Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #5)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by coopmv, Jan 18, 2009.

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  1. OE3

    OE3 Senior Member

    Now playing:
    • Saint-Saens: Violin Concerto No. 3 - Zino Francescatti (violin) with Dmitri Mitropoulos/New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
      Sony Classical 'Masterworks Heritage' 1996 2CD out-of-print, recorded 1950, from the release 'Zino Francescatti Great Violin Concertos', Reissue Producer: Arthur Fierro, Reissue Engineers: Todd Whitelock, Ellen Fitton, Darcy Proper, Charles Harbutt, my first exposure to Francescatti -- any opinions on this violinist?

    Up next:
    • Beethoven: Violin Concerto - Nathan Milstein (violin) with Istvan Kertesz/Orchestra National de la Radiodiffusion Francaise.
      Music & Arts 2006 2CD, recorded 1961, from the release 'The Art of Nathan Milstein', Previously unissued public performances, Remastering by Aaron Z. Snyder, no source information but I assume these are radio broadcasts and fidelity is good -- Milstein was incredible.

    Later:
    • Bach: Concerto in D minor - Wanka Landowska (harpsichord) with Eugene Bigot/orchestra unknown.
      Biddulph 1998 out-of-print, recorded 1938, from the disc 'Wands Landowska Plays Harpsichord Concertos', Produced by Eric Wen, Transfers by Mark Obert-Thorn, a great find!!

    And even later:
    • Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 94 'The Surprise' & 104* 'London' - Hermann Scherchen/Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Vienna Symphony Orchestra*.
      DG 2003 6CD boxed set out-of-print, recorded 1952, from the release 'Hermann Scherchen - The 1950's Haydn Symphonies Recordings', a reissue of Westminster mono 'Natural Sound Balance' recordings originally engineered by Karl Wolleitner with a single Altec 21B condenser microphone and two Ampex multichannel tape recorders, Remastering by Andrew Wedman (not my favorite, I don't care for much of his 96kHz/24-bit mastering for the Decca Legends series -- too bright and processed-sounding).
     
  2. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    Scherchen went through a vogue some years back and then, as the winds of fashion will do, critical attention turned elsewhere, and he dropped back out of sight again. If you like the Haydn, make sure to sample some of his Beethoven, which was fiery and exciting. (Exception: I'm not that taken with his account of the 9th Sym.)
     
  3. evanft

    evanft Forum Resident

    Location:
    Taylor, MI, USA
    NP:
    Mendelssohn: Symphonies 3 & 4 - Claudio Abbado/LSO, Decca Originals, Rec. 1967

    Got this one at BMG. Into the 4th now. Love it. I'm amazed how good some of these older recordings sound.
     
  4. OE3

    OE3 Senior Member

    Abbado's 60's Mendelssohn cycle is still a benchmark, his account of the Scottish in particular one of my favorites. Btw, 2009 is the bicentennial anniversary of Mendelssohn's birth.
     
  5. George P

    George P Notable Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Got some bad news from MDT today:

    Dear George,
    Regarding your order 354231, MDT regret to inform you that the following item is out of stock at our supplier. Please do not re-order this item as it will follow when stock becomes available. You have not yet been charged for this item. SU35802: MORAVEC, IVAN Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Franck, Ravel, Debussy Supraphon 4cds


    :shake:

    I wonder if they at least will give it to me for the sale price when it becomes available? I will email them for an answer. :sigh:
     
  6. RussellG

    RussellG Forum Resident

    Last one for the night (recorded 1961):
     
  7. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    Francescatti is an excellent but underrated performer and this is a very good reading but maybe not for everyone on account of Mitropoulos' very personal conducting style.

    As a matter of fact, this is one of my favorite cds, but I am obsessed with everything Mitropoulos did, so I might be a little prejudiced. :shh:
     
  8. George P

    George P Notable Member

    Location:
    NYC
    How do you like the performance on that one?
     
  9. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    Sorry to hear that George.

    I searched Google for "SU35802: MORAVEC" and there are a couple of English online retailers that sell this.

    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=SU35802:+MORAVEC&btnG=Search

    I haven't ordered from any of those though so I am not sure if you want to risk it.
     
  10. George P

    George P Notable Member

    Location:
    NYC
    [​IMG]

    Listened to some of this on the way to work. Sounds very good indeed! :righton:
     
  11. George P

    George P Notable Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Thanks Chris.

    I am upset not because I can't get the set elsewhere, but because the price at MDT was half what it is everywhere else, including the current MDT price. I hope that they honor the sale price. Plus, I already sold the two CDs I already had from the set. :sigh:

    I waited to buy it until the last minute too, after recommending on every forum I post on. :rolleyes:
     
  12. RussellG

    RussellG Forum Resident

    Awesome. I really don't mind the sound at all on these old Sony Essentials CDs either. They sound nice and natural and analog. There doesn't seem to be NR on any of them.
     
  13. OE3

    OE3 Senior Member

    Re Fleisher/Szell Beethoven concertos

    Bejun Mehta (now a hot counter-tenor and second cousin of Zubin) was Producer and Chris Herles engineered it, right? They are well done, for the most part, however on headphones my Szell/Cleve Orch Wagner Overtures disc has some tape wow and flutter that is disturbing and should never have passed the QC stage. But, Mr. Mehta was only on his early 20's then with little experience producing archival reissues so...
     
  14. RussellG

    RussellG Forum Resident

    This one credits remastering to Dennis D. Rooney (Producer) and John A. Johnson (Engineer).

    I know about Szell, but where does Fleisher sit among pianists?
     
  15. George P

    George P Notable Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Fans of Celibidache, I need your help. Can I ask you which composers (on the EMI recordings) you think he interprets as well as (or nearly as well as) Bruckner. I love his Bruckner and I am considering the 33 CD set that contains the works listed below. Can you tell me which of these composers are interpreted as well as or nearly as well as the Bruckner ones and which are duds?


    Celibidache - The Complete EMI edition


    [​IMG]

    Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra, Sz.116

    Beethoven:

    Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36

    Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60

    Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 'Eroica'

    Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60

    Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67

    Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 'Pastoral'

    Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72b

    Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92

    Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93

    Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 'Choral'


    Brahms:

    Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45

    Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68

    Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73

    Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90

    Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98

    Variations on a theme by Haydn, Op. 56a 'St Anthony Variations'


    Bruckner:

    Symphony No. 3 in D minor ‘Wagner Symphony'

    Symphony No. 4 in Eb Major 'Romantic'

    Symphony No. 5 in B flat major

    Symphony No. 6 in A major

    Symphony No. 7 in E Major

    Symphony No. 8 in C minor

    Symphony No. 9 in D Minor

    including rehearsal footage

    Te Deum in C Major

    Mass No. 3 in F minor


    Debussy

    La Mer

    Images pour orchestre


    Haydn:

    Symphony No. 103 in E flat major 'Drum Roll'

    Symphony No. 104 in D major 'London'

    Symphony No. 92 in G major 'Oxford'


    Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K550

    Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

    Ravel: Boléro

    Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C major, D944 'The Great'

    Schumann:

    Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61

    Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 97 'Rhenish'

    Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120


    Tchaikovsky:

    Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64

    Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 'Pathétique'


    Wagner:

    Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg - Overture

    Siegfried Idyll

    Siegfried's Funeral March from Götterdämmerung

    Tannhäuser - Overture


    Helen Donath, Doris Soffel, Siegfried Jerusalem, Peter Lika, Arleen Augér, Margaret Price, Thomas Hölle

    Münchner Philharmoniker, Sergiu Celibidache

    Live recordings made between 1979 and 1996

    EMI 33cds 5677322
     
  16. George P

    George P Notable Member

    Location:
    NYC
    His career was put on hold by an injury to his right hand or he surely would have recorded a lot more. His Brahms Concertos are superb! (also with Szell) His teacher was Schnabel, one of the great pianists for sure.
     
  17. Jay F

    Jay F New Member

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Do you listen in surround sound when possible, Russell?
     
  18. Jay F

    Jay F New Member

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    As George said, a hand injury got in the way of his career. One thing he is noted for is a set of Beethoven's PCs, conducted by Szell. It was one of the most universal recommendations for these works 20 years ago, and before, in the LP era. I preferred the Perahia/Haitink set, but these by Fleisher and Szell have long been considered a must-have. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_m?url=search-alias=popular&field-keywords=szell+fleisher&x=0&y=0

    Just a couple of years ago, the CBS newsmagazine Sunday Morning did a spot of Fleisher's career as a piano teacher. It was a wonderful piece of TV.

    EDIT: A short film exists, called Two Hands. Read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Fleisher. And here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0951151/
     
  19. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    When I was about 6, my piano teacher gave me the Westminster LP plus another one containing Beethoven's 8th symphony. Certainly the first two classical music albums I ever owned.
     
  20. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    I better check my e-mail . . .
     
  21. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC

    The Beethoven cycle is excellent also. In fact definitive IMHO. Nos. 3 and 4 have been remastered using DSD (but not SACD) as part of the recent Sony Great Performances series.

    http://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Pia...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1233328415&sr=1-2

    I have the Szell Mozart disc from that series and its an audio revelation. I wish they would re-release the entire Beethoven cycle, but it doesn't look promising.

    He's playing two handed again, though it looks like it's still a challenge. I've seen him twice in recent years and his right hand still looks a bit gnarled when he plays. And of course he was a Kennedy Center Award winner last year.
     
  22. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC

    I got the same e-mail on the Moravec. :sigh:

    BTW - anyone see the Times article today highlighting Mendelssohn discs? I've got a couple of them. I often recommend Mendelssohn's violin concerto, Italian symphony and Midsummer Nights Dream music to people just getting into classical music.
     
  23. George P

    George P Notable Member

    Location:
    NYC
    :realmad:

    I'll let you know when I hear back from them, though my email is inaccessible from work. :sigh:
     
  24. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    I've been fortunate to hear both these pianists in the hall. About 15 years ago, I made my only trip to Chicago, a short visit with a recital by Cherkassky at Orchestra Hall as its centerpiece. Cherkassky, that puckish veteran of the "golden age," was a master at making music "sing," and this recital was no exception--he even managed to find loveliness in *Hindemith*. Of course, as a product of those more personal times, his performances weren't *always* successful--a concert recording of several Schubert impomptus springs immediately to mind--but his name on a recording always spurs my desire to listen, no matter what he's playing, and while we don't think about it, he had a surprisingly catholic repertoire.

    As to Fleisher, my wife and I heard him in Baltimore performing the Emperor Cto. not too long after he resumed using two hands. When my wife asked what I thought, I said that a wounded giant is still a giant--and I meant it. His right hand was not as strong or fluent as it once had been, although it obviously still had plenty of skill, but he gave what I thought at the time to be a masterful account of the score. Dunno how I'd react now; I've done a lot of thinking about that piece since then, and my ideas about it have changed a good bit. Still, everything I've heard on recordings made since then tells me that we are fortunate to have the return of a true master in command of his full faculties in our midst.

    That is *not*, by the by, to dismiss his valuable and beautiful work with the left hand literature. Nobody has played it better, and we're in Fleisher's debt for championing a rather neglected body of works. (If you're receptive to left hand works, here's another "mysteriously lost his right hand" pianist worth seeking out: the young Swiss performer Antoine Rebstein.)

    Incidentally, I don't remember exactly the diagnosis of Fleisher's hand problem, but, surprisingly, the solution turned out to be Botox injections.
     
  25. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    I am not a Celibidache expert by any means but I believe, judging by the recordings that I have, that the Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms on the set will be excellent. In addition to Bruckner of course.
     
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