I strongly tend to believe that Rudolf Firkušný's both Leoš Janáček and Bohuslav Martinu recordings for RCA belong to his best (recorded) achievements ....
I bought the following box a while back and IIRC, there are quite a few piano concertos recordings where Firkusny was the pianist. PSO (Pittsburgh) was a force to be reckoned with during the Steinberg years ...
His Emperor with Steinberg is excellent and underrated. I think it was the first one I listened to and I'm imprinted on it. I think it was originally on Capitol and is owned by Warner now.
I've just had a quick scan of my vinyl and can only find three recordings with American orchestras. It's not that I go out of my way to avoid them, but of course the European recordings are more plentiful and highly reviewed here. I have two very nice Colin Davis BSO Sibelius symphony lps and then a Giulini CSO Dvorak 9 which is sadly just about unplayable with its very harsh later DG recording. The notion about how an orchestra gains and maintains a reputation is an interesting one. Undoubtedly the Berlin Phil were a top orchestra under Karajan and other conductors. Not so with Rattle in my experience. I saw them several times in recent years and was utterly dissapointed each time to find them trading in former glories. My biggest mistake was seeing an entire Sibelius Symphony cycle at the Barbican. These symphonies are truly magical in the right hands but they managed to suck the life right out of them. I found it a very 'technical' performance, tedious and totally lacking in passion. I was actually bored and I adore Sibelius! I would prefer to see any of the leading London orchestras. Or maybe not, now that Rattle is with the LSO. I have never been to see the Vienna Phil but the live televised performances I have seen at New Year or the Schonbrunn Palace have been the polar opposite to the recent Berlin Phil. You can see and hear the individual musicians totally immersed in the music and playing with such spirit and passion. Now that is an orchestra I would happily travel to see.
I don't have his Martinu and I'm a fan of the composer. I like his Janacek a lot so I need to check out the Martinu. I heard the first Martinu I don't care for that much this year and for some reason, I just listened to samples before I bought it. A mistake I hope not to repeat in the future. Fortunately, it's the only such mistake I've made in a few years. It's the works I don't care for, not the performance. Martinu: Cantatas by the Prague Philharmonic Choir conducted by Lukas Vasilek
Now streaming on Amazon, a first listen to "Duo Sonidos" performed by Adam Levin (guitar) and William Knuth (violin) on DuoSonidos. Works by Piazzola, De Falla, Morales-Caso and Brotons.
I have a few hundred recordings by Colin Davis but only three by Simon Rattle. Rattle does not do much for me. I also have a decent number of recordings by Boult and Barbirolli ...
It may be a matter of preferences. They're all very good orchestras, obviously. And things were shifting a bit...immediately postwar and through the 50s I think the top American orchestras were pretty obviously superior to the European ones - money was everywhere to pay musicians and make recordings, many of the refugees living in America chose to stay, etc. Things started shifting back towards the prewar state in the 60s and 70s, although I still think the Cleveland and Boston orchestras in the immediate post-Szell/Munch period were riding high indeed, and the European ensembles were still in the final stages of recovery. Regardless, I think we can agree that if one had to choose nine of the top orchestras in the world circa 1973, neither Cleveland nor Boston was in any way an unusual pick?
Now streaming on Amazon, a first listen to "Philippe Verdelot: Madrigals for a Tudor King" performed by Alamire on Obsidian.
I agree, Rattle hasn't done the BPO much good in my opinion. I've watched the orchestra under him on Dutch cable TV ad nauseam and switched to another channel every time. Boring, uninspired and, as you say, just technical performances.
After Abbado stepped down from the BPO and Rattle took over, I clearly saw the beginning decline of the BPO. IMHO, I do not see any currently active conductors that would prompt me to buy their recordings, period.
CD from the third Living Presence box. My only other experience with Bloch's music is this CD from the Decca Sound-The Analogue Years box.
This recording underscores the tragic loss of Egorov at such a young age. Stunning playing and good sound.
Now streaming on Amazon, a first listen to "Benjamin Godard: Piano Works" performed by Alessandro Deljavan on Piano Classics.
A friend gave me a box of tapes of off-air recordings he made, including Egourov playing the Beethoven 3rd Piano Concerto with Zinman and the Milwaukee Symphony - I thought it was really good.
Very excited that my son's piano teacher, Reiko Fujisawa, is to play the Goldberg Variations in recital at the newly refurbished Purcell Room in London's Southbank Centre, May 14. I will be there for sure! Reiko Fujisawa performs Bach's Goldberg Variations