Classical Music for Aficionados

Watching video of Arrau 80th birthday recital.It does not get any better than this!

Piano Lessons with Claudio Arrau: A Guide to His Philosophy and TechniquesBy Victoria A. von Arx https://books.google.com/books?id=iy7nAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=arrau+80th+birthday+r...

Next up: Europa Galante (Fabio Biondi), "Invenzione e stravaganze", with pieces by Farina, Uccellini, Legrenzi, Mazzaferrata, Vitali, Falconieri, Marini and Rossi.
Europa Galante is one of my favorite ensembles specializing in this period, and there is some wonderfully different music here (including several surprises and some humor), beautifully played.

Schubert,

I just listened to the Barbirolli recording of Vaughan-Williams 2nd Symphony.
I also do like it better than the Handley.

For another great version of the Goldberg Variations, try the one recorded by the Canadian Brass.  Definitely my favorite recording of theirs. 

Nice to hear that rv.  He was a very good conductor but the magic was the love the Halle had for him and he for them . They knew what he wanted and went all-out to give it to him .

learsfool , I have heard that several times and it is a joy to hear .
Have you heard the other great one out of Canada ,Kenneth Gilbert on harpsichord ?Gilbert says in the liner notes that he sees it as Bach's "Art of the Dance .
He makes a solid case for that in terms I would think any serious pro musician would like to read .Ever for the likes of me I thought the liner notes alone were worth the costof harmoniamundi  HMX2951240 .
Wouldn't be surprised if Canadian Brass  knew of his thoughts .

@schubert     Len I can really put you onto an "Art of The Dance" in Heinrich Schiff doing The Cello Sonatas of JS they are absoloutely joyfull and the first one is a delight from start to finish. No he doesn't have the polished perfection of Founier but he puts sheer and utter joy into them .Well worth a listen.

@jcazador         Jeremy  I enjoyed those links you posted of Arrau they were very informative and gave us an insight to his sound which was wonderfull. I was really amazed how a man of 80 could keep his techniquein such good shape. I think I have said this already but I went down to London just to hear him play  Beethovens last three piano sonatas. I have to say that His sound from the piano was absoloutely unique and his recorded sound could never give us what he gave in live performances. I think it must have been the eighties that I went as my daughter was just a baby then. The little Op.109 sonata I have never heard anything like it, such an organic sound it makes you never want to hear anyone else play them.

I heard Arrau live 4-5 times , left me wanting no other .

I had the Schiff cello sonatas and you are spot on jim.
These days i do listen to the profoundly of Fournier because he relaxes me .A great one by Maria Kliegel playing a Strad cello On Naxos seems near flawless to me . Like everything recorded in Budapest , ditto for the sound .

I don’t recall hearing the suites in person , but for me the greatest recording is Anner Blylsma on period instrument .

Yes Jim, we both love Arrau.
For me it goes beyond his music, I love his attitude toward life, his curiosity, his priorities, his mild manner.
I appreciate his love, loyalty and honor for his wife and family.
When he walks onto a stage he hears the applause and he smiles as if to say "OK, I will take you there".
No showboating, no elaborate gesturing, just the real deal.
I was considering replacing my upright with a grand, then I saw pictures of Arrau practicing on an upright, and I realized that I already have more than I need (an old cheap Yamaha U1 that once had termites, and has a wonderful sound and touch, well tuned and regulated).

I just recalled an interview of Arrau I heard on German TV  that has stuck with me . He was outspoken !

Exact words escape me but this is about it." In Music you have to give all you have in every performance . That's why Masur is a great conductor and Fisher-Dieskau  is not a great singer."   

That is/was nothing short of heresy in Germany .

Here's another winner from Andrew Manze and Romanesca: Biagio Marini "Curiose & Moderne Inventioni".  And that's not really bragging on Marini's part: it's with him that the exploration and risk-taking starts that makes the stylus phantasticus as appealing as it is.
Also: both of these Romanesca discs have really excellent recording quality.

@schubert     Len you really suprise me about Arrau . I was led to believe from his autobiography form Josef Horowitz thet he revered Fischer-Deskau more than any other vocalist . I am quite perturbed therefore thet you should have heard that from his own lips in fact the authourities  were going to present him with either the Schumann medal or The Philharmonia Societies gold medal when he took ill. He was rushed to hospital but unfortunately didn't make it. And due to his admiration for both Masur and Fischer-Deskau they managed to ship in Fischer- Deskau to make the presentation to him but sadly too late.

Everyone says things they don't really mean for various reasons at various times .If I knew what you do, I would not have posted it .

Mea Culpa .

Bach is about counterpoint .

https://youtu.be/b7dTIoaRT40

So true, @schubert. For the most mind-blowing counterpoint you've ever heard, give a listen to JSB's Concerto For 4 Harpsichords And Orchestra. Don't listen while operating heavy machinery, as you WILL get high. 

I don't know if anyone shares my liking for 17C music composed largely prior to the likes of Corelli, Purcell, Telemann, Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, et al., but here's another excellent disc from an ensemble new to me: Ensemble Clematis, made up apparently of Spanish, Italian and French young players.  Carlo Farina, Capriccio stravagante & Sonata, is delightful.

Also, if you want to hear what an innovative violinist/composer was up to as to 1626, try the somewhat famous Capriccio stravagante--ear and eye opening.

I do ,all you mention and many more . People , most of all Americans  , think  things just progress as time goes bye , Not so. .
Try Handel's Airs , sinfonias and instrumental music with Andreas Scholl and the Berlin Akademie Fur Al Alte Musik . Stunning !
Try Josquin Desprez  on anything .

Now listening
Martha Argerich and Sergei Babayan, Prokofiev For Two
Romeo and Juliet, Eugene Onegin, Hamlet, Queen of Spades, War and Peace
Superb!
Includes great picture of them at their Fabrini/Steinway pianos.
on DG

With Uccellini you really begin to get into the "meat and potatoes" of the "stil moderno" / "stylus phantastics" that leads all the way to Biber and beyond.  Romanesca is again fully up to the job on these delighful Sonatas

Now listening
Martha Argerich and Sergei Babayan, Prokofiev For Two
Romeo and Juliet, Eugene Onegin, Hamlet, Queen of Spades, War and Peace
Superb!

It’s beyond superb. It’s one of the best recordings I’ve ever heard, and one of very very few that sounds like a piano (or in this case, two pianos).

To any who admire piano gymnastics, you have to hear Gyorgy Cziffra play.
Born in the ‘20’s and died in the 90’s, he is perhaps the purist technician I have heard. Whistle clean playing of even the most diabolical pianistic challenges, he amazes.
Idagio has a good collection of his playing.

and now it's
Martha Argerich and Lilya Zilberstein playing Rachmaninov
Suite No. 1 Op. 5 for two Pianos
Incredible.
This is CD 4 (of 6 CDs) from Martha Argerich Edition Solos and Duos
on EMI
Everyone wants to play with Martha!

Antonio Bertali, "Sonate Festive", performed by Musica Fiata.

The usual smallish Baroque ensemble (violins, continuo, etc.) is supplemented here by trombones, bass trombone, and dulcian, and the range of sonorities on this disk is remarkable.

A breathtakingly beautiful recording of various Bertali sonatas, superbly performed by a youngish US based early music ensemble, ACRONYM.
They were new to me, but no longer, and I have four more of their CDs in my sights.  BTW, the recording is excellent too.  As good as the previous recommendation was, this leaves it in the dust--and there is little overlap in the pieces recorded.

I don't understand why music like Schmelzer's Sonatae unarum fidium isn't more popular.  I find it delightful and sometimes really exciting.  Especially in the hands of Andrew Manze and Romanesca.  Looking forward to comparing this recording with John Holloway's tomorrow.

Time just stopped.
Listening to John Ogdon, Rachmaninov, Etudes-Tableaux
Can be heard here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srSUS4zS5UY

Jacazador,

Thank you so much for that recommendation.
Rachmaninoff magic!

Normally I am more interested in pieces of music and less interested in who is performing. But there are exceptions. Last December I saw one of the most remarkable and memorable recitals of my concert-going career. It was a violin and piano duo consisting of violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and pianist Polina Leschenko.

I had purchased the tickets because I had seen the amazing Kopatchinskaja before and I wasn’t going to miss a chance to see her again, and she delivered the goods at this concert. But the most amazing thing about this concert was that both performers exhibit incredible virtuosity and both have energetic performing styles. Often the piano accompaniment to a singer or instrumental soloist is stolid and supporting. Not in this concert. Both performers were egging each other on and raising the roof as they went about it.

The program consisted of a Poulenc sonata, the famous waltz from Delibes’ Coppélia, the 1922 Bartok sonata, and Ravel’s Tzigane. Fortunately for everyone who was not at that recital, or the others in the tour, Kopatchinskaja and Leschenko were plugging their new CD. Which anyone can buy.

Here is a pretty good review of the CD
http://myscena.org/norman-lebrecht/patricia-kopatchinskaja-polina-leschenkos-deux-ingenious-exhilarating/

A cd to dying for because of sound and interpretation in the "Tube Only" collection of Tacet :

https://www.amazon.ca/Vivaldi-Tacets-Four-Seasons-Tacet/dp/B019GLKZE4

Here's another CD I really have to recommend.  I don't know if it's available over streaming, as it appears to be one those more cottage-industry, limited edition, independent types of production.

It's titled Phantasia Musica. Violin Music of the 17th Century, and contains works from around the time of Biber (though not Biber himself).  All of them are extraordinary, some culled from unique manuscript sources.

The leader, Antoinette Lohmann, plays superbly, the rest of the consort is just as good, and the recording is splendid.  This is that kind of achingly beautiful chamber music, gorgeously dissonant at moments, here performed with extraordinary expressivity.

If you're into Biber's mystery sonatas, this is a must-have.

Just discovered these on you-tube. All are excellent and the camera work puts you right in the hall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEFceMhcyns&list=PL764FC1C2B52AEC62&index=8

Maybe some of you have not seen and heard them before.

Cheers

The next high point: Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli's sonatas, performed by Andrew Manze and Richard Egarr.  Extraordinary music, vigorously rendered.  It is understandable how influential it was in the later 17C.

After being blown away by the first disc I heard by ACRONYM, of Bertali's sonatas, I immediately ordered some more of their recordings, and the first in, of Valentini (entitled Oddities and Trifles) in no way disappoints.  This is lively, exuberant playing in a full, sonorous space.  Thoroughly enjoyable.

Another Argerich duo gem
Rachmaninov Suites No1 and 2
with Lilya Zilberstein
Martha Argerich Edition, Solos and Duos, on EMI 0 94944 2

I take it all back
Some time ago I wrote that I preferred Bach on piano rather than harpsichord.  But now listening to Gustav Leonhardt play the English Suites, my opinion has changed.
I think Arrau said he had quit playing Bach on piano because it was better on harpsichord.  But I don't think he ever recorded it.

Having played through a few recordings that were pleasant but unexceptional, here's another one more than worth mentioning: Ignazio Albertini's Sonatas, performed by Helene Schmitt et al.  Albertini is right up there with Schmelzer, Uccelini, Pandolfi, Walther, Viviani and Biber.  Excellent recording, with nice variation between sonatas of violin + theorbo and organ and violin + harpsichord.  On another of these "small" labels, Alpha.

@jcazador      Jeremy I have just read your post about Arrau and Bach.
Having famously said he deferred to the harpsichordists when it came to playing him he unfortunately relented and recorded some Bach before he died. Well it is sad to see ones heroes fail before your ears and I listened to him trying to play the partitas. I couldn't get by no 2 in B flat major as I was horrified to hear a man in his late eighties stumbling through them. I HAVE HEARD 2ND YEAR STUDENTS PLAY BETTER. Surely it was up to the recording company to hold it back and not release it as it sounds nothing like him. I am glad that Brendel retired when he did as he thought he wasn't playing as good as he once did, I really admire him for that.

Brendel is among the most intellectual musicians alive .

I really enjoyed his tomes ,"Alfred Brendel On Music" and " Music , Sense and Nonsense"  .

Yes, Brendel made admirable decision to quit playing piano in public, but succeeded as conductor.
Richter suffered depression from his infirmity.  He suffered changes in his hearing that altered his perception of pitch.  Died at 82.

Opera lovers, you really must read this article and gaze at the set designs by Maurice Sendak, including for Magic Flute.
Blake's influence very clear.
If you are in NYC, go see the exhibition at Morgan Library.
https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2019/08/29/maurice-sendak-center-stage/

Interesting jcazador, thanks .

Richter

I think it was Jim who mentioned that most Richter recordings are technically below par.  So I wanted to steer you to a set by Richter that is exceptional.  It was published by Phillips, and is titled "The Essential Richter", consisting of 5 cds, and yes there is an audience, but their noise is downmixed to inoffensive. 
It is available at Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Richter-Sviatoslav/dp/B0000262ZN

Jeremy - Thanks for your info on the Richter CD's but as I don't buy any CD's nowadays I shall wait till it comes out on Idagio and sample it there. While on the subject of pianists can I recommend one to you , his name is Ivan Bessonov and we are going to hear a lot from him in the future. Think if you will a young Pollini and mix in a bit of Perahia and I think you have a wizard of a pianist. At the moment I am totally hooked on him and when these recordings were made he was only 16 !!!! . It is an all Chopin disc with three compositions of his own thrown in . On his original stuff I would think Chopin , Alkan and Scriabin without any atonal writing which all todays composers feel they have to do to get anywhere ( WELL I HATE IT ).