What (string oriented) music are you listening to these days? Share your favorites!

[Brian in Texas]

This whole board centers around music and strings, but so far I haven't come across a thread where we can share what we've been listening to lately. So I figured, why not start a thread that can hopefully be an ongoing place to hang out and talk about the music itself? Please feel free to share what you've been digging on lately, and try to include a few words about each piece that sums up your thoughts on it. If you happen to know a bit about the instrument being played as well, even better!

I'll start off with a whopper, Beethoven's violin concerto performed by Hilary Hahn and the Detroit Symphony. I know it's subjective, but I'm in love with the way she can make her Vuillaume sing with such perfect lyricism. The Beethoven is at once elevated, stately and noble, but deeply human. This is what I listen to when I want to remember how good it is to be alive. Her cadenza with its double stops showcasing melody and harmony at the same time is breathtaking. Yes, the audience claps after the first movement, but damn, I get it! And the very end of the piece makes me feel like I could take on the whole world. Bonus - includes an encore with Bach.

As a cellist, I'm going to gravitate to the instrument at times. Lately I've become a fan of the Argentinian cellist Sol Gabetta. This piece by Prokofiev does the full range of the instrument justice. Like the funny top comment puts it, "That epic gamer moment when you write something for cello and actually let them use the c string". Gabetta currently plays a 1730 Matteo Goffriller, but if I'm not mistaken, she was playing a Strad for this recording. She and her cello are in perfect sync here, balancing elegance with raw athleticism and power. It's got everything I love about Prokofiev, fiery and cerebral all at once.

Out of what I'm sharing here, this one surprised me the most. Considering the limitations of the viola compared to the organ when it comes to polyphonic counterpoint, I was amazed to see how well this transcription retains much of the intent and feeling of the original here. There are several times when it sounds like there's more than one of him playing. Lech Antonio Uszynski at one time played the Gibson Strad, but now performs on a rare viola made in 1690 by Hendrick Willems. It's a stunning performance that's absolutely worth your time.

 

[Altgeiger]

I've been really taken with Arnold Rosé's playing in general.  His intonation is superb, his rhythm is precise, his rubato is well-measured and purposeful, and everything carries an air of comfortable authority — everything you would want in a concertmaster.  No wonder he led Vienna for five decades!

 

[Victor Roman]

13 hours ago, Altgeiger said:

I've been really taken with Arnold Rosé's playing in general.  His intonation is superb, his rhythm is precise, his rubato is well-measured and purposeful, and everything carries an air of comfortable authority — everything you would want in a concertmaster.  No wonder he led Vienna for five decades!

 

You have superb taste - congrats !

[Violadamore]

Janine Jansen.  Her playing is an unusual combination of acoustic excellence with an exuberant delivery that IMHO would have many violin instructors shrieking about posture.    I study soloist videos consistently to gather tidbits useful in developing my own style, and find hers a useful reminder to follow sound over form.  

I really enjoy her chamber music performances performances also.  She obviously loves what she's doing.

 

[Rue]

I haven't been listening to any performer in particular, but have been listening to pieces I might try playing.

Latest piece is by George Perlman. No relation to Itzhak.

I had never heard of George before, but am totally impressed after reading his bio.

He was both a violinist and composer. Apparently he taught for 74 years - until two months before he died - in June 2000. He was 103!

Apparently he taught 60 hours a week, in addition to performing in concerts, composing, and editing violin music.

Doesn't quite add up. I can see working a 60 hour week but not teaching for 60 hours and doing all the rest as well? 

Regardless - I am impressed! 

[games2gamers]

Thanks for all the share, I love listening and watching performances online too, really interesting and I will set aside some time to check the links and listen when freed up after the finals, full time student here and new to the forums... I just want to share also, I recently discovered some of my dads vinyl stash and was not surprised at all the some classical pieces. He have the complete collection of Time-Life  "Great Ages of Music"  and some others. I randomly slap one of them in a basic record player I got and been listening in my room while preparing for finals, doing for a few days now . Shared some pictures.

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[games2gamers]

On 6/14/2025 at 1:25 PM, games2gamers said:

Thanks for all the share, I love listening and watching performances online too, really interesting and I will set aside some time to check the links and listen when freed up after the finals, full time student here and new to the forums... I just want to share also, I recently discovered some of my dads vinyl stash and was not surprised at all the some classical pieces. He have the complete collection of Time-Life  "Great Ages of Music"  and some others. I randomly slap one of them in a basic record player I got and been listening in my room while preparing for finals, doing for a few days now . Shared some pictures.

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I went through the second box earlier today as finals over and found these records, just want to share in my delight, I'm a huge John Williams fan.

Yeah that's a Romanian student cello I'm helping to restring and setup. 

[Zeissica]

A new discovery for me that I'm enjoying immensely is the Martinů Viola Concerto, here played beautifully by Amihai Grosz: