin Concerto strikes me (listening to it,now) as being on a similar level of inspiration. Probably higher? Less flashy. More heartfelt! Yes,I think it is actually a finer work!

Thanks for those thoughts, cilgwn.

As someone who was once (a-many years ago) a first-study pianist, I have to say that I actually prefer romantic-era violin concertos to piano concertos (with the possible exception of Chopin and Rachmaninov) just because they do tend to be less flashy and more heartfelt!
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« Reply #1104 on: February 08, 2021, 07:49:13 pm »

Just now listening to Sol Gabetta playing Respighi's Adagio con variazioni for Cello and Orchestra. Nothing much to say about it except that it's lovely! It seems to me there's an outrageous crib in the middle of it from Bruch's Kol Nidrei (and why not?) which, by the way, is another one of those pieces that has me reaching for my hankie. :'(
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« Reply #1105 on: February 08, 2021, 08:41:16 pm »

Lovely performance of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde on Radio 3 - they do still occasionally broadcast some decent stuff, lol...



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« Reply #1106 on: February 08, 2021, 10:32:30 pm »

Lovely performance of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde on Radio 3 - they do still occasionally broadcast some decent stuff, lol...

Glad to know you enjoyed it. I have a difficulty with Das Lied von der Erde because of that recording with Kathleen Ferrier, Julius Patzak and Bruno Walter conducting the Vienna Phil., made in 1952 when Ferrier was already mortally ill and barely able to make it though the sessions. The performance of the Abschied is so profound and heart-rending that for me, no other performance will ever compare. I think Bruno Walter said after she'd died something to the effect that the greatest thing in music in his life had been to have known Kathleen Ferrier and Gustav Mahler—in that order. That says it all.
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« Reply #1107 on: February 09, 2021, 06:52:41 am »

Romualds Kalsons excellent,and exciting Violin Concerto.To me,one of the best of the C20th.
On Simax.
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« Reply #1108 on: February 09, 2021, 04:16:37 pm »

Arthur Bliss Baraza from the film 'Men of Two Worlds' Eileen Joyce (piano) National SO/ Muir Mathieson Rec:1946

This is from the Dutton,'Bliss conducts Bliss' cd (CDLXT 2501),which I'm playing,right,now! These Dutton albums are great,if you like Bliss. I like the design of the booklets,too;with original artwork. Very nice! I watched the 1936 film,'Things to Come',recently. I think I saw the film on the tv,when I was a youngster,and found it boring?! Unlike Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis',which I remember enjoying! Watching it on dvd,now;it is very talk-y,and some of the acting,imo,is a bit hammy and corny;but it is,undoubtedly, very interesting and the sets are spectacular;particularly towards the end. And Raymond Massey's (hilarious!) helmet (as one Amazon review observed) is definitely a contender for the most ridiculous helmet award! I was thinking it would be fun to wear on a motorbike. Although,you'd probably just topple over on your a***! ::) ;D

Update! Now playing: Colour Symphony LSO conducted by Bliss Rec:1955


Great mono;but what a pity this couldn't have been recorded in stereo (just a bit longer & it would have been!)
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« Reply #1109 on: February 09, 2021, 05:00:51 pm »

For anyone who thinks I'm a hardcore,Bliss nut! ;D It took me a while to,actually,really like Bliss,that much! Now,I like,practically everything,he composed. Although,some of his music is on a higher level of inspiration than other music he composed. Although,that applies to allot of composers. Multiple recordings of Bliss' compositions,undoubtedly,helped enhance my appreciation of his music.

Now Playing: Suite from Things to Come LSO Bliss conducting Stereo Rec: 1957

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