Litton is a favorite of mine , seen him several times in Mpls .
I’m not questioning the greatness of Bernstein , I just didn’t like his , in fact hated his, histrionically .
As a musician you can comment on this . I could not see how anyone could follow his MANY superfluous gestures and grimaces without studying tape on him 3 hours a day or rehearsing ten times the average .
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I have been a great fan of Schumann since the 60’s when I first discovered Classical Music and also think his Konzertstuck is one of his finest .
I was VERY lucky to hear Hermann Baumann play it with the Leipzig Gewandhauss under Masur . One of the greatest artists I have ever heard live ! As good as it gets .I also heard Corigliano’s Oboe Cnt . played by the Minnesota live on FM ,
and like everything he does , it is very good .
I have wondered several times what happened to learsfool, esp. re this thread . I have no doubt that along with frogman and rvp he is the the best Musician on here .
My very favorite of all wind pieces is Carl Nielsen’s "Wind Quintet Op 43" . There is a wonderful recording on Nimbus with the Vienna Quintet which also has a fine Hindemith " Klein Kammermusik" .Nielsen’s " Clarinet Concerto" Op.57 is also very compelling, a fine recording with Frost and the Lahti Symphony is on BIS 1463 in very good sound as well .Nielsen, like Hindemith , is grossly underplayed ,at least in US .
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learsfool, I assume they were from the Gewandhaus , Baumann did a solo piece but can’t remember what it was . Was a long time ago and my brain is 85 .
I can just say that the two wind players than made the greatest impression
on me live are Baumann and Heinz Holliger, who was so good it was hard to believe he was human .
Of course every wind quintet has Op43 as a staple , but they are few enough that I have never heard it live.
My favorite band is the Gewandhaus , has been since Masur. God willing. I’m making my last trip to my beloved Germany in Oct. to hear them play the the Mahler 1 and some Tchaikovsky.. Andris Nelsons has them playing very well as did Chailly before him . 53 Euros for center right ticket to Heaven ! Lufthansa is a bit more .
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And your last paragraph is wisdom itself , learsfool .
I operated like that for many decades , have heard Schubert Octet many times , no doubt my own fault for not hearing Op43 .
I live in Twin Cities , did live in Berlin for over 20 .The two metros have almost exactly the same population and area .
Believe it or not, there is, excluding opera, more quality classical music
here than in Berlin. Perhaps more choir music here than anywhere in the world .
And there are several halls with acoustics better than anywhere in Berlin .But , in my dotage I’m lucky to make 3 concerts a month , down from 3 a week for decades .
I don’t say all this as a homer either , St.Paul is a place I live , Berlin is a place I love, and, were it possible, where I would live .
P.S. I’m with Brahms .
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To me Brahms, as a person , is the most interesting of all the great composers , I have read most of what has been written about him in English and some in German.He felt music was going the wrong way and when I read his reasons why , I agreed .
I believe we all look at things from our situation in life, a musician like yourself sees one thing , an historian like myself sees something else.Small poor example, first time I read of teen-age Brahms playing in cafes on Album notes
I knew at once that their were no cafes in Hamburg dock side area, at that time the biggest harbor in the world .What there was were a plethora of low-down brothels as nasty as there were on the planet .No wonder Clara Schumann , misogamy etc.I’m anti-Wagner because the most famous man In Germany wrote more hyper anti-Semitic pieces that he did music. Historians I studied under were the best in Germany, they drew a straight-line from him to Hitler .He is the only composer I abhor .
I imagine than when a skilled musician sees some thing in Music they judge ,the music as music alone .A historian might be prone to look at its effect in general as that is his skill . Of course , the musician knows more in his realm ,
what you correctly see as a fabulous twist in , say Mahler, I might hear as a dog chasing his tail
P.S . I don't know the bloggers name as I never heard of him .
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I can not imagine any artist whose art is worth six million lives period !I think artists that can pass it by today are as morally deficient as the vast majority of same who kowtowed to Hitler .More so really in that their lives are not in danger .
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Dinna fash yersel laddy , yer nae the first that said that. To me its either six or a half-dozen . Here's one we all believe. This one of the finest souls ever born in Scotia . Video is not the best, but I chose this one because the Hall is nae 5 miles from where I sit right now . https://youtu.be/3UrzYCG0_-M?t=2 |
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You got that right rv. !
I always steer people to the 6,7 ,8 masterpieces whether they have listened to Classical fifty years or fifty minutes !
As a religious person I have always thought the cherry on the top for
Hayden was/is his piety . His church music is better than Mozart’s
and IMO right up there with Bach's Passions , at least for a believer .
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To my hears the greatest rendering of "Symphonic Dances "Is on DG 477 9505 with the Russian National Orch
with Pletnev, It’s in a 4 CD of all his Symphonies which are Russian to the
core , ending of the Dances is an explosion !
A simple one CD is Ashkenazy with the great acoustics of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw .
IMO Rachmaninov’s greatest work is his Vespers Op 37.
A fantastic recording is HM Chant du Monde RUS 788050 St.Petersburg Capella , Chernuchenko
The perfection of the ensemble and blend of the sheer beauty of tone is beyond words .
There are many , many Russian choral works but in Russia itself THIS is considered the greatest of them all !
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newbee . I’l look for the Estonian , a very musical tongue in all they do.Say hello to Avro Part for me .
Though I almost always go to Russians on Russian Music .
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I listen to Classical Music because it lifts up my heart and soul in a way that nothing else does . I have ZERO doubt if I had not just
stumbled into it, I would be a FAR worst person than the sinner I am still.
It is what it is , the Greatest Achievement of Western Civilization .I know it , I say it and will till the day I die !Educated and not so educated folks in every corner of the world also know this , try and get a Symphonic ticket in Tokyo .
Of course good sound is nice but is secondary at the end of the day unless you vomit .
I’ve heard of the Ormandy, I shall look again .
P.S . the opinion of a first class musician is scarcely a rant .
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Stumbled upon a stunning Barber Knoxville 1915 done with British Chamber Orch. without baton no less , Won’t get better than these great musicians ! Literally took my breath away . A masterpiece in all its glory . https://youtu.be/PQzaFJZ8CuE?t=3 |
Everything from Barber is a must ! As is the Great American novel "A Death in the Family" by James Agee from which this poem comes . https://youtu.be/RF05F0Sc4dw?t=4 |
My mind can’t get past Ivan Moravec .
And the older my mind gets the more it loves Brahms .
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Here are the missing parts ,the intellect and study to know where the master was going and the heart, soul, and humility to travel that path . https://youtu.be/wNV5I1Polws?t=1Perfect ! |
I can’t argue with you Jim, or newbee either .
I listened to Katchen and Lupu and they and Moravec all sound similar to me.But then, piano is not really my wheelhouse .
Just something about Moravec I like a tad better. I see Brahms when he plays ,
Perhaps it’s because I love the piano music of Leos Janacek as well , where he excels . |
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Glad you liked him , Jim .
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One of the greatest pianists I have heard in person who is all but forgotten, Is the American John Browning, born in Denver in 1933 .
Truth be told , I had all but forgotten him myself till I found a mint recording
by him yesterday at Goodwill .Ravel: Concerto in D for the Left Hand and Prokofiev : Concerto No 3 in C .Seraphim/ S- 60224 / Erich Leinsdorf / Philharmonia Orch .
FWIW , only others I have heard live that impressed me as much were Claudio Arau , Radu Lupu ., Mitsuko Uchida and Brendel .
And strickly for Haydn, Angela Hewitt ,who cemented my feeling that the Haydn piano works are played far less than they should be .
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Wagner was the most known of any German in the world the day he died
and the huge amount of the vile anti- Jewish hate speech he wrote is not
forgotten to this day .
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Jim204, According to my Glaswegian grandmother Glasgow is not in the UK , barely in Scotland !I’m over 80 and she was over 90 when she passed , a Gorbals lass with
a 2nd grade education who was the wisest person I have ever known.
Scotland Forever !
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Jim ,If I get weary with age I just put my Black Watch band LP’s on and the pipes
rile up my Scottish blood . Also because my great grandfather, a piper ,took the
high-road with them in 1915 .
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If I was running the world I'd turn the clock back a bit and have Kissin playSchubert's Fantasia in F mi.D.940 with Perahia and then Lupu just to see
if there is anything beyond perfection .
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FWIW, the most loved piano LP I have left is the Great Ivan Moravec playing the Mozart 25th Concerto with what has always has been a top Mozartian Orchestra , the Czech Philharmonic.In many places the piano and the orchestra sound like one
and that instrument , to my ears, is a great soprano at her peak .
My copy is a Vanguard-Supraphone SU-11 , I just bought the last LP on Amazon , not for me but for gifting to someone who loves LP’s .
Amazon has many streams of this to include the original Supraphone .There was one CD of it on A-zon but at 2200 $$ , I dinnae check that out . Of course on Amazon there could be another LP tomorrow .
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Well Jim , it’s a happy day when I see Strathclyde took London Imperial
down in the BBC Uni challenge .
And a bad one when I see Sturgeon fair in tears as she watches the fools swally their lives away with the pubs opening .
Oh well , as my Gorbels Granny used to say (if memory serves ) ,
"It’s a lang road that’s no goat a turnin "
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Thanks rv.
I saw her in Montreal, when the Montreal was the equal of any
Orchestra, playing the Brahms . She was beyond a great artist , she was Music itself .
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Ah, try"" Nessun dorma"" stupid .
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Socially this is the most important post ever on here , The first clip he is refers to is "Neese Dorma." And we send black kids to rat-ridden falling down schools with teachers who can’t teach . https://youtu.be/d-utPde8ckw?t=5 |
I just got the new Hough Brahms CD , will play it this evening .Bought it on review in Gramophone.
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A great rendition of the Schumann Cello Concerto, which I love, is the
du Pre/ Barenboim on various Angel/EMI LP’s . CD’s don’t do it justice IMO.
My fav is AngelS-36642 because it’s paired with the Saint-Saens Cello Op.33 . One of du Pre’s most charming efforts which is saying a lot .
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My favorite is whatever Schubert or Schumann is closest at hand .That said , here is 3 of the best seldom mentioned .
From a great not noted for his Schubert, Rubinstein with Wander Fantasia
in C and the great sonata D.960 with a few Impromptus thrown in .RCA 63054-2
Kempff on DG 459 412-2 another of the great D. 960 with the most
Germanic rendition possible of the Impromptus and Moments musicaux D.780
IMO one of Brendal’s best was Schumann on Phillips 434 732-2
in very good sound which he did not always get .Fantasiestucke Op.12 . Kinderszenen Op.15 and a near perfect Kreisleriana Op 16 .
I take that back, it is perfect ! |
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Jim, When you went to hear Brendel play Scubert, you got Schubert, with many you got/get them . The "heavenly lengths" bit came from Schumann in reference to the Great C major Symphony .
Few musicians were/are as learned as Brendel .I’ll look for the Arau.I had it once .
I saw a clip with Rubinstein saying the adagio to Schubert’s Quintet in C,d.956 , is the most beautiful music ever written .Lot of folks like Schubert because he wrote so many melodic " little pieces" . True enough, but according to Brahms anyway, everyone was a masterpiece .At 2 am this morning our local BBC 3 played both sides of a new Hyperion CD with Steven Isserlis on Cello,Denes Varjon on pf .One side was the Chopin Cello Sonata Op.65, the other Schubert's Arpeggione SonataD.821 .
I doubt anyone could walk away from this great recording with any opinion other than both pieces are masterworks .
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If any of you streamers want to hear perfection try Ivan Moravec, Mozart Fantasy in C minor for Piano on Supraphon .
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While the rest of the world listens to Michael Jackson singing Rudolph the Red Nose , we classical fans have a huge choice of music that actually
does celebrate the Birth of Christ .
My personal favorite is a great that doesn't seem to get much attention these days , Michael Praetorius . Pick up anything that says Praetorius and Christmas and you can't go wrong .Couple of my go-to are, Christmas Music: Hyperion CDA 66200Westminster Cathedral Ch. , Parley of Instruments , Hill .
Renaissance Christmas Music , BIS CD 1035 , Viva Voce .Of course with Hyperion and BIS the sound will be good .
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Every time I hear a young composer expound upon composition , and I hear or read a lot of them, I come away with the same conclusion .
People who grow up in a rock culture simply rarely make good instrumental composers of classical music .
I was in a famous French philosopher’s class once upon a time .She said , "There will never be another Mozart. No one growing up in a modern society can ever have the concentration of mind available to him in the 1700’s ." Stuck in my mind for last 50 years .
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One reason I bought a pre-amp with a phase switch .
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T1arhfVE1oThis is not Classical music per se but it is considered one of the greatest American military march’s and is played world wide as music for musics sake . I often heard it in Japan and Germany . The reason I am linking it is this rendition is done by a big band of German teens . I didn’t think this level was possible by any teens ! P.S. Bernstein and NY Phil . recorded it as well . |
I heard Ms. Cooper play Brahms and Haydn live last year in the superb acoustics of Macalester College music hall in St.Paul .A VERY powerful player and a very fine artist !
I have noticed people seem to appreciate Brahms later in life as he is not as bombastic and is more refined
than most of the other great composers .
But once the veil is lifted his greatness just grows and grows on you .
rvp, a dose of Schumann AND Holliger could raise the dead !
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Kurt Mazur , often gave little speeches before down-beat with the Gewandhaus . My favorite was Schubert-Schumann -Brahms were
the greatest move forward in Germanic Music .
I would not say Holliger is the greatest Musician alive but would say nobody's any better , (bow towards Korea ) .
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Certainly plays for the Great One and not herself ! He’s one I’ve listen to a lot , comments over the two would be welcome. Piano is not my wheelhouse , I argue over String Qt. https://youtu.be/RjXZYBbrBDk?t=3 |
Amen to that !The Gardiner's set is the go-to set of the Cantatas , I have some of it but my complete set is Rilling because it was available in vinyl .
Every morning for the last twenty years I start the day with a cup of coffee
and a Bach Cantata . I honestly believe this is a major factor in me livingto be as old as I am .
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Thanks learsfool, I did not know that about Casals !
I'm in great company .
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Oh, each and every Bach lover should read Gardiner's 2014,600 page, tome on Bach , "Music in The Castle of Heaven " . Beyond doubt the most masterful book on the Master written in English . A fabulous read !
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