It took me a while to really appreciate what Klemperer was doing...his mono Beethovens were in my dad's collection, and as a teen my first exposure to those works. After hearing plenty of recordings and live interpretations by other conductors over the ensuing years, I came to regard his style as "old fashioned" and not very interesting (I was pretty easily seduced by Karajan's 80's Beethoven and the all digital "purity" of it, I was immature in my 20's LOL) until I consciously revisited him in my 30's through those LPs after my dad passed and realized that I was completely missing the boat. I was finally capable of listening at a much deeper and iconcentrated level, and able to comprehend more of a totality of what was going on in terms of viewing a musical score as a complete entity, and I realized Klemperer was a genius at bringing out every nuance and detail of orchestration and textural elements, a true master of phrasing, and he didn't rely on over sentimentality to express the music..rather, he worked to reveal the honesty of the music itself to speak on its own terms.
I generally associate Mravinsky with only Russian composers and his Tchaikovsky Symphonies are probably among the best ...
I am not a huge fan of the Mravinsky Tchaikovsky recordings but I understand that they are probably what the composer had in mind as to the overall approach and sound.
Mravinsky's Pathetique did have a huge impact on me when I first listened to this record. His tension management for the finale is unmatched. I like this mono version better than more polished up later stereo set.
I bought this CD after reading that a reviewer who was reviewing some very expensive ($40k) speakers used it as a "reference recording." It certainly sounds good, but I have a few that sound better. Still, Kissin's playing is phenomenal, and for $1.09, I could do a lot worse!
Kissin became an overnight sensation on the back of his performance of Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with Karajan and the BPO ...
I'm not sure if they were inspired by the TV show It really is a great set, some wonderful performances in superb sound. Most of the CDs run close to 80 minutes so they go longer than 24 hours (but that would have ruined the concept if it was advertised too explicitly). I remember a radio station had one of their staff listen to the whole box in one sitting; his blog about it was quite amusing: We challenged this guy to listen to the entire history of classical music, non-stop, for 24 hours »
I have a good number of Glossa recordings but not this particular one. I also bought all my Glossa recordings from across the pond where I can get much better prices ...
It's actually titled "Opera - Orchestra", so whilst it is has a number of overtures the Wagner is Siegfried's Funeral March from Gotterdammerung. They must have confused the typesetters; the CD label and spine say 'Opera - Orchestra', the front cover says 'Opera - Overtures'.
I dunno, but Tannhäuser is probably Wagner's signature opera overture since it is much better known to most people ...
Start here: Well, maybe not with this exact album, but the idea is on track. You might first try looking for "standard" classical performances of the pieces you find so interesting in their electronic realizations. For Bach (as Robin pointed out), Glenn Gould is likely to get your attention. Maybe try Gould's piano performances of the Two-Part Inventions, or the Book I of "The Well-Tempered Clavier"-- works which Carlos sampled for performance on the Moog. If you like the Brandenburg Concertos (and many of us do!), you can't go wrong with Trevor Pinnock leading The English Concert.
Yesterday's haul from Rasputin's, 12 discs for $12, 8 CDs and 4 LPs. Early [too early] in the morning playing these LPs at low volume. The 4 LPs can be described as "classical" only by virtue of stretching definitions. The closest would be the Archiv oldie, the Fritz Neumeyer realization with the Collegium Terpsichore of Dance Music of Praetorius' Time. I know I've heard the contents of this disc many times on the radio. My default version of this music for many years has been the David Munrow set on Angel. But this recording pre-dates Munrow's realization by a decade, has wonderful sound capture and the performances don't sound mannered in the slightest compared to modern recordings, a miracle all by its lonesome. My copy must be from the 1980's, looks like this: Sneaking further away from strictly "Classical" music, Randy Newman's score for "The Natural" is chock full of Copland paraphrases and beautifully recorded. I know a lot of Randy Newman's work is inspired by classical models, this is probably Newman's most successful 'Semi-Classical' effort:
Wading into even more dubious waters, a record initially recorded for Parlophone in 1957—post George Martin, Pre-Beatles. In the states, the recordings of the Flanders and Swann duo [rather similar in intent and realization to Tom Lehrer's efforts of the same time] were issued in the states as "Angel" releases, thus the tenuous connection to the CMC. Note that my copy is an unworn Black and Gold Parlophone copy. And the LP includes a song of more general concern for the Hoffman Forum: Flanders: This is a song of reproduction. Both: I had a little gramophone, I'd wind it round and round. And with a sharpish needle, It made a cheerful sound. And then they amplified it, It was much louder then. And used sharpened fibre needles, To make it soft again. Today for reproduction, I'm as eager as can be. Count me among the faithful fans, Of high fidelity. High fidelity, Hi-Fi's the thing for me. With an LP disk and an FM set, And a corner reflex cabinet. High frequency range, Complete with auto-change. Flanders: All the highest notes neither sharp nor flat, Swann: The ear can't hear as high as that. Flanders: Still, I ought to please any passing bat, Swann: With my high fidelity. Flanders: Who made this circuit up for you, anyway? Bought it in a shop? Oooh, what a horrible shoddy job they fobbed you off with with. Surprised they let you have it in this room anyway, the acoustics are all wrong. If you raise the ceiling four feet... put the fireplace from that wall to that wall... you'll still only get the stereophonic effect if you sit in the bottom of that cupboard. I see... I see you've got your negative feedback coupled in with your push-pull-input-output. Take that across through your redded pickup to your tweeter, if you're modding more than eight, you're going to get wow on your top. Try to bring that down through your pre-amp rumble filter to your woofer, what'll you get? Flutter on your bottom! Both: High fidelity, Flanders: FFRR for me. Both: I've an opera here that you shan't escape, On miles and miles of recording tape. High decibel gain, Is easy to obtain. Flanders: With the tone control at a single touch, Swann: Bel canto sounds like double Dutch. Both: But I never did care for music much, It's the high fidelity! Note that the following lyrics only apply to the stereo version, issued two years later: Flanders: This is perhaps a good moment to explain that we don't normally have these things standing around here, but tonight they are recording this - stereophonically, in fact - for posterity. So wherever you're sitting now, that's where you'll be on the record. Sit up nice and straight. Any of you feel like rolling in the aisles or being carried out helpless with mirth, this is a jolly good night to do it! Do you want to say hello to posterity? Swann: Hello! Flanders: Hello, Posterity! If we sort of move around a bit, they'll use it for demonstration purposes.
Bright and early this frigid morning: Chopin, Nocturnes, CD 7,8 from the Chopin Complete Edition DG. Maria Joao Pires, recordings from 1995 and 1996.
Now playing: Franz Liszt – Sonata for Piano in B minor S.178 Robert Schumann – Sonata for Piano No.2 in G minor Op.22 — Martha Argerich (piano) (Deutsche Grammophon), CD 6 from the DG box.
Some madrigals from Monteverdi from disc 5 of the DG 100 CD History set. Interrupted by visitors so the Vespers highlights are postponed until tomorrow. I have the complete Vespers in a DHM box.
