And speaking of Moravec... Years ago I came across this excellent 4-LP box set of Beethoven recordings he made in the '60s. It's all very familiar Beethoven, but sounds fresh in Moravec's hands. The set was issued for a record club, but the recordings were made by the small audiophile label, Connoisseur Society. Pic of Moravec from the enclosed booklet: I know you are not into vinyl, so I checked Amazon and found that the recordings in this set are available across these two CDs:
Yes, his Beethoven is excellent. In fact, his Pathetique is bar far the best I have heard, having heard dozens. Over the years, I have been able to track down all of his CDs, including this one, which contains his only recording (and only CD release) of the Appassionata. Sadly, he did not re-record it, as I have read he was hoping to do. I can see why, as it is not among his best work.
And speaking of Beethoven... On the turntable now is a somewhat forgotten performance of the Piano Concerto No.5 by Curzon/Szell. Recorded by Decca, September 12-13, 1949, in Kingsway Hall and released 1950, the (mono) sonics have a nice range with only a touch of that typical mid-range "peakiness" from this era, but I immediately adapt to it and settle in to enjoy this brilliant performance. The recording is well balanced--every part is easily heard and the dynamics are sensible. Nothing is sluggish, plodding, or pedestrian here -- Curzon's playing is dazzling, and he and Szell extract all the power and beauty this piece has to offer, raising the bar high for all the many recordings that followed. My copy is on the London label (below).
@George P any thoughts on Marston's release of Vladimir de Pachman? I have heard some of his Chopin on an Opal disc and didn't think his playing was anything great.
I don't have the Marston set, but I do have a CD issue of Pachmann on Arbiter, and I remember being astonished at how much I enjoyed the work of a pianist whom I'd pretty much dismissed, on the strength of what I'd read, as one part genius to 9 parts quack. But that was a long time ago, and whether it was just that I was in a receptive mood that day (i.e., whether the experiment was repeatable) I wouldn't care to venture. I don't have enough of his original 78s to have formed much of an opinion from them.
I do know that many of his recordings seem are plagued with some of the loudest/thickest surface noise I've ever heard. I have since upgraded most of my system, so I should try again. I love that he was dubbed the "Chopinzee" by one critic.
Now listening to the fourth CD from the above 4CD box, containing the pianists latest recordings. All are of Chopin works. Although the notes report that his playing is better in his earlier recordings, I find much to enjoy in these performances.
Not the greatest sound here, but the performances, as is usually the case with this pianist, are deeply felt, exciting and tender.
I've only read Marston's notes on his website after listening to him (generally do that if I'm just sampling music to avoid any bias, I will read trusted reviews/members if I am buying out right). IMHO I try and avoid Wikipedia as there is a lot of information that is uncited. The worst I have heard as far as surface noise is Marston's first volume of Leopard Godowsky, that sounds like an experimental noise band with a pianist playing very far away I generally consider myself very tolerant of surface noise with historical transfers (very picky with surface noise on LPs I own; always want the quietest copy as long as the mastering is good) and this was one of the very rare cases where it was too much for me.
Now enjoying a CD-R I made last year, compiling a bunch of Richter's solo Brahms recordings from the above CD and a number of other sources. As with so many other composers, he truly had a special way with Brahms's works.
I burned a few hundred CD's in the FLAC format to my desktop using the Windows 10 WMP that can rip CD in that format. I downloaded EAC a while back but never used it. Unfortunately, my vintage portable digital player cannot handle FLAC files ... My CDP may also be too old to handle FLAC files though my Yamaha universal player may be able to play FLAC.
Enjoying this classic 1956 recording of Idomeneo. (Richard Lewis, Siomoneau, Jurinac, etc. -What a cast!) best free image hosting
Great cover! I am a huge fan of Mozart's instrumental compositions, but not such a big fan of vocal works in general.
Playing now is Richard Strauss "Ein Heldenleben" - Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan (1959) (coupled with Wagner "Siegfried Idyll (1977))
Haven't heard this in awhile. The sound is worse than I recalled. Bass light but thankfully, no noise reduction, as can often be the case with Melodiya recordings. I try to grab live Gilels recordings when I can, for he was much more extroverted in front of an audience than in the studio.
While preparing dinner tonight, listening to Murray Perahia play Chopin Sonatas 2 & 3. Very enjoyable! Columbia Masterworks LP, 1974.