What are you listening to? December 2022

[axolotl]

Stan Kenton ~ In New Jersey (Red Hill Inn, Pennsauken, New Jersey - 12 June 1959) (CD, 1990)

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Collapse - Black Sheep Is Still Dreaming (2022)



Pretty good shoegaze, dream pop.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Various Artists - Hits Of '43 (ASV Living Era comp 1995)

 

[Worm]

 

[axolotl]

Steve Roach ~ Dynamic Stillness [2 discs] (2009)



Ambient, Space Ambient

 

[Worm]

//e.snmc.io/i/300/w/4a3eb46f039b0ecb344f28e94d3ba176/8629081

 

[Worm]

//e.snmc.io/i/300/w/4a3eb46f039b0ecb344f28e94d3ba176/8629081

I can't figure out what is going wrong here.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Saturday morning classical listening:
Alexander von Zemlinsky - Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid)
Gustav Mahler - Kindertotenlieder
Anatoly Lyadov - Orchestral Works



A mix of early 20th century works today - had never heard of Die Seejungfrau (the title alone delights me) but really enjoyed it
I’m not a big fan of Lieder or modern classical vocal works after the cantatas of the Classical Period, but started reading about Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and just kept going. First listen for me - those who know German better than myself (probably everybody) can translate it as “Songs on the Death of Children” - Mahler takes five poem from a 428 poem cycle by German poet Friedrich Ruckert (in 1830s) written after two of his own children died of scarlet fever. The translations are heart wrenching

And from Wiki on Mahler’s composition:

At the time he wrote the work, Mahler was no stranger to the deaths of children. Hefling writes: "Such tragedy was familiar to Mahler, eight of his siblings died during their childhood. Among all of them, the death of his closest younger brother Ernst in 1875 had affected him most deeply, and he confided to [his friend] Natalie [Bauer-Lechner] that 'such frightful sorrow he had never again experienced, as great a loss he had nevermore borne'."

Mahler resumed the composition of the interrupted work (see above) in 1904, only two weeks after the birth of his own second child; this upset his wife Alma, who "found it incomprehensible and feared Mahler was tempting Providence."

Alma's fears proved all too prescient, for three years after the work had been completed the Mahlers' daughter Maria died of scarlet fever, aged four. Mahler wrote to Guido Adler: "I placed myself in the situation that a child of mine had died. When I really lost my daughter, I could not have written these songs any more."

 

[Ojai Sam]

I can't figure out what is going wrong here.

TFTFY.

RYM won't let you link to their covers. Unsom posted a thread that explains how to do it. Or I can always step in.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Saturday morning classical listening:
Alexander von Zemlinsky - Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid)
Gustav Mahler - Kindertotenlieder
Anatoly Lyadov - Orchestral Works

View attachment 8933View attachment 8934View attachment 8935

A mix of early 20th century works today - had never heard of Die Seejungfrau (the title alone delights me) but really enjoyed it
I’m not a big fan of Lieder or modern classical vocal works after the cantatas of the Classical Period, but started reading about Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and just kept going. First listen for me - those who know German better than myself (probably everybody) can translate it as “Songs on the Death of Children” - Mahler takes five poem from a 428 poem cycle by German poet Friedrich Ruckert (in 1830s) written after two of his own children died of scarlet fever. The translations are heart wrenching

And from Wiki on Mahler’s composition:

Whoa, you're really going deep catalog, Zeeb.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Yesterday:

Betty Garrett - Star Of Stage & Screen (rec. 1947-53, Sepia comp. 2004)



The Sepia Records website tells us the improbable story of her rise, fall and resurrection:

Betty Garrett was an established musical actress on Broadway (starring in the 1946 hit show "Call Me Mister" where she introduced "South America, Take It Away") when MGM beckoned. Fans of Hollywood musicals will remember her in films such as "Words And Music", "Take Me Out To The Ball Game", "Neptune's Daughter" and the classic "On The Town" where she played Brunhilde Esterhazy, the man-chasing taxi driver.

Married to actor Larry Parks (star of "The Jolson Story"), the late 1940s were good for Betty and Larry. They were popular and made many films but in 1951 Larry Parks admitted he had been a Communist. From that day onwards the couple were shunned and blacklisted. The film offers dried up so the couple toured Britain with their act and headlined The London Palladium where they scored a great success with the British public. They toured Britain 4 times.

It took Betty Garrett 20 years to recover from this setback. In 1973 she joined the cast of TV's "All in the Family", the American version of the British "Till Death Do Us Apart", where she remained for 3 years before moving to another TV hit show, "Laverne and Shirley" in 1976. In 1989 Betty returned to Broadway starring in the stage musical of "Meet Me In St. Louis" and was recently seen in the 2001 Broadway production of "Follies".

The 28 tracks on this CD were recorded between 1947 and 1953. We have included standards and novelty numbers; songs from her films; her only US Top Ten hit - Buttons and Bows; and the duets with Larry Parks, Gene Kelly and Jimmy Durante. This is the first Betty Garrett solo CD and almost all of the tracks are appearing on CD for the first time.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Right now:

Oscar Aleman - Buenos Aires-Paris (rec. 1928-43, Fremeaux et Associes comp. 1994)

 

[Worm]

TFTFY.

RYM won't let you link to their covers. Unsom posted a thread that explains how to do it. Or I can always step in.

Thanks, Sam. I'll find the post and figure it out.

 

[Worm]

Fixed!

 

[axolotl]

Alan Hovhaness ~ Guitar Concerto No. 2; Symphony No. 63 "Loon Lake"; Fanfare for the New Atlantis (2008)

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Roger Waters - The Lockdown Sessions (2022)

 

[axolotl]

Brad Mehldau Trio ~ Live (2008)

 

[axolotl]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ~ Symphonies Nos. 40 & 41 ("Jupiter"); Final Ballet from Idomeneo (2006, Arkiv)

 

[Ojai Sam]

Freiburger Barockorchester, Choir of Claire College (Rene Jacobs, cond.) - Handel: Messiah (2006)

Rene Jacobs' idiosyncratic Messiah was the first choice of 1001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die, with William Christie, Marc Minkowski and Charles Mackerras as possible post-mortem alternates (no Beecham, no Sargent). For such a familiar work, the fresh, dramatic approach was very welcome. The Messiah Complete Guide website (which gave Sargent's majestic old school 1959 version its top score at 10/10) awarded Jacobs 8/10, saying:

René Jacobs keeps everything moving at an breathless, highly-kinetic pace. There's a clenched-teeth fierceness to this Messiah that I'd not heard on other releases, and it creates a marked tension between all of the performers - an almost one-up-manship attitude that makes this a not-altogether comfortable listening experience - so much audible effort is being put into every movement, that I found myself waiting to see if it all self-destructed before the end of the recording. Fascinating (and a little exhausting) to listen to; ultimately, one of those Messiahs that seem preoccupied with achieving style over emotional substance.