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.
Sudbin came up in the context of good recorded piano sound (BIS, SACD).
Here's another recording whose piano sound I'm enjoying, the acoustic is different, there's a bit more resonance, but it does sound very much like a piano in a room.
Paul Lewis: 2 CD set of Schubert: Sonatas D. 840, 850, 894, plus Impromptus D. 899 and Klavierstucke D. 946.
See what you think if it's available streaming somewhere. The playing seems somehow more "human" to me than some Schubert recitals I've heard.
You guys who have access to Idagio there is a lovely concert with the Vienna Phil. and Gergiev conducting exclusive to Idagio . It's Tchaikovsky's Lovely 1st Symphony "Winter Daydreams" and Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherezade in a lovely interpretation by Gergiev. @twoleftears You are right about Paul Lewis I have been watching him for a number of years and I like your comment aout the playing being more human and I think that is because Alfred Brendel had a hand in finishing off his musical education. If it is of any interest he also has some really nice Haydn Piano sonatas available also.
Yes Len you are so right ,I have seen Brendel live many times and although not a natural virtuoso he had a wonderful way with Schubert. I remember one concert he played the last three sonatas and I have never heard them played better by anyone although I do still have a soft spot for Volodos.
Paul Lewis just listened to his Beethoven sonatas, his Weber, and his Schubert recordings, still downloading his Haydn i really like his Schubert thanks for the tip!
I just saw Paul Lewis in Chicago last night, playing the Beethoven PCs 1/4 with Andrew Davis conducting. He is a great player. I had only heard one recording of his a few years ago that left me a bit underwhelmed but last night was wonderful. btw, the Brendel recording of the last 3 Schubert Sonatas are not only great performances, but one of the most natural sounding recordings of a Piano made in the analog era
Well , I have many of her recordings and have heard her Couperin . She is masterful and well worth buying on anything . That said ,I believe, on Couperin, Christophe Rousset on HMM90 2015/2is her equal and perhaps a dab better on the harpsichord .Can't go wrong with either .
Jim . Did a little Plane spotting today because of European storm. Giant USAF C-17 transport coming into Preswick looked like a rock dancer, and USAF only uses pilots on those monsters with mucho miles in their log book.
At my usual target , Amsterdam Schiphol, which is always windy , commercial liners were taking a dozen or more go-arounds to get them down . I was scared watching them ! I would estimate gusts from 80 to 100 miles .
To top it off a BA flight rode the storm jet- wind and set an all time record from JFK to Heathrow , less than 5 hours . Is your house OK ?
Angela Hewitt’s unique F278 Fazioli was destroyed in an attempt to lift it on to a trolley
Hewitt said her F278 Fazioli, the only one in the world fitted with four
pedals, and worth at least £150,000, was “kaputt”. She said: “I hope my
piano will be happy in piano heaven.”
“I adored this piano. It was my best friend, best companion. I loved
how it felt when I was recording – giving me the possibility to do
anything I wanted.”
He said: “Every single piano is different and you grow with them and
they change as they age and you develop together. For a pianist at that
level a piano becomes an extension of your body and that’s why she
dragged it around for her recordings.”
. “Paolo [Fazioli] says he will never fit four pedals ever again to it [a F278] because it was such a pain in the arse.”
@schubert Hi Len yes my house is OK but storm is not oer yet so I won't count my Chickens. I too have watched planes landing at Prestwick in high winds and can't help but admire the pluck of those pilots.
now watching/listening to Angela Hewitt at BBC Proms 2011 playing Brahms and Schuman on her late lamented Fazioli 278 four pedal exquisite, and of it is all from memory, no paperwork it is difficult to see her pedaling, and I have no idea what a 4th pedal does
Just about finished this set of dvd's Great musicianship, and the camera work follows appropriate sections. Documentaries are in german with english subtitles. Beautiful venues with apparently good acoustics as well. Especially liked Barenboim and Rattle concerts although didn't as much prior to seeing this box set.
I want to pose a sort of philosophical question about our listening to music. The obvious answer to the question is that we should listen to whatever we damn please. But the query is: should we be happy listening to our favorite composers and compositions, or should we feel guilty about not exploring new horizons and music we’re prone to hate? For me, the obvious bitter pills are such as Liszt, Neilson and Bruckner, not to mention the Second Viennese school. We run the risk of close-mindedness by ignoring that which we don’t know and missing out on what what glories might be out there. On the other hand, we only have so much time, and there is a universe of more accessible music available. I just wonder if this dilemma has crossed anyone else's mind.
@rvpiano I couldn't agree more RV as I like my particular composers too, but there was a time when I would not listen to the likes of Stravinsky and Prokofiev . Over the course of 40 years though I have come to like a lot of their output and like you I still cannot listen to the Second Viennese School. My allegence to Bach is still per eminent though and I don't think that shall ever change.
now listening to Shostakovich plays ShostakovichIt is a Czech cd of broadcast recordings from 1955-7.I like it very much, especially the piano quintet, the cello sonata,and the preludes (one of them arranged for violin & piano).It also includes concertos which are fine, but less to my taste.
Listening to Louis Lortie's recording of the complete Chopin Etudes.
Some fine playing from a little-mentioned pianist. And some of these Etudes, listened to again, sound distinctly more "modern" than what one normally associates with Chopin.
I don't know if this recording is availlable any longer but I have a boxed set of Ravel's complete works by, Louis Lortie and I used to love it but like all daft audiophiles I still bought other people playing it. Last night I played some ofit from my hard driveand although some play it with a little more magic I still recommend it if you want a cheaper complete set.
"
Yes, Beethoven could be unpleasant, sometimes cruel, and his politics
defied easy categorization. His deterioration over the years was
heartbreaking: a museum
in a house he stayed at in the spa town of Baden described how a
disheveled Beethoven had once gone for a walk and been arrested for
vagrancy." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/24/travel/vienna-bonn-beethoven-250th-anniversary.html
@twoleftears I have been a fan of Grimaud for anumber of years now, she has loads of stamina and a very good tecnique. a recording of hers I admire is Schuman's Sonata in A Minor for violin and piano. Her partner on the recording is Gidon Kremer who I must admit is a hit and miss recording artist , bu I find his playing here very good without the harshness which on occasion do marr some of his recordings. His recordings with Martha Argerich are superb.
No secret, I am a fan of Brahms .Not just for his music but for the man his self . At one time or another I’ve read most of the books written on him in English and back in the day a few in German .I like to think I have some understanding of this very complex man.
I have run across a recent recording of his Piano Concerto No 1 .that I believe shows the music and the man played as fine as I have heard .
Lars Vogt/Royal Northern Sinfonia Ondine ODE1330-2 I could go on and on but one word will do, sensational ! P.S . Also perfect renditions of Four Ballades ,Op 10
Just discovered an extraordinary young pianist on Idagio named Eric Yu. it’s not his technique that’s impressive, but his musicianship. Listen to his new album of Chopin preludes. He’s been compared to Perahia and Lupu. I agree.
Finishing up my complete Chopin survey on a high note (no pun intended). The complete (2 CDs) Nocturnes, with Garrick Ohlsson. I'm a sucker for his wonderful rubato. To me, this is how Chopin should sound.
@rvpianoRV @rvpianoR I listened to Eric Lu and then recorded him to my desktopI have to say he impresed me very Much ( I see he won the Leeds piano competition in 20 18 ) he should now be in demand from the major recital halls. I do find in his Chopin that he can use too much rubato but hey that's a purely personal reaction. I find the recording maybe a bit close but you can cerrtainly hear the reaction in powerfull playing. I hope he has a bright career ahead ofi him in the future
Eunice Norton "a classical pianist (who was born in 1908 and died in
2005), whose work I’ve become familiar with almost exclusively from
YouTube clips, of which there are more than a hundred."
I discovered Olafsson last year through a Wigmore Hall Concert by BBC Radio 3. I am very impressed by his Bach which is exceptionally clean and the counterpoint is peerless in my opinion. I even discovered a disc of Bach on Idagio, but I have tried to listen to his twentieth century recordings and I can't get my head around it. My appreciation of piano music seems to stop with Rachmaninov and I can't seem to get any further than that. If he brings out more Bach I will snap it up in a Jiff but the other stuff it just doesn't seem to make any sense to me.
I have listened to his 2 Bach cds. The first is quite traditional, the second adds electronic musicians (not to my taste).The Glass piano works are fine, but I am not a big fan of Glass, so will say no more. I have not yet found the Rameau/Debussy album which NYT praises so highly. It may not be available yet.
I love having my music stored on external hard drives, so that it is simple to program for hours in advance. I usually make selections before I go to bed. Last night it was Claudio Arrau playing Mozart, still going. Does not get better than this.
Yes Jeremy you are in good company with Claudio Arrau, He is great in almost anything. His Debussy discs are so liquid and his Liszt Transcendental Etudes are so powerful and so tender by turns and to think he was 75 years old when he committed them to disc. His Beethoven is peerless , I went down to London to hear him play the last three sonatas and in the train back up to Glasgow I was in cloud 9 all the way I couldn't get those trills from the ending of Op.111 out of my mind. Yes although it was my only concert with Arrau it was enough to tell me he was / is the best pianist I have ever heard. Has anyone heard any of his CDs of recordings done in the Forties and Fifties, oh how I wish the recording quality was better because they show a man at the very peak of his powers. You should have heard his Albeniz it is explosive and the technique is faultless , every bit as good as Horowitz but with a far bigger repertoire. Yup, for me he is the man.
Jim Just an estimate: I have at least 150 Arrau cds. Not cd discs, but copies on my external hard drives.
Doubtless some are duplicates, re-releases. Yes the recording quality on some is not as great as others, but overall it is superior to many other pianists, e.g. Richter. Also noteworthy is what a person he was in the full sense. Improving his mind constantly, aware of political/economic issues, including the tragic overthrow of Allende in his home country. And never a scandal, never an impropriety, never an insult.Just grace, humility, compassion, love.
Yes Len they have had the knife in Salmond since he lost the Independence referendum . Out of all those who accused him not one of them was proved. Something stinks.
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