Symphony #45 = wow! Beautiful and sad with a glimmer of hope before the very end... Best work on this album of new-to-me music imo.
If you don’t mind a completely uninformed opinion, I own both recordings and I play the Bernstein 10 to 1 more frequently than the Monteux. Probably because I first heard the Bernstein recording decades before I heard the Monteux so it’s more familiar to me. Whatever the reason, I prefer the Bernstein performance. Just my opinion......
That does not sound like an uniformed opinion to me! Thanks... I have several Monteux albums but just a couple with Bernstein, must improve that situation.
From that time period the Bruno Walter is my favorite Pastoral. In fact, I'm not sure it's ever been surpassed.
I did not have the chance to listen to Bruno Walter's Beethoven 6th until I bought the following box His Beethoven Pastoral Symphony is now my favorite ...
I agree it’s a remarkable version. Best sounding version is on the official Columbia/Sony SACD (maybe the same mastering is available on redbook CD as well?) Rather disappointing is the fancy Analogue Productions SACD, which sounds very dull in comparison.
Haydn wrote over 100 symphonies. Good catch finding that old Nonesuch record still sealed! I bought that same album, new, from a local record shop in 1972 for it's full retail price of $2.98. Later I managed to find the original PYE (U.K.) release and compared them. The Nonesuch version sounds a bit fuller (more bass), whereas the PYE version sounds brighter and benefits from quieter vinyl. Here's a photo of the PYE jacket: BTW, Haydn's greatest symphonies are, as you would expect, among his last dozen (Nos. 93-104), but there are some real gems to be found among his earlier works, too.
Cool, can you recommend a recording with some of those latter ones? Besides this I only have two string quartet albums of his. It was work to find this one- they don't even face out all the record spines at this thrift store.
I wonder which mastering was used for the upcoming big Bruno Walter Complete Columbia Album Collection box (due out late June), the existing one or a brand new mastering.
I have not read anything yet about technical details. But, these Columbia boxes have generally been composed of remastered performances of most if not all material as I recollect.
Double spin: Disc 12 Debussy: Prélude á l'aprés d'un faune Nocturnes La Mer Ravel: Boléro All with Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatiore In the main the 1958 Salle Wagram sound fine with highly enjoyable performances although I could hear tape saturation in the climaxes of Boléro and a hint of 'gain riding' from those pre dolby A days. Disc 10 Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique Falla: Ritual Fire Dance Interlude-Danza No.1 All with Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatiore You can hear clearly the Salle Wagram acoustics in the Berlioz and the french orchestras rich sounds having heard a few of theirs of this much recorded work which is very much a keeper in it 1963 analogue sound. The couplings are a little unexpected even if very well performed and captured technically.
Have that in boxed form for regular cd (great all rounder with excellent sound) and the LSO/Davis on sacd.
Franck Symphony in C with C.S.O. Stravinsky Pétroucka with Boston S.O. cond .Pierre Montreux 1961/59 (r) 2005 RCA/Bmg 82876-67897-2 three channel stereo sacd Dunno about this "Living Stereo" thing but I felt this set performances emerge out my speakers in spacious stereo with lots of air in highly enjoyable interpretations It arrived in today's mail intercepted to ensure the case didn't break.
CD 4 - Nocturnes Vol. 2 (Adam Harasiewicz, piano) Read so many bad reviews of this set before start listening to it that i was afraid it was pure garbage, but im enjoying it quite a lot so far. Even so i supose the nocturnes are not my favourite Chopin, though they are a masterpice off course.
There are many recordings of Haydn's late symphonies. If you're looking for some on LP, I can highly recommend Colin Davis conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam on the Philips label. These are polished performances with all the excitement, joy, grace and humor that Haydn built into them. The recordings are beautifully transparent and well-balanced. Here is a sample of what the jackets look like: I also highly recommend the recordings of George Szell and The Cleveland Orchestra on Columbia Masterworks LPs. The performances are brilliant and the precision of that orchestra under Szell is simply stunning. Columbia's sonics are a notch below Philips, but the performances are so compelling that I simply don't mind. Columbia released many of these on single LPs, but did put out one box set with the first six of the Haydn "London" symphonies: For me, Davis and Szell are at the top of the heap. Not sure what LPs you might encounter in your searches, but some other good ones that come to mind are Neville Marriner on Philips, Eugen Jochum on Deutsche Grammophon, and Antal Dorati on London. Note that for these "late" symphonies, I prefer an orchestra with some weight--such as those above. For Haydn's earlier works, smaller ensembles often seem better suited. YMMV.
