@jcazador So I'm confused. Hyperion, Liszt, S. 173~Steven Osborne, but S.154~Leslie Howard. Identical titles=two different sets of compositions??
Classical Music for Aficionados
I would like to start a thread, similar to Orpheus’ jazz site, for lovers of classical music.
I will list some of my favorite recordings, CDs as well as LP’s. While good sound is not a prime requisite, it will be a consideration.
Classical music lovers please feel free to add to my lists.
Discussion of musical and recording issues will be welcome.
I’ll start with a list of CDs. Records to follow in a later post.
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique. Chesky — Royal Phil. Orch. Freccia, conductor.
Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Vanguard Classics — Vienna Festival Orch. Prohaska, conductor.
Prokofiev: Scythian Suite et. al. DG — Chicago Symphony Abbado, conductor.
Brahms: Symphony #1. Chesky — London Symph. Orch. Horenstein, conductor.
Stravinsky: L’Histoire du Soldat. HDTT — Ars Nova. Mandell, conductor.
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances. Analogue Productions. — Dallas Symph Orch. Johanos, cond.
Respighi: Roman Festivals et. al. Chesky — Royal Phil. Orch. Freccia, conductor.
All of the above happen to be great sounding recordings, but, as I said, sonics is not a prerequisite.
I will list some of my favorite recordings, CDs as well as LP’s. While good sound is not a prime requisite, it will be a consideration.
Classical music lovers please feel free to add to my lists.
Discussion of musical and recording issues will be welcome.
I’ll start with a list of CDs. Records to follow in a later post.
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique. Chesky — Royal Phil. Orch. Freccia, conductor.
Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Vanguard Classics — Vienna Festival Orch. Prohaska, conductor.
Prokofiev: Scythian Suite et. al. DG — Chicago Symphony Abbado, conductor.
Brahms: Symphony #1. Chesky — London Symph. Orch. Horenstein, conductor.
Stravinsky: L’Histoire du Soldat. HDTT — Ars Nova. Mandell, conductor.
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances. Analogue Productions. — Dallas Symph Orch. Johanos, cond.
Respighi: Roman Festivals et. al. Chesky — Royal Phil. Orch. Freccia, conductor.
All of the above happen to be great sounding recordings, but, as I said, sonics is not a prerequisite.
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I found these helpful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonies_po%C3%A9tiques_et_religieuses http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Nov/Liszt_harmonies_8573773.htm Contents of Howard disc: https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA66421/2 And Osborne: |
Jim , I had the sad duty of disposing of the stuff nobody wanted of a good friend of mine who passed lately . Came upon several LP's of a Scot I had totally forgotten , one Harry Lauder .Was he corny , aye .Did he fill me with joy bringing memories back of the old folks on Saturday night , aye . Scotland Forever . |
Len, I am sorry for your friend my condolences to you , we are now losing friends and colleagues left right and centre as we get older and it is very sad. As to Harry Lauder , yes he was corny but he was a mainstay for ex pats in Canada and America and yes they did go overboard on the whole heather and haggis thing . Scotia ever more. |
My Grand mother in particular ,She was 15 when her mother dragged her kicking and screaming , to the US after her dad took the low road in WW II . Always kept her British passport and refused American citizenship .I can hear her now " I was born British and I’ll die British " ! Hope and pray the SNP will prevail . Happy Christmas and a healthy New Year . |
Benjamin Grosvenor Now listening to his "This and That" cd. The 2 Scarlotti sonatas are as fine as anything ever. The 2 Chopin Nocturnes are lovely (no surprise). The other pieces (Kapustin and Moszkowsky) are not to my taste. The label says "Bowers and Wilkins Music Club 7" So thanks Jim (I think it was you) for recommending Grosvenor. |
Jim, please, please try listening to V-W's Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus. If that doesn't win you over, nothing will. The problem with The Lark is that it's pretty instantly appealing, and so it gets trotted out overly frequently and hence becomes a chestnut. A moratorium of a few years would help a lot. Bruckner; I'm a Mahler fanatic and also a sucker for slow movements. Hence 7, 8, and 9 rank high in my personal pantheon. |
So I listened to Mariam Batsashvili's CD of transcriptions. Music: I'm no expert, but the pianism seemed really excellent. Sound: the timbre of the piano was very natural and entirely credible. But... the audiophile in me had a problem with the soundstage. There was no sense of the room, the space, the acoustic, in which the piano was being played. If I had to guess, I'd say it was miked very close up. I tried to get a sense of the perspective from which we were supposed to be listening to the recital. For some of the time, it seemed as if the perspective was more or less looking at the piano/pianist head-on, so that the lower register tended to the right speaker and the upper to the left. But then this would collapse or even flip in another passage. Hmmm. |
@twoleftears You are absoloutely right about the exagerated width of th piano , I listen to more and more disks each year with severe perspective problems. I don't notice it too much on my setup as I use phones but I do when I go to my pals house and we listen to his conventional system , it seems that the signal has you looking straight on to the keys and the keyboard is eight foot wide, " I don't like that ". I like BIS piano recordings best because they have a massive dynamic range and you have the best seat in the house. lf you want to hear piano et it's best today I suggest you go to the BIS catalogue and listen to Yevgeny Sudbin's solo work especially his Scarlatti Sonatas. I shall also chastise my self for my outburst about VaughanWilliams because if truth be told there are lots of less competent composers that him and I'm afraid all after Shostakovitch fall into that category, that's my thoughts and I don't expect anyone to agree with me. |
Have you heard the Recycled Orchestra? Watch the video in this article. https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2019/12/landfill-harmonic-paraguay-recycled-orchestra-1... |
Since there's been a lot of love in this thread for Schubert (the composer) I decided to pull what CDs I had off the shelf and work through the (very incomplete) piano sonatas. So far: D. 157: Volodos--excellent D. 784: Brendel--as usual (and I apologize in advance) leaves me cold D. 845: Lupu--as usual, very stirring and engaging |
I love reading the disagreements here. Differences in interpretation is one of the things that makes classical music so endlessly absorbing & wonderful. twoleftears -- I love Brendel. I have his Beethoven Sonatas both on Turnabout and on Philips. I actually saw him perform live once. brownsfan -- Britten's Ceremony of Carols on Argo is regularly on my turntable. |
I don’t think " The Lark Ascending" has any problems , Its simply one of the most beautiful pieces ever written . I never tire of it and have heard it a thousand times . People do hear things differently .I think Wagner is total garbage , few would agree on that . I totally agree with Jim on BIS . They are by far the best firm for Classical recording . |
edcyn, I agree with you on Brendel - not just for Beethoven, but for just about anything. Definitely my favorite pianist, and usually very underrated on audiophile sites, why I am not quite sure, since his recordings on Philips have excellent sound as well. His Mozart concerti I am thinking of in particular. |
Re: Brendel, Beethoven Sonatas I think there are more than 2 recordings by Brendel of Beethoven Sonatas. There is the Vox/Turnabout series, and the Phillips Series, and there is also a newer series. Plus there are recordings of various Beethoven Sonatas (eg, Beethoven - Favorite Sonatas) that are not in a complete set. I do not have a definitive handle on all these recordings, but they are different from one another, and I think the later the better, but they are all excellent. If any of you knows more about this, please fill me in. Also: agree that Brendel is superb, clearly one of my favorites. |
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This reissue of his complete Beethoven piano sonata cycle on Decca was originally recorded for Philips (446909-2) between 1992 and 1996." " his first Vox/Turnabout cycle dates from 1961-64" http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/l/lon781821a.php |
Just finished playing through the Schubert sonata disks I own, and evidently different people respond differently to different styles of playing (all of which is doubtless excellent). Anyway, it allowed me to appreciate even more the Volodos disk of 1 and 18, which is absolutely splendid. After that, I most enjoyed Clifford Curzon's classic rendering of the last sonata. And then Lupu. Brendel and Pollini just don't move me, for whatever reason. It appears that Volodos has recently recorded some more Schubert, likely a must-buy. https://www.sonyclassical.com/news/arcadi-volodos-his-new-studio-recording-of-schubert-works |
@jcazador Johnathan I see you are a fan of Uchida and yes she is great in Mozart but I remember the first concert of hers I attended, it was Mozart piano sonatas in the first half and Schubert impromptus and the little A Major sonata in the second half. Yes it was a beautiful concert but I could not keep my eyes off her face, the faces and mannerisims were all over the place I was mesmerised. I did not even watch her fingers as I just kept staring at her face and my pal was the same. I since have enjoyed lots of her Mozart but from the comfort of my armchair and hi fi system. |
@twoleftears Yes I am glad you like her program she surely is a poet of the piano and with a fearless technique to boot. There certainly is no shortage now of young women who can keep up with and very often beat the men at their own game. Now I see a time upon us where men and women can take on Liszt,Alkan and Godowsky and make something of the masses of notes in front of them and turn it into a cohesive whole . As a phrase of Busoni comes to mind , "Bach is the Old Testament and Beethoven the new and together they make Liszt possible" |
Mitsuko Uchida Here is an interview/demonstration about Debussy. It shows her depth of knowledge and skill, the seriousness of her attitude, and also her linguistic ability (she speaks german with german interviewer, with translation to english in subtitles). I really appreciate her complete package. She is not making a PR appeal with clothes or winks. She is the real deal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA1Pn_pv4Y8 |
Several posts ago we were discussing the sound of piano recordings. Rooting around in the miscellaneous section of the CD racks, I found I had a BIS SACD of a Sudbin recital of Liszt, Ravel, and Saint-Saens. And indeed, the recorded sound is both very present and natural. I have the Scarlatti disc on order. |
