Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #64)

The difference can be huge. For one thing, it depends on who's doing the mastering.

 

Many... Mirella Freni, Anna Moffo, Renata Tebaldi, Birgit Nilsson, Regine Crespin, Cheryl Studer, Maria Chiara, Barabara Bonney... And I can add many more.

 

You mentioned Bartoli, perhaps I should've included mezzo sopranos as well...

 

I checked a few clips by Muzio on YT. She sounds very good, thanks.

 

And talking about sopranos, not so long ago I discovered this wonderful and less known lyrical soprano Maria Chiara, and I was just blown away by this recital. Such a beautiful voice and very refined and tasteful singing, though still very moving. It's absolutely a must have if you love real Italian singing and Italian opera. The selection of the Verismo arias is especially great, and it includes many rarities in superb performances you won't find anywhere else.

 

We are lucky to have so many beautiful voices to listen to. My favorite musical sound is the female voice.

 

...except, of course, when it's saying things like "Take out the trash!" or "Will you please turn out the lights when you leave the room?!?" or, worst of all, "What on earth do you want another of those black boxes for? You have too many already!"

 

Now on the turntable, side 4 from "Schutz - Becker Psalms" performed by The Greg Smith Singers from the "Sacred and Secular Vocal Works - A 300th Anniversary Edition 1672-1972" Vol. III Vox box.

 

Amazon has a few CDs by Amelita Galli-Curci; have you heard any of them? I will probably never get to hear the original recordings as I'm supposing you have, but I'm a little sound-quality gun-shy with CDs of such old recordings.

 

I regret to say that I haven't; all mine are 78s. I can say this: Nimbus issued at least a disc or so of her in it's so-called "Prima Voce" series. Those are controversial; they are made by playing the records on a big open-horn gramophone in a reverberant hall and recording the results with modern microphones. Some find this approach terrific and some a travesty; you'll need to make up your own mind. The few bits and pieces I've heard (none, I think, by Galli-C.) left me with the impression that a case can be made for it with acoustic recordings but not electrics.

 

It was a lovely autobiography in motion, apparently shot late in S Richter's life with him doing the narrative. The transfer of the historical footage was a masterful job. Watching the 1 hour 17 min program on DVD1 was like traveling on a time-machine to capture many memorable historical moments of classical music making. He appeared to strike the keyboard with tremendous force in the way he played. The rapid finger movements were simply breath-taking and yet movements of many works, particularly those by JS Bach that I am familiar with, were note-perfect. Given the breadth of his repertories, it is clear few pianists can even come close (dead or alive). It also looks like he had a pretty close relationship with Heinrich Neuhaus, whose recordings I have been trying to add to my historical recordings collection. Serendipitously, I also listened to the Bach Christmas Oratorio twice this evening, one in its entirety and a partial on this DVD. This is a terrific documentary on the world's greatest pianist. I am looking forward to DVD2.

 

If they were remastered by MOT or Ward Marston, then you can buy with confidence ...

 

This may be the only recording of Cecilia Bartoli I have in my collection since most of my operas are on LP and released before her time ...

 

That's from a John Adams opera, isn't it?

 

Attended the art installation/Helene Grimaud event. Simply stunning. More art with musical accompaniment I would say (perhaps because all I saw of her was her lower legs and their reflection), although the performance was lovely.

 

The Heart of Chopin

 

The last ones I directly compared were the Martha Argerich/Claudio Abbado Chopin Concerto I and Liszt concerto I
and the Martha Argerich? Claudio Abbado Prokofiev Piano concerto III and Ravel piano concerto In G major

 

Interesting article; thanks for posting it. By the by, Szpilman did make records, and at least some have been reissued on Sony. I have one of the sets; my impression of what I've played (not all of it by any means) is that he was a fine player but lacked the individuality of the more celebrated of his contemporaries. That's on the basis of just a few samplings, however, and may not be fair; I really should give the set a more systematic examination.

 

Now playing:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Piano Sonata No.12 K332, No.13 K333, 12 Variations on 'La belle Françoise' K353, Fantasias K396 & K397
— Lili Kraus (Erato/Warner Classics—Les Discophiles Français)



CD 4, recorded in 1954.

 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Piano Sonata No.14 K457, 6 Variations K398, 8 Variations K460, Rono K511, Trio "Kegelstatt" for piano, clarinet and violin K498
— Lili Kraus (Erato/Warner Classics—Les Discophiles Français) , CD 5

 

Viola, not violin. The "Kegelstatt" is a great piece. Purportedly, Mozart wrote the clarinet part for his buddy, Anton Stadler, and played the viola part, himself - viola was Mozart's favorite instrument.

I can almost play the clarinet part tolerably.

Mozart's original manuscript used to be viewable on line, courtesy of a French museum or library. I think it's been removed, but I printed it out when it was available.

 

Pretty cover, too.

 

Ok, it's on my Priority WishList.

Near... lacks only the above 20kHz area...

 

Now on the turntable, "Palestrina - Canticum canticorum/Madrigali spirituali" performed by The Hilliard Ensemble on EMI Reflexe.

 

My mistake. It's Pierre Pasquier on viola and Francois Etienne on clarinet.