You are lucky it has been about 6 weeks since my order from Japan shipped, and the tracking number still just brings back 'Tracking Number Provided.' No other info. I think I should try to e-mail the seller soon and see if he knows anything.
1st listen (to the Analogue Productions SACD): This apparently was a Decca recording released by RCA Living Stereo as part of a licensing agreement that saw the two labels sharing artists, orchestras and recording teams.
I own the Rozhdestvensky cycle as well. I recall enjoying his and Svetlanov’s very well and not to mention all of the other Glazunov in my collection. 8)
All airmail packages depend on commercial airlines these days and most airlines have cut 70 - 90% of their international flights ...
Martinů is in my ’Top 10’ favorite composers list. I adore his music. This Neumann cycle is quite good, but Järvi and Bělohlávek (BBC SO) remain my favorites.
I have the LSO Live set. It's perfectly OK (and several reviewers have said it's way better than the RCA LSO), but I prefer Segerstam on Ondine or Kamu on BIS (SACD). Santtu-Matias Rouvali's set on Alpha is off to a very good start, too.
Until I started hanging out here a few months ago, I'd never heard of the Vegh Quartet, but several of you here seem to have a high opinion of them, so, when last week I saw a clean used copy of the complete Bartók string quartets on line by the Vegh Quartet, naturally my hand pushed a button somewhere that caused it to be charged to my credit card and apparently the set is on its way to me. I imagine I will enjoy it. Should arrive next week. Looking through my records and CDs today, though, I realize that I don't have a complete set of the Shostakovich string quartets. I have recordings (sometimes multiples) of many of the 15 (I have at least one recording of Nos. 1, 3, 7-13, and 15), but I don't have a single recording of Nos 2, 4, 5, 6, or 14. This is a bit strange as I particularly like No. 5 (although No. 4 isn't a favorite and at present I can't recall much about No. 2, No. 6, or No. 14). Since so many of you here know so much more about what's available and who is good than I do, I was wondering if anyone could recommend any specific discs that would give me 2, 4, 5, 6 and 14? As I say, not really interested in a complete set of all 15 by one group, but would like to have at least one recording of each of the quartets. Any ideas welcome and thanks in advance.
I have most of Analogue Productions classical SACDs, and think they are pretty much all excellent. I really wish they would start releasing the 2nd series of Living Stereo discs that were announced a few years ago and are up on their website.
For a format that's been around for 20 years, it really is shocking that there are so few 1812 Overture performances available on SACD. I would like this one as well (I have waited patiently for 20 years): There was a Stereophile news item dated August 16, 2004 that said the Dorati 1812 SACD was on the way but it never showed. Mercury Living Presence On SACD
Beethoven Complete String Quartets played by the Suske Quartett Listening to this set of the Beethoven string quartets on the advice of someone in another thread. Just finished playing (streaming online) the twelfth. And yes, the music so far (for me) is warm and comfortable. Noted by an Amazon reviewer: "This quartet was in East Germany during the Cold War, the main reason why they were unknown in the West." A reviewer (2018) on MusicWeb stated, "The Suske Quartett were completely new to me and these recordings, the majority made for Berlin Classics between 1975 and 1980 are a real eye opener, even the Rasumovsky Quartets which were recorded in 1967 and 1968 have a presence that marks them out as another of the highlights in this box. Their performance reminds me of that of the Medici String Quartet on Nimbus (NI 1785), but unlike the Medici’s, the Suske ramp up the tension and the drama in the late quartets making theirs a more desirable set, I just don’t know how this has passed me by. The recorded sound is very good, even in the Rasumovsky’s, it is solid 1970’s but less reverberant than the Medici’s from the late 1980’s. this is a recording that I would be happy to recommend as a standalone set." (Stuart Sillitoe) The reviews on Amazon were generally very positive. The following, however, was extracted from one of the more critical offerings: "Quartets Nos. 13, 14, 15, and Op. 133 (the Grosse Fugue) are the pinnacle of Beethoven’s quartet writing. While the Suske’s performances of these are technically fine, they did not fully convince me. I didn’t find the coherence or the sense of deep emotional connection to the music that I found in the other quartets. Along with the Grosse Fugue, the slow third movement of No. 15, the 'Heiliger Dankgesang,'...just never really gelled for the Suske....I have to give the Suske’s a strong 'A' for the early and middle quartets and No. 16, but sadly, a 'B' for Nos. 13-15 and Op. 133. The group’s technical precision, transparent sound, and classical restraint make this set an attractive choice when you’re in the mood for Beethoven quartets without strain or melodrama." (Daniel M. Hobbs)
Now playing CD1 from the following twofer, a recent arrival from across the pond for a first listen ... D959, D781 and D946