Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #38)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by George P, Jul 4, 2012.

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  1. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Yes, it is. :agree:

    Same recordings, I am not sure about the mastering.

    Actually, he recorded them three times. I have only the Orfeo and the Brilliant/Amadeo/Decca Eloquence sets. I like the former more.
     
  2. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    I have that set ...
     
  3. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Now playing the following CD, which arrived yesterday for a first listen ...

    [​IMG]
     
  4. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    It is 92 °F and there is no reason to be outdoors. Now playing CD2 from the following set for a first listen ...

    [​IMG]
     
  5. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    I am waiting for Buchbinder's Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas on TelDec to be re-issued ... :righton:
     
  6. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Back to early music: Now playing the following CD, which just arrived 2 hours ago for a first listen ...

    [​IMG]
     
  7. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    More early music: Now playing CD5, the last CD from the following set for a first listen ...

    [​IMG]
     
  8. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Now playing the following CD, a brand-new label for me, which arrived 2 days ago for a first listen ...

    [​IMG]
     
  9. flyingdutchman

    flyingdutchman Senior Member

    Terrible set.
     
  10. kevinsinnott

    kevinsinnott Forum Coffeeologist

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    [​IMG]
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000003CT0/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music

    I've been comparing a few Respighi performances. I really like the Kertesz on a budget Decca CD, but this one, Lane on Telarc is also very fine, and it has the critical floor rattling bass during the Pines. I have a Maazel on Columbia when they were chasing minimalist sonics, that has a similar capability. Which has the deepest bass? I don't know but it's fun to hear them all.
     
  11. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    [​IMG]

    My favorite for the Rachmaninoff Etudes Tableaux for years has been Ogdon on Testament. Angelich is more refined, more beautiful, while still powerful when called for. Thus, he will likely become my new favorite. This lovely CD should be added to the "it's a damn shame it's OOP" list. :sigh: If you see it in the bins, grab it!
     
  12. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Jim, Here is another CD for your consideration. I am just one CD shy of owning every early music CD from the Obsidian label ... :goodie:
     
  13. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Now playing SACD1 from the following set, which arrived 2 days ago for a first listen on my big rig. This is the first recording by Schuricht I have ever owned ...

    [​IMG]
     
  14. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    While I do not feel I am in a position to conclude if this recording is truly special after a first listen, I simply do not like the packaging. The SACD packaging is done in such a way that the discs can be easily scratched.
     
  15. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Now playing the following SACD, another recent arrival for a first listen ...

    [​IMG]
     
  16. dale 88

    dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

    Location:
    west of sun valley
    George, I grabbed it a year ago and do enjoy it. I see it was a 1995 disc from Harmonia Mundi. The only other thing I have with Angelich is last year's Faure chamber music box from Virgin Classics where he joins the Capucon brothers. So far, it has not become my favorite.

    Faurechamber.jpg
     
  17. Collector Man

    Collector Man Well-Known Member

    You have played just CD2 of the set and you find it terrible ? The various parts of this Tchaikovsky cycle were originally released separately. The parts from it, I have.. I would not give it that rating..
     
  18. John S

    John S Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, OH
    Mahler's birthday today, July 7. (1860)

    Mahler
    Symphony No. 2 in C minor "Resurrection"

    Wiener Philharmoniker
    Gilbert Kaplan
    With:
    Latonia Moore, soprano
    Nadja Michael, mezzo-soprano
    Wiener Singverein
    (recorded in the Musikverein, Vienna, 11 & 12/2002)
    [​IMG]5.0 multilayer SACD (transcoded from the 96 kHz/24 Bit PCM multi-channel master)

    [​IMG]

    If I had Gilbert Kaplan’s money, my name would be on this recording. My Mahler epiphany was the first time I heard this work, and since then I’ve dreamed of conducting it. I understand the enmity some musicians have for Kaplan. This non-musician has enough money to hire a 100+ piece orchestra, an oversized mixed chorus, two female vocalists -- all of world-class calibre. And then he has the nerve to stand on the podium before all these accomplished musicians and tell them how to play this monumental work.

    In his defense, Kaplan has spent considerable time learning this work and how to conduct it. I doubt many of the musicians who deride him care to, or can conduct this very complex work. Second, Kaplan has used his almost limitless resources to research both Mahler the man, and particularly this work. From the album notes:

    Actually, it is difficult to hear much of a difference in this performance from others that have not seen the benefit of hundreds of corrections. I can follow my Dover score (which is based on the original published edition) very closely without seeing much difference. Kaplan in fact observes all the minute dynamics ordered by Mahler in the original score more closely than do many other conductors. These have subtle effects, but are audible and important. Some listeners might consider strict adherence to the score to be overly obsessive, but the thousands of performance directives in Mahler’s scores weren’t put there by an overzealous editor; Mahler was a compulsive micromanager.

    The first movement gets off to a very promising start. The snarling low strings set the tone for this piece, or at least for the introduction of it. The entire movement is propelled nicely, and played expertly. There are some relatively minor problems such as some key phrases by the violas and cellos not being prominent enough. There is a six-note motif played by the English horn that becomes the main melody of a quiet and sunny section beginning at rehearsal #8 which is answered by the violas/cellos the first time and by the cellos the second time. Both answers are buried by accompaniment elsewhere in the orchestra.

    I confess to being fairly tolerant with most versions of the second and third movements. The second at its best should have the ebb and flow of a ballroom dance. Images of finely dressed couples swirling come to mind. The third should have the scherzo "joke" going for it, and in addition it should have the devilish irony so central to Mahler’s music. Here, Kaplan and company miss the mark in both movements slightly. The proceedings are just a little too deliberate, though not enough to be a deal breaker. A simple remedy might be conducting these movements a bit faster than is heard here.

    Kaplan’s Urlicht is very moving and beautifully played by his band. The tempo and pauses are just right. The only flaw here is the singer. The German born, Indiana grad mezzo-soprano Nadja Michael has been building quite a reputation on the opera circuit, and justifiably so. I’ve not seen her live, but I’m sure her strong voice serves the stage very well. In this context however, the ultra wide vibrato and the resulting lack of perfect innocence becomes a drawback here. The Des Knaben Wunderhorn poetry deserves a less operatic touch.

    The big finale gets off to the appropriately noisy start. As most fans of this work know, Mahler abandoned any pretense to following any conventional musical form of the day with this massive conclusion. Instead, there are a string of episodes, some are related to the material presented before, and some not. One of the challenges any conductor faces in this movement is moving from one episode to the next without losing forward momentum. At first, Kaplan & company progress through this movement with something less than the utmost animation. The band plays flawlessly, the tempi are correct, but there just isn’t much excitement other than what the competent execution of the score guarantees.

    But then things start looking up at episode #6. This episode begins with the strings in tremolo, while a solo trombone intones a plea, based on a previous motif. Soon thereafter offstage trumpets and percussion are introduced. There is real excitement here, and this is very important because this episode serves as a small climax. This prepares us for the short whimsical dialogue (episode 7) between the flute, piccolo and the trumpets which serves as the prelude to the entrance of the full choir (episode 8). From this point on, Kaplan drives toward the end. I have always enjoyed the entrance of the soprano vocalist, whose angelic emergence from the women’s choir is celestial. Here, Latonia Moore’s beautiful voice is perfect. I have always regretted that Mahler did not create a more important role for the soprano in this piece. Inevitably, the end comes and it is most satisfying. The immature kid in me always yearns for the pipe organ to rattle the bones, but here, it is tastefully evident and integrated as should be the case.

    The sound quality is superb. Originally, my first few listens of this version were from a burned copy of the CD layer of these discs. Normally I would have been happy to live with that, but after a couple of years, I began to appreciate the audio and decided to invest in the SACD -- even though I knew this production would never be more than second tier for me. That investment paid off, as the imaging improved exponentially. For example, the off-stage band sounded like it was two blocks away on the Red Book layer (which would have been fine by me), now sounds closer on the left and more focused and much clearer on the multi-channel SACD on my 5.0 system.

    My [​IMG]
     
  19. WorldB3

    WorldB3 Forum Resident

    Location:
    On the continent.
    Another one of those instances where I wish knew Classical music better as this is an amazing piece of work but probably not the best version of it (subjective I know, which is also the fun part of the discovery) based on reviews I have read but I have no issues with this as a starting point. Recommendations welcomed.

    NP: Schubert: String Quintet in C Major Op. 163 - Budapest Quartet.
    [​IMG]

    Love the sound of the old grey label Columbia vinyl.
     
  20. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    You got me to listen to some Respighi tonight. :)
    I have "The Pines of Rome" played by The Oregon Symphony and James DePreist. I don't have any other versions to compare it to. The piece does include an organ to help with the bass. The catacombs do rumble.

    [​IMG]
     
  21. Graphyfotoz

    Graphyfotoz Forum Classaholic

    Location:
    South-Central NY
    Ever find em on sale lemme know. :)
    Most of those from what I see are $17+ shipping.
    More than I really like to spend on unfamiliar territory. :sigh:

    *I have added many Obsidian CD's to my Spotify so I can listen to em at least!! :righton:
     
  22. Graphyfotoz

    Graphyfotoz Forum Classaholic

    Location:
    South-Central NY
    I have had these copies for some time now. The RCA is my fav of the two.


    [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  23. Growl

    Growl Member

    Location:
    South of France
    Giving a first listen to :

    [​IMG]

    Spinning the "number 0" string quartet on CD#1, a great effort by a young tonal Schoenberg, inspired by Brahms and Dvorak.
     
  24. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    I LOVE the Schoenberg Quartets! The Arditti is the one I have, though sadly it's OOP.

    [​IMG]
     
  25. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    I have several of those sets and agree. The sleeves glued to the front and back are especially dangerous. I immediately transferred my discs to other packaging.
     
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