Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #25)

I love it. Lots of energy. The Virtuoso set of the Brandenburgs. Great SQ as well.

 

Now playing the following CD, which arrived early this week for a first listen ...

 

Good lord. That has to be the greatest album cover ever.

 

Now that looks like a fat Ohio corn field fed animal, not those emaciated pygmies one sees in Texas.

 

Puisque Je Suis Fumeux

Ah yes, walking with members of PAN towards Hertz Hall, going by the tennis courts, Michael Collver asks all assembled in a Big Easy patois—"How do you lak Machaut?"

 

I've been listening to my newest Mahler box set, by Claudio Abbado, released in 1995. It's a mix from his first cycle (3 VP, 4 VP, 6 CSO, 7 CSO, 9 VP, 10 adagio VP), his second cycle (1, 5, 8 with the BP [his only M8, actually]) and a standalone M2 with the VPO.

I already had some of these (one of my favorite M7 and M3), but when I found the box set at a comparatively low price ($69), I thought why not. I didn't buy most of his Mahler back in the '80s and '90s.

I'm particularly enjoying the earlier M6.

 

More Mahler madness...

Mahler
Symphony No. 1, “Titan”
Utah Symphony Orchestra
Maurice Abravanel
Recorded May/June 1974 at the Mormon Tabernacle, Salt Lake City

DVD-A: advanced resolution surround and stereo 96 kHz/24 bit
On disk video extras: “Behind the Scenes - Restoring and Transferring a Legacy”; tribute to Maurice Abravanel;
composer biography; “Remembering the Utah Symphony Orchestra“;
audio setup; speaker set-up utility.
DVD: 2.0 and 5.1 Dolby Surround ADD



Poor Maurice Abravanel. Here was a craftsman with a perceived secondary regional orchestra in the middle of nowhere. He built a part time community orchestra into a credible band, in spite of much financial adversity and other troubles. He did almost everything well, but he had no specific identity, no specialty -- sort of a Eugene Ormandy in the desert. He was a conservative old school musician, not given to splashy show business promotion or personal aggrandizement. His orchestra and visiting artists loved him. For the most part, critics labeled him a bland albeit competent interpreter and reviewed him accordingly. People, including critics, hear what they expect to hear.

That said, what we have here is a competently played and recorded effort that in the end is undercooked and watery. I would love nothing more than to defend an underdog, but unfortunately this isn’t Bernstein, and this isn’t the NYPO. I could forgive Abravanel’s overly beautified third movement (“Frère Jacques”) if the rest had more juice. The first movement is acceptable, though the repeat is not observed. I like the dance tempo taken in the second, and once that’s set any decent orchestra will not sink the movement (the repeat is taken here). But then the third comes in lacking in pathos and resignation and the fourth’s big ending just isn’t big enough.

I ended up with this disc long before I discovered the one-click wonders of Amazon. Some years ago I was staring at a dwindling display rack of SACD/DVD-As at Best Buy, and being starved for some hi-rez, I picked this up. The SQ is very good, and the surround amply reflects the acoustics of the Tabernacle -- although it is not clear how many channels the original master has.

 

Now playing CD1 from the following twofer, which had been on my shopping list forever but arrived early this week for a first listen ...

 

No. I am a skeptic whne it comes to an Italian ensemble performing Brandenburg Concertos ...

 

Now playing CD3 - 18 Chorale Preludes BWV 656-667 from the following set for a first listen ...

 

I bought it when it came out based on all the reviews... And I found it uninteresting. The one I keep going back to is by 'Il Giardino Armonico'...

 

I already have over 30 versions of the Brandenburg Concertos and will not add another new version to my collection unless it is absolutely outstanding ...

 

Thanks to all who responded to my post about the Collegium Aureum Brandenburg Concertos. I've learned some interesting info.

I'm currently listening to Disc 2 and still find it to be very pleasantly majestic, in contrast to the crispness and vivacious quality of the Pinnock set on Archiv. I think both are quite enjoyable, and I *hope* I can decide on a favorite, since two fatboy CD cases take up quite a bit of shelf space when it's starting to dwindle!

I noticed nobody commented on Collegium Aureum's Orchestral Suites, also on my set. Anyone familiar with those? (I haven't gotten to them yet, though expect the qualities will be similar.) Incidentally, these Brandenburgs and Orchestral Suites are currently available on CD as two separate double disc sets:

http://www.amazon.com/J-S-Bach-Bran...=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1307813646&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/J-S-Bach-Over...=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1307813646&sr=1-2


Finally - another new acquisition:



A Philips Duo Box of Schubert's Complete Impromptus & Moments Musicaux played by Alfred Brendel. I like this one, though I don't know any other performances to compare. I especially enjoyed the lively German Dances which close out each disc.

 

That's a good one !

 

Now playing SACD1 from the following set, which arrived from Presto Classical around last Christmas for a first listen ...

 

Thank you, Stuart. Just when I think I'm too obsessive with Mahler, I read something like this, and all is right in the world.

 

But what is wrong with having at least 15 Mahler cycles?

 

A Brandenburg I found uninteresting was the SACD by Egarr. The Pinnock Archiv Produktion version remains my favorite after all these years.

 

There are people out there who believe newer is better and that better sound quality of a recording must mean the performance is better as well. They cannot be more wrong ...

 

Do you have any of Schubert's piano sonatas?

 

Now playing CD2 from the following twofer for a first listen ...

 

Jumping right to SMP, now playing CD3 from the following set, which arrived a few months ago for a first listen. I have the highlight of this SMP and for years it has been impossible to find the whole work. While this is no HIP performance, to have Arleen Auger and Julia Hamari singing the complete work is still a major treat ...

 

Now playing CD4 - continuation of SMP from the following set for a first listen ...

 

Not yet; I'm still familiarizing myself with this set. But I've got my eye on this one as a possible purchase at some point:

http://www.amazon.com/Schubert-Thre...=sr_1_5?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1307813782&sr=1-5

 

Thanks, George. What's MDT? Sorry for being obtuse . . .