This summer, I got it into my head that I might want another complete cycle of Mozart piano concertos, already having the above set, along with Perahia's. In the process of comparing what I had to other sets out there, my appreciation of the Anda set grew and I decided against buying another set. For some reason, it didn't result in me listening through the set, though, something I am remedying now.
Thanks--the site where I found a contents list was pretty unclear on the point. Seems, then, that the big box is unquestionably the way to go. I hope you'll keep us up to date on your impressions as you explore it!
What? Not buying another box? Are you feeling OK? Just as a reminder, because, if memory serves, I'm pretty sure you feel the same way, I am quite partial to Rudolf Serkin's recordings of Mozart concerti from back just before to around the turn-of-the-mono-to-stereo period. Not a complete cycle, of course, and not all in stereo, but he got most of the "mature" ones, and they have a certain steely strength to them that most other pianists seem to miss. No "Dresden china" Mozart for him! Alas, I haven't been as taken with his late ones with Abbado.
Yes, I have many of them, in the Complete Columbia Album collection. I used to have a number of them in a nice neat box: ...but I gave it up when I got the big Columbia set. My biggest gripe with the bix box sets is that if I want to go on a Serkin/Mozart or Serkin/Beethoven binge, I have to dig out all the individual CDs. And yes, I don't like late Serkin very much at all. The earlier the better, I think, up to maybe the early seventies. Getting back to the Anda box, I find it to be superb. Anda's tone sparkles and the sound is light and airy. Anda's playing has a witty charm that works wonderfully for Mozart. And he strikes a perfect balance between the masculine and feminine aspects of the music. It isn't wimpy, but it isn't played like it is Beethoven either.
This recording joins others at the top for their interpretations of Shostakovich. Shostakovich: Violin Concertos 1 & 2 Alina Ibragimova, violin Vladimir Jurowski State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia Hyperion, 2020
Her family( husband and father) were victims of Stalin’s “purges”. She was an accomplished pianist who was only allowed to perform abroad after Stalin died. Her story mirrors the stories of so many artists and writers in the Soviet Union. I recently read a biography of Vasily Grossman( author of Life and Fate, etc) which goes into detail about Vasily’s struggles as well as those of many contemporaries. As music fans, we also may have been interested to read more about Shostakovich’s lifelong cat and mouse game with Stalin. Grinberg came from a Ukrainian Jewish family and as such she was probably lucky to have survived at all.
As I write this I am listening to a lovely performance of sonata 8 recorded in 1951. The sound is a little hard but the performance is wonderful!
A Gramophone critic in April praises Grinberg's "Hammerklavier" Sonata no. 9 (1966). "...in addition to parading the necessary pianistic brawn she draws virtually as much poetry from the Adagio Sostenuto as does Schnabel on his famous pre-war HMV recording. The flexibility of her reading is remarkable."
If you happen to get Netflix, you might like to take a look at a "Netflix Originals" Japanese anime feature: Forest of Piano. Like most productions in that genre, it has its, uh, peculiar aspects, but it features enjoyable bits of Chopin--with a little Mozart and maybe one or two others thrown in early on--throughout its length. Vladimir Ashkenazy (see how I cannily tied my maunderings to George's post? ) played the piano for the related movie version; I don't know if he was involved in the series adaptation, but whoever plays is obviously good. Worth giving a try if you are susceptible to animated features.
Hey - here's a question for folks (possibly asked and answered many times over, but a search didn't yield obvious results to me): what are all y'alls favorite spooky season classical recordings?
Not specific recordings, but some traditional favorite selections for this time of year would include the following: Saint-Saens: Danse Macabre Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (particularly the last two movements, "March to the Scaffold" and "Dream of a Witch's Sabbath") J.S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 A couple of others might be these: Liszt: Mephisto Waltzes (he wrote three) Liszt: Totentanz
For the Totentanz, I highly recommend the Janis/Reiner recording. In fact, you can get it and a great recording of Isle of the Dead on this CD: https://www.amazon.com/Reiner-Sound.../ref=tmm_acd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Thanks, I'll keep that one in mind. My favorite to date has been Jean-Yves Thibaudet with Dutoit on Decca.
I have scared myself sufficiently over the week-end watching horror movies, so I will avoid the above-listed works and stick with some solo Beethoven as performed by Maria Grinberg. I continue to explore the Scribendum box set which contains 34 CDs of her work.
I think this is an interesting performance. I wonder if it uses the final 1951 revision of the 1918 composition? Disc 4 Enescu: Symphony No. 3 Vladimir Jurowski, conductor London Philharmonic Recorded Live 2015 from a 7-disc "box" Vladimir Jurowski - 10 Years LPO, 2017
