Just enjoyed this disc with the young Alexandre Kantorow. Saint-Saens: Piano Concertos 3, 4 & 5 Alexandre Kantorow, pianist Jean-Jacques Kantorow, conductor Tapiola Sinfonietta BIS, 2019 SACD/CD
Michael Haydn Collection Brilliant Classics, 2019 28 CDs box I am liking nearly all of the discs so far (have listened to discs 1-10). Disc 10: Michael Haydn 3 Notturnos Savaria Baroque Orchestra Pal Nemeth, conductor from Hungaroton Records, 2006.
Leonard Elschenbroich, cello Alexei Grynyuk, piano Beethoven: Sonatas for Cello and Piano Onyx, 2019 2 CDs Excellent! Some might say that the piano is featured too prominently, but with Beethoven, personally I don't think so. Not to diminish Elschenbroich's playing, but the pianist Alexei Grynyuk is something else. I really liked his playing. Off the top of my head, I can't remember if I have set of these sonatas that are better. Will have to dig out what I have already and listen again.
Question for the classical music folks out there. I know there is a tendency on this forum towards "the older stuff is better" kind of opinion with most other popular music. Note, I am not making a statement that this is correct or false. However, I must admit that my preference is for older Jazz, Blues, Rock & Roll, Country, etc. with little (but some) of today's recorded music catching my attention. Is there the same tendency with classical music? Obviously so called "Classical" music was composed over the previous hundreds of years so I am speaking more about "older" vs "modern" recordings when asking this question. Furthermore, I ask this question from the the standpoint of performers, conductors, and recording techniques/sound of "modern" vs "older" recorded classical music. I have read comments about some of the old 50's & 60's Living Stereo recordings still topping very modern state of the art recordings of a given piece. I am curious about folks opinions who are active on this thread and who are much more familiar with the history of recorded classical music than myself. This is still very new musical territory and discovery for me personally. Discussion and and friendly debate over a series of posts in this thread would be fun as well so long as it is not considered a disruption to the thread. This is certainly not my intention and it seems appropriate for the broad scope of "Classical Music Corner" IMHO.
Not an easy question to answer, and with no obvious simple answers, but here's my two cents: as for recording techniques, there are both good and bad old recordings just as there are good and bad newer recordings. I have excellent mono recordings with an amazing sense of spread and depth despite the single source, as well as fantastic early stereo recordings using just a few, carefully placed microphones, but I also think that the best modern recordings are as good or better, especially (for me) those that make good use of the surround capabilities (I even have a new Marantz with Audio 3D capability, i.e., up to 11.2.4 discreet channels, and some amazing recordings that make excellent use of it). As far as recordings and interpretations go, I like many others have a sense that there were a number of exceptional conductors in the period after WWII, for me especially those with a connection to some of the great late 19th and early 20th C composers, such as Brahms and Mahler (I'm thinking in particular of people like Bruno Walter or Pierre Monteux). This is even more true for opera, where the general consensus seems to be that the glory period of both Wagner and Verdi recordings were from the 1930s through the 1960s, with singers the like of we have not seen for quite a while.
Kirill Karabits Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Boris Lyatoshynsky (1895-1968) Symphony No. 3; Grazhyna. Chandos, 2019 SACD/CD
Excellent La Mer plus 12 of the piano preludes orchestrated by Colin Matthews. Mark Elder Halle Orchestra Debussy: La Mer; Preludes Halle, 2008
Now revisiting this set of Mahler symphonies. I just enjoyed the first disc, Das Klagende Lied, now enjoying the first symphony. Clear and dynamic recordings.
Another Etudes d'execution transcendante from a young pianist who is a winner in a number of piano competitions. I found his playing quite interesting and the sound is wonderful. Andrey Gugnin, piano Liszt: Etudes d'execution transcendante Piano Classics, 2018
Just found out via email that the next piano release from Marston Records will be this: JOSEF LHEVINNE: Our next piano release The Complete Josef Lhevinne 53023-2 (3 CDs) | $54 ($36 to preferred customers (preferred customers are those who subscribe to all piano releases)) In our November newsletter of 2015 we listed Josef Lhevinne as a release that was in the works. Fast (?) forward nearly five years, and Marston Records is now announcing Lhevinne as our next piano release. Why this set has been withering on our apocryphal vine is a mystery, but the real mystery is actually Josef Lhevinne himself. Although not having the reputation and successes of his classmate Sergei Rachmaninoff (and who else does?), Lehvinne is often included as one of the greatest golden-era pianists. And unlike Leopold Godowsky and Josef Hofmann, who left a large recorded legacy, not to mention Rachmaninoff’s enormous number of recordings, Lhevinne recorded approximately fifty minutes of repertoire for Pathé and Victor. So the question is: why the reputation? Lhevinne’s education and awards are impressive, as are his concert reviews. His recordings, though limited, are treasured and admired. And not unlike a star whose light went out too soon, the public created a mythos based on a small output, and clamors for more. The wait is now over. In addition to the Pathé and Victor recordings, this release includes a 1943 New York broadcast of Brahms's Op. 25 Piano Quartet with Lhevinne and the Perolé String Quartet, which is the cornerstone of this release. Also included will be several studio broadcasts from the 1930s. Among these broadcasts will be the second and third movements of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 from an NBC studio broadcast of 1933, which has been in the hands of collectors for many years. However, we now have a nearly complete performance of this work: Josef Lhevinne featured in this concerto during a Worcester Festival concert in 1936. The festival hired a company to make a private recording of the performance, but for unknown reasons the first four minutes of the concerto were not recorded. It was made on 12-inch aluminum embossed discs using only one microphone disadvantageously placed to capture the piano properly. But with all its flaws, this recording does give us a sense of Lhevinne's unique brilliance. This set will be a must for anyone collecting recordings of pianists of the golden age.
I had to look him up because I've never heard of him, but he did a piece of music that was performed at Tanglewood at 1989.
Speaking of Tanglewood... BSO cancels Boston Pops spring season; fate of BSO summer season at Tanglewood uncertain | Statement from Keith Lockhart, Julian and Eunice Cohen Boston Pops Conductor.pdf - Box
Marie-Claire Alain, organ Paillard Orchestre de Chambre Disc 33 Handel: Organ Concertos from the Paillard big box of 133 discs
Not that exact issue, but I have all of the '63 recordings on separate SACDs that came out several years ago. Is this is a different mastering?
