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@ei001h Currentzis T6 is an adrenalin-rush, the musical equivalent of white-water rafting. I was so carried along/carried away by it, I didn’t really notice those features you mentioned. All that being said, I certainly wouldn’t want it to be the only T6 in my collection...but it’s sure nice to have. |
Currentzis’ Mahler 6th ain't bad either. |
Rachmaninov: Concerto Elegiaque for Piano and Orchestra, orch. Kogosowski.
Premier recording by Jarvi with Detroit SO.
Quite good and very interesting. Worth a listen.
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Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata slow movement (3rd movement:)
music shouldnt be this beautiful. |
I am listening to "Piano Trio by Schumann op63" played by Arthur Rubinstein, Pierre Fournier and Henry Szering
through Sennheiser HD 800S headphone driven by Chord Dave and Mscaler.
It sounds very intimate through headphone than speaker. |
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Recently went to a recital of the up-and-coming Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko. Blazing technique, but lacking a little bit of heart, I thought. His way with a Mozart Fantasia was quite analytical, pulling it apart. Most at home and best in the Godowsky/Chopin Studies/Etudes, with displays of quite extraordinary pianism. His left hand sounds like a minimum of other people's two (or three!). I will admit that at one juncture I turned on the inner audiophile and listened to the sound qua sound. I was sitting quite close. The nouns that occurred to me were body, immediacy, and clarity, not necessarily in that order. His bass fortissimos were resounding. The treble was interesting. The notes could cut through the overall sound envelope, but yet they were never astringent, just striking. I think that this is a tightrope act that not all audio systems (or recordings?) pull off. |
I am very impressed with the young Russian pianists of the last twenty years Kissin not withstanding . I find them to be awesome technicians with dynamic contrasts that really stagger in their volume. My young Russians now are, Trifonov , Volodin , Sudbin , Kolestnikov ( a poet ) and most of all Volodos ( superlatives are not enough for him but will have to do . If you want to hear pure poetry listen to his new release of Schubert's Great A Major Sonata D959.
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Watching a film "Andrei Gavrilov Plays Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich" featuring Gideon Kremer on violin in some of the performances. There is a lot of talk/explanation about the music and the composers.
The role of host is played by Michael Berkeley.
Incredibly good, informative.
There is also bonus short film "Russian Vunkerkins" by Irene Langemann.
Highly recommended.
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excuse methe title of the movie is "Andrei Gavrilov Plays Prokofiev, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich" (NOT Tchaikovsky, but he plays some Tchaikovsky too, and discusses the man as well as his music.)
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Jim
Re Volodos
Listening again to Volodos in Vienna
The Scriabin Prelude Op 37 is exquisite!
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Jeremy , I'm afraid I am quite spoilt when I'm listening to Volodos as he turns everything he plays to gold and I don't want to listen to others in the same repertoire. Re his two Schubert discs he has put his awesome technique to really illuminate the sonatas. My go to man for Schubert used to be Andras Schiff, but he really does pale into insignificance now so much so that I am wishing Volodos would record all the Schubert sonatas. |
If you can find Volodos’ arrangement for piano (and performance) of the slow movement of Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata you’ll find heaven. I’ll try to find it and post it. Here it is: https://youtu.be/WFM6vwUoZiI |
Thanks RV and Jim,
I have the Schubert cds, and will listen to the Cello Sonata.
Also love Volodos recording of Rachmaninov Etude-Tableauon the Carnegie Hall cd.
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Richter plays Schubert live in Moscow. A 10 hour marathon of Schubert's sonatas. I fell asleep with my headphones. Surprisingly good sonics for such an old recording. Has anyone heard this set?
Jcazador: I enjoyed gavrilov film on youtube, thank you. |
eiOO1
I have a collection of Richter playing Schubert Sonatas, part of BBC Legendsseries. And another Richter Schubert collection that includes two sonatas and the Huttenbrenner Variations. I think these must be different recordings than the ones you mention. They are excellent. I really love Richter!
When I watched the Volodos Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata on Youtube I was struck with a similarity between Volodos and Richter, i.e., their facial expressions and appearance at the keyboard. They are both playing for themselves, not putting on a show for an audience. I appreciate that.
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The set I’m referring to is on Tidal. It’s different than the 1979 BBC recording. https://www.amazon.com/Richter-Plays-Schubert-Live-Moscow/dp/B074511WM8/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=richter+...I thought this review was accurate This is pure Desert Island paradise! A set to listen to for eternity. Richter offers endless riches that will leave you enthralled and wanting to come back for more and more every day. As a Schubertian of time-honored service, his Moscow interpretations offer profound spiritual insights, practically note-perfect playing, and the contemplative concentration of a true master. There are lots of virtuoso flashes, but always to illuminate and probe the depths of Schubert’s genius. Richter’s Schubert is both serious and affectionate, charming by example, with urgent purpose, but without grandstanding. The persuasive power of his giant technique coupled with wisdom, precision, and restraint where required make this generous presentation of a Moscow string of recitals a model listening experience. The audiences are for the most part well-behaved, despite the occasional coughs, sighs, and applause, which are thankfully kept way in the background. Unlike many of Richter’s earliest Schubert recordings, these are not the primitive, muffled stock that typified Soviet postwar and 1950’s grammophone technology. The notes come through clearly, and although it may lack the ultimate 21st century acoustic refinement, the ear quickly accepts the monaural sound to enable easy listening to the more than 9 hours of musical enchantment. I don’t believe I have ever heard these Moscow performances until this release. Several of the sonatas here get multiple performances, but that does not seem bothersome, since the artist is always offering something new and fascinating to say. Schubert-playing by Brendel, Pollini, Curzon, Schiff, Perahia, and others certainly cannot be totally dismissed by this collection. But don’t hesitate about taking in Richter’s encore performances of Sonatas No. 6, 13, 15, 21, and the grand Wanderer Fantasy (which he also recorded for EMI in stereo back in the early 1960’s). This current Profil 10-CD set presents a consistently engineered collection of refined performances that include most of the Impromptus, Moments Musicaux, familiar waltzes, and ländlers, as well as duplicate performances of Schubert’s 3 Klavierstücke, D.964, which Richter pulls off with all-out bravado. Marvel at how the music resembles cadences of John Williams’ Theme from Schindler’s List (not yet written) towards the end of Klavierstücke No. 2. To top things off as an added bonus, Sviatoslav Richter is joined in the closing selections by his long-time mentor and recital partner, the legendary Benjamin Britten, to play the four-hand 8 Variations on a Theme, and by soprano Nina Dorliak in selected songs (delivered in Russian) from the Schubert cycles Schwanengesang and Die Winterreise. The spectacular set reaches a thrilling final summit with the brilliant Franz Liszt transcription of Schubert’s dynamic lied Erlkönig. Don’t hesitate to obtain this set for listening rewards that will last for a lifetime. While the pianist was cited for occasional "cold" playing during his frequent foreign tours, there is none of that evident in these white-hot, passionate home-crowd Moscow sessions. They represent one of Sviatoslav Richter’s all-time peak achievements as Schubertian and pianist extraordinaire. |
The biggest mistake people and societies make is in believing what comes after is superior to what went before , True for music as much as anything else . Slight picture of that . https://youtu.be/Wa2vzx-aNrw?t=3ei001h, thanks for such a very fine post ! |
Teodor Currentzis coming to NYC this week. Experience Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, one of classical music’s most virtuosic and transcendent works, in concert and in film. Electrifying conductor Teodor Currentzis and the 100-member orchestra and 80-member chorus musicAeterna from Russia will take the stage in The Shed’s McCourt to perform Requiem. Following rapturous reviews at this summer’s Salzburg Festival, the performances mark Currentzis and musicAeterna’s North American debut. https://theshed.org/program/131-requiem-concert-performancesNovember 19 at 7 pm November 21 and 23 at 7:30 pm November 24 at 3 pm |
twoleftears:
I've been listening to Vadym Kholodenko today. Excellent technique and tone. I'm impressed with his fortitude to continue playing after suffering an unimaginable tragedy in life.
Have you heard his Petruchka? |
Volodos and Richter are certainly great on Schubert !
My hears tell me , at least on the masterwork D 959, that Imogen Copper is more "Schubertish " .
She is one of the top Schubertians in the world .Is on idagio .
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Embarked on a Sibelius retrospective. 1, 2 and 4 so far. Really liked 1 and 2, 4 not so much. I don't know why I haven't thought more about this composer. From previous listenings I only remember 5 as a favorite. Perhaps now is the time to change that. I see Lief Segerstam seems to be the favored conductor, followed by Berglund. |
Schubert et alI love Schubert, and the recordings you mention, i.e., Volodos, Richter, Cooper, also Arrau and Brendel. To my ear, Cooper sounds very like Brendel, with whom she studied, and I mean this as a compliment.
Missing from this discussion is Kempff, who popularized Schubert. His recordings are limited by the technology of his time, but they stand up well for me; when I listen, I think of nothing else.
Did you know that Rachmaninov never heard of Schubert's sonatas? That is the darkness that Kempf illuminated.
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Arrau in Schubert's Last sonata in B Flat Major D960 always makes me feel so sad as he plays it like someone who themself knows he has very little time left on this earth. Arrau actually said that of all the composers he played he always found Schubert the most difficult to express. Another thing Arrau did was play an horrendous cut that all other pianists did not play , the great Brendel and Cooper also did the cut much to the detriment of the first movement of this sonata. I remember in the late sixties having Kempff's whole set of these sonatas and I loved them but Kempff was from an entirely different age where people were grateful that someone had taken on the task of committing the herculean task of the complete sonatas that his set were not as dissected as "scholars" today would do. After all this I still hope Volodos commits a lot more to tape. |
I don’t think that cut is on the Coopers 2009 . I will try to see what is what .I have all the Kempff vinyl myself, still love and play them .
I’ve read several tomes lately by scholars who are coming to believe we have just begun to understand the genius that was/is Schubert.
AYE , say I .
Cooper was in St .Paul last year under the auspices of the Schubert Club
which is old ladies with old money who bring the best artists to a 350 man Hall
at Macalester College . ( Founded by Scots in 1800’s.)This is one of THE best private liberal college colleges in the USA .And millions have been spent on their Hall’s acoustics which are superb .
Her program was mostly Haydn and Cooper really woke me up on that !She is a very powerful player , at times I thought the ghost of Arrau was in the house .
P.S . The old girls brought us the pride of Scotland last spring , Nicola Benedetti . Sadly I was under the weather .
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Len That was a pity you didn't see Nichola last year as I have seen her play once but have seen her many times in Ayr my hometown as she was schooled here in Ayr where I live and when home she goes shopping in Ayr with her mum. |
Thanks Jim . What she does for Scotland should get her a Victoria Cross .
I doubt if any other top musician would take the risk of changing their fingering to make a record honoring the folk music of their native land !
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Has anyone sampled Andreas Staier's "period" performances of the late sonatas? I was reading somewhere (where?) a modern pianist say that Schubert phrasing was difficult, because the compositions were conceived for the limitations (and advantages) of piano technology of his time. |
Sibelius 3, Simon Rattle, nice. |
Try because Schubert was in a place that no other composer knew about .
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@twoleftears Yes Sibelius 3 that's my favourite of his and Rattle's performance with the Berlin Phil are my go to recording. Three or four years ago Rattle brought over the Berlin Phil to give a full Sibelius cycle and the BBC proms at the Albert Hall and BBC Radio 3 recorded each performance and each night I recorded them. I have thoroughly enjoyed them ever since but I have one small caveat, I do find them a tad refined in the brass section. I love the Scandinavian bands playing them as they tend to let their brass players a little more license but it is just a small grouch. I have watched and listened to Rattle's performances since he was first with the CBSO and I have to say he has illuminated a good few works for me. |
Pardon me, this could be considered off topic.
I use a computer based sound system, with music on an external hard drive, going from computer to dac to preamps and amps.The sound quality was recently greatly enhanced by a very inexpensive simple addition: a POWERED USB hub between computer and dac. Evidently the computer was not providing the dac with a sufficient flow, so the sound would cut out and then the dac needed to be reset. I had consulted IT experts, including one with an advanced degree from MIT, and they could not fix my problem!
A powered usb hub costs as little as $10 on Amazon, that was all that was needed. But it must be a powered usb hub, one that connects to your household ac.
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Thanks jczador . Never new that!
Nothing is off topic if you want to say it .
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@jcazador Yes Jeremy that is a good tip about the USB Hub and yes it does provide a stable platform for the digital stream to get to work. I also play all my music from a computer I have built myself.
I use a powered USB card from J Play and I also use their Network card , they are powered by a Linear Power supply from HD Plex and the sound that comes from it is incredible actually. It was so good that after I built it I committed about three thousand CD's to hard drives and I then sold my Gryphon Mikado Signature CD Player and have never looked back.
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thanks Jim, thanks Schubert
just a word about hard drives
they definitely do self destruct in time
last month, mine did.
fortunately, i had made a copy onto another hard drive
that is kept unplugged
so i lost very little, only the most recent additions
my computer tek wizard says an external drive might last 5 yearsif used frequently
i just bought another XHD, 8Tb, for $119, at Costco
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Sibelius 4 and 5 with Karajan. I think I "get" 4 a little more with this version, but I can't say I really warm to it. I struggle to understand the progression, as I definitely like 1, 2 and 3, and 5 and 7 are firm favorites (6 is "up to the plate" tomorrow). BTW, this "old" EMI ADD sound is truly excellent! Either that, or one of the components in the system has finally broken in, way past the period when I thought all of them would be well done with that process. |
@jcazador 8Terrabyte !!!!!!!!!!!! Heaven's above Jeremy that's gargantuan and for only $119 , that's incredible, that size would cost a fortune over here in the UK. Yes you have to be very careful to make copy hard drives to double store your music. I use solid state hard drives inside my computer and regular platter drives for storage , that way I get away with the solid state for playing music of from the computer and the usual hard drives are for storing the music as a cheaper backup. The solid state also is a far better carrier with no physical movement inside and much better sound quallity |
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I had not even considered SSD, interesting that you say they have better sound quality.
Music stored on and retrieved from an SSD will sound exactly the same as music stored on and retrieved from an HDD. However, an SSD uses less electricity, and if you aren't doing a lot of writes, it should last longer than a HDD. I use an SSD for my music server, but not because it will should any different. |
I'm sticking with Imogene for late Schubert .But I have heard Volodos recently on FM doing some Brahms that just might displace Lupu . Unreal .
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@schubert Len , I am glad you like Volodos doing the late Brahms I love that Recording especially the Intermezzos. The gradations of colour he pulls out of a percussive device like a piano is nothing short of a miracle. His whole approach to piano playing reminds minds me of Horowitz but I say that under my breath as I know it can be very dangerous to say things like that. .
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@phomchick
Music stored on and retrieved from an SSD will sound exactly the same as music stored on and retrieved from an HDD.
I am sorry but I beg to differ on your statement as I have found the complete opposite to be true. I think the difference is the amount of jitter each drive produces as the HDDs to my mind gives considerably more simply because of the platters and stators inside the drive. when I listen through Roon to each drive the SSD drive to my ears produces more detail and treble information. The HDDs produce to me a flatter less involving sound. |
Thanks Jim . I am glad to see little Andy do his expose on the Royal Racket.How Brits can play that game in this day and age is completely beyond me !
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@jcazador Hi Jeremy those were interesting links you sent , I just wish I could buy a 4 Terabyte
byte SSD for $449.00. I have a Samsung 1 Terabyte
byte drive I bought over here for nearly £400.00 ( my wife thought I was stark raving Bonkers ). You asked what I have for listening to well I now only use my computer for music with streaming and hard drive music storage the two main things. My computer is a bespoke one I built myself and truth be told I am quite proud of it as it is a very powerful beast indeed. If you want something like it you have to be very fastidious indeed. Integral to the build is first of all a tower that is built for music first and foremost so you will need it to be acoustically damped and sound proofed. I have installed an ASUS gaming motherboard with Intel
i7 processor running at 3.8 gigahertz and 64 gig of DDR4 memory. My motherboard runs from a linear power supply and I also have it running from it's own complete spur from the mains. I have A J Play USB card and a J Play network card and those run from another linear power supply. Inside the PC I only employ SSDs , one for my Windows system and two for my main interests of Orchestral music and Concertos and another one for solo Keyboard.. I Backup music to HDD hard drives and these are also backing up music which I do not listen to very often so it saves space on the SSDs. My software is quite novel in that my PC is built to have as little jitter as I can. My Windows system is a heavily trimmed 10 Pro build in the jitter producing stuff like Cortana, One Drive and a whole host of other things stripped away. My pal over in California installed a raft of his software on it . It was expensive but well worth it as before the software was installed I had a thread count of three and a half thousand and a process count of two hundred and twenty and it is down now to seven hundred and forty and seventy two, My other stuff is the PC goes straight to a PS Audio Direct Stream DAC and I listen via a pair of Sennheiser HD 800 phones and they are fed by a Sennheiser HDVD Phone Amp. The system is bare bones clean so it brings out some detail from the conductors and orchestra of which grunts ,page turning intakes of breath and the like are very much to the fore. I think I have said it before but when I built this beast I put it up against my CD player and it blew the CD Player out of the room. The CD player was a Gryphon Mikado Signature, No slouch itself.
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I have a hard time turning my TV on .
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Len pal I am fast catching up on you there , I now get my daughter to tune in and program the video from the remote as I am sure having difficulty now . |
