Jens F. Laurson @ClassicalCritic Twitter profile

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

8 years

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

2 years

@melissakchan We'll find out. @elonmusk 's just rich enough to be able to afford a moral stance, so I'm actually cautiously optimistic. More so than with the NBA or Hollywood Studios, anyway.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

I LOVE Mozart's Serenata notturna!

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

#morninglistening in admiring memory of #MaurizioPollini , who died today. He was the reason I never stopped pretending to be a critic. How I learned to love Beethoven Sonatas. Adore unsentimental romanticism. Champagne socialist, musical genius. ♡♡♡

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

7 months

If you're watching the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert interlude right now, you'll know that the Bruckner-Overkill of 2024 has officially begun!

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

Maurizio Pollini, an Appreciation "Maurizio Pollini was perhaps the most important figure in my musical upbringing that I never knew." A personal obituary.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

2 months

#morninglistening to the 1981 GouldbergVariations. Not so much music but an icon, a memory of where one first heard it, a wistful state, the smell of coffee at a friend's apartment. But are they your favorite #GoldbergVariations ? Amazon: #GlennGould

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

5 months

#morninglistening & mourninglistening to the great #SeijiOzawa , who died, 88, Tuesday. Send-off w/Mahler's 2nd Symphony & his long-time band, the @bostonsymphony . Thanks for all the music! Amazon: He'll live on in memories & countless great recordings.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

Where should I file this? Under STRAUSS, because it's the (slightly) longer work, or under RESPIGHI, because that's where it does the heavier repertoire-focused lifting?

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 years

@taoleighgoffe Wodehouse, of whom I have - and have read - everything. Thanks to the @EverymansLib superb edition.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

#morninglistening to MaurizioPollini's stunning-beyond-words op.10 Chopin Etudes on DG. Very happy to be re-united w/this terrific set that imprinted itself on my young ears when I first discovered it! Your favorite Etudes, too? Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

23 days

If you had to choose ONE, which is Bartók's *masterpiece*?

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

10 months

#HappyBirthday Arnold Schoenberg!

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

11 months

The three (historical) cellists I enjoy the most (by far) are Gregor Piatigorsky, János Starker, and Pierre Fournier. What are yours?

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

@FCBayern Ich befürchte, das Triple ist in Gefahr.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

#morninglistening & mourninglistening to another titanic #MaurizioPollini -album: Schubert's Wandererfantasie & Schumann's C minor Fantasie. One of the three, four Pollini recordings that have shaped my hearing the most. Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

The easiest way to tell the difference between art song and folk song: if it’s in German and the singer raises his or her eyebrows before starting, then it’s a Lied!

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

News: "World-Renowned Classical Pianist Lang Lang Honored With Star On The Hollywood Walk Of Fame" Translation: Someone was willing to pay the $75,250 to get "honored". A long-standing scam to reel in suckers with an ego, to put it unkindly.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

I'm a little disappointed in ClassialTwitter that we haven't gotten #MaurizioPollini trending, yet. C'mon!

Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

Maurizio Pollini, an Appreciation "Maurizio Pollini was perhaps the most important figure in my musical upbringing that I never knew." A personal obituary.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

#morninglistening to (one of) the best-sounding Gustav Mahler 5th(s) out there, RiccardoChailly's w/the Concertgebouworkest on @deccaclassics Not violent or eruptive but massive gorgeousness to relish. A Top 10 M5? Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

Oh, the lovely @RGCWbaritone (the finest Jesus I have heard live, in a St. John's Passion) is part of the proceedings.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

Help me choose a #StMatthewPassion for the day: Mauersberger, Gutenberg, Gönnewein, JEG, Egarr, Chailly, Butt, Pichon, Dijkstra, Jacobs, Herreweghe 2, 1, Rademann, Richter 79, Veldhoven, Leonhardt

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

@GrahamRickson @mco_london @AlexeyZiskin @BACH_JohannSeb What's a little slap among friends? Also, he'd been quite famously a prick all his career and that didn't keep us from listening to it then. If I needed all my artists to be nice people, I'd be left with Caroline Widmann and Semyon Bychkov and little else. 😇

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 month

About to start four days of Wagner! #BudapestWagnerDays @MuPa

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

#morninglistening to SteveReich's Drumming on @NonesuchRecords A classic of minimalism. Still relevant today. Which is your quintessential minimalist piece? Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

Project #HvK115 of Karajan's Best 115 discs. Round one. Discs 1-3 of 15. Let's get started with Mozart's Così fan tutte from 1954. Hardly the only game in town, but bustling, v.nicely cast, and darn worth hearing even w/great competition. W/Schwarzkopf at her least indulgent.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

2 months

#morninglistening to the 1955 GouldbergVariations. Where were you, when you first heard this? Did you hear this before the 1981 version? Which do you like better? Don't mention his CBC, Vancouver, or Salzburg accounts! Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

#morninglistening to Bach in memory of my ♡ father ♡ who died 34 years ago today and who turned me onto the composer with Karl Richter's recordings. In this case the #StJohnPassion w/Evelyn Lear, Ernst Haefliger, Hertha Töpper, Hermann Prey & Kieth Engen.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 years

A Christmas evening spent listening to nine different versions of the 2nd mvt. of #Beethoven 's 3rd Symphony is an evening well spent!

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

9 months

The autograph manuscript of Mahler’s 2nd Symphony (formerly Gilbert Kaplan's, recently gifted to the @CleveOrchestra in 2020) will be on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art (from October 31 to February 11, 2024.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

Latest on @ionarts : A Word or Two on the (Negative) Reaction to Klaus Mäkelä’s Appointment in Chicago

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

16 days

#morninglistening to BélaBartók's PianoConcertos w/GézaAnda & FerencFricsay & the RIAS SOB on DG as I near my current Bartók PC binge. The slow movement of the 3rd makes me swoon. Probably the "Reference Recording". Amzn:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

Can you guess four of my, say, Top 6 #Brahms Symphony cycles? (Not all may be pictured here, but the faves probably are.)

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

#morninglistening to Karajan's Mahler 4th on @dgclassics w/EdithMathis and the @berlinphil A gorgeous, lush, unique rendering and w/the DLvdE the only Mahler not included in the #HvK115 Project. A mistake?

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

This is Project #HvK115 : This week, on the occ. of Herbie's 115th, TheSymphonist @deeplyclassical and I will pick 115 (!) recordings* that are Great or Must-Hear. Motivated by the overrated/underrated debate that still goes on. There will be threats. And threads! Rules below.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

#morninglistening to FranzKonwitschny's Tannhäuser from the @StaatsoperBLN on EMI. The predecessor to B'boim's T'häuser, if you will. And holy cow, this is SO enjoyable! Dieskau at his best, too. Instantly recognizable but not @ all mannered! Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

#morninglistening to #SeijiOzawa 's spectacular Schoenberg Gurrelieder w/the @BostonSymphony , Tanglewood Chorus, JessyeNorman, TatianaTrojanos, JamesMcCracken etc on Philips. Love the "Tannhäuser" opening of part 3. Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

9 months

#morninglistening to a splendid selection of FranzSchubert songs in all manner of terrific transcriptions gorgeously sung by BenjaminAppl. W/MunichRadioSymphonyOrchestra on BRklassik. My record of the month. Amazon: Appl has really come into his own!

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

I prefer Ashkenazy as a conductor over Klemperer. Sue me.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

#morninglistening to ThomasBeecham's gruff Beethoven 7th and even more topsy-turvy RuinsOfAthens w/the RoyalPhilharmonic on EMI. Good stuff, indeed, yes, Sir. Do you have a favorite 7th? Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

5 months

ClassicalMusic is ALIVE! ( @VikingurMusic )

Moon Pavilion

@MoonPavilion

5 months

A variant on a tweet I saw a few months ago, this time with a little more info.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

#morninglistening & to #MaurizioPollini 's late Schubert: D958-960, 3 Pieces. Incredibly elegant, yes: detailed performances. But that doesn't make them cold. They certainly shaped my expectations. (For emoting, there's Uchida.) Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

6 years

@kamfinsa @rleaverton @IanCallaway352 @HonoriaPlum @broomio @soratcli Just know that once you've taken a liberal bite out of the divine soufflé that is #Wodehouse , your bookshelf will look like this, before long! ( @EverymansLib )

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

Writers about music: No reader will ever, ever, ever, ever, ever give a flying #$&@ about "...the flat sixth degree of G flat in measure X", or "dominant F-major" being "the strongest indication that B Flat will prevail."

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

#morninglistening to the first disc of AlfredBrendel's analog (72-82) Schubert on Philips/Decca w/D664 et al. Noblesse & drama. Who tickles your funny bone in Schubert? Kempff, Uchida, M.Endres, W.Youn? Or Alfie? Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

#morninglistening to something very diff'rent, very clever: GilbertAndSullivan's HMSPinafore w/ Malcolm Sargent. And that despite I listen to light music basically never. Well, hardly ever. How do you feel about G'n'S? Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

2 months

#morninglistening to one of the 4* reference-recordings of VierLetzteLieder: LisaDellaCasa w/VPO & KarlBöhm on @deccaclassics from 1953. Plus scenes from operas. Which are the 4 references? (Of which I don't like one but love 3) Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

@FreeBlckThought Powerful and chilling and high time to distinguish between good intentions and terrible policies - and speak out against racism re- entering in force through the back door of guilty righteousness.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

#morninglistening to #SeijiOzawa in Respighi's Roman Trilogy w/the @BostonSymphony on @dgclassics . A terrific recording of the late Maestro. Ozawa-favorites anyone? Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

2 months

#morninglistening to a stone-cold classic ArvoPärt recording on @ECMrecords of Cantus, Fratres² & TabulaRasa, w/Gidon Kremer, KeithJarrett, DennisRussellDavis, AlfredSchnittke et al. My intro to Pärt. Yours, too? Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

Which artists do you think are simultaneously over- and underrated? I'll give you a few to start thinking about: Alfred Brendel Gustavo Dudamel Leopold Stokowski András Schiff Josh Bell

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

2 months

#morninglistening & to the great SeijiOzawa in Mahler's 8th Symphony, one of his greatest recordings and the most successful 8th on disc to date. He can make Part II hover in divine stasis like none other! Amzn: Big works really suited him, somehow, no?

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

#morninglistening to MaurizioPollini's first Brahms Second PC w/ClaudioAbbado & the @Vienna_Phil on @DGclassics . What favorites have you got, in the B-minor? Gilels? Richter? Backhaus? Kempff, Fleisher, Arrau? (And why?) Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

7 months

Ah, isn't it a beautiful world where liking the wrong composers will get you called out for being a racist? It's good to know, one isn't allowed to get away with just anything, I suppose. I shall repent.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

QT with the album(s) that changed your life. No single album has. But these are 4 watershed moments that opened repertoire to me in a BIG way! Amazon links: LB: RW: AB: DS:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

9 months

#morninglistening to the wildly acclaimed GeorgeSzell Sibelius 2nd Sym. live from Tokyo. A perfectly solid performance that is the posterboy for the rare-therefore-great phenomenon in the Classical CD-collecting realm. Weber Overture is terrific. Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

2 years

More in oddly barren composer- letters: First classical composer in your record collection under "O" that's not #Offenbach . Picture proof preferred. Jacob #Obrecht here.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

#morninglistening to ThePiratesOfPenzance as part of my continued G&S discovery. I find in this much wit and beauty, even as I started listening out of a sense of duty: I never knew what I was missening! What rep is orphaned in Ur collection? Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 years

Every once in a while I sound out the classical music world for any traces of humor. Negative. No affliction with that emotion whatsoever. The music itself: Plenty. But no one in the business.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

#morninglistening to the M-Passion, settling on JEGardiner & the @mco_london after you clowns couldn't make up your mind. 🥰 Or maybe just to annoy @AlexeyZiskin . Certainly a well-behaved, pretty HIP classic on Archiv, full of mellifluous beauty. Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

10 months

A ¾Weidringer (TM) at the Wiener Musikverein to hear Il Giardino Armonico and their #Haydn2032 project. (see Alpha Classics)

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

#morninglistening to the composer who takes the cake: JosephHaydn in his op.76 string quartets w/the TakácsQuartet on @deccaclassics . Which brings up the question of your fave recording of op.76, if you have one. Amazon: #HaydnCuresAllProblems

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

A triadic #Weidringer (TM) at the Musikverein Wien for Levit-Capuçon-Hagen in all-Brahms

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

#morninglistening to an underrated Bruckner Cycle (survey-update under way, btw) w/Riccardo Chailly, the DSO & the Concertgebouworkest on @deccaclassics Especially noteworthy are 0, 1, 7 but none are less than v.good. Maybe a great cycle for a more casual than nutty Brucknerian.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 month

#morninglistening to a terrific recording of the SaintSaëns 3rd Symphony w/the @berlinphil & JamesLevine on @dgclassics Mendelssohnian lightness and Franck-ish grandeur beautifully combined. Amzn:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

5 months

The price of freedom is everything, if we are not vigilant. RIP #alexeinavalny Murdered.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

5 days

#morninglistening to Wheeeeeeeee! What a FlyingDutchman! How had I overlooked FerencFricsay's recording w/the RIAS, Metternich, Greindl, Kupper, Windgassen & Haefliger. Dramatic to the last drop! My new No.1, actually Your favorite Holländer? Amzn:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

2 months

Hot-take: These days, recordings are WILDLY overrated as far as the reputation of a conductor is concerned. On average ONE concert (!) will be heard by more people than any given new recording in its lifetime.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

#morninglistening to Symphony 28+ w/ColinDavis & Dresden on classic 80s Philips recordings that bridged the East-West divide. From dust we come and to dust we shall return, but not w/out having listened to our share of glorious Mozart-symphonies. Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

6 months

Baroque #Weidringer (TM) @ Wiener Konzerthaus for Lully's Atys w/ Les Talens Lyriques - Christophe Rousset.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

#morninglistening to BirthdayBoy JosephHaydn. PIANO sonatas w/ #AlfredBrendel on Decca. An absolute classic, reference recording; one of Brendel's that has held up best, no? Amazon: #HaydnCuresAllProblems Why does Haydn make us better listeners?

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

#morninglistening to RichardStrauss' Capriccio w/ #KarlB öhm and a stunning cast on @dgclassics This is, perversely?, truly one of my favorite operas. #GundulaJanowitz , DietrichFischerDieskau, PeterSchreier, HermannPrey, KarlRidderbusch, TatianaTroyanos Arleen Auger et al

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

Where would I #file this? Under Dvořák or Tchaik? The works are the same length, importance?, quality of performance and I don't have that many other recordings of either. 🤔 In order of listing or alphabetically? #HvK115

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

7 months

#morninglistening to JohannSebastianBach's ChristmasOratorio (part1) w/JosVanVeldhoven, @bachvereniging , J.Zomer, A.Markert, G.Türk, P.Harvey on @channelclassics . ♡♡ Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

#morninglistening to Debussy's Images from this fabulous! Decca box centered around CharlesDutoit's top @OSMconcerts recordings, w/ some added goodies. No overlap w/the DG Debussy box, either. Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

Populist #Weidringer (TM) at the bursting Wiener Konzerthaus for Lang Lang.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

Excited #Weidringer (TM) at the gorgeous, completely sold out Wiener Konzerthaus Mozart-Saal, because a.) Chamber music is HOT. And b.) everyone wants to hear Jean-Guihen Queyras.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

#morninglistening to VaughanWilliams' 2nd & 8th Symphony in terrific rec's on Telarc w/the @BBCSO under Andrew Davis. I try to ♡ RVW, but he wrote either "greatest hits" or the, although appreciable, most aggressively unmemorable music. Once it's over, I recall *nothing*. Why?

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

2 months

#morninglistening to RiccardoMuti's finest: Scriabin's "5" Symphonies w/the @philorch on EMI, which Warner ought to re-issue. Sy #1 now, which is as gorgeous an impressionistic vocal Symphony as any! What converted you to Scriabin, if anything? Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

Whenever the used CD shop has a whole new batch of interesting discs available, I know somebody (with similar interests) has died.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

#morninglistening to prob. my favorite set of #AlexanderScriabin piano sonatas: #H åkonAustbø's on @simax_classics / @brilliantclassics Color and sensitivity in spades. Have you heard it? Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

11 months

Anatol Ugorski, The Great Bewilderer: Rest in Peace Anatol Ugorski, born 28 September 1942 in Rubtsovsk, died this morning in Berlin, joining his daughter Dina Ugorskaja (also a glorious pianist), who had gone a tragic four years before him. Obit to follow on @ionarts .

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

5 years

@berndulrich Nicht die Käufer werden subventioniert sondern die Hersteller. (Macht's nicht besser, nur deutlicher.)

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

9 years

Grigory Sokolov refuses Cremona Music Award because "it's a shame to be on the same award-winners list w/ @NLebrecht " http://t.co/XG8x42D8yi

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

#morninglistening to RudolfKempe's ol' classic @Vienna_Phil 's #Lohengrin w/JessThomas, ElisabethGrümmer, Fischer-Dieskau & Christa Ludwig. Hardly perfect but still good. Amazon: Is Sawallisch '62 to be preferred?

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

2 months

#morninglistening to Klemperer's 1951 Holland Festival Mahler 2nd w/ #KathleenFerrier , his 2nd of 8 recordings: urgent and exciting, badly played and marvelously sung, held back by shoddy sound. Self-recommending to some. Fave Klemperer-Mahler? Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

5 years

@Redskins Gruden was decidedly not the problem. Everyone with even a cursory interest in the team has known what the problem of that franchise has been and remains: Dan Snyder. A fish rots from the head down.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

6 months

#morninglistening to BélaBartók's Bluebeard’s Castle with the original dream-team cast of ChristaLudwig & WalterBerry w/ @londonsymphony under IstvanKertesz on @DECCAclassics Amazon: Your favorite recording is...?

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

27 days

#morninglistening for the 1st time to Oedipe, GeorgeEnescu's fascinating, enchanting opera, a recording that YehudiMenuhin appears to have instigated. Great cast, LawrenceFoster & @MonteCarlo_Orch Amzn: VanDam, Gedda, Fassbaender, Lipovsek, Hendricks...

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

#HvK115 : We've done it! #TheSymphonist @deeplyclassical and I have picked 115* more or less indisputably GREAT Karajan recordings (by disc-count). And we could have gone on. That's the breadth of excellence that Karajan, for all of his naysayers and detractors, has left us.

The Symphonist

@deeplyclassical

1 year

Project #HvK115 of Karajan's Best 115 discs. Round 8. Disc 115 of 115. Here's 69 minutes of complete joy from the only time Karajan conducted the Vienna NY concert. His last VPO tour included Bruckner 8 and dances by the Strausses. Before they could invite him back, he died.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

#morninglistening to Palestrina Masses w/the @TallisScholars on GimellRecords. Transporting music and still reference quality performances!

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 month

Recordings that use the same artwork. Which ones come to mind? I'll make a start. @heathquartet 's Bartok SQ4ts & #CarolinWidmann 's Enescu Violin Concerto Artwork: Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935), Landscape with Five Houses (Пейзаж с пятью домами)

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

#morninglistening to JohnEliotGardiner in Gabriel Fauré's gorgeous Requiem w/ @mco_london on Philips. I dare say this interpretation has all the others beat. The pace is brisk but not slapping. Execution impeccable. What are your faves? Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

4 months

#morninglistening : Still thinking about MaurizioPollini but now to the sounds of the TallisScholars in Palestrina's Missae Brevis & Nasce. A terrific 1986 recording of glorious early music, still holding up well today! Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

#morninglistening to AnnieFischer in the WAMozart PianoConcertos Nos.20-23, from stormy to daringly slow, w/Boult & Sawallisch. I like my Mozart neither fast nor slow, big or small, HIP or hopp: all's good, so long as it's confident & "musical". Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

3 months

#morninglistening to LvBeethoven's op.131 SQ4t w/the MelosQuartett off their probably underrated cycle on @dgclassics . I rarely pull these off the shelves but am always pleased when I do. More favorite recordings of StringQuartet No.14? Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

Project #HvK115 of Karajan's Best 115 discs. Round 5. Discs 61/62 of 75. Here comes the Ring, piecemeal. The thinking man's Ring. The singers' ring. Rheingold never sounded lighter, more italiante. Closer to Wagner's bel-canto ideal than any other Ring, even Krauss'. 💋😱😍🎶

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

5 months

Classical #Weidringer (TM) at the @KonzerthauswlWien for the Staatskapelle Dresden & Sir Andras Schiff.

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

8 months

#morninglistening to the SmetanaQuartet's yesssssss! LvBeethoven Razumovsky StringQuartets from their superb Denon/ @SupraphonCZ cycle. (See BeethovenStringQuartetCycleSurvey) The playing lifts the heart! It's got everything. Amazon:

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Jens F. Laurson

@ClassicalCritic

1 year

#morninglistening to Tchaikovsky's EugeneOnegin w/ @StaatskapelleDD under JamesLevine w/Allen, Freni, vonOtter, Shicoff, Burchuladze et al. This has got to be the best Western recording of this opera, no? At least on CD. Propulsive, gorgeous, even raucous. And so superbly played!

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