Yeah, I know this is a lame post but this place has been quiet for too long, so come on people, what classical music are you listening to at the moment?

...other than that, I also often put on Lionel Richie's Back to Front album

- Shostakovich: Waltz 2 from Jazz Suite 2 (Jansons/Philadelphia Orchestra)
- Khatchaturian: Waltz from Masquerade (Bolshoi Orchestra/Lazarev)
- Shostakovich: "Variations" from Young Lady and the Hooligan / The Bolt (State Symphony Orchestra of Russia / Gorenstein)
- Mozart: Turkish March (arr. Stokowski, BBC Philharmonic/Bamert)
- Shostakovich: Theme from A Girl Alone / UN March (arr. Stokowski, BBC Philharmonic / Bamert)
- Brahms: Hungarian Dance # 5 (Philadelphia Orchestra / Eugene Ormandy)
- Glière: Russian Sailors Dance from The Red Poppy (Philadelphia Orchestra/Ormandy)
- Prokofiev: Montagues and Capulets from Romeo and Juliet (Toronto Symphony Orchestra / Saraste)
- Glinka: Overture from Rusland and Ludmila (Hallé Orchestra / Handley)
- Orff: O Fortuna from Carmina Burana (Hallé Orchestra & Hallé Chorus / Handford)
- Shostakovich: Variations from The Bolt (one of the 100 Russian State Symphony Orchestras / Yablonsky)
- Shostakovich: Waltz 2 from Jazz Suite 2 (one of the 100 Russian State Symphony Orchestras / Yablonsky)
- Borodin: Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor (Toronto Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Davis)
- Bach-Stokowski: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (Philadelphia Orchestra / Sawallisch)
- Tchaikovsky: Theme, Coda and Spanish Dance from Swan Lake (Philadelphia Orchestra / Ormandy)
- Shostakovich: Waltz 2 from Jazz Suite 2 (Royal Concertgebouw / Chailly)

• John Adams: Chamber Symphony / Granda Pianola Music on Nonesuch. I've only listened to the Chamber Symphony so far, but it was wild stuff! Adams himself describes it in the insert notes as Schoenberg meets Stalling, and I think that's a pretty good description. Just imagine Adams scoring a Looney Tunes short, and you've got a pretty good idea of what this sounds like. As with pretty much everything by John Adams, this is highly recommended.
  
• Aaron Jay Kernis: Second Symphony / Musica Celestis / Invisible Mosaic III on Argo. Haven't listened to anything but the first movement of the symphony so far, but it was very striking. Can't wait to hear the rest of it.
  
• Philip Glass: the CIVIL warS on Nonesuch. I've listened to just the first half so far (I seem to be doing that a lot), but it was very good. "Scene A" made me think of what might happen if Glass had scored a Fellini film. I don't know what it was exactly, but something about that track gave me a Nino Rota vibe.
  
• Michael Nyman: Sangam (Michael Nyman meets Indian Masters) on Warner Classics. I think this may be the best CD I've bought in a LONG time. This is just indescribably good. The first piece on the disc, "Three Ways of Describing Rain," is completely unlike anything you've ever heard from Nyman. The way he and his band were able to fall in so seamlessly with the Indian singers is breathtaking. It's a startling, spiritual, highly emotional work that I simply can't get enough of. The second piece on the disc, "Compiling the Colours," is much more recognizably Nyman, with the whole piece built around a single five-note base line which he and the mandolinist expand into 25 minutes that are always a joy to listen to. This is a GREAT disc, and I strongly recommend it to all Nyman fans and to anyone even remotely interested in my comments. If it sounds even slightly intriguing to you, chances are you'll adore it.
  

Only listened to a couple of pieces in the last couple of days..

Concerto For Orchestra - Bela Bartok

My contribution....

Spartacus (Khachaturian)
On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (Delius)
St.Paul's Suite (Holst)
Irish Rhapsody/Concerto for Clarinet (Charles Stanford)

Loads of other stuff on Classic FM and Radio 3!!!

Arnold Bax

Arthur Bliss

Gerald Finzi

Vaughan-Williams

Respighi

I already knew all these guys were great, but I've encountered some real revelations, such as -

Bruce Montgomery (alcoholic crime-writer and CARRY ON composer)

Roy Harris (great stuff, VERY similar to Peter Schickele's score to SILENT RUNNING. I think Schickele may have studied under Harris?)

Plus new names to me like Michael Hurd.