What We Are Listening To

[erik]

Here's a continuation of something we did on the previous forum, of what we are listening to on our CD or record players. I'll start off here.

For obvious reasons (who it is, and what time of the year we're at):


...as well as...


These are albums that four generations of female country and roots-rock singers have learned a lot from; and it would behoove Ms. Swift (alias "Ms. Auto-Tune") to listen to them closely and learn to get a real Voice.

And on the classical side of the ledger:


The darker and more brooding side of W.A. Mozart, in the form of his Mass No. 17 In C Minor (the Great), and the Adagio And Fugue For Strings In C Minor, with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra led in these recordings (made in, respectively, 1982 and 1971) by Herbert von Karajan, along with a solid vocal quartet and the Vienna Singverein in the Mass.

[erik]

Regardless of how disappointing sales were for this album (and they were through the floor!), this is still one of the greatest things Linda did during the 1990s.



Andre Watts' 1968 recording of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2, combined with a 1971 rendition of the composer's Haydn Variations, both with Leonard Bernstein leading his New York Philharmonic. Superb performances of both great works (IMHO).

[Deleted]

just for fun, this brilliant tribute to the Fab four:

[erik]

On this day when the music world celebrates his 241st birthday, I am listening to Beethoven's ninth and final symphony, the "Choral", in a stellar 1988 recording featuring vocal soloists Cheryl Studer, Delores Ziegler, Peter Seiffer, and James Morris, with the Westminster Choir, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, all led by Riccardo Muti.

[erik]

Superb 1998 recording of three Richard Strauss tone poems: the jolly "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks", and two of the composer's most metaphysical pieces, "Death And Transfiguration", and the imposing "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (made imposing because of its opening sequence having been put to superb use by director Stanley Kubrick in his 1968 sci-fi masterpiece 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY). One of America's great orchestras, the San Francisco Symphony, is led here by their Conductor Laureate (and Strauss specialist) Herbert Blomstedt.

[james]

I listened to John Lennon's solo albums.
I liked just these 6 songs:

Mother
Imagine
How?
No. 9 Dream
Happy X-mas (war is over)
Nobody Told Me

[Richard W]

"Colours" by Graffiti6.



One of the best pop/soul/rock albums -- the key word being album -- I've heard in ages. Every song is excellent, no fillers here.

The lead can sing, with a unique voice full of grit and soul and, yes, range with echoes of early Rod Stewart, Robert Plant, even Dusty Springfield, but with his own cracked-mic quality.

The songs are well crafted with that most rare quality these days -- melody. The album just soars with them.

"Colours" is this Brit duo's first US release and I look forward to hearing more. Just fabulous. (And available from iTunes for only $6 and change!)

I haven't been this excited about a group/album/singer in years. A must buy for summer.

[erik]

Two of the best known works of the 20th century Hungarian composer Bela Bartok: the Concerto For Orchestra, and the Music For Strings, Percussion, And Celesta. The third movement of the latter work was used to chilling effect by director Stanley Kubrick in his 1980 horror film classic THE SHINING. In fact, it is this very recording, made by Karajan and the Berliners in 1973, that is heard in that film.

[james]

I listened to Paul McCartney's solo albums.
I liked these 2 songs:

My Love
My Brave Face

[james]

I listened to The Beatles catalog.
I liked these 2 songs:

The Fool On The Hill
Penny Lane

[Deleted]

Revisiting the Great American songbook as interpreted by a master:

[erik]

Two symphonies by Felix Mendelssohn--No. 3 (the Scottish), and No. 5 (the Reformation), the latter of which utilizes the Lutheran hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" in its final movement (appropriate this close to Easter [IMHO]). Great recordings made back in 1978 by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, with Bernard Haitink at the podium.

[rick]

Was combing through YouTube and came across this video by Matt Alber. I had heard his voice before on another song, but this song and the accompanying video affected me. Went to iTunes and downloaded the song.

[erik]

Film music fanatic that I am, this is one of the best (IMHO)--the scores that Jerry Fielding composed to two films by director Sam Peckinpah: the 1975 espionage thriller THE KILLER ELITE, and the 1974 south-of-the-border cult classic BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA. Both scores are very iconoclastic, but especially the one to ALFREDO GARCIA, which veers between Mexicana elements, Spanish-influenced romanticism, and chilling dissonance.

[james]

I listened to Elton John's catalog.
I liked 4 songs:

Honkey Cat
Daniel
Dear God
Circle Of Life

[james]

I listened to Billy Joel's catalog.
I liked these 2 songs:

New York State Of Mind
Say Goodbye To Hollywood

[erik]

Mahler's late-era song cycle "Das Lied Von Der Erde" (The Song Of The Earth) is given a very good rendition by the Houston Symphony Orchestra under its current music director Hans Graf, with vocal soloists Jane Henschel and Gregory Kunde.



Several of Maurice Ravel's greatest works, including the complete ballet "Mother Goose", and the ever-popular "Bolero", are brilliantly performed on this 1994 Deutsche Grammophon recording by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, under the stickless direction of Pierre Boulez.

[Deleted]

I attended a Leon Russell show last night, and the opening act was a gentleman named Glenn Templeton who may be the real deal, and not as Linda would say 'mall crawler music'

[james]

I Listened to Paul Simon's solo catalog

I Liked 7 songs:

Mother And Child Reunion
Tenderness
Something So Right
American Tune
Still Crazy After All These Years
The Boy In The Bubble
Born At The Right Time

[erik]

Jerry Fielding's superb music score for director Sam Peckinpah's chilling and disturbing 1971 British-made psychological horror film STRAW DOGS. The dark and haunting nature of the story is well served by Fielding, who takes his inspiration in part from Igor Stravinsky's orchestral work "A Soldier's Tale", and mixes in some elements of Bela Bartok, Ralph Vaughan-Williams, and Bernard Herrmann. This was the only aspect of the film that got an Oscar nomination.

[the Scribe]

[Deleted]

I am rather into the multi - talented Regina Spektor at the moment... eclectic would be a huge understatement here but she can range from pure fun:



to heartbreaking emotional honesty and search for spiritual truth:

[erik]

Mr. Frey does a really good job at doing the standards thing, inspired as he is by what Linda has done in this arena. In fact, two of the songs here, "It's Too Soon To Know" and "For Sentimental Reasons", had also been recorded by her.



Beethoven's towering "Eroica" Symphony is combined on this 1990 recording with the unfairly ignored First, which is a work still of the Haydn/Mozart school, but with some inventive touches. Superbly performed by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under its Conductor Laureate, Herbert Blomstedt.

[erik]

The 2006 choral piece "Missa Latina" (Pro Pace) by the Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra, with Andreas Delfs leading the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, along with vocal soloists Hedi Grant Murphy and Nathaniel Webster.




The limited-edition, expanded score for BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA, with music composed, conducted, and/or arranged by Jerry Fielding. The expansions include various source music cues, including the 12-minute-long "Hacienda Suite", which might also be entitled "Mariachi Madness", because Fielding arranged various traditional mariachi tunes for source music, along with the film's Mexican music advisor Arturo Castro and very authentic Mexico City mariachis. Most of the rest of the score was recorded in London.

[erik]

One of the great contemporary choral recordings of recent vintage, this 1998 world-premiere recording of the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki's "Credo", made in the composer's presence, is a massive 52-minute work of part of the setting of the traditional Latin Mass. The vocal soloists are Marietta Simpson, Thomas Quastoff, Juliane Banse, Milagro Vargas, and Thomas Randle, with the Phoenix (Arizona) Boys Choir, the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, and the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra, all led in fine fashion by Helmuth Rilling.

P.S.: You've probably heard Penderecki's music before without necessarily knowing it. Several dissonant pieces of his can be heard in director Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror film classic THE SHINING.

[erik]

Contemporary US composer Mark Grey's "Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio", based on texts by Navajo native Laura Tohe, and superbly performed by baritone Scott Hendricks, the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, and Phoenix Symphony Choir under their current music director Michael Christie. In honor of all Native Americans on this Columbus Day 2012.

[erik]

Two of the last major orchestral works by Sergei Prokofiev: the 1952 Sinfonia-Concertante for cello and orchestra (featuring the German cellist Heinrich Schiff as the soloist), and the Symphony No. 7, which the composer dedicated to the youth of the world (it first premiered in October 1952). Sir Andre Previn leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in this 1989 recording of these pieces.

It is sad to note that Prokofiev, one of the greatest composers to come out of Russia since Tchaikovsky, died on the same day (March 5, 1953) as Joseph Stalin did. The good thing, however, is that while Stalin could only ever be considered a monster, Prokofiev remains one of the great composers of the 20th century.

[erik]

Three great Russian works for violin and orchestra as performed by one of the great violinists of the last half century, Anne Sophie Mutter, with help from Mstislav Rostropovich on the podium leading the house orchestra at the Kennedy Center, the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington D.C.




Buy this album, that's all I can say (LOL).

[erik]

One of the most popular operas of all time, and arguably the first modern German-language opera, "The Magic Flute" was one of the last major works of Mozart's tragically short time on this planet; it premiered in September 1791, just ninety days before he passed away. Here it is given one of its best performances, with a cast that includes Dame Margaret Price, Theo Adam, and Peter Schreier, plus an orchestra (the Dresden State Orchestra) and conductor (Sir Colin Davis) who know their way around Mozart.

[james]

I unexpectedly saw this on tv.
This girl looks and sounds like a young Linda Ronstadt: