Not going to recommend this. I like some CPE Bach, so I keep trying new recordings even when it is HIP like this one. The strings have a dessicated sound. And sometimes they have a depressing or demoralizing sound to my ears. HIP marches on Isabelle Faust is going to record a Franck Violin Sonata in that style. And a Ravel CD orchestral CD has just come out in the HIP format. I can hardly wait.
Isabelle Faust has already recorded the Franck Sonata and it is scheduled for release in Europe on May 19. She's one of my favourite contemporary violinists, HIP or not, and there aren't many of them (favourite contemporary violinists, that is.)
I'm not a fan of "period pianos" either (with some exceptions, Ronald Brautigam made a few good sounding recordings), but on the other hand I'm pretty fed up with the continuous HIP bashing on this board. If one doesn't like it, that's fine, but why keep on moaning and whining about it?
A free exchange of ideas, perhaps? I've accepted Baroque HIP, I just prefer modern instruments for later music.
Nothing against a free exchange of ideas, on the contrary, but bashing is quite another thing in my book and totally unnecessary. By the way, I wasn't referring to your post, it was the one two posts above yours that annoyed me - and there've been more.
Not for the faint of heart...most of the pieces are quite modern. He attacks his guitar with abandon and ferocious intensity, a refreshing change from those who tip toe through music! Excellent sound.
On the turntable...Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue, American in Paris, Utah Symphony/Abravanel, Sine Qua Non LP 7746. On the back of the jacket it says it is mastered by Sam Feldman, and the Side 2 American in Paris is verified according to the dead wax, but Side 1 Rhapsody is mastered by "FW," which from what I can find on the internet is Frankford Wayne Mastering Labs, NYC. I especially like how the piano is recorded...you can hear every nuance, but it is in near perfect balance with the orchestra. The performances may not set the world on fire, but they are very good, and the sound of the LP is fantastic...kudos to SF and FW, I won't be so quick to pass on these Utah Symphony recordings in the future.
I was on my phone commuting so I couldn't look up this question. From googling now, it appears that an 1885 piano is essentially going to be a modern piano unless it's square. Evidently square pianos were popular in the 1800s. The first modern Steinway grand piano was made in 1859. According to one article, Erard pianos sound a bit different because they are parallel strung instead of cross strung and the hammers are constructed to emphasize the fundamental. It won't sound like a forte-piano. I like some forte-piano albums I've heard, but I dislike more than I like. I like Brautigam's Beethoven, Haydn and Mendelssohn a lot. In general though I prefer either harpsichord or modern piano.
Yep, Reid Nibley on piano. Never heard of him before, so thought I'd spend the dollar...well worth it!
In my experience, Sine Qua Non was a good budget label, with mastering and pressing better than average at their price point.
Also, many from that period had only 85 keys instead of 88--something to bear in mind if you are piano shopping and see one from the late 19th c advertised at a seemingly good price. Also, Steinway's "accelerated action" didn't make its appearance until the early 1930s or so. Neither will make a major difference in the sound of the instrument, but there you are. I think I've mentioned his name before, but for those with a period piano aversion but interest in exploring nonetheless, you may find Jorg Ewald Dahler on Claves to be worth a listen. I'm no great lover of period pianos (no great hater, either), but I find his way with them quite winning. As to the Franck sonata, if it's truly to be "HIP," it had better be full of all those unstylish "Romanticisms" ridiculed by so many modern performers and critics. Importing the style of Bach into the music of the 19th c. is no more "authentic" than playing music of Bach with heavy doses of portamento, lots of rubato, and Brucknerian orchestral forces.
I believe they were all, or at least mostly, licensed from other catalogues--rather along the model of Brilliant, only their "stable" of sources was rather more modest, including labels like Vox and Vanguard and maybe Kapp or Everest.
He was the staff pianist of the Utah SO in the days of Maurice Abravanel, if memory serves. You can also hear him on a Vanguard recording of music by Gottschalk, where he plays the Grand Tarantelle. I have a Naxos issue of Gottschalk in which the scholar behind that project dumps on Nibley's recording as being of a corrupt edition (it's arranged by one Hershey Kay, who I think may have played the same role for the Utah SO as Leroy Anderson did for the Boston Pops), but I think it's great flashy fun, surely in the spirit of the master virtuosic entertainer who barnstormed the adolescent United States and all over South America, delighting audience after audience at a time when professional pianists were few and far between in this hemisphere.
Just sampled this. Wow! It's now added to my ever-growing "to buy" list! Thanks for the recommendation!
Now playing, CD 82: Ludwig van Beethoven – Sonata for Piano No.14 in C sharp minor Op.27/2 "Moonlight" – Sonata for Piano No.26 in E flat major Op.81a "Les Adieux" – Sonata for Piano No.8 in C minor Op.13 "Pathétique" Arthur Rubinstein (piano) (RCA Victor Red Seal – Sony Music)
I am right now listening to the very same cd from the same box. Great music, great performance, AND a great living stereo recording (especially in its 3 channel SACD version)!
Get all 32 of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas, over 10 hours of music, in mp3 format, for only 99 cents! Amazon.com: Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas - Robert Taub (MC Classical Library): Robert Taub: MP3 Downloads
All this talk of Abravanel has gotten me to listen to his recording of Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony, part of his cycle for Vox - in an interview he said it was one of his favorite recordings, along with the Mahler 1st. Really well done.
