Classical Corner Classical Music Corner

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

  1. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    It's Brendull.

    I have not seen Drake's blog on Brendel, but I find his assessment of Rubinstein to be right on the money. Does he have an ongoing blog?

    I would place Perahia below Ashkenazy and a few steps above Brendel.

    He has a live Schubert disc that is good. His Haydn set on Philips is good too. I also like his Beethoven Bagatelles for Philips. Beyond that, I haven't found much to my taste by him.

    I really need to revisit that 1939 set. I bought it last year, but it rubbed me the wrong way.

    Edge of your seat excitement! :agree:
     
  2. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    No, just a dumb joke about claiming not to be biased while actually being biased against people who are biased. In other words, obliquely agreeing with a point you made earlier. Apologies that I seemingly was a bit too oblique.
     
  3. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    Rather than try to yank out a bunch of quotes from other postings, I'll just start fresh: I think Perahia actually is quite a good Bach pianist. Far and away better than the much-ballyhooed Angela Hewitt, for instance. I do not think he is the last great "poet of the piano," as often seems to be claimed. In literature outside Bach, for the most part I find what I've heard of him (mostly but not entirely on the radio, coming in mid-stream more often than not, so "blind," but not necessarily "complete") a bit bland, certainly in comparison with the major pre-Horowitz interpreters' concept of "poetic." And, accolades from critics far and wide notwithstanding, I just never can forgive him and Radu Lupu for that low-voltage run-through they did of Schubert's great F Minor Fantasy, originally on Columbia. For me, Eschenbach and Frantz set the standard in that work--not in their EMI studio recording but in a concert performance I was lucky enough to tape from radio--but unlucky enough to be taping from WABE-FM, the Atlanta NPR affiliate, after it moved its transmitter and antenna, badly degrading the reception I could milk out of my actually quite decent tuner.
     
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  4. bruce2

    bruce2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    Have you heard the Fischer recording of Mahler 4? That one really got a lot of rave reviews and I almost ordered it. My go to and only copy I own of the Fourth is Reiner. For the Third I have and love the Analogue Productions SACD of Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
     
  5. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    Oh, nope I have not heard that. The one I know was the article calling him "the accountant's pianist".

    His blog (warning, it has many political entries): Memoirs of an Amnesiac

    And the article on Brendel, which is quite unlike most of his writing and reaching in many places: Memoirs of an Amnesiac: Alfred Brendel: The Accountant’s Pianist

    I did like that he called Godowsky the "pianist's pianist", but darn is it hard to listen to Godowsky through the thick surface noise on those Marston discs :( Kudos to Marston for not making them for the mainstream Amazon reviewers that demand noise reduction and treble roll off.

    I agree with you on his take on Rubinstein as well. I've been listening to more of his pre-tape era recordings thanks to his article on him. I find I prefer much of those early Chopin recordings preferable to his later ones, even though it was the later recordings that were my introduction to him.

    My notes say I like his Liszt Piano Sonata but that was dated some time ago, I will need to revisit that.

    I went straight to symphony 9 and was quickly turned off; it's taken at a break neck speed (the end of the final movement is also truncated) and not in a good way like the Charles Munch RCA stereo recording, which is brisk but also fantastic to listen to. The rest of the cycle is very good, but very Toscanini. It's in my reference list mostly for performance but partly for historical significance as well.

    Certainly a romantic performance and many tender moments that doesn't rely on pure virtuosity to show it off, which Serkin is not lacking in anyway. Absolutely one of the best I have heard.

    [​IMG]

    I do have the Ivan Fischer SACD and if I recall it's one of the better Mahler recordings he has made. It has been some time since I have heard it so I can't be more detailed than that. I like the Reiner you mention and Abbado with Lucerne or BPO and Szell/Cleveland as well.
     
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  6. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    While on Serkin, this is one of the Serkin discs that made me fall in love with his playing and what I thought of when the big Sony box was announced, that was a box I was very excited to hear was coming out. I normally wait some time to find a good deal, but I picked this one up shortly after.

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    Since getting the box I may well prefer this performance from the early 50s.

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  7. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Due to a mix up with the carrier used to deliver my Amazon Serkin box, I was able to get mine for free. :cool:
     
  8. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    :eek: Amazon have done this for me, but for much cheaper vinyl albums.

    I mentioned Rubinstein and Hank Drake in my post, instead of editing the post I'll leave the article here for those that haven't read it: Memoirs of an Amnesiac: Rubinstein Revisited

    I completely agree with him about his failing use of pianissimo in some of those later recordings (Horowitz suffers the same thing in some later concert recordings), one of those objective observations by Mr Drake that is spot on.
     
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  9. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    Big thank you to @Marzz for letting me hear the Gieseking Tempest Sonata. I liked this, the real highlight of this performance is the third movement where he really brings out the color and plays it at a thrilling pace. So from everything I've heard from Gieseking I certainly like him much more with Beethoven (there is another Naxos Historical disc with more Beethoven) than the impressionist French composers; I think he is still just a touch too romantic/old fashioned for the coolness they require but I can see why at the time he would have been seen as a "straight" pianist. And I tried to like his later DGG recordings of JS Bach but they did nothing for me, there is simply too much good Bach keyboard recordings out there to try and keep listening to it. IMHO I personally like this performance more than Schnabel, I would have preferred had the first and third movement repeats be taken. As usual excellent transfers by Ward Marston with no blunting of the piano tone, definitely a disc I will be adding to the wish list.

    Serkin's Op. 110 fresh in my mind from last night (last set of unreleased recordings from the Sony box). I would have loved to hear him play Op. 31/2!

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    Rest of my listening for today was Ekaterina Derzhavina's Goldberg Variations (my personal favorite tied with Gould's 80s) and CD 37, 38 from Gardiner JS Bach Cantatas box (BWV 179, 199, 113, 69a, 35, 137).

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  10. JuniorMaineGuide

    JuniorMaineGuide Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boulder, Colorado
    I have been really digging the well-tempered clavier on organ recently, performed by Louis Thiry:

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    Does anyone know if the organ version is considered a transcription, or is the score playable as-is on the organ?

    I am seriously liking Louis Thiry’s, but does anyone have any other recommendations for WTC on organ? Thanks.
     
  11. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    [​IMG]

    Here's something you won't get in the new Arrau complete box set! A 1963 recital from Arrau, in very nice sound. Enjoying this now.
     
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  12. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Sorry, I'm piano only.
     
  13. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    I've been singing the praises of that performance for years. Of the few dozen recordings of the work that I have heard, it is the best. Curiously, this recording is one that Serkin did not want released. :eek: I always think of this recording when people go on and on about the exalted importance of artists choice, and how they know best. This is one clear example of where this is simply not true.
     
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  14. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Yes, I bookmarked that blog long ago. I am grateful to Drake for helping me to understand the differences in Rubinstein's recordings and for leading me to the earliest ones, which I absolutely treasure. Early on, I was exposed to the stereo ones only and was puzzled what people saw in his playing, for it had almost no effect on me. Then I heard the much more exciting, expressive, interesting recordings from his early days and I became a fan.
     
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  15. Octave

    Octave Shake Appeal

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    Schulhoff: THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO
    (Supraphon, 1977)
    Marcela Machotková (Soprano), Blanka Vítková (Contralto), Jiří Zahradníček (Tenor), Antonín Švorc (Bass)
    Prague Radio Chorus, Kühn Children's Chorus
    Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra
    Conducted by František Vajnar

    Also Schulhoff's HMS ROYAL OAK ("jazz oratorio"), from a much more recent Ebony Band Amsterdam album with some Weill and Toch.

    I wasn't crazy about either of these pieces, but I think they reflect so much of the tumult of the time, and sadly seem to have dated gracefully because of this....their "relevance" ("timelessness"?) probably reflects badly on us. I do find the chaotic "kitchen sink" approach in Schulhoff---across his works or even within some single works---to be invigorating.

    Also a fine disc of Schulhoff chamber pieces by the great Kocian and Prazak Quartets and others, featuring two pieces I liked very much, his Duo for Violin & Cello, and his Sextet. These pieces are also featured in identical programs from Spectrum Concerts Berlin (Naxos) and Gidon Kremer, David Geringas et al (from that ECM 5cd Lockenhaus box from 2011), neither of which I've heard; and other recordings besides these.

    [​IMG]
     
  16. SBurke

    SBurke Nostalgia Junkie

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
  17. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    Indeed I can't remember where I read about it first, someone called Josquin(numbers), another piano lover on Talk Classical also mentioned it and I had it on my wish list for a while but never bought it because my wish list is too long. It turned out to be in the big Sony box, one of those rare times procrastination pays off!
     
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  18. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Was billed for this a few days ago (common for subscribers), which means it has shipped. I expect to have it early next week at the latest! :goodie:
     
  19. Matt Richardson

    Matt Richardson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Suburban Chicago
    Spurred by this topic, I reviewed a bunch of my Tempests yesterday. Perhaps surprising, Brendel’s old Vox recording was one of the liveliest (I think I reviewed close to 15 -first movement only).
     
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  20. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    [​IMG]

    Now enjoying this wonderful CD by one of my favorite pianists.
     
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  21. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC


    Just discovered this video.
     
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  22. Walter H

    Walter H Santa's Helper

    Location:
    New Hampshire, USA
    The Marian Anderson records come from the 7 sides she recorded in 1930 for Artiphon in Berlin. They show up on several US labels, usually dubbed but apparently in some cases master pressings!
     
  23. Marzz

    Marzz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    I thought (assumed) that it is not a transcription, though perhaps not everything works as well for organ as it does for (forte)piano, etc?
    I have and recommend the hanssler set by Robert Levin. He recorded both Books. Unfortunately it is not all Organ, he also uses Harpsichord, Clavichord and Fortepiano, depending on what he deems "appropriate" for that particular piece. I actually like the variety this adds overall to the WTC - the thought of 4 plus hours of Bach organ in one sitting scares me :laugh:

    This is Book 1, (Book 2 also reasonably priced) ...
    https://www.amazon.com/Well-Tempered-Clavier-Book-1/dp/B00004WJNI

    Here is Book 1 on youtube - someone called thomas brunner has provided the start times for the organ versions (thanks thomas!) (10.17, 12.52, 23.37, 27.43, 45.00, 46.57).

     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2018
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  24. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    Interesting--thanks!
     
  25. JuniorMaineGuide

    JuniorMaineGuide Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boulder, Colorado
    Thanks for the info and links! Appreciated.

    I like Robert Levin’s Beethoven piano concertos with John Eliot Gardiner so I am keen to listen to his WTC.
     
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