Classical Music for Aficionados

@rvpiano  Thanks for the two that you like RV I shall find them and have a listen although I have always found their interpretations of other things by them to be a like it or leave it for me. It's a real shame now to hear Pogorelich and his new recordings ( dire ) .

Yes, I agree about the late Pogorelich recordings.
I’m just now listening to his recording of the “Etudes” and find it it quite poetic.
And, at one time, he had tremendous technique.

On the same disc as Pletnev’s recording of Symphonic Etudes, is a magnificent performance of the Schumann Fantasy. Best I ever heard.

Jim
big surprise that you do not prefer Arrau!so many have recorded this piece, I listen
but could never choose

Johnathan , I really do love Arrau in Schumann but the sound on some of the recordings are less than sensitive to his piano tone. The Etudes are wonderful other than the piano tone. It's a pity he was getting on a bit when digital recording technique's were just getting started because the Phillips recordings of him show a wondrous tone that a lot of his analogue recordings don't have and that is now why I am trying pianists in their prime with good technique and tone to match. Don't get me wrong though Arrau is still my all time favourite pianist , he could play anything. the most jaw dropping thing I ever heard from him was Islamey from 1928 I think, it was stupefying but the recording sucked. 

RV.   Have you tried Arrau in the Fantasy , I have never heard a more poetic Clara Theme than this the piano tone at times is Orgiastic , forgive me but it is the only way I can describe it. You sure do know that Robert loved his Clara.

The recording I have of Pogorelich playing Schuman's Symphonic Etudes is from 1981, when P must have been about 21 years old. He has always had serious health issues, and on the cover he looks like a high school student.  I certainly do love his music, and also his name!

Yes, I have the same LP from then.

Pogorelich dissected here:
https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2019/08/22/749395568/a-confrontation-with-music-ivo-po...

This is my favorite of remastered Schumann recordings of the golden age. Unfortunately it’s been out of print for some time but used copies may show up from time to time.

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=53135

The Art of Ivo Pogarelich on Tidal has most of his recordings in one place. Both Pletnev and Ivo are amazing in Etudes 

Qobuz, Tidal, etc... Though convenient are supremely limiting.

Schumann: Complete Solo Piano Works 13 cds brilliant classics 94008
https://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-15456/
https://www.amazon.com/Schumann-Complete-Solo-Piano-Works/dp/B002VZ2MQC

I found this on Qobuz. I own the cd’s, very good.

https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/schuamnn-piano-works-robert-schumann/4260034863668

@rvpiano    I take your point RV about Pogorelich and his technique when young he had a superb technique as witnessed by his Scarlatti Sonatas . They were fabulous tests for him and he left them withered and burnt-out behind him. Of course he didn't even play piano for a number of years since his wife died and of course we know what that did to him. At one point he was making jewellery and selling it in markets to survive. How the other half live, poor soul.  

Pogorelich is one of thousands. Many Ukrainian pianists study in US conservatories, primarily Juilliard and then move back to Odessa or Kiev. The Russian piano tradition is now international.

I attended a concert by Pogorelich at Carnegie years ago. He acted as though the stage was the last place he wanted to be, and almost totally ignored the presence of an audience.  He nonetheless played magnificently.

His wife was his longtime teacher and, I believe, much older than he.
I remember being surprised when he married her.

Elizabeth Leonskaja, a pianist that Richter thought very highly of, released a Schumann recording at the beginning of 2020. I have not heard this recording but many years ago I saw Elizabeth Leonskaja give a Beethoven recital at the Theatre Champs Elyse in Paris. Her musicianship and technique are evident of the Russian aesthetic.

lucky you to hear Elizabeth Leonskaja
she was born in Tbilisi Georgia, studied in Moscow, lives in Vienna
she is married to Oleg Kagan
" Elisabeth Leonskaja’s musical development was shaped or influenced to a decisive degree by her collaboration with Sviatoslav Richter. The master recognized her exceptional talent and fostered her development not only through teaching and musical advice, but also by inviting her to play numerous duets with him. A memorable musical event! The musical partnership and personal friendship between Sviatoslav Richter and Elisabeth Leonskaja endured until Richter’s death in the year 1997. In 1978 Elisabeth Leonskaja left the Soviet Union and made her new home in Vienna. Her sensational performance at the Salzburg Festival in 1979 marked the beginning of her steadily blossoming career as a concert pianist in the west.

In addition to her many solo engagements, chamber music remains an important part of her work. She has performed many times with string quartets, such as the Belcea, Borodin Artemis and Jerusalem quartets. She also had a longstanding musical friendship with the Alban Berg Quartet, and their piano quintet recordings are legendary.

" Numerous recordings bear testimony to the outstanding artistic achievements of this pianist and she has been awarded prizes such as the Caecilia Prize for her Brahms piano sonatas, or the Diapason d´Or for her recordings of works by Liszt. Other significant recordings include the Tchaikovsky Piano Concertos with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Kurt Masur, the Chopin Piano Concertos with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy, and the Shostakovich Piano Concertos with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Leonskaja’s most recent CD recordings appeared on the Berlin based Label eaSonus (www.easonus.com). “Paris”, with works by Ravel, Enescu and Debussy, was named the Solo Recording of the Year 2014 by the ICMA Jury. “Saudade”, an homage to Russian culture with works by Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff, was released in November 2017. A complete recording of Franz Schubert’s piano sonatas in two volumes of four CDs each has been available since April 2016 and May 2019 respectively. A double-CD with variations and sonatas by Robert Schumann followed in January 2020."

http://www.leonskaja.com/

Mozart/Grieg - Sonata K.545 - Richter/Leonskaya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp1XG2lT8JQ

Leonskaya interview here:
https://www.theartsdesk.com/classical-music/theartsdesk-qa-pianist-elisabeth-leonskaja

Thanks jcazador. I have her Brahms cd on D&G and the Chopin Etudes on Teldec, both excellent. It was a good while back when I lived between Paris and Cologne, I miss those times.

Does anyone know why the MPR classical station on Chromecast has been playing Beethoven's greatest hits for a week now, over and over again.

I checked MPRs website playlist and they apparently do not parallel like they used to.

Because  station in St Paul is having a LvB week.
It feeds a lot of other stations.

https://youtu.be/e8BIRtagBws?t=3

His own band .

LvB Op 59 No.1
https://youtu.be/oXLKu-HglnM?t=17

goofyfoot, what's better than tidal and qobuz? I was under the impression they were the only CD quality or better streaming services in US. I realize their classical selection is lacking to say the least. 

Idagio is at least as good sonically as  Qobuz, and very often better, even without hi-res files.
It is also, by far, the best for classical music.

ei001h, not sure why you’re asking me about a streaming service being better than Tidal or Qobuz. Personally, I prefer playing the files on my external SSD. I do have Qobuz and Tidal but I listen to them casually.

now listening, Igor Levit, Encounter
superb, especially  "Palais de Mari" by Morton Feldman
Levit says:
"The most touching, open-hearted comments I got were about one of the least well-known pieces – Palais de Mari by Morton Feldman, which is very important to me.“

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08D3GK4TJ/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp

I just listened to the organ music Of Pachelbel.... The older J.S. Bach brother, Johann Christoph Bach cherish and admire him much, and was his pupil, indeed Bach too was admiring him and apparently copy the partitions book of his eldest brother......

His music is less complex than Bach, less profound, but pleasurable in his own way, relaxing, with a playful sense of melodies and great clarity in the immediate expressive gesture ...

Buxthehude is a genius, and many other organ giant composers....Pachelbel is one of them for sure, with an appeal to all people that is like Vivaldi for people who are not fond of more emotionnally complex music like Beethoven for example......His easy to understand music is not from the highest point of the soul/spirit like Bach, but he know to soothe the soul of all of us...And that is marvellously easy to listen to just relax....

I listen to the Joseph Payne integral compare it to the Antoine Bouchard one... 24 hours of listening....😊

Payne is more diversified soundwise and spectacular, but i prefer the more calming introvert playing of Bouchard.... I own the 2 integral, then no boredom......

Hamelin at Verbier
I have not been a big fan of Hamelin.  Have always appreciated his skill and his daring to play difficult pieces, but always found something lacking.  Until now.
His Field Andante just blew my mind! 
And his countenance at the keyboard is so genuine, unaffected and precise.
https://www.medici.tv/en/concerts/marc-andre-hamelin-verbier-festival-2014/

From his latest (?) CD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSpecebMdeo

I’m now interested in finding pieces from Heinrich Schutz. 

I’m now interested in finding pieces from Heinrich Schutz.

I recommend the marvellous interpretation by Mauesberger of the Geistliche chormusik....Schutz synthetise Italian and German influences...

This work is examplary and operate with an irresistible compelling rythmic pulsation that is sublime and deeply felt by the heart and spirit in this old rendition by Mauesberger...The singers not only sings but we feel the prayers...It is an opera of the soul who walk toward the sunlike Christ.....

One of my cherished choral music work, i listen to it each day for 7 years writing .... It is with the mastering of Italian lighter rythm and German heavier pulsation a choral masterpiece at the same level that Bach work will make habitual with his own contrapuntal complex means and this is not a small feat....



Pure diamond....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnZQ0EPuNqk


I ask to a complete stranger in a music store 30 years ago:" what is the more miraculous choral work you listened to in the last years of your life ? He explode enthusiastically recommending that to me.... i never see him again....

 Was it an angel walking in a music store or an audiophile forgetting his hell ?
😊


« Beside speakers angels listen music and the damned hear the sound »- Groucho Marx

Thanks, Mahgister. What about works with instrumentation?

Anyone know about recordings of Zelenka’s large choral piece?

It is impossible to die without listening the trio sonatas Of Jan Dismas Zelenka, the bohemian bach....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpTaf-rL5zU

I have the Trio Sonatas on ECM.

The real Haydn when he wrote what HE wanted !
Very top of Classical music .
https://youtu.be/69r1k8oUaGs

Haydn is the equal of  Mozart and he him.
Most all on here would choose Mozart, I lean a bit toward  Haydn because the String Quartet  is my wheelhouse.
We are both  correct .

Haydn worked more about his inspiration than only with it... He is a craftsman... All he wrote is perfect workmanship.... His quatuor exceed Mozart one in perfection...

But Mozart rival his master with his quintets...And his symphonies....

And for voices composition, no one on earth ever equal Mozart at all...No one has ever create melodic voices so much ethereal, almost angels voices.... Cosi fan tutte is so ethereal, than reading the libretto is ridiculous....Cosi is like the art of the fugue for voices, but not like the Art a work coming from a supremum mathematical combinatoric, but more a pure gushing from the heart elevated to the spirit.... There exist no formula for that....No mathematics either....

Mozart dont work in a steady pace like Bach and Haydn did, it is more like Vivaldi, an uncontrollable melodic output with no rear thinking, but on a more deep inspiration than Vivaldi....Their creations gives something that does not comes from works.... But there is exception, moment when they work hard, for example Vivaldi gives to us when he was very young, his sonatas for violin opus 2...( one of my favorite Vivaldi works with the seasons) Listen and you will hear the working refining the inspiration.... His immense concertos output was created, except for example the 4 seasons, with melodic inspiration but almost no works except formulas...

It was for him like Vivaldi, too easy for them to do really hard work....Telemann was like that....We feel this easy inspiration also in Mendelssohn....But none of them reach the deep touching of Mozert.... Except at some moment of exception: for example the Kyrie of Vivaldi on par with Mozart...

By the way Karl Ristenpart is a great maestro.....

Mozart grew and matured, his last four symphonies are evident of this. Mozart’s operas and piano concertos separate him from his peers.

As did Haydn did with his superb religious works that challenge the Bach
Passions and beat them all with his superb St Qts .
Mozart’s piano concertos are the best and his opera’s are excellent .


There is a little guy named Puccini who did better in song and strikes even deeper to the human heart but I don’t think he wrote any symphony’s.
https://youtu.be/1woH96ROG-c?t=5


I’,ve seen half the men and all the women in tears at Madam Butterfly , Never seen anybody crying at a Mozart opera .
Unless you are God there is no such thing as" elevation" of the heart this side of heaven and we all know that Bach is the Zenith .
You have the right to tell us about you emotional state , I do it all the time .But it is just  ours . And only God knows what is what about human spirit etc

The finer expression of all the range of emotions (Puccini) is not the same that the pure elevation of heart to the spirit with voice that sings but speaks no more (Mozart Cosi)...

But i will give you that the seven last words on the cross of Haydn is on par with any Bach.... Only that is a testimony for this giant.....

But i must confess that no one beat Bach for me..... 😊

All composers act or react with or against Bach with all the degree of freedom between the 2 positions.....

My favorite opponent to Bach is Scriabin ( 2 minutes of Scriabin may transcend anything else sometimes)......My favorite disciple of Bach is Bruckner....The 5 th symphony is the art of symphony.... The final fugue is the most beautiful and deep works ever written after Bach.... All other symphonies of other composers seems like gentle toys.... 😉 Beautiful poems sometimes compared to Bruckner like the 6th or 7th of Beethoven the greatest composer in symphony after Bruckner(before him by date of birth), or for example Mahler....

But the 5th of Bruckner and over are so great that they crush the business of symphony making after them....After him the symphonies of all other composers are more like some cinema, they can be masterful, but yet always less spiritual and more mundane and yet sure may be very moving.... But emotions only are not spirit....

I apologize for my last post.... Perhaps i am too much in love with Bruckner.....

Comparing Puccini to Mozart is an incomparable comparison.

Right....🤐

@schubert      Len, I do agree with you regarding Haydn that his symphonies are just as great as Mozart and some of them more so. I would rather listen to Haydn than Mozart any day of the week. Haydn piano sonatas are rated greater than Mozart to me but no one comes near to Beethoven for piano sonatas as after listening to Op.111 there is no music I want to listen to after that, it has all been said.