Hahahahahahha

Hahahahahaha

#NowSpinning Mozart’s K.191 Bassoon Concerto. The composer’s wind writing is always delicious and wonderfully gratifying to play. It’s immediately obvious that Marschall is gong to bring the music’s fun side out into the sunshine.

#NowSpinning This very, very fine Tara’s Bulba, with Mackerras and the Czech Philharmonic on absolutely resplendent form. Mackerras’s devotion to this repertoire was incredible.

#NowSpinning Niels Viggo Bentzon’s Five Mobiles. This is kind of fun and a bit of a brain mash all at the same time. It’s difficult to describe, but definitely feels Nordic somehow. Which it is. It’s mysteriously searching and haunting. Not a bar of tune in sight, of course.

New addition to the box set pile. Bernard Haitink and the London Philharmonic Orchestra Complete Recordings on Decca and Philips. 31 discs. I already had quite a few, but not the elusive Beethoven cycle!

#NowSpinning Giulini’s Los Angeles Beethoven 5. I do feel he generally found great musical value in LA. The orchestra seems to have been inspired into glowingly lustrous music-making. Like the Eroica, it’s not the fastest or most explosive, but it makes complete sense anyway!

New acquisition. Pascal Rogé Complete Decca recordings. I’ve always enjoyed his Satie, Saint-Saëns and Poulenc, but recently realised I was missing quite a bit of his output. So this box solves that problem. 43 discs of repertoire I find particularly enticing too.

Haha. The fiddler is passable. The band is quite good too.

#NowSpinning Heifetz, Feuermann and Ormandy with the Brahms Double Concerto. This recording is from December 1939 an it’s perfectly listenable! There is passion and intensity in spades here, from all involved.

I’ve not heard those recordings. Recommended?

#A-Schubert-A-Day Day 211 Mignons Gesang 'Kennst du das Land?', D321 from 23 October 1815. This text has been set so many times. Schubert does it proud. www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W2...

I wouldn’t be surprised if that were my conclusion.

#NowSpinning Medtner’s Rhythmically exciting Piano Concerto No.2 in C Minor. What a piece this is! Full of great ideas and exciting as hell. And this is a fine performance, too. Stormy and brilliant.

THAT JOCHUM IS PURE GOLD

I feel the same!

#NowSpinning Bychkov’s Mahler 2 for the second time today. So far I’ve found little to mark this out as anything other than routine, but I know there others will vehemently disagree. I don’t sense the investment in the work itself that we find with Walter, Fischer, Bernstein…..

Both concerti are amazing!

Or for Maths geeks:

Sibelius! = Sibelius(Sibelius-1)(Sibelius-2)(Sibelius-3)….1

Assuming Sibelius>3 of course

Sibelius!!!

After your appraisal of their Second, I do too!!

I agree!

My oh my another Sibelius surprise on the way. I am really not convinced by the full stop after the composer’s name on the cover, though. It’s really troubling me for some reason!

#A-Schubert-A-Day Day 210 ‘Der Lufriedene, D320 from 23 October 1815. Schubert in Beethoven mode, and deliberately do. www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W2...

That’s a gorgeous version

What’s wrong with a bias like that? I love their sound too, which is one of the reasons I chose the recording.

Sibelius’s Lemminkaïnen Suite has been very lucky on record. Indeed there are at least 27 versions in my collection, though I would bet it’s possible to find more than that. These are the four I return to most, with Segerstam probably topping the list. Which are your favourites?

I love that Gavrilov and Rattle version. Still blows me away now!

#A-Schubert-A-Day Days 208 'Luisens Antwort', D 319 from 19 October 1815. A tender, grief-stricken song of separation, marked by sorrow, longing, and faithful devotion. www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W2...

#A-Schubert-A-Day Days 207 'Schwangesang', D318 from 19 October 1815. Graham Johnson describes this as 'another graveside elegy', which of course it is! www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W2...