Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #49)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by George P, Aug 7, 2013.

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  1. alankin1

    alankin1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philly

    Sergei Rachmaninov – Piano Concerto No.2 Op.18
    Leif Ove Andsnes — Berliner Philharmoniker — Antonio Pappano (EMI Classics)
     
  2. Bryce

    Bryce I drank what?

    Location:
    New York City
    I actually got this because I read somewhere that Scott Walker's late-60s works was inspired/influenced, in part, by Sibelius...
     
  3. alankin1

    alankin1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philly

    Claude Debussy – La Mer
    — Philharmonia Orchestra — Carlo Maria Giullini (EMI Classics)
     
    Urban Spaceman likes this.
  4. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    51mwg2xYdUL__AA160_.jpg
    Speaking of Debussy - listened to the original release of this CD over the weekend. One of very first classical CDs released by EMI (maybe the first). And it sounds great.
     
    dale 88 likes this.
  5. Tangledupinblue

    Tangledupinblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Now listening to for the first time:

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    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000050448/ref=dm_dp_cdp?ie=UTF8&s=music

    This seems to be one of the more obscure recordings of these works, with no customer reviews for it on either amazon.co.uk or amazon.com despite having been around since 2000 (although Bernard Roberts seems quite well known as a pianist - he has his own Wikipedia entry). But regardless, it's great to hear two such fine works from Brahms's late period (my favourite era of his music) on one disc, full of that autumnal glow, lyricism, gorgeous harmonies and textures and knowing profundity that infuses the work of the last decade of his life. My personal favourite of the two is the F minor, as it covers a greater emotional range, with that progression from darkness to light that I love so much about the best minor key works, and contains probably my favourite movement in the whole of his chamber music, the total charmer that is the lilting Allegretto grazioso.

    The Hindemith is a very welcome addition (and logical, given that Brahms was one of his biggest influences) - it belongs to his mellower later period, so is less radically dissonant than the likes of his Kammermusik and Concerto for Orchestra, and while not quite as compelling as his best music, it has a pleasantly laidback and often good-humoured feel, showcasing well the melodic qualities of the instrument. Its chief attraction is the funereal slow movement, with its typically ringing and sonorous fourth-based piano chords that like much of Hindemith's music sound distinctly modern and archaic at the same time. My dad's a clarinettist and we've played the work a few times, though not for some time - it's actually one of the few Hindemith works he really likes!
     
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  6. alankin1

    alankin1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philly
    Franz Schubert – Piano Trio No.1 in B flat, Op.99 D.898
    Arthur Rubinstein, piano / Jascha Heifetz, Violin / Emanuel Feuermann, Cello
    (RCA Victor Red Seal Collector's Edition – Sony Music)

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  7. sgb

    sgb Senior Member

    Location:
    Baton Rouge
    Another fantastic 7th:

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  8. Tangledupinblue

    Tangledupinblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Now listening to:

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    http://www.amazon.com/Stravinsky-Complete-Music-Violin-Piano/dp/B003097ABU

    This is an unusual and most intriguing collection of pieces for the comparatively intimate medium of violin and piano, from a composer who is better known for his concertos, ballets and choral works - all of them are transcriptions with the exception of the Duo Concertante, along with the Octet one of a comparatively small body of original Stravinsky chamber pieces. It's a chance to hear the composer in a more stripped down form, which makes this of particular interest to the Stravinsky scholar/enthusiast who wants to study his typically spiky harmonic progressions and freshly modern twists on traditional tonality.

    The two highlights are both on the first disc - Pulcinella and the relatively short but no less substantial Duo Concertante. The Pulcinella scarcely needs any introduction; it's always been one of my very favourite Stravinsky works, in whatever form, even when I otherwise disliked his neo-classical stuff - he totally transcends the pretty ordinary Pergolesi originals in a work that is smart, witty, urbane with that characteristically Stravinskian bite and rhythmic edge, yet it's also deep, moving and endlessly varied - it's just a shame that more of it (particularly the parts that weren't made into the orchestral suite) wasn't arranged or included here. And whereas some of Stravinsky's non-orchestral works (particularly his solo piano music) can sound a bit dry and brittle devoid of his idiosyncratic orchestral colour, no such complaint can be levelled towards the Duo in this fine performance - another work in his neoclassical vein, but at his most tuneful, accessible, clearly tonal and even charming with a nostalgic Russian flavour thrown in in the second movement. Not far behind is the exciting rendition of two movements from The Nightingale, a work I still have yet to hear in its entirety and should do so one day (it seems to be rarely performed/staged) as by all accounts it's a fascinating blend of the older and newer Stravinsky, as he started work on it before The Firebird and completed it after Petrushka and The Rite of Spring.

    Anthony Marwood and Thomas Ades make a great pairing - the pianist as well as the composer was actually the main attraction for me, being probably the world's most astoundingly gifted all-round living musician, as composer, pianist, conductor and educator - he's been hailed by many as a latter day Britten (perhaps not coincidentally, he was director of the Britten-founded Aldeburgh festival for nearly a decade) and in hearing in particular his compositions and performances of a wide range of repertoire in solo piano, chamber music, song and concertos, as well as his passionate advocacy of modern music, it's not in the least bit hyperbolic. But of course the lead player is another key part of what makes this recording so enjoyable, with his winning combination of great tone, lyricism, technique and rhythmic precision which is such a prerequisite for Stravinsky's often challenging music. Very nice set with lots of different things to enjoy, and highly recommended for any Stravinsky fans.
     
  9. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    Yummy! But don't let that cover's pretenses lead you astray: this recording began life not on LP but on 78s as Victor set DM 923 (I think that as a late set it would have been issued only in automatic sequence). The cover shown on your CD is that of an LP reissue, albeit featuring the same photo as appeared on the 78 set.
     
  10. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    Does the CD title it "Suite Italienne"? That's how it's usually given, or at least how *I've* usually seen it given. If memory serves, the "Pergolesi" pieces actually were by various composers of the period, rather the way the "theme of Haydn" that Brahms took as his starting point for the variations is actually not by Haydn at all. Incidentally, Gregor Piatigorsky transcribed the transcription for cello, and Stravinsky then worked that over himself. Possibly of interest if you like the violin's bigger brother, although personally I prefer the work in its violin form.
     
  11. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    I saw this twofer a few months ago and will probably add it to my baroque collection ...
     
  12. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
  13. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

  14. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Looks like Maazel recorded another Sibelius cycle with PSO on Sony and I have that set ...
     
  15. Tangledupinblue

    Tangledupinblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    No it's actually an earlier transcription for violin and piano that predates the Suite Italienne (although a movement from that Suite does appear later on the second disc). According to Wikipedia, it seems that the transcription for cello and piano was done independently and is not a transcription of the earlier transcription, but Stravinsky then re-arranged this transcription for violin and piano (I'm partly assuming here, given that those pieces have the same title!).

    Here's the chronology and details for these versions of Pulcinella:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulcinella_(ballet)#Suite_italienne
     
  16. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    MI0001196709.jpg
    I am an amateur clarinetist, and I have worked on all three. The two Brahms pieces are gorgeous - hard to believe that so few significant works for clarinet and piano had been composed before Brahms' time (Weber, Schumann and some minor Mendelssohn - that's pretty much it).
    I've noted before that in the context of 20th century music, the Hindemith is so eminently playable. I have this disc. Yeh is with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
     
  17. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Is the Nightingale the "filler" on the SACD of Reiner's "Scheherazade"?

    BTW -"Duo Concertant" (sic) is another Balanchine masterpiece. As it happens, I will be seeing it (again) next week. From the official Balanchine website:

    Stravinsky dedicated Duo Concertant to Samuel Dushkin, a well-known violinist he met in 1931. The composer premiered the work with Dushkin in Berlin in 1932, and the pair gave recitals together across Europe for the next several years. The piece had long been a favorite of Balanchine — who had first heard it performed by Stravinsky and Dushkin soon after it was composed — but not until years later, when he was planning the 1972 Stravinsky Festival, did he decide to choreograph it.

    The performance of the musicians on stage is integral to the conception of the ballet. Standing at the piano with the musicians, the dancers listen to the first movement. During the next three movements they dance, mirroring the music and each other, and pause several times to rejoin the musicians and to listen. In the final movement, the stage is darkened and the dancers perform within individual circles of light.

    The Stravinsky Festival referenced may be one of the most remarkable events in the history of dance. (It was before my interest developed, so I can only quote what I have read about it.) From the Balanchine web site:

    In June, 1972, Balanchine staged an intensive week-long celebration of Stravinsky. Of the twenty-one new works presented during the festival, eight were by Balanchine, including four major ones, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Duo Concertant, Symphony in Three Movements, and Divertimento from "Le Baiser de la Fée." Response to the Stravinsky Festival by critics and the public was overwhelming.
     
  18. alankin1

    alankin1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philly
    Maybe that's why the cover says "from The Treasury of Immortal Performance" -- an early reissue? And the original liner notes mention that it was released on 78s. (Recorded in 1941, album first released in 1951.)

    Next:

    Felix Mendelssohn – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor Op.64
    Max Bruch – Concerto No.1 for Violin and Orchestra in G minor Op.26
    Camille Saint-Saens – Concerto No.3 for Violin and Orchestra in B minor Op.61

    Zino Francescatti — New York Philarmonic — Dimitri Mitropoulos (Masterworks Heritage – Sony Music)


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  19. alankin1

    alankin1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philly
    The Heifetz-Piatigorsky Concerts

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Quintet for 2 Violins, 2 Violas and Cello No.3 K515
    — Jascha Heifetz, Israel Baker, violins, Virginia Majewski, William Primose, violas, Gregor Piatigorsky, cello

    Felix Mendelssohn – Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello No.2 Op.66
    — Jascha Heifetz, violin, Gregor Piatigorsky, cello (RCA Victor Red Seal – Sony Classical)


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  20. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Let me know what you think of their Schubert Quintette when you get to it.
     
  21. Scott Wheeler

    Scott Wheeler Forum Resident

    Location:
    ---------------
  22. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Now playing the following CD, which just arrived from across the pond today for a first listen ...

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  23. heman__

    heman__ Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    cant wait to listen through this box, which arrived in the mail today.

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  24. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Nice grab, heman!
     
  25. alankin1

    alankin1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philly
    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major Op. 35
    Sergei Prokofiev – Concerto No.2 for Violin and Orchestra in G minor Op.63
    — New York Philarmonic — Dimitri Mitropoulos

    Ernest Chausson – Poeme for Violin and Orchestra Op.25
    — Philadelphia Orchestra — Eugene Ormandy (Masterworks Heritage – Sony Music)

    Zino Francescatti, violin


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