What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XI)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOs3Q8XnRFU

The music, the playing, the sound, all in full synergy with a gentle very warm sunset. I am afraid we are reaching the tailend of summer.

Ah yes. White Punks on Dope!

Perlman/Giulini/CSO: Brahms Violin Concerto 1976 recording

hihgly charged performance from the Perlman and Giulini. Perhpas more accessible and down to earth presentation than Klemperer/Oistrakh. Rhythmically however, it does not have a flow and feels over worked in some spots. 

Melody flows but the notes are not expressive and/or intense enough. Plenty of surface emotions, yet it does not have the ultimate stopping power.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse. Live At The Fillmore East (1970). On HDCD from 2006. 

Weezer (Blue Album). On CD from 1994. An excellent debut in a very good year for alternative rock albums.

Heifetz/Reiner/CSO  1955 recording Mono

This is one of my top 3 Brahms Violin Concerto.

Andante is surprisingly sober rather than wallowing in a complete sappy sentiment. I love Heifetz muscular tone and bold phrasing. A good shot for trying his original cadenza, too. The final movement is peppy with dancing feet. Both temporal and tonal aspect the music just flows like it should whilst keeping a strong hold emotionally. The way he shifts timing and his expression is almost my ideal for the score. His playing is so effortless compared to almost anybody else. ( Oistrakh and Kagan excluded )

He missed an opportunity to turn this album from being a great album to an outstanding one by the tracks he missed off of it.

Do you mean the acoustic side?

During work out. It's called breakpoint and indeed it is, new versus older style..., interesting and in a way confusing album...

Also during the workout. Great album with a star cast...

During breakfast, I am constitantly realizing how special this artist was...

Cyprus Avenue, why because Van The Man turned 70 this week.

Happy Birthday Van.

Ingolf Wunder's debut album, where he sounds like a born Chopin player - he has the measure of the works, but unlike few, he can dream on the keyboard without losing the plot. His subsequent recordings, with more diverse material, have been disappointing, so for the time being, he remains on my shelf of one-offs.

EJ

The Who. The Ultimate Collection. On 2CD from 2002. On one hand this is a nice assemblage of 35 Who tracks. OTOH, it might be the epitome of mastering for loudness. Probably the most abysmal numbers I've found on The Dynamic Range Database:

Artist          Album         ____________  Year    DR   min   max
The Who   Ultimate Collection (CD 2)    2002    05    02     07
The Who   Ultimate Collection (CD 1)    2002    05    03     08

For reference, the range has a maximum of 20. Better mastered albums typically register 14-17. The track on CD 2 with a DR of 2 is "Won't Get Fooled Again".

Streaming | FLAC

Originally recorded by Deutsche Grammaphon  in 1984 & 1985, CD 3 featuring Symphony No.3 ("The Scottish") is sounding superb and stylish and very well recorded.

"Abbado is one of those conductors who will use all of his expertise and energy to deliver music exactly how the composer intended, rather than imposing his individual interpretation on the listener."

A follow up of Tick Tock......, now listening to this in the car...

Streaming | FLAC 

Human Being ~ Seal      (1998)

It's perhaps easy in retrospect to see why this did not become a commercial hit because it takes quite a few listenings to allow the music and lyrics to seep in and is quite different to his two earlier instantly accessible albums. He spent 3 years writing this album and took it very hard when it bombed and did not release another album for 5 years (Seal IV). For those that like his voice (as I do) it's worth persevering with...

This is excellent and highly recommended:

7 x CD - EMI Classics 1999 : )

Recording dates range from 1978 - 1984

I haven't listened to many LvB string quartets, and would think after over 30 years since the Alban Berg set there should be more resent and fabulous modern SQ performances around by now...

Streaming | FLAC

Seal IV      (2003)

More orchestral numbers than previously but the voice and his phrasing continue to work it's magic. I can't help but think he lost the majority of his audience after the failure of Human Being in '98. In essence the gap between the success of Seal (II) in '94 and this one is nine years, sadly that sort of time gap in what is essentially "pop" music was too long. Regardless of fickle audiences with the attention span and patience of a gnat this is another good album from him. 

Streaming | FLAC

(1970)

This one is from a 1994 CD, remastered by Joe Gastwirt and is on the Atlantic label sounding very good indeed.