such a shame furtwängler wasn't born 40 years later. supreme performances, mediocre recording facilities.
Ah, but if he'd been born 40 years later, his performances would probably have reflected the modern, more objective school that came to dominate after WW II, not the more personal approach that we associate with him. Perhaps the better lament would be, "Oh, if only modern stereo recording had become commercial 40 years earlier." Although I can't escape the nagging suspicion that the relative perfection and universal propagation of recordings may have had more than a little to do with that stylistic shift. In the end, I think one of my collector friends has it dead to rights: "You take your great music making where you find it."
On the turntable…Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2, Rubinstein, RCA Symphony/Krips. My LP is a Dynaflex, with slight warpage that minimally affects playback.
There are conductors who resist that That's a twofer, right? I had those recordings in separate twofers from the same era - the two Brahms piano concertos and three romantic violin concertos. I now have the violin concerto on SACD and the Brahms 2nd (actually several Brahms seconds) as part of the big Rubinstein box.
Been listening to the Doric SQ this evening. I wa afraid there'd be some unnecessary show-off that the critics love. But no, this is honest music making. However, no matter how important these quartets are historically, they're no match to the 19th century romantic quartets beginning with Beethoven's late quartets.
Apples and oranges for the most part IMO. Although Beethoven's quartets are in a class by themselves.
( From September 2014: ) LaSalle Quartet on Beethoven's late quartet's, Boulez on Debussy's orchestral works and Mahler's symphonies: these are all recordings that show something crucial of the works by revealing the actual structures. Like X-raying. For me Boulez's Debussy recordings were revelations and I was enthusiastic every time when the Mahler recordings were released. Perhaps not the best and sure not my greatest favourites, but worth having them, and especially worth "studying".
I've been listening to those recently. I had some LPs way back when, and was pleased when the recent set came out as part of the birthday celebration.
Now streaming the Takacs Quartet playing Brahms sourced from Tidal. This may be the first time I have seriously listened to streaming music on my main system (as opposed to my own rips). As I don't have the CDs, I can't compare directly, but it sounds good to me.
[QUOTE="john greenwood, post: 12422553, member: 1903" That's a twofer, right? I had those recordings in separate twofers from the same era - the two Brahms piano concertos and three romantic violin concertos. I now have the violin concerto on SACD and the Brahms 2nd (actually several Brahms seconds) as part of the big Rubinstein box.[/QUOTE] Yes, LP 1 is the Violin Concerto. Heifetz is masterful, but the orchestral sound is a tad on the dull side, the strings have no edge, so Heifetz really sticks out but the orchestra lacks some punch and fire when needed, IMO.
See if you can find the SACD. Yes, LP 1 is the Violin Concerto. Heifetz is masterful, but the orchestral sound is a tad on the dull side, the strings have no edge, so Heifetz really sticks out but the orchestra lacks some punch and fire when needed, IMO.[/QUOTE] See if you can find the SACD. True, Heifetz is a bit forward, but the orchestra is quite powerful. Edit - I see the quoting has gotten a bit screwed up on our last exchange.
Now playing CD7 - Beethoven Cello Sonatas Nos 4 & 5 and Variations from the following box for a first listen ...
IMHO, Furtwängler's Wagner Parsifal overtures are absolutely the best. No conductors after him have even come close ...
For some reason the quote function is goody, sorry...I find the 2nd and 3rd movements the most balanced in terms of soloist vs. orchestra. And there is no argument about the power of the CSO under Reiner from this Adolph Herseth fan My favorite orchestra/conductor combo of all time.
I first experienced the artistry of Wilhelm Furtwanger on this relatively pricey EMI 3-LP box I bought in the early 80's. I remember my then grad school buddy who is now a senior research scientist at Stanford and an extremely devoted Karajan admirer who cares for no other conductors shockingly rated Furtwangler's performance of the Wagner Parsifal Overtures to have handily beat that of Karajan after he heard the LP from this box on my then mid-fi system ...
I'll bet. I had their Handel Op. 6, and the sound quality always stood out for me. The performances as well.
On the turntable…a nice clean Purple Dog mono, 1s stampers. I've never heard this piece before, it's interesting.