Bunch of vinyl courtesy of of the newly moved (across the street) and improved Reckless Records here in Chicago.
Bruckner Requiem in d - Beuerle conducting the Laubacher Kantorei From a Nonesuch LP (1976) - Nice understated performance. Not the highest quality soloists but enjoyable nonetheless.
Beethoven: Symphonies 3, 5, & 8 from two separate Philips LP's - Collin Davis - BBC Symphony - Better Beethoven from Davis than his later recordings -have these ever been put on CD?
Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto 1 plus the Rach 2nd - Edith Farnadi / Scherchen -From a Westminster mono LP. Bustling performance in the Tchaikovsky -very large & grand but it worked for me -haven't yet listened to the Rach.
Brahms Double Concerto - Mehta/Zukerman/Harrell/NYPO - CBS -This is one fine performance and recording. Full of life and passion. No recording dates are given (the copyright on the jacket is 1981) but I think it's an analogue recording (it doesn't say Digital or DDD anywhere) -it sounds good and so much better than the tin-can digital recordings from NY that Columbia made in the 1980s. I wish they had kept their analogue gear in that hall for another 10 years with results like this.
On Nov 3, 8:14 pm, Dil <grobberst...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Brahms Double Concerto - Mehta/Zukerman/Harrell/NYPO - CBS -This is > one fine performance and recording. Full of life and passion. No > recording dates are given (the copyright on the jacket is 1981) but I > think it's an analogue recording (it doesn't say Digital or DDD > anywhere) -it sounds good and so much better than the tin-can digital > recordings from NY that Columbia made in the 1980s. I wish they had > kept their analogue gear in that hall for another 10 years with > results like this.
I just bought this a couple months ago...haven't heard it yet, unfortunately. It's nice to know the sound is good. I liked Mehta's Brahms 3 from that period enough to want the Double Concerto despite being somewhat "down" on Zukerman these days.
Risking that ami Jeff laughs at my most recent passion...
Verdi's Requiem with Gergiev, on Philips.
Fabulous in many respects, flawed in avoidable respects.
The orchestra/choir/conductor flawless in every respect. Well, de Sabata or even Giulini exhibit even more a complex/humane of a music- related "subconscious," but not even them have the choir singing with more polyphonically crystalline articulation in the fugatos, while, with Gergiev, the percussion/brass-driven Dies Irae sheer bite is second to none.
The soloists quartet, on the other hand, is wildly uneven, with Andrea Bocelli as the weakest link, in an obvious, almost embarrassing way. I'm not a professional Bocelli-Basher, he may be a good/moving folksy/ pop/whatever singer, he just has no business singing in Verdi's most spiritual masterpiece. The bass-baritone, Idelbrando d'Arcangelo, isn't exactly Tito Gobbi either, to put it nicely.
Thankfully, a weak tenor is not something so overpowering in this particular work as to make one regret the purchase. Gergiev, the Kirov ensembles (and subsidiarily Flemming and Borodina) are worth the experience.
A flawed version with enough exceptional elements - and especially general flow/drama - to recommend it.
Listened to dg set Guitarra Espagnola by Yepes and the new Naxos Ohana cd, the former spurred on by Ohana's music which I find appealing. Also the Stolowski Icon set, bought because I'd never bought any of those recordings back in the day. some likes and dislikes there, but I'd NEVER heard lyla Mouremetz. Oh my, it was sensational! Can anyone approach that in a 'complete' version, now that I've heard this? The Debussy with the French orchestra was so pefumed and atmospheric. among the best I've heard (iiho, h=humble), but Claire De Lune in Stokowski's version, a little overdone. Bartok's MSPC a big disappointment mostly because the timps were almost inaudible, as they were in the DSCH Symphony 11. Not being a huge fan of his, I'm glad to have this set along with the Sony T&I Synthesis. The Planets, not impressed, nor with the Bach transcriptions. In a separate recording, I pursued the Berger Rondino Giacoso which has always been a favorite of mine. The others on that disc are totally uninteresting to me.
On Nov 3, 10:14 pm, Dil <grobberst...@gmail.com> wrote:
Harty and Ireland piano concertos,commented upon here earlier.
Would love to acquire the Testament of Cliburn's 1959 London recital, and Hyperion's complete Bowen Piano Sonatas, but the prices are, oh dear, much too dear,I fear, more Madiera my dear as I shed a tear.
And Rubinstein/Krips in Mozart K.491, surprisingly disappointing given their excellent Beethoven concerti set.
I think I'll follow BBC Radio 3 and France Musiques for awhile for live performances.
> Listened to dg set Guitarra Espagnola by Yepes and the new Naxos Ohana > cd, > the former spurred on by Ohana's music > which I find appealing. Also the Stolowski Icon set, bought because I'd > never bought any of those recordings back in the day. > some likes and dislikes there, but I'd NEVER heard lyla Mouremetz. Oh > my, it was sensational! Can anyone approach that in a 'complete' > version, now that I've heard this? The Debussy with the French > orchestra was so pefumed and atmospheric. among the best I've heard > (iiho, h=humble), but Claire De Lune in Stokowski's version, a little > overdone. > Bartok's MSPC a big disappointment > mostly because the timps were almost inaudible, as they were in the DSCH > Symphony 11. Not being a huge fan of his, I'm glad to have this set > along with the Sony T&I Synthesis. The Planets, not impressed, nor with > the Bach transcriptions. In a separate recording, I pursued the Berger > Rondino Giacoso > which has always been a favorite of mine. > The others on that disc are totally uninteresting to me.
I didn't know this set existed, thanks. Glancing at Amazon, it looks like EMI also just issued a Milstein and Tauber Icon box. As for the Stokowski, his DSCH #11 is the stuff that dreams are made of as Sam Spade would say. -Funny how tastes are different, this Planets has always been a favorite of mine (among many in my collection) but the Carmina Burana of this period I have on vinyl and to which I never took a liking, finding it uncharacteristically (for this conductor) uninvolved. I don't think I've heard any other of the performances listed on the back of the box (not interested in LS's Bach, though).
SG <sgg...@gmail.com> appears to have caused the following letters to be typed in news:8b7b369d-9f53-442e-8e84- 12f88769d...@r31g2000vbi.googlegroups.com:
> Risking that ami Jeff laughs at my most recent passion...
> Verdi's Requiem with Gergiev, on Philips.
> Fabulous in many respects, flawed in avoidable respects.
> The orchestra/choir/conductor flawless in every respect. Well, de Sabata or > even Giulini exhibit even more a complex/humane of a music-related > "subconscious," but not even them have the choir singing with more > polyphonically crystalline articulation in the fugatos, while, with > Gergiev, the percussion/brass-driven Dies Irae sheer bite is second to > none.
> The soloists quartet, on the other hand, is wildly uneven, with Andrea > Bocelli as the weakest link, in an obvious, almost embarrassing way. > I'm not a professional Bocelli-Basher, he may be a good/moving folksy/ > pop/whatever singer, he just has no business singing in Verdi's most > spiritual masterpiece. The bass-baritone, Idelbrando d'Arcangelo, > isn't exactly Tito Gobbi either, to put it nicely.
> Thankfully, a weak tenor is not something so overpowering in this > particular work as to make one regret the purchase. Gergiev, the Kirov > ensembles (and subsidiarily Flemming and Borodina) are worth the > experience.
> A flawed version with enough exceptional elements - and especially > general flow/drama - to recommend it.
The presence of a mediocre tenor would not necessarily preclude my purchasing a recording of the Verdi Requiem. The presence of a tenor with an inadequate and unacceptable voice, however, does. My funds for purchasing recordings are finite, and I'd far rather buy, say, some Onslow string quintets I haven't already got.
-- Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks! Read about "Proty" here: http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/proty.html To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of my employers
On Nov 4, 6:57 pm, Dil <grobberst...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Nov 4, 12:27 am, jrsnfld <jrsn...@aol.com> wrote:
> > I liked Mehta's Brahms 3 from that period enough to want the Double Concerto despite > > being somewhat "down" on Zukerman these days. > > --Jeff
> Do you find that his tone can become a little too sweet sometimes?
> Dil.
I'm not sure "sweet" is the right word, but perhaps you're thinking of the same thing. I don't mind the everpresent vibrato, but it seems that he lays it on too thickly for many chamber music settings (and he plays a lot of chamber music with other well known soloists). He does have a very big, rich, beautiful tone, but somehow it becomes an overbearing, burdensome presence without enough flexibility.
> Risking that ami Jeff laughs at my most recent passion...
> Verdi's Requiem with Gergiev, on Philips.
> Fabulous in many respects, flawed in avoidable respects.
> The orchestra/choir/conductor flawless in every respect. Well, de > Sabata or even Giulini exhibit even more a complex/humane of a music- > related "subconscious," but not even them have the choir singing with > more polyphonically crystalline articulation in the fugatos, while, > with Gergiev, the percussion/brass-driven Dies Irae sheer bite is > second to none.
> The soloists quartet, on the other hand, is wildly uneven, with Andrea > Bocelli as the weakest link, in an obvious, almost embarrassing way. > I'm not a professional Bocelli-Basher, he may be a good/moving folksy/ > pop/whatever singer, he just has no business singing in Verdi's most > spiritual masterpiece. The bass-baritone, Idelbrando d'Arcangelo, > isn't exactly Tito Gobbi either, to put it nicely.
> Thankfully, a weak tenor is not something so overpowering in this > particular work as to make one regret the purchase. Gergiev, the Kirov > ensembles (and subsidiarily Flemming and Borodina) are worth the > experience.
> A flawed version with enough exceptional elements - and especially > general flow/drama - to recommend it.
> regards, > SG
That reminds me, I've been meaning to try Gergiev's Otello sometime. Maybe this will be incentive.
I had a conversation about Bocelli in a taxicab a few years ago. When the driver found out that I liked classical music he told me nobody inspired him like Bocelli. Then he asked me what I thought about Bocelli, and of course, like a good passenger concerned about arriving to my destination in one piece, I told him the truth: Bocelli makes beautiful music and I find that great too, just not in the way other classical singers are great.
And no, I don't think I'll buy that on your recommendation...not without first hearing a Otello and Traviata. I'm kind of burnt out on the Requiem, though I did buy Abbado's EMI recording not too long ago and found it excellent.
Tveitt's PCs, in particular PC 5, by Mortensen/Ruud and the Stavanger SO. Even after repeated listenings I don't know exactly why I like it: I cannot remember afterwards a single passage, in spite of its many interesting moments.
Other WAYLTLs:
Pollini's WTC I. This performance is hors concours. It's unlike any other recording of Bach's first book. It's also typical Pollini - and the best he has ever recorded.
Tokarev playing Rameau, Debussy, Ravel and Franck. A very talented young man who has to learn how to tell a story (Le Gibet).
Romanovsky playing Schumann's Etudes Symphoniques and Brahms's Paganini Variations. This youngster has a sweet tone that irritates me so much that I find it very difficult to listen to the music.
Ohlsson's Scriabin etudes. He makes them sound like miniatures - and succeeds in making me believe that that's what they are.
On Nov 5, 12:44 am, jrsnfld <jrsn...@aol.com> wrote:
> And no, I don't think I'll buy that on your recommendation...not > without first hearing a Otello and Traviata. I'm kind of burnt out on > the Requiem, though I did buy Abbado's EMI recording not too long ago > and found it excellent.
Yes, the latest Abbado Verdi Requiem on EMI is quite good, although I don’t think I would put it above his 1970’s reading on DG. I have this latest Berlin recording on DVD and I was initially drawn to that format for the visual (i.e. Gheorghiu) but then I found the performance nearly as attractive.
Dil wrote: > On Nov 5, 12:44 am, jrsnfld <jrsn...@aol.com> wrote:
> > And no, I don't think I'll buy that on your recommendation...not > > without first hearing a Otello and Traviata. I'm kind of burnt out > > on the Requiem, though I did buy Abbado's EMI recording not too > > long ago and found it excellent.
> Yes, the latest Abbado Verdi Requiem on EMI is quite good, although I > don’t think I would put it above his 1970’s reading on DG. I have this > latest Berlin recording on DVD and I was initially drawn to that > format for the visual (i.e. Gheorghiu) but then I found the > performance nearly as attractive.
> Dil.
Can anyone already comment on the latest EMI recording by Pappano?
Last night, Quasthoff's newish CD of Italian opera arias by Haydn.
-- Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks! Read about "Proty" here: http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/proty.html To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of my employers
> Bunch of vinyl courtesy of of the newly moved (across the street) and > improved Reckless Records here in Chicago.
> Bruckner Requiem in d - Beuerle conducting the Laubacher Kantorei > From a Nonesuch LP (1976) - Nice understated performance. Not the > highest quality soloists but enjoyable nonetheless.
> Beethoven: Symphonies 3, 5, & 8 from two separate Philips LP's - > Collin Davis - BBC Symphony - Better Beethoven from Davis than his > later recordings -have these ever been put on CD?
> Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto 1 plus the Rach 2nd - Edith Farnadi / > Scherchen -From a Westminster mono LP. Bustling performance in the > Tchaikovsky -very large & grand but it worked for me -haven't yet > listened to the Rach.
> Brahms Double Concerto - Mehta/Zukerman/Harrell/NYPO - CBS -This is > one fine performance and recording. Full of life and passion. No > recording dates are given (the copyright on the jacket is 1981) but I > think it's an analogue recording (it doesn't say Digital or DDD > anywhere) -it sounds good and so much better than the tin-can digital > recordings from NY that Columbia made in the 1980s. I wish they had > kept their analogue gear in that hall for another 10 years with > results like this.
> Dil
An awful lot of Haydn symphonies, both modern:
Fischer/AHHO - 39, 30, 31, 13, 83, 85, 90, 55, 56, 65, 72, 73, 6, 7, 8, 35, 38, 22 Goodman/Hanover Band - 72, 73 (good enough I wished they finished the cycle) Schwarz/Scottish CO - 61, 51, 103, Piano Concerto in G, Cello Concerto in D (too bland and, in the case of the cello concerto, SLOW.) Kuijken - 90 (better horns than Fischer in this work) American Horn Quintet/Sinfonia - 31 (bland and too polite)
...and historical (all downloads from RMCR posters): Hass/London Baroque - 22 Beecham/RPO - 102 (1949 recording) Heyward/Halle - 103 Jorda/NSO - 88 (the only disappointing recording in the lot - there's little distinctive about the performance.) Wood/LPO - 45 Sevitsky/IPO - 73
This morning, as a change of pace, it's two recordings of the Schumann Konzerstuck, CSO/Barenboim and the American Horn Quintet's Naxos recording. The CSO recording is better played and more driven. The AHQ recording is nice, but not much else.
> And no, I don't think I'll buy that on your recommendation...
I wasn't recommending anybody to buy anything. I liked it. What I like it and two dollars buys you a cup of espresso. (Make that three dollars.) I also believe very few of those who have already a number of excellent recordings of this piece would find this version indispensable. The Requiem is not exactly a neglected work, nor lacking in reference recordings.
I've also found the DVD of Abbado conducting the Requiem live soon after his recovery (he still looked sick, especially towards the end) rather moving, even if it's a little hard to separate context from substance.
> > And no, I don't think I'll buy that on your recommendation...
> I wasn't recommending anybody to buy anything. I liked it. What I like > it and two dollars buys you a cup of espresso. (Make that three > dollars.) I also believe very few of those who have already a number > of excellent recordings of this piece would find this version > indispensable. The Requiem is not exactly a neglected work, nor > lacking in reference recordings.
Opinions used to be worth two cents; now they're worth a dollar?
Gergiev is often interesting enough to warrant a purchase, regardless of the singers (listened to a few minutes of the Otello last night: it opens at a manic pace--not the tidiest performance, but it sure beats boredom).
Listening right now to a piece for organ and percussion by Mathias Wager. Not my usual combination of instruments, but I couldn't resist the (evidently apt) title: "Fasten Seat Belts."
> > Opinions used to be worth two cents; now they're worth a dollar?
> Did you follow the dollar/euro trend recently ( :?
> regards, > SG
What's money? We working people have no time for it.
By the way...don't forget the freebie on Swedish Radio. The Gergiev Strauss broadcast (also with a vibrant Jeu d'Cartes) will probably disappear in about 26 hours.
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