Listenin' to Classical Music and Conversation

Denis Gaultier: 'La rhétorique des dieux'
Louis Pernot, lute

 

This box set is proving to be the ideal redecorating companion. I wonder if there is a ‘whitewash walls whilst I sit on my backside’ option on my CD player. Alas there is not.

 

CD from the first Living Presence box.

 

A while back I had the great pleasure of seeing Yo-Yo Ma playing the Bach Cello suites at the BBC Proms - was a wonderful evening of truly immersive listening ...

Ever since then I have been meaning to get a recording of the suites on vinyl. There is a Yo-Yo Ma recording available on CBS but have never been impressed by CBS sound quality in the past; maybe they have improved since the 70's CBS recordings I have heard.

I do like my Bach to be reasonably austere and unembellished - does anyone have any special recommendations for other recordings?

 

That would be Stockhausen’s string quartet

 

L. van Beethoven: String Trio in G major, Op. 9 no. 1

 

Op. 130, 133, 131, 135 from the Vegh Quartet



Explored more of the Gilels Melodiya box late into the hours last night, heard my first disappointing performance in the second movement of Pathetique which was played too soft (with not much dynamic emphasis and contrast) and too slow.

 

I love this one, mostly because of a beautiful version of Rodrigo's Concierto d'Aranjuez.

 

Spotify Premium.

 

Well, I finally did it. After thinking about this for many years, I compiled the complete soundtrack (or as complete as I could get it) of Amadeus. I found the piece that Mozart plays at the beginning of the movie as a child. I also found the parody opera done at the Prague theater. The Amadeus Soundtrack had a few tracks that were extras and of course I included them as well. I also closed out the whole soundtrack with the finale of the Jupiter symphony as it is one of my favorite pieces of music and has a feeling of triumph.

I tried to put the tracks in order of appearance in the film as best as I could. I have seen the movie countless times, but I didn't watch the film to compile this. Hopefully I made the right decisions. The extra tracks were added not at the end but where I thought they would best fit. The Zaide aria opened up one of the sides on the first soundtrack I got so I opened the last disc with it for nostalgia. I have gone through so many copies of this soundtrack (tape, record, CD) it is crazy to think about. The first time I got the soundtrack it was on tape in 1984 and I wore that thing out. I was really excited to get it on CD. And then one of the CDs was stolen when my boombox was stolen from my office. I have gotten every special edition and I will gladly get another if it is released. I saw Amadeus Live just a few months ago, which was absolutely amazing for me.

Tracklist is below of my complete Amadeus Soundtrack.




Amadeus - The Complete Soundtrack
Disc 1
1. Symphony #25 In G Minor, K 183 - 1. Allegro Con Brio 7:51
2. Serenade #13 In G, K 525, "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" - 1. Allegro 5:41
3. Klavierstück in F, K. 33b 0:57
4. Pergolesi: Stabat Mater - Quando Corpus Morietur, Amen 4:19
5. Anon: Bubak & Hungaricus 1:17
6. Serenade #10 In B Flat, K 361, "Gran Partita" - 3. Adagio 6:09
7. Serenade in B-flat, VII. Finale: Molto allegro - K361 'Gran partita' 3:19
8. Salieri's March Turned Into Non Piu Andrai 1:52
9. Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail, K 384 - Martern Aller Arten 8:49
10. Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail, K 384 - Turkish Finale 1:28
11. Mass In C Minor; K 427- Kyrie 6:30
12. Concerto In C For Flute & Harp, K 299 - 2. Andantino 8:34
13. Sinfonia Concertante In E Flat, K 364 - 1. Allegro Maestoso 13:36

Disc 2
1. Concerto In E Flat For 2 Pianos, K 365 - 3. Rondeau: Allegro 7:14
2. Symphony #29 In A, K 201 - 1. Allegro Moderato 5:43
3. Adagio & Rondo In C Minor, K 617 6:03
4. Piano Concerto #15 in B-Flat Major, K. 450: III. Allegro 7:41
5. Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail, K 384 - Chorus Of The Janissaries 4:25
6. Giordani: Caro Mio Ben 2:38
7. Piano Concerto #22 In E Flat, K 482 - 3. Allegro, Andante Cantabile, Allegro 11:11
8. Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 1: Cinque...Dieci...Venti 2:46
9. Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 3: Ecco La Marcia 2:32
10. Le Nozze Di Figaro, K 492 - Act 4: Ah Tutti Contenti 2:36
11. Salieri: Axur, Re D'Ormus - Finale 1:14
12. Don Giovanni, K 527 - Act 2: Commendatore Scene 7:00
13. Piano Concerto #20 In D Minor, K 466 - 1. Allegro 12:19
14. Requiem In D Minor, K 626 - Introitus 1:00
15. Requiem in D Minor, K 626 - Introitus (completed by F.X. Süssmayr) 1:39

Disc 3
1. Zaide, K 344 - Ruhe Sanft 6:25
2. Masonic Funeral Music, K 477 5:45
3. Mozart's Comic Opera 4:02
4. Requiem In D Minor, K 626 - Dies Irae 1:55
5. Die Zauberflöte, K 620 - Overture 6:52
6. Requiem In D Minor, K 626 - Rex Tremendae 2:04
7. Die Zauberflöte, K 620 - Der Hölle Rache 2:58
8. Die Zauberflöte, K620 - Act 2: Ein Mädchen Oder Weibchen 3:48
9. Die Zauberflöte, K 620 - Papagena! Papagena! 2:38
10. 6 German Dances - #1 & 3 2:49
11. Requiem In D Minor, K 626 - Confutatis 2:21
12. Requiem In D Minor, K 626 - Lacrymosa 3:50
13. Piano Concerto #20 In D Minor, K 466 - 2. Romanza 9:54
14. Symphony #41 In C, K 551, "Jupiter" - 4. Finale: Molto Allegro 11:39

 

Arvo Pärt - Litany (ECM)

 

You know, I was looking for inspiration on this rainy morning. Oistrakh is just perfect. Thanks!

 

You'll be even less impressed if you buy a copy and find that one or two of the vinyl sides are pressed off-center, like mine were.

 

IIRC, one of these Nakamichi Dragon computing TT's can solve the problem with off-center vinyl. It was the only TT that could solve this problem back in the day ...



This might have been a $10K TT back in the day ...

 

Here is an excellent recording IMO ...

 

An iconic photo of that bridge that once stood near the Hungarian Parliament ...

 

Supposedly RCA recorded his last two concerts in stereo; there's some discussion here: Google Groups

 

...Dutton just released many of his other Stravinsky recordings from New York on quad SACD - I suspect the Firebird will be in the next batch if Sony will license it: duttonvocalion.co.uk store: Pierre Boulez conducts Stravinsky: Petrushka & Pulcinella Suite [SACD Hybrid Multi-channel] | Epoch - Historic SACD | CDLX7343 |

 

The Beethoven Piano Sonatas box by Stephen Kovacevich arrived from across the pond yesterday and this should be the last box for these works for me.



Below is what I currently have in my Beethoven collection ...

Piano Works Vol. 1-11 Schnabel NAXOS Historical
Yves Nat - Ses Enregistrements 1930 - 1956 Nat EMI
Piano Sonatas Gilels/Piano DG
The Piano Sonatas (Monaural) Kempff DG
The Piano Sonatas Kempff DG
The Piano Sonatas (second stereo set) Kempff DG
The Piano Sonatas Backhaus DECCA
The Piano Sonatas Arrau DECCA
The Piano Sonatas Gulda Brilliant Classics
The Piano Sonatas Annie Fischer Hungaraton
The Piano Sonatas Buchbinder/Piano TELDEC
Piano Concertos, Sonatas BBC Sym. Orch/Davis/Kovacevich Philips (incomplete)

I have the 80-CD Glenn Gould Original Jacket box but do not know if there are any Beethoven Piano Sonatas in that box ...

 

Just plopped through the letterbox. A bargin at £10.
CD 1 on at the moment.






A blind buy, my newbie status means I’ve not heard of him. The joy is in the discovery.

Sounding great so far. Really nice just in the background, nothing to make me jump out off my skin and knock paint everywhere.

 

You might try this one. It's my favorite performance on a modern cello:

 

Is this a Documents or Membran box?

 

What a fine collection. Gould recorded the entire (or nearly the entire cycle) on that Original Jacket box, IMHO his Beethoven is quite poor.