I've been in trams and trains all day listening to every track I can squeeze in from Barbara Hannigan. Wonderful train journeys, in the end.
So I did something not so smart. I bought a couple of the mega box sets mentioned over in the mega box thread. I dont really regret it because they are a couple of very good ones. But really I dont need to be doing that anymore I think. At least for now. No way will I ever listen to 10-15 of those big sets. Plus Im realatively new to the classical area. I think Im wiser to buy individual cds for now. Cheaper for the most part and I get more variety. Having said that (and now resisted blowing big stupid bucks on the Jascha Heifetz Complete box set) I have a question: What Jascha Heifetz cds do you guys recommend as far as your favorites for performance and sound quality? Thanks!
Tchaikovsky, P.Ballet suites Berlin P.O. cond Herbert von Karajan1972/67 2000 96/24 remastering DG 463 774-2 (8 cd set) HvK's accounts of the suites from Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker are unashamedly big hearted and in these transfers fine sounding although Rostropovich's 1979 set (mine's DG Galleria, there's an 'DG Original' I believe) for me brings more subtlety and has the edge on absolute sound quality even if I loved HvK's record versions at the time.
Isolde Menges (violin)/Harold Samuel (piano) Bach Sonata No. 3 E Major Rare find. Old 78 rpm disc. Woke up to this via my local classical station.
First listen: This is only my first time hearing this disc, the playing on Music for Royal Fireworks is pretty loose bordering on subpar. Wow the big Heifetz box for somoene new to classical! IIRC that was going for quite a lot of money. I am a big fan so I'm not criticizing, personally it is pretty hard to go wrong with any of the Russian composers or composers that were also violinists as Heifetz was very in tune to both types. Some don't like his playing on the "classics" (Beethoven, Bach, etc) but I think he is very good there as well. Enjoy, you are in for some great music!
Tchaikovsky, P. Violin Concerto Berlin P.O. cond. Herbert von Karajan 1966 2000 cd mastering 463 774-2 (8 cd set) From disc 8 of the H vK Tchaikovsky box set as the Richter's Piano Concerto isn't my cup of tea, this sentimental account by Christian Ferras of the Violin Concerto is, loving the rekkid at the time.
Was August Wenzinger the conductor of the LP? It is difficult to read from the LP cover. I do have the following LP box by him but have not listened to it after my first and only listen that happened well over 30 years ago ... I much prefer the following CD version I bought a few years ago ...
[QUOTE="hvbias, post: Wow the big Heifetz box for somoene new to classical! IIRC that was going for quite a lot of money. I am a big fan so I'm not criticizing, personally it is pretty hard to go wrong with any of the Russian composers or composers that were also violinists as Heifetz was very in tune to both types. Some don't like his playing on the "classics" (Beethoven, Bach, etc) but I think he is very good there as well. Enjoy, you are in for some great music![/QUOTE] Well, no lol. I decided that it wouldnt be a good idea to buy any more of the big boxes until I start much smaller. So I didnt go nuts and buy that big Heifetz box. I now am trying to understand what are considered his best performances/albums in very good sound quality. Any suggestions are welcome
IIRC, the remastered versions of these recordings are included in the following CD box I bought a few years ago ... BTW, the Tchaikovsky Symphonies 1 - 3 LP box could be available at that great records shop outside Calgary for $1 CAD ...
Well, no lol. I decided that it wouldnt be a good idea to buy any more of the big boxes until I start much smaller. So I didnt go nuts and buy that big Heifetz box. I now am trying to understand what are considered his best performances/albums in very good sound quality. Any suggestions are welcome [/QUOTE] Heifetz was great right up until the end. For me he showed no drop off in quality as he aged, so the later recordings are the best because they are often very well recorded. I think his recordings for RCA of the big concertos by Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Tchaikovsky are pretty much unbeatable. I also find his Beethoven recordings endlessly fascinating in the inexpensive Heifetz Plays Beethoven box.
He came from the same generation as Karl Richter but was obviously not as prolific a conductor as Richter ...
I am surprised the Russkies even allowed Mercury to make the on-location recording. The following recording of Karajan with the BPO in Moscow was made by Melodiya, not a record label from the west ...
I've been looking for information about how all this with Mercury was arranged. I'm not having much success.
Baching up the right tree for once: It arrived within 24 hours of ordering from English Postbox. Delightful although I'm more a Piano kind of person.
The November BBC Music Magazine arrived today with this CD by Sviatoslav Richter. Track 17 is played by Elisabeth Leonskaja.
This came in today, looking forward to exploring it. Emil Gilels 100th Anniversary box by Melodiya. Playing CD 32, Schubert Fantasy in F minor, Saint-Saens Carnaval, Liszt piano concerto 1
A 50 minute 12-tone Piano Concerto— what’s not to love? Actually, I like it very much. Its forbidding difficulties for musicians and audience alike prevent it from being played much, which is a shame since it is such a powerful piece.
I have 37 of the volumes from this series. As I near the end of Harvey Sachs' 900+ page biography of the Maestro, I'm continuing to enjoy the CDs. The 5th was recorded in Carnegie Hall on St. Patrick's Day, 1953, eight days before AT's 86th birthday.
