Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #24)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by George P, Apr 12, 2011.

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  1. Bronth

    Bronth Active Member

    Location:
    Riga, Latvia
    I assume it's a DVD-A. Or the complete CD set.
     
  2. Bronth

    Bronth Active Member

    Location:
    Riga, Latvia
    The Eight from this cycle is probably my favorite version ever. :edthumbs:
     
  3. mkolesa

    mkolesa Forum Resident

    he was the dean of the school for many years and is considered quite significant for having had so many significant musicians come up during his tenure... i know because i used to live in rochester and would go to concerts at the school (as well as seeing the rochester phil quite a lot when zinman was conductor). the mercury recordings he made make use of the local musicians, in the symphony recordings it's called the 'eastman-rochester' orchestra (in honor of george eastman, founder of kodak which is headquartered in rochester) but it's essentially the rochester phil.
     
  4. Graphyfotoz

    Graphyfotoz Forum Classaholic

    Location:
    South-Central NY
    Had a chance to give this a spin...
    (Gave $8.00 for this NEW Shipped!)

    [​IMG]

    This brings back memories of my record collecting days! :D
    Ahhhh those old brittle 78's I always thought it was a shame they weren't less crackly.
    I think Nimbus did a good job of redoing this 1937 recording.
    Just for us to still have access to pre WWII music of any kind is amazing I think!
    Some of the bad reviews I have seen of this really make me scratch my head. [​IMG]
    It's a 1937 recording folks....technology was almost non existant at the time.
    The first non cylinder music played on essentially a horn with a nail at the end of it.
    Of course it's not even gonna come close to today's standards nor can we make it.
    If people think this sounds bad....try a 78 on you high end turn table and see how it sounds!
    The quality was the best they could have back then and we don't have tapes or the like to work from.
    Yes it's gonna lose a little of the quality when you filter out some of the hiss and crackle.
    Working from a fragile thick piece of bake-o-lite I think this was well done.

    Beecham at his best as He was one of the greats of his time.
    This is a definite must have for your collection...if not for the performance....it's Historical value.
    Performance is audio history at it's best! :righton:
     
  5. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Told ya! :wave:
     
  6. dale 88

    dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

    Location:
    west of sun valley
    :D And I thought you had identified a new group in the snark brigade. I was ready to believe it. :laugh:
     
  7. Bronth

    Bronth Active Member

    Location:
    Riga, Latvia
    :D
     
  8. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    Listening to this LP right now, very sweet sound!

    [​IMG]
     
  9. yasujiro

    yasujiro Senior Member

    Location:
    tokyo
    Great information. Thanx. I always wondered what the ensemble was made of.
    Did it include the teachers (of instruments) of the school as well?
    And how was the EWE?
     
  10. OE3

    OE3 Senior Member

    Handel

    Also, Minkowski recorded a period version with Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble, released last year on Naïve. An excellent HIPP conductor, but I have not heard this disc.
     

    Attached Files:

  11. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    "Oh I see," sez Commando Connie, "it has to be alliterative. . . ."

    My [slight] hesitation—other than a generic abhorrence of Maestro Mc-Boing-Boing—was due to my [slight] anticipation of the Blomstedt cycle on its way via the $29.95 Brilliant Beethoven Blowout Box. But I'm listening to 1 & 2 now and yes, you're right again. Barenboim is one of the few who plays the Second Symphony as a full-blown middle period opus, which it just happens to be.

    Feel free to advise me concerning Beethoven any time you like. :winkgrin:
     
  12. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    Complete CD set, very nice.
     
  13. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    Another great record, cleaned and ready for listening...

    [​IMG]
     
  14. yasujiro

    yasujiro Senior Member

    Location:
    tokyo
    :righton:
     
  15. mkolesa

    mkolesa Forum Resident

    That's a good question about the teachers and I'm afraid I don't know the answer. Wiki says the Eastman-Rochester was essentially the first chair players from the Rochester Phil. along with select performers from the Eastman School of Music student orchestra. As far as I know the Eastman Wind Ensemble was an entirely separate organization formed from students, but no doubt Hanson's tenure at Eastman, making it into such a prestigious and accomplished school, helped create the fertile ground for Fennel to form the ensemble. But maybe what made it so memorable was as much due to the recording contract with Mercury which was probably looking for 'niche' ensembles that they could record without the big expenditures that a major orchestra would entail.
     
  16. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Eastman School of Music is clearly the sole remaining pride of George Eastman's legacy, along with Eastman Chemical, which was spun off from the original Eastman Kodak. OTOH, Eastman Kodak may not survive in the digital world, after having been mismanaged for so long. It is sad to see how it went from a blue chip big cap company to the current microcap status - under $3/shr ...
    :sigh:
     
  17. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Now playing CD9 from this set for a first listen ...

    [​IMG]
     
  18. John S

    John S Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, OH
    Same as this?
     

    Attached Files:

  19. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    The original issue [red box, the one I picked up] lacks the overtures in the reissue box.

    I've starting to have somewhat mixed feelings about this set. On the one hand, these are traditional performances, very well recorded and very well played by an idiomatic band. On the other hand, I'm not experiencing the same degree of emotional engagement in these performances that I've heard in other performances. Strange, but Barenboim seems to have many elements of the romantic style rendered in a most cultivated manner, sometimes to the point of mannerism. The C minor symphony in this set, by way of example, is slow and brassy to the point of being Brucknerian. The Eroica is similarly monumental. Furtwängler's 1944 Eroica indicates the difference—the wartime performance is far more passionate and committed, quicker in pace as well. And it's not so much that these performances are slow but rather that Barenboim makes sure the rests are clearly audible—it takes a while for the dust to settle in the rich audio environment of these performances. There's a bit of that in Furtwängler's studio performance of the Eroica from the fifties. So I'm detecting a lot of intellectual engagement and a lot of skill in these performances, but emotionally it all seems comparatively distant.
     
  20. Bronth

    Bronth Active Member

    Location:
    Riga, Latvia
    I haven't heard the complete cycle but I felt almost the same after hearing the Seventh. It's good and pretty detailed, but, compared to my 3 favorites (the unsurpassed transcendental and atmospheric Blomstedt with Dresdeners, the ever-flowing and spirited Haitink with LSO and the boyant dance fest of Hanovers), it's emotionally detached. BUT, then the Eight followed - and I was shocked and stunned, how the whole mood and attitude switched. IMO, it's among the most involving versions of this deceptively short symphony. I love it very much.

    And if Barenboim may ever need any advocacy, try his live Ninth with Divan Orchestra on Warner. Compared to samples of the Ninth from your set I heard, it's a completely different experience, probably because of the youth orchestra and that special sense of live occasion. I return to this version probably more often than to my other 3 reference recordings (Fricsay, Karajan and Haitink).

    [​IMG]
     
  21. Bronth

    Bronth Active Member

    Location:
    Riga, Latvia
    Thanks, I'll check samples. :cheers:
     
  22. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    Mind you, I've only heard nearly all the set just once. I heard the Pastorale on the kitchen boom box and missed the final bars of the Choral. Clearly I need to give this set more time.

    I've got to get my hands on the Hanover cycle, love their rendition of Schubert's Great C major.

    It reminds me of an old John Barbirolli/Halle Symphony recording that used to be on Vanguard but was licensed from PYE. Slower, less hectic than other versions. Barenboim gives the little symphony in F room to breath. He is similarly charming in his rendition of the Fourth symphony.

    My reference has been and continues to be Stokowski's London Symphony Orchestra recording of 1967. The sound in the boxed collection of "Phase 4" "sonic spectaculars" is beginning to fade and the balances in the finale are wonky, but this may be the great maestro's best record. Barenboim's rendition of the scherzo is much of a muchness, Stokowski leaves you wanting for more.

    [​IMG]
     
  23. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Now Playing

    Beethoven
    Op. 31
    Gilels
    DG


    :wave:
     
  24. Bronth

    Bronth Active Member

    Location:
    Riga, Latvia
    Now playing:

    .

    [​IMG]

    (BTW, Barenboim omits one repeat in the second movement here, IMO, it's to the good in such a high-voltage live performance. :shh:)
     
  25. Bronth

    Bronth Active Member

    Location:
    Riga, Latvia
    I'm afraid, so far I have gotten almost none of Stokowski recordings (IIRC, except his recording with Rachmaninov). Just checked Amazon and eBay, it seems that this Ninth on Decca was available on CD only as a part of already OOP two-part "Original Masters" box set. I've found only the second part on eBay, which obviously not the one I want for this particular symphony. Perhaps I'll be able to score the first box later, they aren't that old...
     
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