Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #53)

Vivaldi: 6 Sonatas Op 5. Accardo/Gazeau/Canino/Saram. Exquisite! Very warm sound and delightful to listen to. I am getting more and more fond of the Vivaldi recordings featuring Salvatore Accardo on the violin.

 

Good point. It seems like there is a fair number of "standard" works in the set. It is definitely hard to avoid enormous duplication of such recordings. I guess that in your case nostalgia will play an important role in a potential purchase? I remember how I used to listen to Mozart's Requiem in grad school (that was when I became a classical music nut case while studying biology) and the version was Barenboim conducting Orchestre de Paris. Now years later I am still "stuck" on that version as one of my favorites even though it isn't exactly popular according to the "wise tier". Can't help it! It think it is fantastic!!
*Hides in the corner*

 

Moonfish, have you heard Barenboim's set of the 9 Beethoven Symphonies? It's wonderful!

 

Love it. The Bach has impressed me the most.

The only disc I haven't liked is Winterreisse with Fischer-Dieskau. That recording sounds very odd. I could also do without the ImmortalBeloved soundtrack that is also in the Yo-Yo Ma box.

 

I went by one of my local shops and picked up that 9 cd set of William Kapell's RCA recordings. It was a used set but in near mint condition and included a few pages from the New York Review on Kapell folded up and stored inside the box.
I've read some stuff on Kapell after seeing that box last Sunday and it only stoked the fires of my interest even more.
I can't wait to dive into this set. I also picked up a few other non classical albums and then when I got home I had two more CDs waiting for me. I'm going to be busy over the next few days. Drunk on music, that's what I'll be.

Thanks to those who helped push me over the edge about Kapell. I think I'll be happy I bought this box and I look forward to discovering the music of a pianist I knew nothing about two weeks ago.

I wonder why he was forgotten? If he's really a great pianist, it seems strange that he could fall away from the music world. I suppose he didn't have a half sister ala Janie Hendrix to push and repackage your music for an adoring crowd.

 

I got my Rubinstein box a few days ago & have gotten through CD 6.

 

Never really thought of him as forgotten.

 

You're probably right. I guess since I'm coming from a less informed position on classical music, I'm overstating that a bit. Hell, Moravec and Richter were new to me too. I guess it's like those young whipper snappers "discovering" ELP's
Tarkus in recent times because of Steve Wilson's remaster. Oh well, it's an exciting times for me as I begin exploring this music that I've only dabbled in for forty years. Look at me! I'm an old whipper snapper.

I'm almost through with the Chopin Mazurkas cd and really like it. I have so much more to explore.

 

I too think it's a consistently rewarding set. I've sampled the Bach, but for the most part am saving it for last. I wish he would complete a Beethoven cycle.
I haven't listened to the discs you mentioned. I have DFD's Winterreise on DG as well (as part of a 20+ disc set of Schubert lieder).

 

Speaking of consistently rewarding sets, now enjoying this one. Shostakovich is great in the Winter.

 

What I found strange was 2 CDs that Decca released some years ago of Kempff playing Chopin. Chopin : did not suit Kempff

Sorry Moonfish, unfortunately I am not.

 

Hey Scott, I've been wondering what Yuja Wang will do next, now that she's completed her recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Have you heard any news?

 

Long ago starting out - collecting....I remember agonising over whether to buy a particular record because one of its two listed works was the Bruch Violin Concert, which I already had a different version. .Forward to today - and I can look at my shelves.... and I can see 16 complete Mozart Don Giovanni's... about 10 or 11 Verdi Rigoletto's... 13 Wagner Ring Cycles....at least 10 Beethoven Symphonies 1-9..... 4 sets of Vaughan-Williams' Symphonic cycle etc etc.
What a beautiful harmless addiction, to have!

 

A fine violinist indeed, who recorded a lot of things for Philips, during which, could be considered - Philps's golden days. Noted for refinement, taste and quality in all aspects of the finished product. Just as Decca for some decades was also regarded for being the big "MGM type Studio" for sound recordings. Due to the big roster of classical stars they had under contract, the money they spent on production values , the use of particular regrded venues, and its teams of renowned sound engineers. At times Decca engineers were comissioned to record for other labels (like RCA). And the Decca 'touch' shone through...being easily sonically identifable to the aware listener. It seems light years away now with the current digital forms of recording.....since one listened to a new record with friends, not knowing or told the recording venue ...and try and correctly guess it.

 

Completed it? They extended it last year. I think it was a big extension too.

She just recorded some Brahms sonatas as a guest on Leonidas Kavakos next CD.

The Rach 3/ Prok 2 CD has been the top selling new classical release since it came out and it hasn't gone international yet! I would think DG is feeling pretty good about the extension.

And of course she continues to tour. At Disney Hall this season she was far and away the top selling soloist. Hers was the only recital to sell out. For most recitals Disney Hall doesn't open several sections and the Hall is at about half capacity. Even then they rarely come close to selling out the half capacity. She also sold out all four of her concertos this December. She received top billing in their ads over all other soloists and guest conductors including Yo Yo Ma, Itzhtak Perlman and Lang Lang.

Things are going really really well for her.

 

Oh really? I didn't realize she was that popular. Glad to hear she's getting all the attention, she sure deserves it. I just wish her previous albums were given the hi-res treatment.

 

Here in Australia I think hearing the name of William Kapell amongst classical lovers, there is a special twinge of sadness and regret. After all , his untimely death in a plane crash was precipated... while returning home to the US after a concert tour in Australia.

 

I picked this up in an estate sale several years ago and it has become one of my absolute favorites on many levels. There seems to be some perception that it is overlooked. I can’t vouch for any digital version, but the LP is fantastic.

 

2 'hide in the corner' - recordings I adore : recordings
(1) Rachmaniniff Symphony No 2 with Lorin Maazel (and the Berlin Philharmonic!!!???) on DG.
And I have lost count of how many versions I have of this work......to compare it with.
(2) Carla Maria Guilini conducting Pictures at an Exhibition on the same DG label.
How Maazel got the Berlin Philharmonic to go 'so super romantic' with its heart out on its sleeve in Rachmaninoff .....is a wonder.
Perhaps it was a holiday from being militaristically drilled, by Von Karajan and his factory conveyor belt recording style.

 

I recently brought the box set of Mahler symphonies with Levine...where he never did record the 2nd or 8th Symphonies in the Symphonic Cycle. Commendably he did a full version of the 10th Symphony. These Mahler interpretations of Levine are highly regarded by a lot of people.

 

I would like to pick up another version or two. I have fallen for the piece, partly because of this great bit in the liner notes:



I really can’t comment on Levine’s work, but the recording is one of the better symphonic recordings I own. Maybe Karajan next.

 

His Verdi Falstaff...ho-hum! The Lohengrin (the complete one - assumably)- originally released on RCA is a "stinker". Sharon Sweet and Eve Marton as Elsa and Ortrud....(enough said!) Even I buying that version 'on a punt' got caught with that turkey.
It is strange that Davis, conductor of so many highly regarded operas, early on- on the Philips label made so many so-so , or embarrassing ratty - cast opera recordings late in his career.

 

Now Listening To

Tchaikovsky. Violin Concerto. Boris Belkin, Ashkenazy, New Philharmonia. Decca UK.

An excellent unhyped performance and one of the finest recordings ever of this warhorse.

 

Aren't most of the Levine Mahler symphonies with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra?

 

His plane crashed about 100 miles west of where I live though it happened around the time I was born.