I recall getting something or other (but not what) played by Giltburg and not being especially taken with it. I'll be interested if the account grows on you with further acquaintance. The Brahms pno. quintet is one of my favorite works by that composer; I particularly like the old Capitol record by Victor Aller and the Hollywood Quartet, which I have on LP but that I think popped out in a CD reissue some years back.
One of my first CD plays this new year was Adam Le Corsaire English Chamber Orchestra Richard Bonynge Decca, 1992 The pirate saves the slave girl with this music. Very well played. The conducting by Bonynge is impressive. I finally was able to purchase the Bonynge Ballet Box which is scarce and sold out.
some Haydn small groups Haydn Concerti, Concertini, & Divertimenti Ton Koopman Reinhard Goebel Alda Stuurop Charles Medlam Philips, 1980
I just saw a news item that Daniel Barenboim has resigned as music director of the Berlin State Opera, effective the end of this month. He cited ill health as the reason. Conductor Daniel Barenboim resigns as Berlin's State Opera director over ill health (msn.com)
No, it is a harpsichord dominating on the first disc, the second disc has two horns which must be historical from their sound. Neither disc is my kind of Haydn interpretation. I think Universal included them in the Reinhard Goebel Box since they own Philips.
The performance didn't grow on me. The Brahms piano quintet is also a favorite of mine. I think the sound is a mess. It is not something I want to hear again.
I enjoyed this disc of Locatelli, which has some good stereo sound from 1959. Locatelli 4 Concerti grossi, op.1 nos. 8,9,11,12 I Musici Philips, 1959
Another fine Schubert Schwanengesang, although my favorite is Christian Gerhaher. Schubert Schwanengesang Ian Bostgridge Lars Vogt Pentatone, 2022
Now enjoying this fine, though neglected CD. Found this review of the CD: BRUCH: Scottish Fantasia; HINDEMITH: Violin Concerto (1939) - David Oistrakh, violin/ London Symphony Orchestra/ (1) Jascha Horenstein/ (2) Paul Hindemith - Decca/First Impression Music
I liked this version of the Berlioz compositions. It has good natural sound. Berlioz Les Nuits D'ete Michael Spyres Harold en Italie Timothy Ridout Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg John Wilson Erato, 2022
Yes! I really enjoy that disc, along with its brother. The sound quality on this series is outstanding.
This Jodie Devos album is entertaining. It is a programme in honor of the nineteenth century Belgian coloratura soprano Marie Cabel. Jodie Devos has a definite talent. Bijoux Perdus Jodie Perdus Brussels Philharmonic Pierre Bleuse Alpha, 2022 the program:
You can tell it's oriented toward a 19th c. singer's literature--most of these arias are the sort of thing that I would expect to show up on my 78s from the acoustic era, not much in modern recordings.
Having finally! finished weeding through that big predominantly vocal collection I've been processing, I am turning my attention to some instrumental music as a change of pace. Last night and today it's been a bit of a Russian holiday, all in recordings from ca. the 1930s and 1940s. First, the Rachmaninoff second suite for two pianos in a performance by husband-and-wife team Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick. I had never heard of them, but apparently they were big names in the four-hands field in their day; in fact, Malcolm Arnold wrote a concerto for two pianos, three hands for them after Cyril lost the use of his left from a stroke. Really fine performance and recording of the Rachmaninoff, played with authority. Next, the Heifetz/Barbirolli account of Tchaikowsky's Violin Concerto from RCA Victor 78s, set no. 356. This actually was an aftershock of the big collection, a duplicate copy from there that I wanted to check against the one I've had since 1981 and with which I've never been entirely happy. The "new" one is, in fact better, although side 7 (last mvt., part 1) still sounds fuzzy. I suspect it's a recut. Finally, Borodin's 2d quartet as performed by Quartetto Poltronieri. I know nothing about this group other than that it recorded the work on English Columbia and plays very nicely. [Edit] OK, I just consulted my catalogue notes, and I now am reminded of one thing about the Poltronieri group: it was half of the ensemble that made the first recording of Mendelssohn's Octet, joining with the International String Quartet. That recording was made in February 1929.
'Russian Ballads' Prokofiev: Ballade in C minor, Op. 15 (1912) Cello Sonata, Op. 119 (1949) Adagio, Op 97 from Cinderella, (1944) Evgeny Kissin Cello Sonata in C major (2016) Shostakovich Cello Sonata in D minor, Op. 40 (1934) Gabriel Schwabe Roland Pontinen Naxos, 2022 Excellent interpretations by Gabriel Schwabe and the piano parts by Roland Pontinen are wonderful to hear, although the balance on the Prokofiev ballad seems to favor the piano over the cello.
A couple of firsts for me tonight as I explore some 78s that have been awaiting my attention for a while. To begin, three movements from the Sibelius King Christian Suite of Jean Sibelius. New music to me entirely, and very attractive, particularly the Nocturne (the other two mvts. on my records are the Elegie and the Ballad). Something of an odd set, or more properly not-a-set: these are two records issued by US Decca from Odeon/Parlophone masters as separate records with non-consecutive numbers, and although both are conducted by Armas Jarnefelt--yes, he of "Praeludium" fame--on one he conducts the Nocturne and Ballad with the Royal Stockholm Opera House Orchestra, whereas on the other he conducts the Elegie with something billed as the STOR SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, in all caps. I can't find any trace of an or. by that name, but thanks to Google Translate I found that "stor" in Danish means "large," so I'm thinking the original European issues were credited to what they were describing as, generically, "large symphony orchestra." Well, no matter; the recordings are good for their time, and the Decca surfaces a cut above that label's 78 RPM average. I see that Decca issued one more mvt. from the suite on yet another single disk, but I don't have that one. Even with it, the Decca records would lack one mvt. of being complete. My second "discovery" for the evening is a pianist, one Grete Scherzer. She plays the 2d and 4th of Schubert's Moments Musicaux on a Parlophone disk. Never having heard of her, I went looking on the Internet for some information and found--very little. An eBay listing does show the back cover of a 45 RPM EP with a bit of biographical information, indicating that she was Austrian; that she was 24 at the time of writing; and that in 1949, at age 16, she had won the International Schubert Competition in Geneva. According to the notes, she made her London debut the next year. Beyond that bare outline, the rest is all uninformative "she's played to acclaim" type puffery. From what I could see online, most of her recordings must have been issued as similar 45 EPs, although obviously she made at least one 78, the one in front of me. So her recording career may well have petered out during that transition period between the 78 and LP formats, when the record companies were experimenting with things like classical music on 7" 45s and 7" and 10" LPs before settling on 45s for pop singles and 12" LPs for classical. It would be interesting to know what happened to her; suffice it to say, the Moment Musicaux disk is lovely, with singing tone and smooth flow, I suppose as befits a winner of the International Schubert Competition.
The Brahms Symphony 1 from 1962 is pretty amazing. Apparently recorded just a short time before Konwitschny’s death. This performance has been re-released by Berlin Classics on Lp. This is top-tier in my opinion. Originally was an Eterna Lp( which are scarce and expensive).
Is that true of all Konwitschny Eternas, or just this one? Years ago, I bought a big lot of Eterna records from a guy who had picked them up when stationed with the military in Germany. Among them are two led by K., Beethoven's 2d and 9th syms. The only other issue I have with him on LP is a Tristan und Isolde on Urania. I'll add that my impression of Eterna, at least on the basis of that bunch, was that it was the best of the old Soviet bloc labels from the standpoint of recording quality but that the surfaces tended to be pretty noisy. Perhaps worth noting, the Kurt Masur Beethoven sym. cycle was a co-production of Eterna and Philips.
I think there are various recordings which have been issued-not just Konwitschny. Presto has a few listed under Berlin Classics label