Field 3, 4, 5. Now he seems to be channelling a little bit of Beethoven mixed in with the Chopin. I like O'Conor as a pianist a lot (on the Telarc label), but I don't think I really like the Onyx recordings very much. Perhaps O'Rourke is better. |
Answer: Weber. Rosel/Blomstedt. Very enjoyable, but not transcendent.
BTW, can you believe that the Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto series is up to 77? Takes the notion of completist to a whole new level...
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Agreed. O'Conor/Nocturnes/Telarc=delicious. It's the recording done by Onyx, rather than the performance, that doesn't completely convince me. Anyway, 6 & 7 didn't provide any major revelations. Onward. Who's next? |
Moscheles concerto #3. The older Supraphon recording, rather than Hyperion. Surprising enjoyable. Mozart meets Romanticism. |
Revisiting Chopin/Zimerman/Giulini on DGG. A remarkably engineered recording. If the soundstage isn't well outside your speakers, something is wrong. Depth is fine but not commensurate with width. Fine performance, not quite sure about the treble range of the piano--recorded a little forward I suspect. |
@newbee Just enjoyed a very spirited performance of the Schumann PC courtesy of Stephen Bishop and Colin Davis. Looking on Amazon, I see there are highly touted versions available from both Lupu and Perahia, two of my absolute favs. This will be the ruination of me...
Listening as I type to second movement of Arrau Chopin PC 2. Yes, the balance of the piano sound is definitely more, err, robust. I love Arrau's phrasing and interpretation, I just wish the orchestra were balanced differently; it seems to me that this movement needs to shimmer more with a kind of restrained inner light. Going back to check Giulini now, though Inbal takes a full minute longer than he does. ...And yes, this is more like it!
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Changed to Biret/Naxos for PC2, nice, more distant perspective. I think I have Arrau also on a budget reissue. Must check. The way the piano floats over the orchestral accompaniment in the slow movement is delectable. |
Bought a bunch of CDs recently, many of them based on recommendations from this thread.
First one to arrive is Igor Levit, 2CDs, late piano sonatas.
Recording: piano image is very present, well fleshed out, more neutral than warm in tonality. Sounds recorded in a fairly small space. The piano is right "there" starting at about the plane of the front wall behind the speakers, so if this were a concert, I'd be sitting close.
Performance: 28 sounded, well, intellectual.
29 is a bit more stirring. Perhaps it's just the nature of the late sonatas that I'm reacting to, and perhaps it's Levit.
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Curiously, enjoying disc 2 rather more than disc 1. Piano sound still very good. Perhaps it's my mood, perhaps it's the AC.
Still, Levit has me wondering if Glenn Gould ever recorded the late Beethoven, and if so, how similar their interpretations would be.
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Another recommendation from you guys, just in today, Yevgeny Sudbin recital, on BIS. Wow! Stirring stuff. The Liszt is indeed agitato molto. |
Got it new from Academy Records for $9.99. On Amazon. Seems to have been the only one. You can get it used-very good for $8.68. |
And they keep on coming, keeping the mail carrier busy.
Daniil Trifonov + Philadelphia Orchestra, Rachmaninov 2 and 4, with some Bach in between as a palette cleanser. Sounding very good so far.
But now I'll have to go back and listen to Ortiz, Janis and Michelangeli.
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Funnily enough I just added Currentzis to my cart last night. I must have more different recordings of the Mahler symphonies than any other composer. I grew up listening to the venerable Solti cycle on Decca, so that became imprinted in a way, and I still notice the differences w.r.t. Solti as a kind of benchmark. So much for the teenage years... |
I continued listening through the Sudbin recital disc. While I had enjoyed the Liszt, Funérailles, Transcendental Etudes, nos. 10 and 11, and “Harmonies du soir”, I thought the List Three Petrarch Sonnets followed by Ravel, Gaspard de la nuit, even better. The Andsnes Beethoven #5 + Choral Fantasy very, very good too. I have Volodos, Mompou winging its way to me. |
Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne playing, errrrr, Schubert Piano Duets.
Absolutely delightful music.
And I like the recording. The piano sound is realistic, not in your face, not hyped. (Despite the label it's on!)
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Stephen Hough's compilation of York Bowen.
Most enjoyable.
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OK, Perahia/Abbado complete Schumann works for piano/orchestra. Just listened now. This is by some measure my favorite version of the concerto. Excellent! |
I don't remember who recommended it, but my thanks to whoever in this thread recommended Arrau/Haitink for the Beethoven ## 4 and 5. Listening very happily now.
By the way, if anyone says decently set up systems can't project a soundstage outside the left and right speakers, listen to this recording. The orchestra is spread from several feet left of left to several feet right of right.
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Volodos, Mompou.
Wonderful! Incredible touch in the soft passages.
Very natural piano sound, tremendous dynamic contrasts.
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Tonight: Dvorak piano concerto. I can't imagine there can be much better ambassadors for a piece than Sviatoslav Richter and Carlos Kleiber. That being said, I think I see why it hasn't caught on more--not as inspired, or at least not as catchy, as the Grieg or the Tchaikovsky, for example. Still, a very pleasant listen; soundstage quite distant. |
If you're in the mood for a really stirring, Liszt-ian piano concerto, try Henselt on Hyperion. Hamelin is also one of my favorite pianists. |
denizens of this thread: I'm feeling like another version of Beethoven 3. I saw there was a recording by Barbirolli that looked rather tempting; anything else you would recommend? |
I think the cure might be to leave Audiogon for a while. The more I'm on here, the more I'm thinking about the sonic presentation. Sitting here right now with Sterndale Bennett Piano Concerto #1 (Lyrita), telling myself to focus on the music (haven't played the CD for ever) vs. the soundstage, pretty good, and the relative image/volume of the piano relative to the orchestra behind it, which is a bit big. It's only half working... )-; |
Thanks for the recommendations. Sitting here checking them out while listening to the wonderful Danil Trifonov and the Etudes d'Execution Transcendante. Splendid pianism. |
After Christmas, I do indeed feel like twoleftEATS.
So, of the five Sterndale Bennett concertos, the vote goes to #4.
Curiously, the recording I have isn't on Hyperion but Unicorn-Kanchana. The pianist is well known to me, Malcolm Binns, but I was surprised to find the rousing accompaniment was provided by none other than the Milton Keynes Chamber Orchestra (!!!). This may be lost on those of you (the fortunate) who have never been to Milton Keynes. Fine recording too, full bodied and very present, though the solo piano in the filler Fantasia could sound a little tinny in places, likely the fault of the instrument itself, as the recording seems otherwise very faithful.
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You’ll be missed, but may be the healthiest move.
Over here, REALLY enjoying Litolff, Concerto Symphonique #2 and #4, Peter Donohoe, on, of course, Hyperion. Stirring stuff.
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My travels down the byways of 19C pianism have led this afternoon to a couple of concert pieces by Raff. Not going to change the world, but worth a listen... |
Who knew that Franck wrote piano concertoS? Listening to #2 right now; very lyrical. |
Listened to an Anton Rubinstein concerto yesterday, no. 5 I think, not unpleasant but florid and generally a bit OTT.
Next up today is Brahms' #1, and the contrast isn't even funny. B. is ten powers superior in every way. Still, listening to some second-string composers now and again reminds one of why the greats are the greats.
The classic Gilels recording, never sounding better on my system at the point now to which it has evolved. At a really moderate volume I nearly jumped out of my seat with that first chord.
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After a major hiatus [aka work] I resumed my survey. Right now Saint-Saens piano concerto #1. First movement very showy, flowery, second movement didn't really seem to know where it was going. |
Hamelin's splendid new disc of Listz/Thalberg opera transcriptions and fantasies. Listen to those fingers fly! |
Well, when the composer calls for hemidemisemiquavers, it's nice to have a pianist who can actually execute them both correctly and artistically. |
No. 2 seems much more put together, if still very "virtuoso" in style. I'm really enjoying Cecile Licad's playing, beautifully delicate in the quieter passages, accompanied by Mr Previn. |
@pete23 I strongly recommend Mahler 4 as the gateway drug to Mahler fanaticism. Thereafter the world's your oyster: 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10. There are passages in all that will test a system. |
I was actually introduced via the Second; the classic Solti Chicago SO on vinyl is imprinted on my teenage memory patterns. After I got to know all ten, it just seems to me that the Fourth captures a lot of the mature Mahler and is at the same time highly approachable. I agree that the First is also approachable, but parts of it still sound a little as if written by a Mahler still learning the craft. I have multiple, multiple recordings of all except of 7 and 8--one each I think. I never even remotely warmed to 8. 7 I never understood, and apparently I still don't. To me it just doesn't seem to move beyond anything that he achieved in 2, 3, 5, 6. Kind of drab or not really knowing where it's going. He's back on form in a big way in 9. And there are some excellent completions of 10. |
Hey, what about Bolet? I have a few recordings of him that I really like. |
The full glory that is Martha Argerich in Tchaikovsky #1, that never sounded better than on the latest iteration of my system (hint: GIK). |
Liking #2 as I write, still on first movement. Listening to the Donohoe/Barshai EMI recording, which seems very good. An excellent breadth and depth of soundstage, and seems to get the balance between piano and orchestra just right, which many piano concerto recordings don't (generally spotlighting the soloist). |
So what's up with Tchaikovsky #3? Will some piano expert explain it to me? It just sounds so anomalous (and to my ears, wrong), after #1. |
Richter--Dvorak. Wow!! These older recordings can sound truly excellent. Not only great piano playing, but I'm focusing even more on the fabulous wide, deep, full measure sound stage. Not only a great performance but a great recording. |
Who knew that Massenet wrote a piano concerto? Clearly I'd forgotten, as I have the Hyperion CD. I'm enjoying it enormously; it is a bit all over the place, musically speaking, but enjoyable nonetheless, and the recording is splendid. |
Teed up for this afternoon is Ignaz Brull. Thank you, Hyperion! Concerto #1 kind of ho-hum. Some nice moments in the slow movement. The separate Andante rather better. Now the opening of #2 is quite stirring.
And here's a related general observation, FWIW. I see clearly that my collecting (CDs) and listening is primarily repertoire based. Certainly, performers matter a great deal, but I look at the performers once I'm looking for recordings of a particular piece. Looking at posts on this thread, it seems as if most others take the opposite approach: they have a bunch of favorite performers, and repertoire comes second (different repertoires are what certain performers specialize in). Discuss??
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Scharwenka anyone? Excellent! Everything you want in a 19C concerto. Drama, emotion, virtuosity, etc. Currently on #2, shares disc with #3. Then on to 1 and 4 on Hyperion. |
Scharwenka #1. Some really extraordinary pianism from Hamelin, especially in the third movement. I'm really surprised that these 4 are not more popular. |
A hearty endorsement for the O'Conor/Telarc set. They are my go-to option. Perhaps there are more inspired performances, but the combination of very good performance and excellent piano sound is pretty much unbeatable. I often use them when auditioning possible new speakers. |
The O'Conor Field nocturnes are great, and distinctly superior to the O'Rourke version. |
The exquisite Brahms Opp. 117, 118, 119. Nicholas Angelich is a pianist new to me, but I'm impressed. |
Stanford Piano Concerto #2. Margaret Fingerhut. There are some *exquisite* moments in the quieter passages of movement 1, and movement 2 is delightful. |
I think Martin has recorded more Alkan than any other composer, so in my book that’s a feather in his cap. I noticed a Mompou disk that should be investigated. BTW, any strong Mompou recommendations?
On the strength of her Schubert recital, I got Buniatishvili’s Liszt disc. The lyrical passages are splendid; I wonder if the contrasts between the slow, delicate, pp passages, and the faster, boisterous ff passages are a bit overdone. Jury is still out on that one.
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I finally acquired and played the Reference Recordings Copland disk, recommended here or on another thread, and yes, it is remarkable: soundstage and bass are both superlative. |
