Martina Filjak, piano Light & Darkness; works by Franz Liszt. Profil, 2019 I found I liked this approach to Liszt. I have enjoyed her CDs and hearing her live, ever since she won the Gold Medal at the Cleveland International Piano Competition in 2009.
I also own this disc and like it, but I prefer the early 70s set of Saint-Saens piano concertos on EMI by Aldo Ciccolini. Have you compared the two?
As long as we're on the Saint-Saens cti., what do the assembled masses think about no. 3? For me, it's the problem child of the set--I've just never warmed to it. As with Beethoven, I think no. 4 is the pinnacle (must be a charmed number). No. 1 is lively, tuneful listening; no. 2, notwithstanding that old jibe about its starting like Bach and ending like Offenbach, a rousing good showpiece for the pianist (probably why it was so popular with performers once upon a time); and no. 5 is a delight with its colorful exoticism. But no. 3? It just doesn't do anything for me, and I never return to it unless it crops up on the radio when I'm driving. Incidentally, I, too, have the Ciccolini set as my "complete edition." I like it, but I like other accounts of some numbers--esp. nos. 2 and 4--better. I have a special warm spot in my heart for Brailowsky/Munch in the latter.
I would rank them about the same, but putting number 2 in first place followed by 4, 1, 5, and 3. I have Ciccolini's complete cycle, too, along with those Tachino and Entremont. It's usually the Entremont that I reach for first. I'm curious about Brailowsky as I like his Chopin a lot.
I enjoyed many of the samples of discovered 19th century music from the this 10 disc box. The French Romantic Experience. Bru Zane, 2019
On the turntable, Scriabin performed by Ruth Laredo on a Baldwin SD-10 concert grand: -Désir, Op.57, No.1 -Caress dansé, Op.57, No.2 -Etude in C-sharp minor, Op.2, No.1 -Sonata no.1 in F-minor, Op.6 -Sonata No.2 (Sonata-Fantasy), Op.19 -Sonata No.8 in A, Op.66 Connoissuer Society LP / US press / 1971
The Uruguayan composer Federico García Vigil has passed away: A los 79 años murió el maestro Federico García Vigil
Streaming more Kreek from Qobuz. I like the Requiem here more than the Musica Sacra, though the Requiem seems derivative.
For the past few weeks, my "stay at home" project has been to weed through several hundred 78 RPM records, all duplicates of records I already had, that came to me as part of a huge collection I took on a decade ago. Today I came to one of my favorite records from the 78 era, Amelita Galli-Curci singing Sir Henry Bishop's "Lo, Here the Gentle Lark." This is not my transfer or video, but for those with a weakness for coloratura soprano I thought I'd share it. The flutist is Manuel Berenguer. The recording dates to 9/4/1919.
Wes H, there's a lot of very fine music in those grooves on this set. Superb music making, and excellent recording. Delightful to hear.
I am a major fanatic of the Epic/Crossroads label. Their US issues of Supraphon masters are superb quality. Some of my favorite chamber music of the 1960's can be found here.
Big fan of the Crossroads label here, too. Great introduction (for me) to a lot of Czech composers/music when I was just beginning my classical music journey in the '70s. It helped a lot that Crossroads was a budget line, too!
Last on the turntable tonight: Piano Quartets from Faure and Schumann. Leonard Pennario (piano) along with Eudice Shapiro (violin), Sanford Schonbach (viola), and Victor Gottlieb (cello). Capitol LP (mono) from ca. 1961.
I have no desire to listen to it, but I just found your criticism to be peculiar since you didn’t mention who you believed the work to be derivative of.
Apparently, one of the critics from Classic Today, David Hurwitz, has been posting tons of Classical Music reviews on youtube as of late. I figured I'd share the link to his videos here, as if nothing else, they are entertaining: David Hurwitz
One of the Mozart operas I ordered from Amazon came today, The Magic Flute/Die Zauberflöte. (This is Sir Colin Davis conducting the Staatskapelle Dresden, by the way.)
