For Your Listening Pleasure show

For Your Listening Pleasure

Summary: "I Think You Will Love This Music Too" Weekly (or so) podcast of Classical music from my personal collection. No intros, no voice-overs, just the music, baby! Podcast episodes are commented in both English and French in our weekly blog at http://itywltmt.blogspot.com/

Podcasts:

 Project 366 - Listener Guide #265 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 4095

"Mahler: Symphony no. 5" Mahler's Symphonies Nos. 5, 6 and 7, which all belong to this period, have much in common and are markedly different from the first four, which all have strong links to vocal music – and in particular to Des Knaben Wunderhorn; his later symphonies are much more ambitious, very Brucknerian in their scope. What is also important to remember is that the fifth was the first major work Mahler composed after his marriage, and that his wife Alma provided some technical support, sometimes doing the full orchestration of significant passages with only sparse indications on her hurband’s manuscripts – at least, this is what she claimed in her memoirs. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/603GustavMahlerSymphonyNo.5 [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

 Project 366 - Listener Guide #295 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 4422

"Rudolf Kempe Conducts Richard Strauss" The Rudolf Kempe/Staatskapelle Dresden “Complete Strauss” set has been well and justifiably praised since their initial release; the Staatskapelle is one of the oldest and finest of Germany's many outstanding orchestras,and take pride in having premiered several of Strauss' operas and were a favorite orchestra of the composer/conductor. Kempe, who was born and trained in Dresden, began his musical career as an oboist, perhaps explaining why his performances stand out for their transparency particularly in woodwind detail. Listening to his performances of the many popular tone poems, what immediately distinquishes them from the competition is the way he often holds back the brass or tutti ensemble to reveal much of the delicate interior wind writing. In short, both the orchestra and their conductor know their Richard Strauss! Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/04SinfoniaDomesticaOp.53 [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

 Project 366 - Listener Guide #296 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 3062

"R. Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie" Strauss’ penchant for "music as life" type pieces wholly justifies this Alpine Symphony, but one has to acknowledge that he was probably thinking about Mahler's death when he wrote it (or, at any rate began it); the very end, with the orchestra developing the thick sound of darkness and as the marching theme lays down and goes to sleep can be very moving that way (also, the cowbells were a further hat tip).Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/01RichardStraussEineAlpensinfon [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

 Project 366 - Listener Guide #292 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 4284

"More Richard Strauss (1864-1949)" Also sprach Zarathustra, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical novel of the same name. The initial fanfare – titled "Sunrise" in the composer's program notes – became well-known after its use in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Elvis Presley used the opening fanfare as the opening piece in his concerts between 1971 and his death in 1977, and as the introduction to several of his live albums. Eumir Deodato's funk-influenced arrangement of the opening fanfare reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 U.S. popular music sales charts in 1973.Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/pcast289

 Project 366 - Listener Guide #354 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 5253

"Poulenc: Dialogues des carmélites (Part 2)" The opera explores the drama surrounding the Carmelites of Compiegne, sixteen Carmelite nuns (cloistered) sentenced to death in July 1794 by the Revolutionary Tribunal on the grounds of "fanaticism and sedition." Arrested and convicted at the height of the Terror, they had two years earlier, vowed to give their lives to "appease the wrath of God and the divine peace that his dear Son came to bring the world." Their peaceful death on the scaffold impressed the crowd and was one of the many seminal events that put an end to this dark chapter in post-Revolutionary France. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/04Act2_201310 [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

 Project 366 - Listener Guide #353 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 3375

"Poulenc: Dialogues des carmélites (Part 1)" The opera explores the drama surrounding the Carmelites of Compiegne, sixteen Carmelite nuns (cloistered) sentenced to death in July 1794 by the Revolutionary Tribunal on the grounds of "fanaticism and sedition." Arrested and convicted at the height of the Terror, they had two years earlier, vowed to give their lives to "appease the wrath of God and the divine peace that his dear Son came to bring the world." Their peaceful death on the scaffold impressed the crowd and was one of the many seminal events that put an end to this dark chapter in post-Revolutionary France. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/04Act2_201310 [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

 Project 366 - Listener Guide #284 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 4024

"Tchaikovsky: Works for Cello and Orchestra" Tchaikovsky’s complete works for cello and orchestra amount to less than half this disc’s duration, comprising as they do a couple of miniatures (the Pezzo Capriccioso and Nocturne) and the evergreen Rococo Variations. But the first point of importance is that we hear here the original version of the score, and not the much more widely available piece of well-meaning butchery by a cellist of Tchaikovsky’s own time, Wilhelm Fitzenhagen. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/TchaikovskyCompleteWorksForCelloAndOrchestra [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

 ITYWLTMT Montage # #341 – This Day in Music History - 17 July 1976 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 4363

This week, we look back at the opening ceremonies of the nineteenth Summer Games of the twenty-first Olympiad, and the music that was adapted from the works of Quebec composer André Mathieu. Read our commentary on July 17 @ https://itywltmt.blogspot.com/, details @ https://archive.org/details/pcast341-Playlist

 Project 366 - Listener Guide #287 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 3100

"Nielsen: Symphony no. 4" The Inextinguishible symphony's opening is most surprising to me; while most symphonies takes a few bars to establish the mood before "getting to business", Nielsen's work dives right in, as if the first couple of pages of the score were ripped out! The result is a work that is all-momentum, a fitting tribute to Life and the Human Spirit undeterred by the effects of the ongoing First World War. Details on our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/01RhapsodicOvertureEnFantasir [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

 Project 366 - Listener Guide #286 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 5109

"Leopold Stokowski" As a conductor, and the man who probably re-invented the concert-going experience for North-American audiences in the first quarter of the 20th century, Leopold Stokowski was a man of many passions: avant-garde and contemporary music (he personally conducted dozens of world premieres of works that are today well enshrined into the concert repertoire), baroque music (trained as an organist, Stokowski seems to have a great fondness for baroque music, though the sound is dated when viewed through the HIP prism) and concert showpieces (his many transcriptions of works of the Baroque and Romantic composers, which he programmed for his great Philadelphia Orchestra and for himself to play with the greatest ensembles in the world). Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/Pcast122

 Project 366 - Listener Guide #352 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 4487

"Séjour musical en France" Tarbes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées, in south-western France. And it is the birthplace of French pianist Cécile Ousset, who will be our soloist in Poulenc’s Piano Concerto. In this (in my opinion) definitive performance, she is ably backed-up by Rudolf Barshai and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/SjourMusicalEnFrance

 Project 366 - Listener Guide #285 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 4025

"Nielsen - Symphonies 1 & 6" Lyrically, Nielsen demonstrated his talents very successfully in his first symphony, and this at 27! The Sixth Symphony may be partially autobiographical; the composer had just experienced a tremendous success with his Fifth symphony, but had also suffered a series of heart attacks He was to write several more works, but in the remaining six years of his life, the atmosphere of his works began to change.Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/01SymphonyNo.1InGMinorOp.7F[First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

 Project 366 - Listener Guide #261 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 4671

"Felix Mendelssohn: Symphonies no. 1 & 5" The grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Jewish family. Although initially he was raised without religion, he was later baptized as a Reformed Christian. Althugh one would expect Mendelssohn to have had a "mixed allegiance" to the Jewish and Christian faiths, it is the latter that had Mendelssohn's devotion. During 1829 and 1830 Mendelssohn wrote his Symphony No. 5, known as the Reformation. It celebrated the 300th anniversary of the Lutheran Church. Mendelssohn remained dissatisfied with the work and did not allow publication of the score. It was not published until 1868, 21 years after the composer's death. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/pcast179

 Project 366 - Listener Guide #262 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 4655

"Mendelssohn & Mahler Symphonies no. 4" Mendelssohn's Fourth symphony results from Mendelssohn's European travels in the late 1820's, which also gave us his Scottish Symphony. Completed in Berlin, the symphony was first performed in London in 1833 and - from what we can read - didn't completely please Mendelssohn. He planned to do complete rewrites of several of its movements but - thank Goodness - he never got around to it! Mahler's early symphonies all find their inspiration from the many texts of Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/pcast156

 Project 366 - Listener Guide #282 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 5189

"Cantelli Conducts Tchaikovsky (Part 2)" Guido Cantelli had a stellar but brief career as a conductor, championed by Toscanini who had begun looking for a younger associate to keep the NBC Symphony Orchestra (created for him in 1938) on course during his absences. He arranged for the young conductor's immediate NBC debut on January 15, 1949. Afterwards, Time magazine featured a profile likening him physically to Frank Sinatra, but musically to Arturo Toscanini. Until NBC disbanded the orchestra in 1954, Cantelli conducted there annually, beginning with four but expanding to eight programs. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/PeterIlijcTchaikovskyTheLastThreeSymphonies [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

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