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Hello

a Merry Christmas to all members.

I recently received the PC. It arrived quite quickly, although I did pay a little extra for a speedier delivery - worth it though! Listened to the concerto this morning. I quite enjoyed it but felt a little unmoved by it. I also agree with JimL and his comments re- the finale. I feel that I too will need to listen to it a few more times to more fully appreciate it. I don't think though it has anything to do with the old-fashioned piano but I did feel that the piano sound sounded a little "dull" in comparison to the more quicksilver tones of a modern piano. I too would like to go on record as saying my favourite Rufinatscha is symphony no 5! I especially love the opening movement!

Cheers
Dennis

I yesterday received  the CPO disc and listened to the symphony this morning. My first impression is that it makes for an enjoyable listen. I feel though that I will have to listen to it a number of times, before fully appreciating all its qualities. I already have d'Albert's two piano concertos and enjoy listening to both.

Cheers
Dennis

Hello

Have just listened to the Herzogenberg symphonies again and agree with you Alan re - symphony no 2. I much prefer it to no 1. If I were a little critical though, I feel that the finale of no 2 at times wanders a little but all in all, makes for an enjoyable listen.

Cheers
Dennis

Hello

Reading this new thread on Herzogenberg, made me get out again the CPO cd of Herzogenberg's Symphonies no 1 and 2. I purchased the cd quite some time ago. Although I quite liked his music at the time, I felt that Herzogenberg was essentially "inferior Brahms"! Listening to the music again, I felt my earlier judgement was far too hasty and now feel that there is a great deal more to his music than I had first thought! Thank you  Peter and Alan for forcing me to re-evaluate Herzogenberg's music.

Cheers
Dennis

Hi TerraEpon

I have to agree with you re-Scherbakov and the Medtner PCs on Naxos. I have both cds and enjoy listening to them. I listen to them however only occasionally. I can therefore understand those who say that they do not like perhaps the pianist's interpretation in this case.Opinions on music are afterall subjective as many have said so often on this forum.

Cheers
Dennis

Hi all

I too would like to sing the praises of the new Raff cd from Sterling. Absolutely SUPERB! Everything Peter1953 says and more! As Mark says, an absolute must-buy!!!

cheers
Dennis

Hi all

I was literally about to open a new thread on Atterberg when I noticed I had been beaten to the punch! I am a great admirer of Atterberg and have virtually all his works, including the symphonies, the concertos and other orchestral works. I echo many of the sentiments already expressed on the forum. Reference has already been made to the 6th symphony, called the "Dollar symphony", so-called as it won a cash prize in America in a competition organised by Columbia.  I would recommend people new to his music to start with this one. The 4th symphony likewise works very well and as already stated makes very effective use of folk music. I also particularly like his first, but my real favourite is the 8th symphony. I am especially fond of the beautiful Adagio, very moving! The concertos too are wonderful. I too express my dismay that Atterberg's music is not better known, especially as he was quite a prolific composer! Rather than simply reading these comments, try listening to the audio samples on either JPC or Amazon!

cheers
Dennis

Hi Jim

By coincidence, I have just been listening to the VC again this morning. I have had the cd for a couple of weeks now and have listened to it a number of times. I too am a huge admirer of Lee Actor and fully agree with your comments. As one of the members said in this thread, I am at times reminded of Shostakovich and I am a great admirer of Shostakovich! I am keeping an eye out for other releases from this talented composer.

Cheers
Dennis

I recently bought the Sterling Cliffe Symphony no 1 and have played it a number of times. I was very impressed and I like the symphony a great deal. This in turned sparked my interest in the VC, particularly as many members have spoken so highly of it!. Sadly at present there is no version commercially available, although I note via the forum that it might be recorded some time in the future. In the meantime I wondered whether it is possible to hear audio extracts on the web? Does anyone know? Perhaps some members recorded the radio broadcast and might make it available on this site(if legal) as was done for the Kunneke PC, which I very much liked! Failing that, I will wait for the piece to be recorded in due course.

cheers
Dennis

Hello Michael

You are absolutely right, I did not copy and paste correctly! Have successfully downloaded the pc and am looking forward to listening to it later this morning. Many thanks for the link.

Cheers
Dennis

Hello Michael Schlechtriem

Thank you for the link to downloading the Kunneke PC. However when I input the link you gave, the following message came up :

Error- the file could not be found. Please check the download link.

Can you tell me what I should do to download the PC.

Kind regards
Dennis

Hello jimmosk/Gareth/Peter1953

Read with interest your comments on Kunneke PC. Listened to audio extracts. Very much liked what I heard. Decided to buy cd. Only source I found Amazon(co.uk/com/ca) but price absolutely ridiculous!!!! Seems cd no longer generally available - very disappointing! Will keep an eye out for the cd when I next visit some of the second hand shops in London. Thanks for alerting me to an interesting composer.
Cheers
Dennis

Hello Peter1953

Re- the wrong birth date of Khrennikov

When I did the posting, I was looking at two cds, 2 different composers with 2 different birth dates.  The 2nd cd was neither Khatchaturian nor Kabalevsky (both composers I like). Retracing my steps, I can't find the cd I am referring to, so where I got the 1903 date from, haven't a clue!! I did in fact refer to Einar Englund and 1903 but that is wrong as well, so I'm going to put it down to an aberration on my part! The cd you referred to, i.e. the 4 concertos is one that I purchased. I personally like the cd but think the PCs better than the VCs. As I said earlier, Khrennikov does not have the lyricism of Prokofiev but his music was influenced by him and perhaps also a little bit by Shostokovich, hence my liking of his music. I would hesitate to say Khrennikov's music is "great" but I enjoy it. I fully accept that musical preferences are highly subjective and therefore there will always be differences of opinion. This is as it should be.

cheers
Dennis

Hello Peter1953

Thank you for pointing out the error re-Khrennikov's birth date. I did in fact know he was born 1913 but when I did the posting, I was in fact looking at two composers, the other being born on 1903 (for the moment I can't remember who the second composer was!!!). I simply confused the two! I later read that he died in 2007. On the cds I purchased, it states merely born 1913, hence the original posting.

Mark, can you please amend my original posting to read  "1913-2007". Sorry for another typo, I stand duly reprimanded!

cheers
Dennis

Hello again Pengelli

You seem to be on my wavelength! Kabalevsky is also a favourite of mine and I have quite a number of his works, the symphonies and concertos of course. As I have said a couple of times now on this forum, I love Russian music and have made a point of searching out many of the lesser known composers! Yes, I agree that Khrennikov and Kabalevsky musically share some common ground and I particularly like the way you describe his music as being a little bit more astringent - spot on! I wonder whether other members will make a comment?

cheers
Dennis