Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #58)

I love this version of Wozzeck, REALLY creepy....
I have three versions, the 2-CD shown below, a LP version with this same cover as the CD (looks like an early version) and then the Odyssey version, which is the first one I owned, and really loved it.
One of my favorite classical records...
There is another version by James Levine, which sounds like it was recorded on an actual stage (I don't have it in front of me), and you can kinda of hear where the singers are standing, it has a weird effect....like you are standing in the middle of the singers...

 

I hear ya. For some reason I'm inclined to think that I like Liszt better.

 

Don't think so, they were just inspired by the same dude. Apparently, Sibelius was too.

 

This is a fabulous CD, IMHO. And Ferras is unfortunately so underrated. His Sibelius with HVK is my favorite recording of the concerto. His Tchaik would move you to tears, provided you're a fan of that particular concerto. The Berman is outstanding too.

The sonics are great. I have reissues from the Musikfest, Resonance and Privilege series, they're all excellent.

 

Another excellent perspective on Smetana`s "Polka`s and Dances"......but again, Smetana`s piano music is firmly based on czech folk music (a lot of similar quotations can be heard on "Ma Vlast/My Country"), which seems to be lightweighted at the first glance but rewards recurring listening with insight and understanding of slawic roots and soul (the growing insight experienced is similar to the one with Schubert`s "Ländler aka German Dances")......

 

They're new. About five years old. All the core repertoire reference recordings in my book were made in the fifties and sixties, sometimes the seventies, sometimes earlier. The only reason I bought these was that I was not familiar with Smetana's piano pieces and they were dirt cheap.

 

Thanks. I will try to get my hands on this one too.

 

First listen to CD 29 "Ludwig Van Beethoven - The 'Late Quartets'" performed by the Tokyo String Quartet from the "Music Of The Enlightenment" box on Harmonia Mundi.

 

I've seen Levine conduct both Wozzeck and Lulu at the Met. Both were impressive and among the most highly regarded productions in the Met repertoire.

 

I have those as a Hi Res download. But they are not from the XVIIIth Siecle.

 

Indeed, that dude lived in modern-day Iraq ...

 

I don't blame you. I love Arrau's Liszt.

Now enjoying (thanks again for the recommendation):

 

You are not alone. I did not even know Smetana composed some piano works ...

 

Those DG sublabels like Musikfest, Resonance and Privilege were probably last released in the 90's ...

 

I hear it differently. For me the Elgar is not "sweet" but rather a deeply moving elegy for the dead of World War I and for the destruction of European civilization. It has long been my favorite cello concerto. I think it survives because it is a great piece of music.

As an aside, although there certainly are more great concertos for violin and for piano than for cello, there are first-rate works for cello and orchestra by Dvorak, Barber, Britten, Shostakovitch, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Lalo, Strauss and others, enough for people like Yo-Yo Ma to eke out a living.

 

And I was just going to ask if it had arrived already.

Glad you like it.

 

So I read.

 

I hope my neighbors are enjoying it.

 

Listening to this one, great sound:

 

I have only two of his CD's which most people have ...

 

Just received a new box set:

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
The Complete Works for Piano Solo
Ana-Marija Markovina
Hanssler, 2014
26 CDs

It has had at least one very favorable review. I like the couple of discs I have heard, but will wait until I have completed it to decide on its recommendation.

The pianist performs these on a Bosendorfer Imperial.

 

Currently spinning one of my favorite piano discs. Anyone else have this one? It has the best Night on Bald Mountain on record IMO.

 

How is the box so far? I hope you are enjoying it. I have the same kind of reservation about this box as that 35-CD (IIRC) Scarlatti box, which I do not think I will have the patience for. After all, we are not talking about works by JS Bach or Beethoven ...

 

I'd like to see if the archival records at the New York Philharmonic or at AFM Local 802 confirm what I've heard, that Johnny Smith (of "Walk Don't Run" renown) is the guitarist in the beer-hall scene. Smith had warm recollections of those occasions when he worked with Dimitri Mitropoulos.

 

35 discs may be overkill even though I enjoy Scarlatti immensely. I have a 3 disc (56 sonata) selection from the Scott Ross box. I wish there were a 10 disc set. That would be just about right.

(Unfortunately, the Ross box is not on Spotify.)