Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade. Beecham and the RPO. On a first label (white and gold)
What a great performance and recording this is from 1957 and less noisy than some of my recent lp purchases.
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Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade. Beecham and the RPO. On a first label (white and gold)
What a great performance and recording this is from 1957 and less noisy than some of my recent lp purchases.
I bought the Solti version of Wagners The Ring last week. I'm no opera fan but having listened to the first two discs of fifteen it is a very impressive work and I still have thirteen discs to go..I paid sixty quid for it so I had better ike it.:mental:
Ha ha !! - marvellous. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by sparrow
Talk about throwing yourself in at the deep end! :D
I hope it works for you - some folks seem to organize their whole lives around pilgrimages to Bayreuth to see and hear The Ring in its proper locale. Have you booked your tickets yet? Be quick - you have to get in years in advance! :lol:
Boulez - Pli selon Pli the Christine Schafer version this I presume will be the final one although he has been messing with it since 1957 this is 1989.
It is just beautiful music,despite his protestations about mathematics he seems to me a true romantic at heart,he can't help writing truly listenable music.
I have three versions of this piece,all conducted by him and all delicious.
my only problem is the comb over,as a bald person this I do not understand or trust.
This afternoon a long forgotten LP.
Beethoven 9th (bits of . . ), Rossini's Thieving Magpie and William Tell overture, a bit of Purcell, and some original compositions by Walter (Wendy) Carlos.
"O my brothers, Kubrick kopatted Clockwork and, with no appy polly loggy to anyone, he made it come to jeezny for the sinny. Then did all the chellovecks creech with radosty at him . . . . as the critics lubbilubbed in print and on TV to the genius of this dobby moodge, S.K."
From the days when synthesizers were bloody hard work, I give you . .
http://images.hhv.de/catalog/detail_big/00064/64696.jpg
Hmm. Boulez :scratch: What little I have heard has been a bit 'difficult'. ... with or without comb-over ... where would you suggest a new-comer to his music should start, Roy?Quote:
Originally Posted by royzak
Recently ....
Bach Goldberg Variations - Christianne Jaccottet playing harpsichord on an old but mint Concert Hall LP. I have the CD of this as well, the LP is so much better! Lovely performnace, too.
Bruch Violin Concerto #1 - Christian Ferras / Walter Susskind conducting on a MfP LP. Ferras is one of my fave violinists (his Sibelius concerto is head & shoulders above all others, imo). What a tragedy he topped himself in 1982 aged 49 after suffering all his life from depression. :(
Beethoven 3rd Symphony - Schmidt-Isserstedt / VPO on a Decca LP. Wow, this is how Beethoven should be played - magisterial, leonine - as if chiselled from granite! Great Decca recording from the 1960's Golden Years, too.
Beethoven Kreutzer violin sonata - Szeryng & Rubinstein - RCA mono LP. Picked this up yesterday in the Penarth Oxfam shop along with 19 other classical LPs. Average price, 59p. :) It's 52 years old and Mint for the most part! And what a performance!! Stunning - & I've never even heard of this recording before.
Been having a bit of a Beethoven 'fest' of late (or a bit of "Ludwig van" as he is referred to in the film 'Clockwork Orange', vide supra).
Over the last couple of days I have played all nine symphonies as performed by Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner. (5 CD set. DGG Archiv 477 8643, 1994)
The Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique play period instruments, the same as would have been used in Beethoven's day and intruments for which he composed. I have found that, in general, period compositions always sound better when performed on instruments of that period. Whilst modern instruments are louder and more dynamic, performances of period works can often sound dull, pedestrian and lack excitment when they are used.
I have several versions of all of the Beethoven symphonies, and whilst this set is not necessarily the definative version, it certainly has excitement and is a joy to hear. A far cry from the late Karajan recordings with the Berlin Philharmonic.
Highly Recommended!
I've got a single CD of Gardiner in symphonies 3 &5.
Yup, I agree they are fizzing with excitement and very nicely recorded. Very good indeed ... if I wanted yet another set it may well be Gardiner's.
Found out that I had this on a compilation disc, will have to give it a listen tonight.Quote:
Originally Posted by royzak
Was just listening to the Previn Rachmaninov 2nd, what a fantansic record.
People seem to be all over the map on this set. I think the whole historically-informed performance creates more debates than actual listening.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
For me, this is the set that really speaks to me, especially in the uptempo 5th symphony. The stunning ensemble, great recording, and unique take on this warhorse of all warhorses is something to behold. The 5th is one of my favorite recordings in my collection.
I also like #1.
For #6 I have to go with perhaps my all-time second favorite record, Bruno Walter conducting the Columbia SO.
Been off sick today, so been putting in some lengthy-musical-work listening...
Bach: St Matthew Passion (Gardiner/Baroque Soloists on DG Archiv).
Got an M2Tech Evo dac/psu/Evo on trial and it don't sound too shabby ;)
Gardiner does such good Bach, his St Matthew Passion is gorgeous.
As yes, Walter is wonderful.Quote:
Originally Posted by JJack
(Have you heard his stereo Brahms symphony set on CBS/Sony? .... :stalks:)
And don't forget Bohm / VPO in the Pastoral on DG. I've got it on LP and CD ...the LP is better, natch! :thumbsup:
Yesterday ....
Beethoven violin concerto - Leonid Kogan / Paris Conservatoire Orch / Silvestri on a CfP LP. Lovely lovely flowing line from the well recorded soloist. :drool: ... the recording of the orchestra is a bit ill-defined but who cares with violin playing like this? Not me! :nono:
Telemann - concertos for violin, recorder, 3 violins and 2 horns (4 separate concertos, that is!) on a Penguin Guide Rosette winning Naxos CD (8.550156). This is just simply glorious! An exact contemporary of JS Bach, Telemann seems to be overlooked, I have no idea why, this is great!
Handel - Firework Music - Collegium Aureum -on an EMI LP. Were Collegium Aureum the original original instrument band? Could be! :) ... this is nice, although the sound is a bit bland. Increase the 2KHz band by a tad on my graphic equaliser and the recording bursts into life! ;) - lovely.
I only have Walter's Brahms 1, but, again, one of my favorite discs. It's an old CD from the 1980s and it just sounds wonderful. I think I'll listen to it this weekend, thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
I have the complete Bohm Beethoven set on LP. I'm in the middle of redoing my entire stereo, so the turntable is not optimally set up, but I'll certainly be listening to the Bohm once I get a new cartridge fitted.
At the moment:
Gerald Finzi - Clarinet Concerto: John Deman, New Philharmonia/Vernon Handley (on Lyrita).
This is a piece of music of music that never fails to put a smile on my face, and almost a tear in the eye with its wistful, rapt moods. Put simply it's one of the most tuneful, glorious pieces of music I've ever heard. The Naxos issue with Robert Plane and the Northern Sinfonia is good, but the Lyrita recording is excellent in every area. Heartfelt playing and a warm, sumptuous recording. Perfection.
Get the rest. ;) All are superb - the 4th is as if carved from granite! :drool: Such wonderful sound quality, too.Quote:
Originally Posted by JJack
Vaughan Williams - Symphony No. 6, New Philharmonia, Boult, EMI [Nimbus vinyl]
I haven't played this in a while but all the recent RVW talk prompted me to. An absolutely stunning performance and recording and a prized Nimbus pressing.
http://www.audiophileusa.com/covers400water/8195.jpg
I remember that, way back in about 1972, I traded this disc in at The Gramophone Exchange in London for the just released box set of all Boult's EMI VW symphonies, along with, I think, Antarctica. Not Nimbus pressings I suspect . . . but fantastic music making. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
Agreed - up there with the very finest wind concertos ever written imho. Check out my avatar and you'll see a small part of the slow movement. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by morris_minor
Robert Plane's recording is extremely sweet - if you haven't heard it, check out also the one he did of the Finzi 5 Bagatelles arranged for string orchestra (instead of piano). A sheer delight.
My personal Finzi-favourite of the concerto is probably the Andrew Marriner recording - with Ian Bostridge singing Dies Natalis on the same disc it's a wonderful pairing. :)
Yes, I have the Naxos disc too. As a very amateur clarinet player I gave a couple of public performances of the Bagatelles; some dodgy moments, but very rewarding :). My sympathies with the Concerto go towards the Denman, not least because it was the recording that introduced me to the concerto, but because of local associations - Tod Handley was then still Music Director of the Guildford Phil, and John Denman, who I think was Professor of Clarinet at Trinity, was the orchestra's principle. Handley's London associations, and his winning way with players meant that half the Guildford Phil were London players, and for a while Hugh Bean was its leader. Watching Prom broadcasts by the LPO, Philharmonia, RPO you could play spot the Guildford Phil players.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gromit
My own minuscule addition to the Finzi discography was as a choir member on Handley's Lyrita recording of Intimations of Immortality with Ian Partridge.
I have to admit I did try to read the music on your avatar - but didn't guess it . . :doh:
As far as Dies Natalis goes, I have an old LP of Finzi's son, Christopher, conducting Wilfred Brown, and haven't wanted to stray from this . . .
I think one of Finzi's greatest gift was being able to write choral/vocal settings in a very naturalistic, almost speech like manner, that sidesteps all the mannerisms and extended vocalisations that seem to dog a lot of compositions. His words speak very simply and directly, and with his glorious melodic inventions, communicate all the better for it.
Hi Bob - didn't realise John Denman was a Prof at Trinity, didn't he also move to the States some years ago? Hard to believe it's over 10 years since he died.
I'll check out his Finzi as it's not one I know very well at all - thanks for the tip.
At the moment...
Shostakovich 15 (LPO/Haitink).
Probably one of the finest orchestral recordings (technically) that I own. Stunning sound - Decca analogue/Kingsway Hall. :)
Shostakovich for me too this afternoon.
Working my way through some new arrivals from Amazon marketplace to plug gaps in my Sh. symphonies:
Ashkenazy/RPO no.9, with Piano Concertos 1 & 2 (Jablonski and Ortiz)
Rostropovich/LSO nos. 2 and 3
Haitink/Concertgebouw nos.6 and 12 (Thanks for the tip off on this one, Martin - though I do have a Leipzig GH / Duran recording of no.12)
Still got 6 and 12 to go, but the Ashkenazy disc is great, need to listen again to the Rostropovich . . .
So it's only 13, 14, and 15 to go, and by the sounds of it Haitink's 15 is the one to go for. Any tips for 13 or 14?
John Denman went to Arizona. Have just found this obituary . . .Quote:
Originally Posted by Gromit
I must dig out the disc of the second Spohr concerto referred to in the obit. Not my cup of tea musically, really, but I can appreciate the skill and artistry of the performance.
Yet more Shostakovitch.Suite on verses by Michelangelo. Nestorenko,Barshai.
Hope you enjoy that one :)Quote:
Originally Posted by morris_minor
I'm sure I will.Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
The finale of the 12th though seems to over egg the pudding somewhat with it's Hoffnung-esque false endings. A bit like Arnold's Grand, Grand Overture, but minus vacuum cleaners and guns :lol:
We had a bit of a classical music frenzy in the house today (mostly DG vinyl):
Schumann; Dino Ciani – Novelletten Op. 21
Sibelius; BPO/Karajan - Symphonies No. 6 & 7
Borodin; Toronto Symphony Orchestra/Andrew Davis - The Three Symphonies & Prince Igor Overture
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg
Rachmaninov; Concertgebouw/Ashkenazy - Symphony No.2
Tchaikovsky; BPO/Karajan - Symphony Nr. 4
Mahler; Dresden State Orch./Suitner - Symphony No.1
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg
Mahler; LSO/Schwarz - Symphony No.5
Rodrigo / Yepes; Orquesta Sinfonica RTV Espanola/Alonso - Concierto De Aranjuez/Fantasia Para Un Gentilhombre
Mozart; Boston Symphony Orch./Munch/Benny Goodman - Clarinet Concerto/Clarinet Quintet
http://www.soundfountain.org/rem/everestmahler233.jpg http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg
Saint-Saens
Symphony No. 3 in C minor with Organ
The Paris Conservatoire Orchestra - Georges Pretre, cond.
Maurice Durufle, organ
(vinyl)
http://www.classicalnotes.net/classi...ens-pretre.jpg
Wow - the Saint-Saens with Durufle playing the organ?!! Now that I'd like to hear.
Rodrigo -- Complete Orchestral Works..
Barber complete piano music, played by his friend John Browning.
Great music that is well-served by this excellent quality recording.
This music is new to me. I like it; might even become one of my favorites. I was expecting the organ to be more prominent throughout the piece. Nevertheless, when it comes in, it sets 10,000 to flight. ;) :) It sounds very grand on this recording, as an organ should.Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
Biff - I actually love the subterranean organ pedals in the quiet 2nd movement where it takes sizeable speakers and some considerable drive to reproduce well. As for its entry in the 4th - well yes, that does seriously stress the structure of my room :)
Quite right, Martin.Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
I've kept my current loudspeakers because of the 15" woofers and their extension into the low 20's. The Mark IIIA has no problems "pushing air". But, I do not like the mid-bass suck out (currently corrected with eq). After two years of looking, I'm still stuck on which speakers to replace them with. :(
Of late:
Alwyn symphonies 1 & 4 - Alwyn himelf conducting the LPO on a Lyrita CD. I need to play more Alwyn, I really enjoyed this. It inspired me to order the violin concerto with McAslan on Naxos. :)
Shostakovich 2nd piano sonata - Emil Gilels on a RCA mono LP. By gum, this is good!
Also the Liszt sonata on t'other side of the same LP. You know, Emil Gilels wasn't too bad at tinkling the old ivories! :lol:
Without a doubt, this LP is one of the treasures of my collection.
Beethoven violin sonatas opp 12 2 & 3, and op 30/2. Zukerman & Barenboim caught live in Italy in 1972 on an Ermitage CD. By gum, Zukerman goes for it :eek: - far from the cleanest violin playing you'll ever hear, but passion & excitement by the bucket load!
That's two "by gums" in one night of listening - must have been a good one!Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
By gum, it was!
This evening so far ...
The one, the only ... Algernon Ashton Piano sonata #4. On a Dutton 2 CD set of piano works. 1859-1937, an obscure Brit composer who shouldn't be. Obscure, that is, not Brit. This 4th sonata published in 1925. This sounds remarkably (& wonderfully) like Schubert at times. Well worth exploring. :thumbsup:
Rachmaninov Symphony #2 - Ashkenazy / Decca LP. By gum, this is good, too. :) Great performance, great recording. By gum.
Just played the Rachmaninov 2,Previn,hadn't played it for ages,agree with all you say.
Now enjoying Beethoven String Quartet Op 127, Quartetto Italiano,on Philips.Another beauty.
Mozart Divertimenti, Freiburger, Harmoni Mundi
Chopin Ballades, Mr Ashkenazy, Decca
Ended the day with .... Dvorak Cello Concerto - Rostropovich / Karajan / DG LP. Great performance, but I knew that ... but I was blown away by the excellence of the recorded sound! :scratch: ... my LP rig must be coming along nicely. :)
This last week I've been doing some vinyl rips of a Beethoven symphony cycle I inherited from my Dad: Classics for Pleasure reissues of Andre Cluytens/Berlin Philharmonic EMI recordings from the late 50s/early 60s.
Decent recordings and some very good pressings. Classical/Romantic music is not my usual listening, but I've enjoyed these greatly. Even the 5th. I've a Carlos Kleiber Vienna recording of this that I've always rated, but Cluytens' more measured approach, for me, had a greater, more powerful impact. Kleiber seemed a bit frenetic at times. Need to listen again to the cycle, and maybe post-Baroque pre-Impressionist music isn't all that bad after all :eyebrows:.
Richard - I've just been doing a rip of the second Spohr concerto - which John Denman seems to have discovered, and hunting around for a picture of the disc cover I came upon this little website:Quote:
Originally Posted by Gromit
www.johndenmanclarinet.co.uk
They seem to be offering a CD limited edition of the Onyx LP (which has the Stamitz 3rd concerto as well as the Spohr). Just wondered if you were interested . . .:rolleyes:
Incidentally the sleeve note confirms he was a Professor at Trinity, and also Principal of the Sadlers Well Opera (with which orchestra the Spohr disc was recorded).
I finally finished my new stereo (after two months of building it up, selling off old gear, etc).
It's posted in the Gallery now but I thought I'd share one shot I took of some LPs, two old favorites and two new purchases today:
http://i1255.photobucket.com/albums/...ck1/albums.jpg
I'll throw in one shot of the system, since you all seem to like vinyl:
http://i1255.photobucket.com/albums/...jack1/VPI2.jpg
Okay two shots, because I kind of feel proud of this and it sounds so damn good with all the Shostakovich you guys have been forcing me to buy:
http://i1255.photobucket.com/albums/...1/Harbeth2.jpg
Oh wow ! - Bruno Walter Brahms 4th :thumbsup::thumbsup: the best there is, imho. :) I've got it on CD - just looking for a decent copy on vinyl now. :drool:
Very nice deck, Jack. Is that a VPI arm?
Yes, it's a VPI JMW-10. I've had it (and the VPI Mark 3 'table) for 13 years now. I am looking to upgrade the cartridge, which is the wonderfully smooth Shure M97xe, a bit out of place on this system but actually sounds really good. I need to sell off some more old gear before I do that (unless I just get my old Blue Point Special retipped).
---------------------
On the Brahms 4th - yes, yes, yes find a copy somewhere! I have it on SACD, vinyl, and CD. One of my desert island discs
This afternoon:
Havergal Brian - Symphonies 10 and 21 (Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra/James Loughran and Eric Pinkett), Unicorn LP RHS 313
It must be thirty years or more since this one got a play :eek:.
Amazing music, unlike any other composer, really. This was the first ever commercial recording of Brian's music, made a few months before he died, aged 96. Produced by Robert Simpson, who, as a BBC producer had been promoting Brian's music and had got the BBC to agree to broadcast all of Brian's 32 symphonies (22 written after Brian was 80).
For a youth orchestra, the LSSO play remarkably well. It's only the occasional loose ensemble or slightly off intonation that gives their amateur status away. The recording suffers (if that's the right word) from an enormous dynamic range, and muted, distant trumpets could be in the next county.
The music is powerful and uncompromising. There's something of a Shostakovichian (is that a word?) feel to the bleak, desolate passages in the 10th, and the tremendous impact of thunder and wind machines is all the more impressive when it comes, not as a spectacular effect, but as an inevitable consequence of where the music's going. There are some wistful, nobilmente moments (a la Elgar), but comparisons are useless really as the music is totally individual, quirky, and unexpected.
That Brian actually heard very little of his own music didn't seem to matter to him that much, as it was the composing that was important to him. There's a few more recordings around now, so I feel I have to explore more . . . :)
As an aside, with the state of music education in schools these days, could a similar undertaking be made today? Are there County Youth Orchestras any more? With funding cutbacks, music-making is a soft target . . . .
It's sad to hear that the UK is doing the same thing that's been done in the States. Musical enrichment classes largely ended in the 1970s. Performance classes are still popular but have to fight every year to not get cut in favor of math and science classes.Quote:
Originally Posted by morris_minor