Playing this 1974 Connoisseur Society LP now... Beethoven: Sonata in C, Op.53 ("Waldstein") and Sonata in E, Op.109. Very strong performance from Antonio Barbosa with superb sonics -- "SQ" encoded for Quad, but sounds great on regular stereo playback.
What do you think of Charles Rosen? I have heard a few CDs of his Chopin and it didn't do anything for me, but I could see how his style of playing isn't suited for Chopin.
I have never heard his playing and doubt I want to bother. I have enough piano recordings by many excellent artists ...
Stephen Kovacevich, Byron Janis and William Kapell are the only three native-born American pianists I bother with. All my favorite violinists are European ...
I have the following RCA box ... Masur used to live a few towns away from me when he was the conductor of the NYPO before he was pushed out. NYC was a brutal place to be a conductor, particularly a foreign one ...
Apologies for wandering off topic (I promise I'm coming back on shortly), but I had much the same experience a couple of nights ago when I tried to consult--well, I'm pretty sure it was Allmusic--seeking information about a recording by Eileen Joyce. I mention that here only because I know many of us look for classical music data in that way, and it may behoove us to exercise some caution. Possibly a problem affecting only US users? That doesn't make sense, but...
I'm surprised you wouldn't have encountered him; he's been around quite a while, and his name, if not necessarily of the household variety, certainly is not obscure. Or, as J.A.W. put it, I don't know that I've heard his Bach--if I have, I don't remember it--but I have that Mendelssohn disc, the complete music for cello and piano, in which he pairs with Melvyn Tan on a period instrument piano. Or earlier-than-period? Surely by Mendelssohn's day the "fortepiano" must have evolved well on its way to what we know today? Anyhow, if you're not allergic to period piano sound, it's a lovely recording, and Isserlis plays with warmth and affection. Whatever happened to Tan? His name almost never surfaces any more, but when that disc was new he was something of an up-and-comer. He was well enough known to be chosen for a TV series designed to promote classical music to the uninitiated/newcomer, back in the '90s. It was called "Concerto!" and was the brainchild of Dudley Moore, who hosted it. At least, that's my recollection. Isserlis played the Saint-Saens 1st cello cto. backed by an orchestra I forget--maybe a "name" band, maybe a pickup group--in this gaudy, neon-art-deco-y shell looking stage set. I'm pretty sure I saw it on the old Arts & Entertainment Channel, not too long after it abandoned its "premium subscription" model for a "free with advertising" approach. And those ads were a misery; A&E aired all the episodes back to back that day, but in each, after each mvt. it abruptly cut to a block of advertising and then just as abruptly lurched back into the next mvt., so much so that my attempt to tape it on my VCR, pausing to screen out the ads, invariably ended up missing part of the music when it came back in without warning. In the end, I threw up my hands and eventually scrubbed the tape. Shame about A&E; from that point forward, it became progressively more and more E and less and less A, to the point that eventually it was just another "old movie" channel.
Rosen is one of those rare classical artists who can also write with authority; he's the author of a number of well-respected books on classical music and its interpretation. They are said to be full of valuable insights but not to be easy going for the layman. He's also, I think, primarily known for his Beethoven, so I'm not surprised if his Chopin isn't a strong suit. Indeed, if you believe Wikipedia (Charles Rosen - Wikipedia ), he himself wasn't necessarily happy with his Chopin: [begin quotation] Nicholas Wroe narrates how he started writing: Rosen released his first Chopin recording in 1960. It included one of the late nocturnes, opus 62 no 1 ... Rosen says he wasn't entirely happy with the recording, but he was even more disappointed with the sleeve note, which described the nocturne as "staggering drunken with the odour of flowers". "I had many thoughts about the piece," he says. "That was not one of them. So I started writing the sleeve notes myself. People liked them and after a while a publisher took me to lunch. Before he even offered me a drink he said he would publish whatever I'd like to write. Eventually it led to many books and articles. But to begin with I wrote just to keep nonsense off my record sleeves." [end quotation] Rosen's Beethoven has been on my "must listen to" list for a long time. As have been all too many other recordings by all too many other celebrated artists. So much music, so little time.... Your loss...
I've been impressed with Rosen's Beethoven since buying this 3-LP box set of the "late sonatas" in 1972: Good sound, too. Recorded in Abbey Road studios, 1969. I'm not a fan of his Chopin. That said, I don't think Richter has the right touch for Chopin, either... so what do I know?
His book The Classical Style was a huge awakening for me. I had never thought of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven’s music in that way before and I have not looked back since Brilliant analysis, highly opinionated, and a cutting wit make his writing very interesting and engaging to read.
It's been a very long time, and I saw it only once, but that sounds right. I'm sure Moore was in it, and I'm almost sure it was his idea to begin with. Thanks!
Now playing CD6 - Schumann Symphonic Etudes and Beethoven Sonata Op. 90 from the following box for a first listen ...
A huge fan of quartets in general, I have accumulated a lot of recordings of these great works. This one is my favorite. Now enjoying Op. 7.
Now playing CD3 - Live from the Concertgebouw 1978 & 1992 from the following box for a first listen ...
Looks great! I have a couple of Kholodenko discs and they are good, so I will definitely be getting this. Amazon has it being released next week.