Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #58)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by George P, Jul 23, 2014.

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  1. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Now playing the following CD from my Chopin collection by Martha and she was HOT ...

    [​IMG]
     
  2. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Harnoncourt is just one of kind as a conductor in terms of versatility. From early music to baroque to classical, he has done it all and quite successfully. His Schubert Symphonies with the RCO are just about the best version out there ...
     
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  3. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Will complete listening for this evening with more Emma. Now playing the following CD from my Handel collection ...

    [​IMG]
     
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  4. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    The same artists did a fine Winterreise. For long haul listening, Dahler is about my favorite exponent of the "fortepiano" (period piano, call it what you will) with several excellent Schubert discs to his credit, all, as far as I know, on that same label. There are others who are flashier or more "fun," who mine--to take Beecham out of context--the instrument's "skeletons on a tin roof" aspect for all it's worth (and plenty of others whose primary virtue is "hey, Mom, I'm playing this clattery old piano-y thing!"), but Dahler has the rare ability to make those old keyboards sing--or, at least, had it; I think he's no longer active and may even no longer be with us, as all his recordings that I know date back a ways.

    I'm not familiar with this Schwanengesang recording. I'll have to look for it. Thanks for calling it to our attention!
     
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  5. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    I also have the incomplete Cantatas box by Gardiner on DG Archive. I have hoped to get the Koopman box but at over $500 the box is a bit too pricey for my taste ...
     
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  6. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    The last time I listened to this CD was many moons ago. I just realized the duets in Cantata 36 were re-used by Handel in his Messiah Oratorio but sung in English instead of Italian. Handel was superb at recycling his works ...
     
  7. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    I suppose it may well be too "German," too, but my own favorite, displacing even Toscanini's fervent advocacy, is by the Munich PO under Oswald Kabasta, a WW II-era German concert recording that will never win any prizes for sonic merit but that, if "electric" is what you want, carries about 1,000 volts at about 1,000 amps. I first made its acquaintance in a pseudonymous issue on the old American mono LP budget label Royale, with Royale's customary sandpaper pressing; in that guise, it was sometimes mistakenly attributed to Furtwangler. More recently, Music & Arts has issued the recording, correctly attributed, in a considerably better sounding transfer. Oddly, both have a patch at the beginning of the last mvt. sonically much at odds with the rest of the recording; I've never seen anyone else comment on it, but I wonder if perhaps a bit of the original was lost and the missing bit replaced by an extract from some other recording? Dunno, but it has struck me as odd from the first time I heard it. Unfortunately, the M&A issue is part of a two-disc set that brings a nice number of $$$. Further unfortunately, my explorations of other works from this conductor's extremely limited discography have revealed nothing else that made as great an impression on me.
     
  8. RelayerNJ

    RelayerNJ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Whippany, NJ
    The Decca Solti is a classic. Not a fan of Karajan's Beethoven.
     
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  9. RelayerNJ

    RelayerNJ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Whippany, NJ

    Is this the same as: http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/6...No_5_From_the_New_World-180_Gram_Vinyl_Record
     
  10. Soulpope

    Soulpope Common one

    Location:
    Vienna, Austria
    [​IMG]

    This performance from 1979 reveals that Dvorak`s Symphony 9 doesn`t have to be played with an overly punchy approach to unfold its spaciousness and beauty.....
     
  11. Soulpope

    Soulpope Common one

    Location:
    Vienna, Austria
    [​IMG]

    thereof Piano Trio No 4 op.90 "Dumky".....
     
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  12. Scott Wheeler

    Scott Wheeler Forum Resident

    Location:
    ---------------
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  13. feinstei9415

    feinstei9415 Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    God, that was an awful record! I have it in the "Stereo For the Joy Of It" collection as well as an earlier pressing of it. One of RCA's worst mastering and pressing jobs. Luckily for us, the Living Stereo CD and SACD issues of this performance have restored the fabulous recording to it's rightly deserved glory and reveal that it wasn't the recording that was so awful, but the mastering and manufacturing of the record itself.
     
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  14. Joe071

    Joe071 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cayuga
    Thank you for the info. I must admit that I've never heard any Oswald Kabasta recordings. I will try to track that one down. :righton:
     
  15. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    A legalistic comment from a lawyer - "therefrom" is probably a better choice than "thereof.":)
     
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  16. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    Gladly! Here's the M&A issue:

    [​IMG]

    I suppose I should mention, as fair warning, that Kabasta, although largely forgotten today, was among the most prominent conductors in Germany during the '30s and up to the end of WW II. He committed suicide after the Allies barred him from conducting again. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions from there.
     
  17. Soulpope

    Soulpope Common one

    Location:
    Vienna, Austria
    feedback from a lawyer : as a consequence thereof I will use in future in subject context therefrom :winkgrin:
     
  18. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    I've owned the earlier remastering, was not happy with it. The SACDs are still in print and according to the first review on the Amazon website are a major upgrade over the first issue of Karajan's second complete recording of Beethoven's symphonies. :

    "Anyway, I am relieved to report that these new transfers are a major improvement in sound over the previous issues. On the (stereo) SACD layers, the bass is full and balanced in relation to the other registers, and there is considerably more instrumental color and solidity of tone as well as spatial differentiation within the orchestral fabric. There is still noticeable hiss, but it is overshadowed by the enhanced vibrancy of the sound. In effect, these SACD remasterings bring the sound quality up to nearly modern recording standards."

    http://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-The-Symphonies-Gundula-Janowitz/dp/B0000C03AH
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2014
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  19. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    Sounds like a missing chapter or two from Gravity's Rainbow.
     
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  20. bluemooze

    bluemooze Senior Member

    Location:
    Frenchtown NJ USA
    Thank you also for helping me to improve my music collection. :)

    Ouch! Look at those prices. SACD prices, right?!
     
  21. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    SACD in print prices.

    Count your blessings:

    http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Suites-Cello-Sonatas-Major/dp/B0001BPPNA/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1406377329&sr=8-13&keywords=sacd mercury living

    As regards the HvK 60's cycle, I'll be hunting down the Tulip pressings. Have the Brahms cycle, with an incomparable performance of the Second Symphony, from a few years later on Tulip pressings from Amoeba San Francisco's $1 bins. Wonderful, natural sound. Maybe a notch better than what I've heard from the Beethoven cycle.

    Ron Pendorf of Recollections, Berkeley California, specializes in LPs like the RCA "Living Stereo" series, auctions them internationally. When I visited his shop in the heart of what was back then still the industrial district of West Berkeley, Ron had a Rega-based playback system, way better than your typical record shop and he'd play just about anything for you. Ron told me the HvK 1960's Beethoven cycle was under the radar as an audiophile classic, but that only the early pressings had the 'fairy dust.'

    Looks like Ron is still at it:

    http://ronpenndorf.com/
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2014
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  22. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Precisely why I argued for the earlier issue. I never had a problem with its sound, either. Otherwise, I would never have suggested it.
     
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  23. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    Mind you, when I reached my conclusion as regards that early mastering I was usually listening to music with top of the line Stax electrostatic cans which is sort of like listening to music through a microscope. :laugh:

    I agree that SACD prices are silly. Seeing as our recent inductee into the CMC has a functional LP spinner I'm hoping he runs across some early pressings in good shape.
     
  24. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    Bach: Cantatas 126/149. Ameling, Baker, Gonnenwein. EMI Ger gold label

    The recent posts on Bach Cantatas makes me re-experience my angst about so many of the recordings of them. I have spent a lot of time and money on various issues over the years and am left with only 9 recordings, 5 on LP and 4 on CD. I don't mean complete sets just individual selections. One problem I have is with boy trebles which along with astringent playing and sonics wiped out the Teldec series for me. I still have a couple from Rilling's Laudate cycle with Auger, but most have murky sonics and lackadaisical playing. I have heard later CD series and have not been thrilled with them either mostly because I can enjoy only the very greatest countertenors. The CDs I have are two with Kirkby and one each with Fink and Herreweghe. The instrumental playing is less the issue; mostly it's the singing.

    [​IMG]
     
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  25. ToddBD

    ToddBD Forum Resident

    Now playing…Tchaikovsky 6, Mitropoulos/NY Phil, Mono LP. He sure doesn't waste any time, that's for sure.
    [​IMG]
     
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