...and I haven't heard the ones with Lupu. The Lili Kraus series I have both on originals 78s and in the transfers in the big box, but I've played only the former (making my own transfers, part of a project to transfer my nearly complete run of Lili Kraus 78s that I finished just before the big box was announced--exquisite timing, as usual). @George?
I don't know if this has already been mentioned, but Vol.6 is his Mahler set; it was released in August.
An online friend whose opinion I respect created an online Beethoven String Quartet discography to go along with the one he did for the Sonatas. I thought I would share the link here: Ionarts: A Survey of Beethoven String Quartet Cycles
Thanks--great resource! Since you're in contact with the compiler, would you mind passing on a tidbit (that he may already know, but that doesn't appear in the listings): in addition to the labels shown, the Pascal set was released at least in part on Concert Hall Society. That was related to Musical Masterpiece Society in some way, and he does list it in that form.
Just ordered a copy of this, as I love the pianist and I do not have 30% or so of it. Plus, I can then take all those old Serkin CDs off the shelf and have room for more stuff! (I keep my box sets on a different set of shelves.) Amazon Prime members (like me) get it shipped the same day, so I will be excited to get home tonight!
LOVE the Pascal set of Beethoven's quartets. It's my favorite one. Interestingly, the set also includes an arrangement of the op. 2 no. 3 piano sonata for string quartet. Are they readily available on CD? My other go to is the Guarneri quartet's first set on RCA. They have a distinctive and idiomatic sound that works well for Beethoven's quartets for me. I want to hear their later set on Philips but it is not available on Spotify and assembling the individual CD issues is expensive.
This Symphony No. 6 is excellent. I like it better than Handley's version on Chandos. Del Mar's version was recently recommended in The Absolute Sound. Bax: Symphony No. 6 Norman Del Mar New Philharmonia Bax: Irish Landscape Rogue's Comedy Overture Overture to Adventure Overture: work in Progress Vernon Handley Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Lyrita, 2007 The cover depicts the coastline at Morar, Scotland where much of Symphony No. 6 was written.
Now enjoying the first of Serkin's four Columbia recordings of the Brahms Piano Concerto 2. I usually don't like how orchestral recordings sound in mono, but this one (1945) was recorded quite well. As for the sound in general on this set, I am happy to report that it is excellent! I have only heard the first five discs in full, but they sound great. I also have compared the sound on this set to about 10 prior releases of the same performances from Pearl, Naxos Historical and SONY. In each case, the new set sounds as good as, or better than prior CD releases.
Yes, I really like that one too. The copy I have looks like cdrs though. It's been a while since I bought it so I don't remember why I think that but I was suspicious when I first got it. I'll have to pull it out and look at it again. The sound is fine but there was something about the discs that made me question it.
RIP! Alicia de Larrocha, Poetic Interpreter of Mozart and Spanish Composers, Dies at 86 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com
No harm done--and that's a great excuse to pull out a few of her recordings and remember what a lovely artist she was.
For the umpteenth time this month, Satie: Socrate / Reinbert de Leeuw and Barbara Hannigan- Trois Mélodies Sylvie
Sad news: Czech harpsichordist Zuzana Ruzickova died a couple of days ago. Holocaust survivor musician dies at 90 I first made acquaintance with her work back when I was in college and bought a two-record set in which she played a collection of Scarlatti sonatas and a single LP of her playing Couperin, both on Supraphon. As I'm recalling it, I paid a pretty penny for the Scarlatti set, the only one I could find with L. 345 on harpsichord, those being the bad old days of the turn-of-the-'80s when Scarlatti on harpsichord was very difficult to find. (His music back then tended to be the phonographic domain of guitarists more than anybody else, with piano being in second place and harpsichord bringing up a distant rear. I regret to say that situation appears to be reasserting itself to some extent.) The Couperin, by contrast, I'm almost sure was in the "bargain" bins. All would have come from the Sound Warehouse store in Houston on late night, "let's all pile into our buddy's car and go on a record run" excursions. Got a lot of pleasure out of all three records in ensuing years, although the Scarlatti wasn't necessarily the best from the standpoint of the recording engineer's art, at least as heard on my modest, nay, retiring equipment of the time. Not too long back I bought a reissue of her complete Bach hpd. music cycle, but I haven't opened it yet--in large part because I wanted to approach it systematically, not just play a few bits and shove it aside. I guess I'll move it to a more forward-placed burner now.
Sad news indeed. I've seen quite a few Zuzana Růžičková obits this week here in Europe; she was revered here.