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.
There is no record of Debussy attending school, and his father had him
down for a life as a sailor. His musical talent was discovered by
chance. In 1871, his father was arrested for participating in the Paris
Commune, and in jail became friends with a musician, Charles de Sivry,
whose mother – Antoinette-Flore Mauté – was a talented pianist and
teacher who claimed to have been a pupil of Chopin’s (as it happened,
she was also Verlaine’s mother-in-law). It was Madame Mauté who
recognised Debussy’s exceptional musicality. She gave him piano lessons
and a year later, aged ten, he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire,
the youngest candidate then to be offered a place.
, , ,
He sought to compose music that was expressive and beautiful, and he
grounded it in the quality of his ear and in his musical intuition. It
wasn’t only that he was restlessly bored with formulaic solutions to
composition, but that he felt music had become too noisy and too
rhetorical, and that in its high claims to various kinds of content –
religious, cod-religious (Wagner), philosophical, psychological,
sociopolitical, whatever – music had forgotten its origin in sound. The
racket and bombast of much late 19th-century orchestral and operatic
music distressed him. It was as if he couldn’t hear himself think, or
rather, as if he couldn’t hear himself hear. Debussy’s music is capable
of wonderful gaiety, exuberance, jubilation, ecstasy; yet, given his
preoccupation with sound, it was inevitable that an unusual proportion
of his work – compared to that of other composers of his time – would
sit at the quieter end of the dynamic spectrum, as Stephen Walsh points
out, and it’s one of the reasons it is difficult to perform well: the
modern concert piano is incapable of the differentiations of pianissimo
that Debussy asks for, and the subtle discriminations of his orchestral
works, such as La Mer and Jeux, pose big challenges
for even the best players (and for conductors: Boulez, the finest
interpreter of Debussy’s orchestral works, described titrating the tone
of Jeux as a matter of hair’s breadth musical judgment).
@schubert Len you are so right , the young mind is fantastic at storing all sorts of things and music is right up there at the top of the pile. Well done ladies.on a a different note i have looked at the you tube clip you sent me and I really enjoyed it taking me back to The White Heather Club in the sixties with Andy Stewart and the Ian Powrie Fiddle Band. Stirring stuff indeed.Hope you have a good weekend. Jim.
This is what can be done with very young children and nobody else does it !
https://youtu.be/IcsgOIAcypQ?list=RDIcsgOIAcypQ&t=1 There are two bands with an add between . Second is full Symphonic playing wonderful with no sheets , a miracle from ELEMENTARY kids !!!! Shame on the rest of us .
Newbee, thanks My favorite recording of Schumann romances is still Tatiana Nikolayeva It is part of "Russian Piano School" series BMG Classics 74321 332132
Laura Downes here, but you have to get thru the introduction Pianist Lara Downes Plays Clara Schumann and More! Live from the WRTI 90.1 Performance Studio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJfa5OBOff8
Thanks Newbee, will try to find that recording. Just read a wonderful piece about Bach!
"I’ve talked to people who feel they know Bach very well, but they aren’t
aware of the time he was imprisoned for a month. They never learned
about Bach pulling a knife on a fellow musician during a street fight.
They never heard about his drinking exploits—on one two-week trip he
billed the church eighteen gorchsen for beer, enough to purchase eight gallons
of it at retail prices—or that his contract with the Duke of Saxony
included a provision for tax-free beer from the castle brewery; or that
he was accused of consorting with an unknown, unmarried woman in the
organ loft; or had a reputation for ignoring assigned duties without
explanation or apology. They don’t know about Bach’s sex life: at best a
matter of speculation, but what should we conclude from his twenty
known children, more than any significant composer in history (a
procreative career that has led some to joke with a knowing wink that
“Bach’s organ had no stops”), or his second marriage to twenty-year-old
singer Anna Magdalena Wilcke, when he was in his late thirties? They
don’t know about the constant disciplinary problems Bach caused, or his
insolence to students, or the many other ways he found to flout
authority. This is the Bach branded as “incorrigible” by the councilors
in Leipzig, who grimly documented offense after offense committed by
their stubborn and irascible employee." more here: https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/js-bach-rebel
Speaking of the Schumann Concerto, here is the 11 year old Martha Argerich playing it in a decidedly UNgentle manner that someone just sent me. Miraculous for an 11 year old.
jcazador (and others of like mind) Your comment to me on 10/6 "...peaceful, my kind of music" caused me to think of you when I finished listening to my most recent acquisition. This is a recording by Lara Downes on Steinway & Sons titled "For Love of You. Clara and Robert Schuman". I bought this because I like her music and I follow her as other recordings of that label. I had no great expectations, in fact I had a major reservation - I had burned out long ago of that highly regarded war horse, his Piano Concerto.
Short version - I was drawn in and swept away by the program, her performance and the recording quality. The piano concerto is the most gentle version one can imagine and reflects the spirit of the program. This is, really, a program which engages and relaxes simultaneously. I cannot endorse it more highly to you.
On maturer reflection: it's clear that there's some compression going on in the Sony recording. This is a bad thing and a good thing. I initially warmed to it, because I was able to set one volume at the opening of the first movement, and didn't have to fiddle with the remote again.
On the other hand, it certainly takes away from some of the more massive dynamic contrasts. The problem is that with other recordings I often find myself riding the volume on the remote control, effectively providing my own spur-of-the-moment compression. When then loudest fff are set not to break the speakers, the pp passages aren't as audible as I'd like. Hmmm.
The "Great Recording of the Century " Mahler 6th with Sir John Barbirolli and the New Phil lives up tothe title . On adigio with the bonus of R.Strauss "Metamorphosen"
rvpiano -- Yeah! That Mahler Des Knaben Wunderhorn recording is indeed my favorite record of all time. I have three copies -- one CD and two Vanguard LPs (my wife accidentally put a scratch in my first one and guiltily tracked down another). Thanks to my recent purchase of a Mytek Brooklyn Bridge DAC, the CD is now just as emotionally involving as the vinyl. Mahler's music and the artists' performances, especially those of bass-baritone Heinz Rehfuss, act as a time-machine, effortlessly transporting me back to a lush, magical, sometimes terrifying ancient Europe.
It was RV who introduced me to Currentzis. For the most part, I like his interpretations. The Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto is one of my new favorites. I listened to an album of Micheal Gielen that had two performances of the Mahler 6th, both were quite different from the other. Check it out. My fav is the Horenstein performed live- That audience is sooo quiet. Bob
Finally getting around to listening to the Currentzis Mahler 6. After the overwhelming Tchaikovsky Pathetique it was a must-listen. So, not as transformative, but interesting nevertheless.. Tempos are generally brisk in movements 1 and 2, with just occasional moments of noticeable rubato. His orchestra is incredibly together, and the Sony recording is very fine. There are a number of details of the score that come through more clearly here than any other recording I know. The slow movement is superlative (but then I'm a sucker for Mahler's slow movements). It's different to Bernstein, but I'll definitely want to listen to it again. Here the tempo is "just right", and the slow ebb and flow and ultimate build to the climax perfectly judged--definitely not just a long sentimental bonbon--more truly emotionally draining. (Barbirolli: remember, each piece of music only has one climax.)
Has anyone else heard it? I'd be curious to get your impressions.
Actually, Rachmaninoff became so depressed after the first performance of the First Symphony because of adverse criticism, he stopped composing for a while and never returned to it. It’s the First Concerto that he revised later on in life. The Symphonic Dances are indeed a departure from his usual style.
RV, do you think this accounts for the resemblance to his Symphonic Dances? Interesting that his 1st symphony could be so similar to his last (symphonic) works. Wonder how his unreworked version would compare to the Symphonic Dances. BTW, the Symphonic Dances are my favorite orchestral works by Rachmaninoff. They have everything that really wakes one up, nothing here to drowse to. :-)
What’s interesting about the Rach 1st is that, even though it’s labeled #1, it was reworked by the composer later in his life, so that it is really representative of his maturity, and as such a truly great concerto.
rv, I finally got around to the Ozawa/Zimmerman Rach 1 st.. Is everything you said it was . To be honest he has always been a peripheral composer to me , more because of time than anything else . Bach has always taken at least 1/3 of my listening time since the first note. Put in Brahms , Schubert and early music and well over 50% .
That said , I saw another rendition of Rach 1 with Leif Ove Andsnes and the BerlinerPhil , listened , and it seemed right up there as well . Cheers
Daniel Triifonov has written a wonderful new piano arrangement of the first movement of The Bells, Rachmaninoff’s favorite composition. Along with the First and Third Concerto, it can be heard on Idagio.
Elgar #3 (!), completed by Anthony Payne. Very fine recording--the way full orchestras need to be recorded. So far the symphony itself is not convincing me. Clearly Elgar's genius lay in shorter-form orchestral works, which are splendid. Cueing up the Barbirolli soon.
newbee me too Watched part 2 of "The Enigma" last night. Awesome. Interviews with Gould, among many others. And lots of footage of R playing. R describes why he prefers Haydn to Mozart. Never realized how much Richter looked like Kesey at age 40-50!
Elgar #2, which I definitely prefer to #1. Sinopoli recording sounds good; Larghetto movement seems at moments to be channeling some Mahler (is it Elgar or is it Sinopoli?).
jcazador, You might also enjoy his performance of Shostakovich's Aphorisms, op 13. available on a Decca CD. It's quite good. FWIW I'm a Askenazy fan, both as a pianist as well as a conductor, especially in Rachmaninoff's and Sibelius' music.
My favorite Ashkenazy recording is the Shostakovich Preludes. Somehow his recordings are all excellent technically, which cannot be said for many other great pianists. I don't know how that happened.
@jcazador Hi Jeremy I have seen Ashkenazy a few times and one of the best was a Beethoven cycle in Glasgow. He was with the SNO and within a fortnight he treated us to the five Beethoven Piano concertos and the Choral fantasy. How he remembered all those notes I will never know but it was incredibly enjoyable all the same. although not what I would say my favourite pianist i think he is a very ejoyable pianist and one of the best Beethoven interpreters that I know.
For a change from the 17C, I’ve started an Elgar survey. Kind of fascinating to go back and see what CDs I bought years and years ago, when I was guided primarily by the successive editions of the Penguin Stereo Guide and reviews in Gramophone (before it got dumbed down). Starting with Symphony #1. Surprised to find I own Handley, Judd and Marriner, rather than what I’d expected (i.e. Boult, Barbirolli or Solti).
I never heard Rachmaninov, I was 3 years old when he died. I had a chance to hear Richter, I was in college just a hundred miles from Carnegie Hall. My aunt was a perennial student at Julliard, she said tickets were impossible. The only first rank pianist I have ever heard was Ashkenazy.
@jcazador jeremy do forgive a stupid old man for his glaring mistake. I thought it was you who had seen Rachmaninov and I didn’t realise it was a quote from Earl Wild. again many appologies. Jim.
@jcazador Oh jeremy you lucky lucky man having experienced Rachmaninov playing live. I would love to have been so fortunate but unfortunately he was already dead when I was born but I do consider myself very lucky that I have seen a lot of the other greats. I have a little nugget from Arrau about Rachmaninov that when Arrau was playing in concert one day he didn't know that Rachmaninov was in the audience and at the end of the recital Rachmaninov asked if he could taik to Arrau. Of course Arrau said yes and they struck up a conversation about the recital especially about Beethoven's 32 variations in C minor Arrau had just played. Rachmaninof told Arrau he had never heard of the piece and Arrau was cool to Rachmanonov after that. I thought Arrau a terrible snob after that , after all how could you not forgive a wonderous pianist, composer and conductor of not knowing a minor piece by Beethoven. I must say I did think a little less of Arrau after that, oh and another thing he said was that although Rachmaninov was a great pianist everything he played he turned into pure Rachmaninov ( I call that sour grapes ).
In RICHTER: THE ENIGMA, Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997), one of the greatest pianists of all time, breaks his life-long silence and allows himself to be interviewed for this autobiographical film. He evokes his wild childhood, his encounters with the great names in the music world, his performance debuts, and his activities as a concert artist in the troubled Soviet Union. Acerbic and unpredictable, Richter reveals himself here with disarming candour and humour. The programme includes previously unseen archival footage, a wealth of performance excerpts, and works by the following composers: Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Liszt, Mozart, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Ravel, Saint-Saens, Schubert, Shostakovich, and more.
Richter, the EnigmaRichter at age 80 reminiscing about his life, interspersed with period footage. He never played scales. He was really powerful/dynamic at the keyboard! Too much to describe, highly recommended.
“I was only six when I first heard Rachmaninoff perform, and I attended his concerts regularly for the next twenty-two years until his death in 1943. I heard him play not only his most of his own compositions, but the entire standard repertoire that he chose to perform in public. I also had the good fortune to hear him in the role of conductor. Sergei Rachmaninoff has been the most important musical influence of my life. His sheer presence commanded a respect which was formidable. The simplicity of his approach to the keyboard was a model of perfection which I have strived to emulate.” Earl Wild Now listening to Earl Wild's Legendary Rachmaninoff Song Transcriptions
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