Classical Music for Aficionados

        Glad you liked him , Jim .

Ivan Moravec
His Chopin Nocturnes are recognized as best ever.
Moravec was already well known in Czechoslovakia when he was "discovered" by Alan Silver, who ran Connoisseur Records.Alan recorded him playing Chopin, and helped him get his first engagements in USA.  Alan was incredibly skilled at making recordings, although what he actually did was considerably simpler than big time producer/directors.
I knew Alan in Berkeley in 1967, nice man.

I love Moravec's playing , The Pianists Pianist as he was affectionately known. He had beautiful tone palate and he was totally built for Chopin.

I love Moravec.  Did I see him perform once?  I think so but can't quite remember.  And only if he performed in L.A.

Stephen Hough

I hear there is a new recording of Beethoven Concertos since the Brahms you mention.
I love Stephen Hough.  My fav is his Mompou.  But don't take my word for it:
http://www.stephenhough.com/
https://www.classicfm.com/artists/stephen-hough/guides/facts-gallery/

I just got the new Hough Brahms CD , will play it this evening .Bought it on review in Gramophone.

Yup, Hough is what they say he is !


Correct way to play Haydn. Original Instruments .
https://youtu.be/4eQKUffDkaw?t=7

One of THE greatest trios ever written by anybody, anytime, anywhere and under any circumstance ! Period .



https://youtu.be/aanDMH7GEZE?t=2

Thanks .

More Nikita Magaloff
Chopin, The Complete Piano Music, 13 cds
Scriabin, Les trois cahiers
Great Pianists 067, 2 cds
awesome, highly recommended
there is also a 21 cd collection that I cannot find

Dina Ugorskaja Bach Fugue No 24 in B Minor, BWV 869
exquisite
recently deceased Dina is daughter of Anatol
Anatol is still going strong
one of my favorite recordings is the two of them playing together

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH5lgcw6eD4

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

Shostakovich box set , wdr , barshai.

The recording of Symphony 8 has made it my new favorite of his:-)

https://youtu.be/PpE6IUj4y8I

The gorgeous Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata is finally fully realized in a new recording by two young musicians: Hee-Young Lim and Nathalie Milstein. It’s usually performed as a vehicle for cellists to shine. This rendering includes the pianist as, at the very least, an active partner. It’s heartbreakingly beautiful Rachmaninoff. I just discovered it on Idagio after seeing it listed elsewhere.
 It’s on a brand new Sony release which contains the Prokofiev Cello Sonata as well.

Nikita Magaloff - Pianist & Teacher [DVD] [2011]
Magaloff listening and teaching 3 different students, including Philip Cassard. 
This video greatly increased my appreciation of the nuances of classical piano.
It's in French, available from Amazon.

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

Schubert, I agree! Also, Denise Graves version is one of my favorites. 

Along with my agreeing, before 9/11 there was "trilloin$" missing (stolen). Put some of that towards inner-city public schooling.  HUGHLY positive benefit!!

Thank you so much isochronism !

Just for you an encore.


https://youtu.be/oB-G13kbOTc?t=2

Ah, try"" Nessun dorma"" stupid .

#3 The best I have heard is Otto Klemperer With the Philharmonia Orchestra .on a EMI Great Recording of The Century /
Its in 1955 mono which is fine for me .
If not for you there is a stunning 3 with the Basle Chamber Orch./ underGiovanni Antonini on Sony Classical ,.
The best sounding and and very well done Beethoven is 2&70n BIS with the Minnesota Orch. /Osmo Vanska
One of THE most beautiful recordings I have ever heard .
P.S. Barbirolli never made a bad record ,

Nothing wrong with VonKarajin  3rds

There is a very good 1,2, 3 on a DVD I have . Michael Gielen/ German SWR Orch . Which is one of the fine German Radio Orchs.





klem

To add to the above list is a superb “Eroica” with Monteux and the Concertgebouw.
I have a great sounding copy of the original LP but it’s also available on CD.

Thanks for the recommendations.  Sitting here checking them out while listening to the wonderful Danil Trifonov and the Etudes d'Execution Transcendante.  Splendid pianism.

I have a wonderful Eroica from Sir Charles MacKerras with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra only it is not a recording you can buy. It was a concert in Glasgow recorded by the BBC for later broadcast. I was at the original concert and was at home a number of weeks later when it was aired. I have to say that it magically appeared onto my hard drive and for the life of me I can't understand why, but all I can say it is the very best I have ever heard even counting the Klemperer one and I don't say that lightly. 

My Favorite String Quartet

Fifty years ago, the Alban Berg Quartet was founded. A huge box set, comforting yet daring, is an immersive celebration.

The two occasions on which I saw them, however — a Bartok-Mozart program in London and a gripping Schubert concert at Carnegie Hall — are highlights of my musical life. Those performances also confirmed that the Berg sounded just as immaculate live as on record.

quoted from NYT behind paywall
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/14/arts/music/alban-berg-string-quartet.html

I agree with you , Jim !
MacKerras  with the BBC Scottish was as good as music gets ,
But as you say , hard to find .

Also with jcazador ,  As a fan of Schubert I have all their outings of him .

I just reached into my vinyl collection and dragged out a British EMI Eminence reissue of the Beet's Eroica Symphony played by the London Symphony Orchestra under Eugen Jochum.   The performance is uniformly loud and in-your-face.  Good imaging but the sound is a bit gritty.  I'm betting I got the LP from a record store's used bin.

@schubert Len, yes I used to love MacKerras with the BBC Scots in fact I have been to many of his outings with the band at City Hall Candelriggs as I used to have subs. for the BBC Scots and the SNO before they became the RSNO. MacKerras did some really great Mozart Symphonies with the Beeb band and they were highly thought of . He also brought Janacek to the Glasgow crowd and i heard wonderful playing of Taras Bulba , Four Preludes and Sinfonietta. Great pity he is gone now as I really enjoyed anything he played and the BBC orchestra were really upset when he passed.

Yes Jim , I remember when he brought a great favorite of mine, Janacek ,to Scotland .I thought he would do well in Scotland !
MacKerras was one of the first who knew the language of the composerwas an element not to be forgotten . He could go czech in the blink of an
eye .

now listening to
Piano Trios, Gilels, Kogan, Rostropovich, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Schumann, Saint-Saens, Borodin
+ Quartet by Faure and Horn Trio by Brahms
6 cds

it does not get any better

I've been listening to Schubert Trio #2 by Rubenstein and Fournier. Beautiful work, truly a masterpiece. 

I am partial to Brahms # 2 and # 3
I like #1 too but its an early work and first movement is a bit too long. Last 3rd movement is masterful. Trio #3 is tightly woven, a hauntingly beautiful work in a minor key. Trio #2 is one of my favorite of all classical pieces - more joyous in a major key. 

Brahms is the best music for the elderly IMO . I used to wonder why his music is often called " autumnal".Now I know.


He was also a fan of Schubert .I like Rubenstein and love Fournier .

Jim , would a UK pensioner be considered well off with a years income of 50, 000 quid ?

Most people in the UK would be very happy with that Len.

I learned long ago how intelligent these folks really are.


https://youtu.be/YJnibXpwDuo?t=4

Listening to the second disc of Trifonov’s 2-CD "Transcendental" Liszt set. And it’s just as extraordinarily good as the first!
I’ve listened to a lot of Liszt piano over the last few months, and I have to say that I find Trifonov the most convincing performer of music that did not move me all that often.
On another note, I’ve become mildly obsessed with Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody #5 "Heroide-elegiaque". I have Howard’s version. Anybody have any particular favorite performance?

2leftears, give these a listen:
RichterBrendelGilels
SolomonBoletArgerichFreireOgdonCziffraRubinsteinHorowitzBiretVolodos

Not sure if this has been mentioned but the Piano puzzler is a podcast that is a lot of fun. Bruce Adolph is a genius.

Check it out 

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5wdWJsaWNyYWRpby5vcmcvcHVibGljX2ZlZWRzL3BpYW5vLXB...

Since I am 5 miles from the studio it uses I listen to it.Got about 9 out  ten for about a year , lost 2 in a row and my ego
made me stop !

God said , Love thy Neighbor .
In 2 days , July 1st . the USA has a neighbor that we have a 5,000 border
with that has always been true and from which we could learn much July 1 is their July 4th .
Here is a lovely Symphonic rendition of the National Anthem .of a Great
Nation .
https://youtu.be/ABGW92k2zU4?t=2


Here is a quick vocal version of a land for a nation which I have great respect .


https://youtu.be/kRPGPAnPNa8?t=4

@twoleftears     I do agree with you regarding Trifonov he is an exceptional pianist but I think he still has a few years needed under his belt to reach what he will hopefully become. Talking about his recording of the Transcendental Etudes my favourite performers are Lazar Berman and Claudio Arrau who incidentally was 75 years old at the time. Of course he doesn't have the explosive nature of Berman but his virtuosity was always used for the expressivity of the piece and not to wow everyone . Where Arrau scores is in the quieter more reflective pieces like Vision, Eroica and my favourite  Harmonies' du Soir which is truly exceptional. I never could understand how he could produce the rich sonorities and liquid sound that left you in rapt attention.
      On a different theme now has anyone been listening to any late Beethoven String Quartets lately. I can recommend a wonderful Op.127 and 132 just now from The Hagen Quartet. The string tone is wonderful and I have to admit it doesn't get any better than this. The two slow movements are rapturous and their intonation is unbeatable and this   from a man who for the last 40 odd years could not see past the Alban Bergs. Try if you can and listen to them it will definitely cleanse the soul.  

The Hagen is outstanding and , for me , the LvB Quartets are all I have
time from him these days , which I guess is saying I see them as his best .


One of the best records I ever had is the Yale Qt, doing them.Al least on vinyl they are very rare and have seen them go for 500 $ bucks .I believe there was a CD as well which I have never head , or plan to .

If money is an object the Complete CD’s on Naxos with Kodaly Qt. are very good , The Great Op 130 is better than that .

thanks for the tip re Hagen Quartet, will listen
meanwhile now playing lots of Rudolf Serkin
there is a 75 cd compilation, and it includes RS playing
Beethoven Sonatas for Cello and Piano with Casals
never better, they both are as good as it gets, and they leave room for each other too
Other recordings include Serkin with Rostropovich and of course with the Busch's
+ a host of sonatas and concertos

Pablo Casals
includes footage of Casals conducting in 1967
https://www.marlboromusic.org/archives/blog/pablo-casals/

I recently purchased a 20 CD set of Rubinstein playing Chopin. I haven't been able to listen to all of it yet, but while it is obviously from old recordings so the SQ is not always of a top level, the playing is superb. I am always in the market for the best interpreters of my favorite - Chopin. I've seen Moravec mentioned several times.