Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #47)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by George P, May 19, 2013.

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  1. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Awesome!!
     
  2. Tangledupinblue

    Tangledupinblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Well, he hasn't logged in for almost 3o hours, it seems it was my comment about vinyl in post #832 which was said in a perfectly positive and innocent spirit (and was still very much classical music-related) that inadvertently trigged off this age-old debate which as so often turned somewhat sour in the end and indirectly contributed towards him leaving. :sigh: Hopefully not for good, as I enjoy his contributions here.
     
  3. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Skipped ahead in my listening to check out Schiff's take on the Moonlight Sonata. Quite unusual, as he acknowledges.
     
  4. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    Yes as the Mendelssohn box as well is. I warmly recommend his Debussy recordings as well, e.g.:

    [​IMG]

    "Nocturnes" is the piece that made him study to be a conductor. His BSO recording is perhaps even better:


    [​IMG]
     
  5. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    My favorite Scriabin Poeme on disc. The remastering is great on that Originals disc.
     
  6. John S

    John S Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, OH
    Yes, first mvmt. quick, full pedal and no rubato, as I recall.
     
  7. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Half pedal, but very quick based on the alla breve marking.
     
    John S likes this.
  8. WorldB3

    WorldB3 Forum Resident

    Location:
    On the continent.
    WP: My introduction to Handel and Perahia, like what I heard of the Handel, haven't gotten to the Scarlatti yet which is why I bought it.
    [​IMG]
     
  9. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    I suspect I received most of my B.H. Haggin quotes from the record jackets of Brahms symphonies, something I am very much in favor of. And I fell in love with the music of Sibelius right from the start.
     
  10. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    Mozart is to Opera what Shakespeare is to the Theater. Die Zauberflöte reminds me of Bach's Goldberg Variations, with an encyclopedic range of musical styles. The story lines of Cosi Fan Tutti, Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni are all very Adult and in many ways advanced relative to the time in which they were written. I think Mozart was at his best in the operas.
     
  11. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    From perhaps, the Silliest piece of Great Musicke ever writ—Come Ye Sons of Art—a work that can't help but move me to tears in spite of those lyrics!!!! Divine stuff, really.

    This performance reminds me of many happy hours recording Early Music Consorts at First Congregation Church, Berkeley [aka "First Congo"] a very similar looking and sounding venue that San Francisco Early Music Society Favored with its presence:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KObQn85HI0U
     
  12. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    Great disc.
     
  13. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    Another Abbado favorite:

    [​IMG]
     
  14. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Speaking of Claudio, my Abbado box shipped together with my Walter box.
    :goodie::goodie:
     
  15. Tangledupinblue

    Tangledupinblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    That's a great disc, one of Rose River Bear's free CMC appreciation giveaways that he kindly mailed to me across the pond. Sadly it doesn't look like he's going to be doing any more overseas postings though! (And what with a certain classical music johnny-come-lately from the West Coast who posts on this thread every now and then, he must have surely run out of duplicates by now anyway... :D)
     
    goldwax likes this.
  16. Tangledupinblue

    Tangledupinblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Is that on the piano or harpsichord? If the former, I'd love to hear it!
     
  17. John S

    John S Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, OH
    Happy Birthday Maestro Abbado!

    Prokofiev
    Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1, Op. 19
    Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 2, Op. 63
    Shlomo Mintz, violin
    Chicago Symphony Orchestra
    Claudio Abbado

    [​IMG]

    There seems to be some symmetry in the fact that Prokofiev composed the first violin concerto before moving to the West, while the second was his last completed score some 18 years later before moving back to Russia. Prokofiev’s personal stamp is on both although they are not surprisingly, different. The first concerto, written the same year as the “Classical” symphony (1917), has the same appeal and exuberance as Prokofiev’s exciting first symphonic masterpiece. The first movement begins and ends quietly, in between is some of Prokofiev’s most beautiful music interspersed with some exotic virtuoso violin episodes. The second movement’s Scherzo seems borne out of the “Classical” symphony’s finale. It’s Vivacissimo clip is full of Prokofiev’s early infant terrible acerbic wit and invention, and ends way too quickly. A lush third movement rounds out a very satisfying piece. Interestingly, the premiere of this work a few years later in Paris (by Koussevitsky and his concert master) also showcased first time conductor Igor Stravinsky with his new Octet for Wind Instruments.

    The second concerto has always been considered the more important of the two, although I must admit to it being a tough nut to crack. It happens to be the last work completed before Prokofiev migrated back to his Motherland. The reality is that Prokofiev, after spending almost two decades in the West, was homesick. He felt under-appreciated in the West, particularly in view of his losing battle of popularity with Stravinsky. Prokofiev knew he would have fragile immunity from the Kremlin’s musical judgments, provided he toned it down a little. As Prokofiev wrote a couple years after moving back to the USSR:
    Not surprisingly, Prokofiev’s migration back to an artistically repressive régime was viewed with skepticism by the West. Musicologist Gerald Abraham wrote “Prokofiev’s formula for turning himself into a Soviet composer has been to emphasize the lyric side of his nature at the expense of the witty and grotesque and brilliant sides. The returned emigre has not been cramped by the artistic policy of the Soviet government to anything like the same extent as Shostakovich, who has grown up with the Soviet State, and might be expected to adapt himself easier to its requirements. But that is perhaps because Prokofiev is a much better composer than Shostakovich.”

    For me, the problem with this second concerto is that it’s the Soviet Prokofiev we hear, a composer walking a fine line between being a relevant artist while being careful not to offend sensitive proletariat ears. The whole work, from the sonata-based first movement on a rather ordinary subject announced by the solo violin, to the mostly uninspired second movement, to a rondo that offers some metric interest but little else, is not memorable. There are multiple key changes throughout the concerto which may have sounded daring at the time, but just do not make up for the ultimate blandness of this piece, however brilliantly crafted it is.

    The violin, played here by a 27-year old rising star, seems perfectly fine, as well as the fine Chicago ensemble led by Abbado, who is clearly sympathetic to this music. This 1984 DG recording seems to have escaped the early digital recording problems experienced by that label, although I will leave that judgment to ears far more golden than mine. Finally, I welcome suggestions of other recordings of these works from all on this board, should anyone el inclined.
     
  18. Tangledupinblue

    Tangledupinblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Very interesting as always to hear your detailed thoughts on the Prokofiev concertos, John. I'd completely forgotten that the first was written around the time of the classical symphony; from your description it sounds easily the more appealing of the two, and Prokofiev's Soviet period is actually my favourite era of his work. I thought I was the only one (at least out of Prokofiev's admirers) who couldn't get into the second, and I was wondering it was just a blind spot of mine, or I'd heard less than inspiring performances, or both, because I was under the impression that it's generally considered one of his masterpieces. But I need to give it another go, as well as his last two piano concertos (4 & 5) that have received mixed opinions. Great post anyway!
     
    John S likes this.
  19. John S

    John S Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, OH
    Does anyone want to play chess with this man?

    [​IMG]

    Not me....:cool:
     
  20. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Now playing CD6 - S9 and overtures, the last CD from the following set for a first listen ...

    [​IMG]
     
  21. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Just orderd a used copy of the following CD earlier today and hopefully it is a clean copy. Now I should have all the Colin Davis' recordings that are in the new box that was recently released by UniversalMusic in his memory ...

    [​IMG]
     
  22. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Now playing the following CD, which just arrived from across the pond this afternoon for a first listen ...

    [​IMG]
     
  23. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    A chacun son gout.
    If I were to recommend an Abbado performance of Debussy it would be the opera Pelleas much more than the suite. Even though it is not idiomatic French it is a sensitive and enjoyable performance. That's not to say the performance above isn't well played.

    pelleas.jpg

    For Debussy's orchestral works I much prefer Francophone performances by Munch, Martinon, Monteux and to a lesser extent Boulez. The old magician Stokowski also did well with Debussy as did Ansermet.
     
    Robin L likes this.
  24. jukes

    jukes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern Finland
    I'd add Plasson when considering more broadly French orchestral music ( Chausson, d'Indy, Magnard etc.). Unfortunately, the orchestras aren't the toppermost ones, and recording does have more often some problems when compared to Dutch, English and German recordings. I'm talking about the 1960's to 1980's recordings that we have as LP's. Yet, very listenable stuff. Still I do like Abbado's Debussy conducting very much.

    Boulez was a revelation on Debussy, analytic, revealing (I have in mind "Boulez dirige Debussy" LP box: Boulez & Cleveland Orch.) - after that, no more blurred and shapeless "undulating", so to speak. I never been through the Debussy partitures, so I just had to figure out the music by listening to the recordings.
     
  25. jukes

    jukes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern Finland
    A day is good, when one learns something.

    Thank you Robin L and drh for telling about mr. Haggin. It's his kind of critics that we also need.

    "(M)ost famously he considered Brahms mostly a pompous bore."

    So did I - my explanation is that I was still under 20 years old by then. ;) And I still do feel that most of the Tchaikovsky recordings are emphasizing the sniveling or sniffling aspects of his music. Yet there is murky, dark things going on, too. I think the Russian Soviet-era recordings do have some of that...
     
    Robin L likes this.
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