Listening to Handel: The Dettingen Te Deum. Performed by The Telemann Society Festival Chorus and Orchestra (and soloists) led by Richard Schulze. Recorded at St. Paul's Chapel, Columbia University, NYC. A 1962 Nonesuch LP release; I bought it in 1976. A bit of nostalgia: The triumphant music that opens this work was used as the opening theme for "DeKoven Presents"--a syndicated weekly radio program hosted by a gentleman simply named, DeKoven. It originated from a NY station and circulated to classical music stations around the U.S. for many years; I heard it locally (in VA) throughout the '70s. DeKoven enthusiastically played mainly "Baracoco" music (from the Baroque and Rococo eras) and often just the fast movements of a work. He was a high-energy guy! Anybody else remember that radio program? I lost track of it in the '80s... although by then I was distracted by many other things in life.
Hi, Wes, and apologies for "putting you on the spot"... But as I expected, you came through with loads of good info. Who else could rattle off the details of the cover photo at the drop of a hat? So I doff mine to you! Can't say I'm familiar with a DeKoven radio program, but I can say that the composer Reginald de Koven wrote a very enjoyable opera Robin Hood that once was extremely popular but hasn't had much play in the last half-century at least. "Oh, Promise Me" was the big hit tune, but "The Armorer's Song" and "Brown October Ale" are also pure delights. Otherwise, I'm very surprised to see the Telemann Society/Schulze imprimatur on a Nonesuch LP. Every one of their recordings I've seen up to now has been on Vox.
Ever heard of the Amphion record label (with the little seahorse in the corner)? They released a lot of Telemann Society recordings and that's where this one first appeared before Nonesuch made a deal to put it on their label. IIRC, there was a Telemann Society radio program back in the day, too. (Obviously, I spent way too much time listening to the radio... )
That's it! I never knew his first name was Seymour, though. He always insisted it was "just DeKoven." Great write-up in that wikipedia article about the radio program.
Now that you mention it, I used to have a Telemann Society recording on Amphion, but it was sourced from Vox masters. Specifically, Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks, performed on period instruments. The players included some quite big names among orchestral musicians, mostly or all from the Boston SO--but they were all modern instrument players, and they got maybe a couple of weeks or so to accommodate themselves to the demands of things like valveless brasses. One of the world's great party records, that one.
I’m hectic these days and can’t make longer comment.... CBS SONY issued most, if not all of GG’s recordings on CD in the early 80’s. This set is one of them. Many of them were issued as box sets with 3~4 CDs in fat boy case. The mastering of them is uniformly superb. Easily the very best of his CDs. And this is no exception. IMO this is essential for any Gould fans or piano enthusiasts.
To clarify... You have compared the early '80s CDs to the 2015 remasters and found the former to be better?
FWIW, I compared three different masterings of his solo Brahms, including an early mastering and the latest one and preferred this one. The latest one sounds a bit too cleaned up and less open than the one above.
I see. So you prefer the '80s masters, George prefers the '90s SBM, and I prefer the 2015 remasters. Happily, there is something out there for each of us!
First spin of this glorious SACD. Dynamic, clear, with a natural tonality. A worthy upgrade of my old Living Stereo CD.
A fine recording, but I feel the overall tone of the first violinist is too thin for this music. I prefer Ansermet on Decca (for stereo) and Fricsay on DG (for mono).
Interesting--it's been many, many years since I heard the Ansermet, but I remember back when I did I found the Reiner preferable because I thought Ansermet's violinist hopelessly wimpy. I wonder how I'd react with my ears of today? Not likely to happen any time soon; I haven't burned out on Scheherazade as I have on, say, The Four Seasons or The Water Music (on the radio three times last week, including when my clock radio alarm went off--talk about a bad start to a day!), but I'll freely admit it's not a piece I seek out very often any more.
Yesterday I have bought this cd, because I was curious about Stokowski's orchestration of Mussorgski's masterpiece: The result is very different from the well (and mostly) known Ravel's orchestration: the strings are prominent and the music sounds "sour" and "rough" and therefore (maybe) closer to the composer's feeling. After having listened to this version, Ravel's orchestration could seem "mellowed". In conclusion, it's worth having both versions
Celebrating Mahler's birthday tonight by spinning this "oldie"...unfortunately, the Dynagroove treatment mars this performance, but there is some very nice playing here, especially in the slow movement.
Let's try this: Now enjoying some Chopin Nocturnes, from Rubinstein's first mono set. Transfers by Ward Marston.
Yeah, I love the original Rubinstein Collection packaging, the ones in the book-style case. Even the paper and the font is classy. Great liner notes, too, with tons of info that is not included in the later, re-release of the set in the pink box. I collected the first 35 volumes from the first issue of the collection, as they follow his recording career chronologically and I wanted all of the recordings from his early years. I later got the full set for a good price when it was reissued, but it's the old CDs that I return to.
Sounds like it was a worthwhile investment to buy the early ones when you did, as too often the re-releases are scaled down--as you describe.
Playing music of Ravel tonight from this album by John Browning. Works include Sonatine (1905), Le Tombeau de Couperin (1917), and Gaspard de la nuit (1908). RCA, U.S. pressing (and former radio station copy), 1968. Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit is based on the prose poems by Aloysius Bertrand. The first movement is titled "Ondine." Some of the inspirational text is printed on the album jacket and is the basis for the cover art. It reads: "Listen, listen, it is I, Ondine who taps at your window with drops of music in the pale light of the moon. See, See, there on the balcony how the lady of the castle in her splendid robe of velvet, studies the starlit night and the slumbering lake below?"
Very cool. I have some of his concerto work (Barber, Prokofiev.) Browning would be a great pianist for them to feature in one of those big boxes.