Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #37)

Now playing:

• Balakirev: Piano Sonata & other works - Danny Driver [Hyperion CDA67806 © ℗ 2011, Recorded in Henry Wood Hall, London, March 2-4, 2010, Recording engineer: Simon Eadon, Recording producer: Andrew Keener, Piano: Steinway & Sons, Executive producers: Simon Perry, Michael Spring — some great late Romantic piano works here (alas, no Islamey) by the teacher of and advisor to Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Borodin, and César Cui, AKA The Mighty Handful, and to a lesser extent, Tchaikovsky — the Piano Sonata is unique with its first-movement fugal exposition mingled with Chopin-esque free rhapsody, Balakirev worked on the Sonata for the better part of 50 years, finishing it in 1905, I enjoyed this CD much more than I thought I would, given the Russian Romantic excess, but these are all thoroughly-composed works, which BBC Music Magazine said 'mix Chopinesque grace with Russian-bear grandiosity', and I might add without gratuitous embroidery and with plenty of genuinely tender, plaintive emotion, sensitively played by Driver — pianophiles should check this one out]
  
  -Piano Sonata in B-flat minor
  -Nocturne No. 2 in B minor
  -Mazurka No. 1 in A-flat major
  -Mazurka No. 2 in C-sharp minor
  -Valse-Caprice No. 2 in D-flat major (after Alexander Taneyev, distant relative of the better-known Sergey)
  -Waltz No. 4 in B-flat major
  -The Lark (after Mikhail Glinka)
  -Scherzo No. 1 in B minor
  -Polka in F-sharp minor

 

Pre-Independence Day mountaineering:

• Strauss, Richard: Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64, TrV 233 - South German Radio Symphony Orchestra / Carl Schuricht [Hänssler Classic 93140 20CD boxed set (as 320kps MP3's) © 2006, Stereo recording, Recorded in the Villa Berg Studio of Süddeutscher Rundfunk (South German Radio), Stuttgart, on January 4-7, 1955 — quick pacing and a bit rough around the edges (better than the alternative of too polished, see Haitink's LSO SACD), but all the colors, moods, and the full expansiveness of this piece is brought out — idiomatically played and excellent sound]

Still $9.99 for the 20CD/320kps MP3 set: http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7364764

 

^Glad to see others like the Alpine Symphony as well.

 

Strauss was one of the greatest composers of music that needed or required vivid suggestion or instrumental depiction of the material and a magnificent orchestrator of it , no matter how large the forces he employed. Nor afraid to play around with musical 9th leaped and dropped intervals if the need arose. Plus, even if the material sometimes got 'purple' in nature and content. -place it straight before you,
The one day where everything and everyone definitely fired on all cylinders for Von Karajan, was his EMI complete opera recording of Strauss' Salome with Hildegard Brehens. He captures every tiny detail right down to the nith degree,,,even the slivery moment in the orchestra where the outraged Herod tells Salome "she is a snake". Plus it still remains, even to today- brillliantly engineered 'hi fi demo' material.

 

I have the Reiner recordings of Strauss They're outstanding, of course.



The Karajan box I posted contains the older recordings ('70's).

 

Ok Ok I couldn't resist!
I don't normally buy music this way but for $10 it was a STEAL!

 

Exactly
Walter Legge (EMI s classical George Martin) pummeled her into shape ,line by line ,playing Dame Nelly Melba to her for example of perfection.
I love her voice
She married Legge
What a strange combination ,short fat Estuary Englishman plus RhineMaiden re constructed nazi Showboat.

 

Leonard Bernstein / New York Philharmonic - Aaron Copeland - Appalachian Srping Suite / Fanfare For The Common Man
Great Performances - CBS Canada - 1981



Happy 4th of July to our American friends here.

 

Now playing on my big rig the following SACD, which arrived yesterday for a first listen ...

 

Now playing SACD2 from the following set for a first listen ...

 

Time for an encore ...

A keeper!

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=6180149&postcount=295

 

Now playing CD4, the last CD from the following set for a first listen ...

 

A great set.

 

Listening to De Peyer play the clarinet on both Brahms and Mozart clarinet quintets. Nice, slightly dry chamber music, the way I like it. He had a very nice woody tone. He plays them both effortlessly. Neville Boyling was the EMI engineer, one of my favorite unsung heroes of the control room.

 

Now playing CD2 from the following set for a first listen ...

 

http://davidpickett.wordpress.com/2009/07/26/the-golden-age-of-stereo/

An interesting blog about vintage classical recording locations and how they were made, with some useful insights by one of the team.

 

That's a sweet price and I snapped it up this morning, so thank you. I don't see a booklet though -- where did you get the recording info?

 

Nice pictures. The Bernstein recording of "Appalachian Spring" is on a short list of all-time favorites for me, the best recording of the greatest music ever written by an American composer, IMO.

 

I have the CD. I should play it today.

 

Now playing CD1 from the following set, which arrived a few months ago for a first listen ...

 

DG re-released the complete 60's recordings in the EU about two months ago at a much cheaper price, it contains the complete Brahms cycle. Everything from (I think) 1959 to 1969, not including vocal stuff. 82 discs. The sleeves are better quality as well than the normal DG boxes, a bit thicker and glossy.

 

Sounds tempting but between my LP and CD collections, I probably already have most of his recordings from the 1960's ...

 

Me too this morning.....3.05GB.....just squeezed it on to a 4GB Thumb Drive for my Network AVR.
Excellent recording and performance.......cheapest Download of it I seen anywhere else was $90+!
I'm also wondering where you can get the booklet info...I have the cover that's it.

 

Now playing CD3 from the following set for a first listen ...

 

Jim, I am not part of the download club yet. Still love that old media.