Classical Corner Classical Music Corner

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by George P, May 29, 2015.

  1. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    Last night I pulled out and dubbed Columbia set no. 88, Schubert's Sym. no. 9 performed by the Halle Or. under its then music director Sir Hamilton Harty, recorded in January 1928 as part of a big commemoration of Schubert's death centennial the company had launched as a promotional ploy.

    Prior owners left inscriptions inside the front cover that give a good, if possibly not complete, idea of the set's history. First is the notation "Herbert & Evelyn Lyser December 1938." Several of the records bear neatly written paper labels, taped on, reading "Lyser." Then there's a return address sticker, "David Prudhomme, 808 McClatchy Way, Sacramento 18, California" and the following notation: "This rare Centennial album found in the Salvation Army Store, Marysville, California, 20 November 1962. Despite the age of the recording, a glorious performance and interpretation!"

    Some years later, Mr. Prudhomme added the following: "The more we hear this recording, the more we realize how truly great it is. It is amazing that such beauty is captured in a feat of electronic engineering that was accomplished 42 years ago! The genius of Harty and the agility of his orchestra had a great deal to do with this. --DP April, 1969"

    I bought the set on eBay from one of the more established 78 dealers about a year ago. If no other owner failed to mark his acquisition on the cover, excluding resellers that would make me the set's third in a span of 80 years.

    Oh, and that bit about "42 years ago"? Now it's 90, and the set has traveled from the West to the East Coast. The set *is* unusually vivid, and my copy plays unusually cleanly with a 2.8 mil truncated elliptical stylus; hats off to the recording engineers. Happily it avoids the "speed creep" problem common to English Columbia recordings of its era, which infected the last Harty recording I transferred (that one was Beethoven's 4th Sym., recorded pursuant to a similar Columbia anniversary commemorative project). As to the performance, well, to modern ears it sounds a bit odd, with winds more colorful than we're accustomed to hearing and very much to the fore, and lots of portamento, particularly in the cellos. More than that I probably shouldn't say on first acquaintance. I can add, though, that it made for an uncommonly entertaining evening.
     
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  2. Wes H

    Wes H Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    I'm glad to see this "oldie" made it to CD, as I've always had a fondness for this set--my first recordings of the Beethoven Piano & Violin Sonatas.

    It's hard for me to believe it, but 47 years ago I bought the (now-well-worn) album below...

    [​IMG]

    I can still recall buying it in the record shop after talking about it with the store owner -- a nice, older gentleman who was an accomplished pianist and really knew classical music. Those were the days... compared to the impersonal, forgettable mouse-clicks we do today to buy music.
    Anyway, I enjoyed the three sonatas on this album so much that I later bought the complete 4-LP set (below).

    [​IMG]
     
  3. J.A.W.

    J.A.W. Music Addict

    I got this set from Japan a few years ago:


    [​IMG]
     
    Wes H likes this.
  4. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    Chopin's Preludes played by Moiseiwitsch. These are really magnificent, I appreciate them more every time I play them. Thanks to George P for tipping me off to them :tiphat: I'm glad he recorded them all, often not the case of artists in the 78 era which to be honest drives me mad sometimes when I hear them perform some of the shorter pieces very well.

    [​IMG]
     
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  5. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    My pleasure!

    So many goodies in that Naxos Historical series. His Chopin Ballades and his Schumann Kinderszenen are highlights for me.
     
  6. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    Oh yes I ended up buying all his ones with solo piano after hearing the Ballades :) These Preludes aren't as memorable mostly because of the brisk tempi in some pieces, but as a whole still very enjoyable. Moiseiwitsch along with Schnabel's Beethoven discs are hands down my favorites of the all the piano discs by Naxos Historical.
     
    George P likes this.
  7. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Mine too. The Ignaz Friedman CDs aint too shabby neither. And Prokofiev Plays Prokofiev.
     
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  8. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    I do like the Friedman disc with Songs Without Words, picking up more of them are on my list next time MDT has another sale. Moiseiwitsch just grabbed me, it's like being in a trance when I listen to him and I like that he rarely goes too far with the rubato. Rachmaninoff playing his music are also special.
     
    George P likes this.
  9. ToddBD

    ToddBD Forum Resident

    Another Musikfest from my library, thoroughly festive and enjoyable "big band" Haydn.
    [​IMG]
     
    George P likes this.
  10. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    I ordered this based of Hank Drake's review. This is the lowest price it has come up before on Amazon and I am not going to risk it going out of print like many of those smaller Sony sets!

    [​IMG]
     
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  11. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Love the Drake!
     
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  12. BlueNoteFan

    BlueNoteFan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Texas
    Right on! The Bavarian Radio Symphony pretty much owns Mahler 1 for me. My favorite recordings in no particular order are Kubelik (DG), Kubelik (Audite), and Nezet-Seguin - all with the wonderful BRSO.
     
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  13. mBen989

    mBen989 Senior Member

    Location:
    Scranton, PA
    I have these two sets on order from Amazon.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
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  14. Bubbamike

    Bubbamike Forum Resident

    Is that the mono or stereo Kempff set? I have the stereo set and have always heard that the mono set was better.
     
  15. crispi

    crispi Vinyl Archaeologist

    Location:
    Berlin
    It’s the stereo set. I have both. I don’t find the mono set significantly better.
     
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  16. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    That's the stereo set. I find the mono set to be better in both sound and performance.
     
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  17. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    Could this be hangover cure? :) First time listening, a needle drop

    [​IMG]
     
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  18. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    Arkiv seems have a classical CD that has been OOP for years. Has anyone ever received a CD-R from them that wasn't part of their ArkivCD program? This CD isn't listed as one of them.

    Maryla Jonas Mazurkas above- I have heard a lot of Chopin's Mazurkas (a lot of them quite poor) and hers are up there with the very best. I plan to pick up the Sony reissue box after sampling it to see if they used noise reduction or not.
     
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2018
  19. Bogey

    Bogey Spy Vinyl User

    Location:
    Colorado
    I would like to thank Mr. or Ms. Linnemeyer for this less than "fresh" lp.[​IMG] [​IMG]
     
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  20. Bogey

    Bogey Spy Vinyl User

    Location:
    Colorado
    Kleiber and Coffee.: A perfect way to start my morning.
    .[​IMG]
     
  21. Bogey

    Bogey Spy Vinyl User

    Location:
    Colorado
    Found this today. Very nice listening while I prepare the family lunch.

    [​IMG]
     
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  22. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    t
    Nice one! Nothing like some live Richter!
     
  23. Bubbamike

    Bubbamike Forum Resident

    That's coffee? ;) :p :wave:
     
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  24. Bogey

    Bogey Spy Vinyl User

    Location:
    Colorado
    Well, the cream does have its effect from time to time.:D
     
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  25. Bogey

    Bogey Spy Vinyl User

    Location:
    Colorado
    Letting this drift through the open windows to the back porch as summer has begun.

    [​IMG]
     
    vanhooserd, George P, Wes H and 5 others like this.

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