Classical Corner Classical Music Corner

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

  1. Wes H

    Wes H Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    Agreed!
     
  2. drh

    drh Talking Machine

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  3. Wes H

    Wes H Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
  4. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Now enjoying CD 07. Lovely, light, playful performance of Op. 49/1.
     
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  5. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    Last night I revisited another set I hadn't played in many and many a year: Mozart's "Coronation" piano concerto recorded in 1937 by Wanda Landowska on piano with a studio chamber orch. under Walter Goehr. Sad to say, modified rapture here; it turned out to be a perfect example of the "Dresden china" approach to this composer that I've come to dislike strongly over the years. That said, it was a fine recording job for its day, and my copy played clean as a whistle (however clean a whistle may be) even with a stock Shure spherical stylus. The last side was given over to the D Minor Fantasy K. 397, again played as if she was afraid she'd break it if she touched it too firmly. Can't say that I recommend this one even to historical recording fans unless they happen to like their Mozart dainty.

    I have higher hopes for the next things in my queue: three more Mozart cti. (nos. 17, 20, and 24) played by the Swiss pianist Edwin Fischer.
     
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  6. Wes H

    Wes H Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    This afternoon I'm enjoying these Impromptus and Preludes by French composer Gabriel Fauré. Beautifully performed here by Jean-Philippe Collard on this very fine Pathé Marconi EMI album. Released in 1982.

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    I can think of at least five albums that I have with Collard playing solo works of Fauré--all excellent. My only other recordings of the complete piano music of Fauré is on couple of Vox Box volumes from the early '60s by Evelyne Crochet, which is also a very fine set.
     
  7. Wes H

    Wes H Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    Playing music of Debussy for late night listening. Album includes Images (Books I & II), Des pas sur la neige ("Footprints in the Snow") from the Preludes, and the 3-part Estampes ("Prints").
    Ivan Moravec performs on a Hamburg Steinway Model D piano.
    Vox Cum Laude LP, U.S. plating and pressing by Europadisk, New York, 1983.

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    Recording was made at RCA Studio A in NYC, April 1-2, 1982.
    Sounds grand!...and Moravec's performance is lyrical and captivating, as always.
     
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  8. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    A blast from the past.

    What do you think of this set? Virtually no info on the internet for this collection or ensemble.
     
  9. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    Tonight's musical highlight: Edwin Fischer in a stormy account of Mozart's 20th piano concerto (the greatly admired D Minor) from November 24, 1933. Fischer conducts from the keyboard, nowadays common practice but back then a real novelty, and he plays his own cadenzas. The interpretation is not what we'd hear today--and thank the good Lord for that! Fischer is plenty sweet in the middle movement, but his take on the outer ones is, to put it mildly, commanding. Definitely more meat on the work's bones than Landowska put on those of the "Coronation."

    I should note that Lionel Salter, in Gramophone, was generally uncomplimentary of Fischer's Mozart and in particular asserted, "And not even his most fervent admirers would attempt to defend his wildly anachronistic cadenzas." Well, maybe Fischer's most fervent admirers wouldn't, but I would--I find them effective and exciting, and Fischer makes a committed case for them. Salter faults Fischer, in another of the concerti, for playing his own in place of one left by Mozart. To which I say, the whole point of the cadenza was to give the performer a chance to improvise and put his own skills up against the composer's, and I can't imagine Mozart would have taken it amiss if an accomplished pianist were to take the challenge. Indeed, if I'm not much mistaken, in Mozart's day "composed" cadenzas were viewed as a crutch for performers not accomplished enough to supply their own. I'm glad Fischer was bold enough to strike out on his own path.

    I only wish my copy played better. It looks beautiful, with shiny, rich black surfaces, but I had real trouble getting it to play cleanly. Apparently somewhere along the line it took some steel needle damage not evident on visual inspection. Best results, albeit not perfect, were with the stock Shure "78 RPM" conical; my truncated ellipticals distorted badly on loud passages, particularly toward side endings. The records are cut with plenty of "oomph"; probably they did not fare well when subjected to the heavy, low compliance pickups of the period when they were new.
     
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  10. fogalu

    fogalu There is only one Beethoven

    Location:
    Killarney, Ireland
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2019
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  11. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Thanks for sharing this!

    Looks like they use a lot of different performers for the cycles of works - symphonies, sonatas, etc - something I usually don't like, but I'd be curious to know their criteria for their choices.
     
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  12. fogalu

    fogalu There is only one Beethoven

    Location:
    Killarney, Ireland
    In the 1997 complete edition, DGG included Karajan's 1963 symphony cycle and Wilhelm Kempff's complete stereo recordings of the piano sonatas. The piano trios, violin and cello sonatas were all complete cycles as well but, curiously, the string quartets used different performers for the early, middle and late works.

    This new edition contains about 30 more CDs than the 1997 one so I would expect a lot of alternative performances of the more important works.

    DGG have mentioned some world premieres and rare recordings and I see from the list that three discs are devoted to this.
    I have a horrible feeling that some of those "premieres" might be reconstructed works based on a few short themes abandoned by the composer, the result being five per cent Beethoven.
     
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  13. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    I'm probably setting myself up to be branded a philistine, but I have long thought nothing speaks more loudly of modern composition's bankruptcy than the existence of this academic cottage industry that "completes" little fragments abandoned by the great composers of earlier eras. Schubert has been a particularly fertile ground for this stuff, but Beethoven and Bach also have their share of "reconstructions." With one exception, I have yet to hear one of these things that I found convincing. The exception: Ernst Krenek's completion of the Schubert "Reliquie" sonata. Krenek, however, was himself a significant composer, not merely a habitue of the ivory tower, and Schubert left quite a bit of uncompleted material for the sonata from which Krenek could take his cues. Is it what Schubert would have written, had Schubert finished the thing himself? No, certainly not, and maybe not even all that close. But it works.

    OK, the completion of Puccini's Turandot is probably another--but, again, it wasn't the work of an academic but of a successful composer (and a major conductor; Toscanini had a hand in it, too, if I'm not mistaken) who knew Puccini well and had a good idea of what he had in mind before his death.
     
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  14. Bachtoven

    Bachtoven Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    This is my first exposure to his music--it's very enjoyable. Sort of like Scarlatti but perhaps with a bit more meat on his bones! Excellent playing and sound.

    [​IMG]
     
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  15. Bachtoven

    Bachtoven Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    I particularly like Michael Berkeley's Sonata.

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  16. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    If you want to explore Seixas further, harpsichordist Robert Woolley recorded a collection on Amon Ra CD-SAR 43.
     
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  17. Bachtoven

    Bachtoven Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    Thank you for the recommendation. I'm listening to it on Tidal and like it very much.
     
  18. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    Gladly, and glad you're enjoying! Hmm...maybe I should go and play a few cuts from it myself.
     
  19. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
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    Haven't heard this in a long time, as I own a ton of Satie by other pianists and this one always rubs me the wrong way when I put it on. Today I perservered and ended up enjoying it more than ever. It made me think about something. Should Satie sound more like Debussy or like Poulenc? I find many pianists play him more like Debussy, while Barbier plays him more like Poulenc, more playful, less dreamy.
     
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  20. Marzz

    Marzz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    Villa-Lobos - Choros 11 (Neschling - Sao Paulo SO, Cristina Ortiz) (BIS)

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  21. Daedalus

    Daedalus I haven't heard it all.....

    Your post got me thinking of a related area of composition: composers who write a new piece of music which contains quotes or sections of a previous composers work mixed into the piece-I am thinking of Takemitsu and Schnitke specifically but I am sure our knowledgeable group of forum members can think of others. I have enjoyed the work of those composers.
     
  22. Åke Bergvall

    Åke Bergvall Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mariestad, Sweden
    Shostakovich' symphony no. 15 is another obvious example (probably influencing Schnitke), and then of course Bartok poking fun at Shostakovich in his Concerto for Orchestra. Stravinsky's use of Schubert in his Circus Polka is another (is this a Russian or East European thing?).
     
  23. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    [​IMG]

    Been listening to this set this week. These are amazingly vibrant, powerful performances in great sound.
     
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  24. Marzz

    Marzz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    Hindemith - Mathis der Maler / Symphonic Metamorphsis / Trauermusik (Blomstedt & San Francisco Symphony).

    [​IMG]
     
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  25. Marzz

    Marzz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    Hindemith - Ludus Tonalis (Kabi Laretei) (Phillips / Eloquence).

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