Classical Corner Classical Music Corner

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by George P, May 29, 2015.

  1. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    Sorry didn't see this earlier. One of the series I absolutely adore from Hyperion is their Romantic Piano (and Romantic Violin) CDs, so much music from composers that aren't normally recorded by the majors.
     
    ds58 and bruce2 like this.
  2. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Since the subject of the Schumann Concerto came up recently, I thought I would ask folks what recording(s) they enjoy of the work.

    I listened to some of the Annie Fischer/Klemperer yesterday and found that the performance (and sound) is not what I had hoped. I think the last time I compared, the Kovacevitch/Davis was my favorite, but I plan to compare it to the Lupu/Previn and will report back.
     
    hvbias likes this.
  3. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    I'm swimming in the same waters myself. Lately I've been trying to discover other shores, in classical music and otherwise. It's a great hobby isn't it? Endless possibilities!
     
    hvbias likes this.
  4. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Not to mention Szell's classic set of the symphonies! :wave:
     
  5. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Thanks for the recommendation. Unfortunately, Hough's set was not to my liking, so I have been cautious about buying anything else by him.
     
  6. eflatminor

    eflatminor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nevada
    Any Furtwangler fans?

    I have a few recordings featuring Wihelm on the dais and they've always been favorites. I'm considering a 14 record box set in mono from Audite. Anyone heard it? It's not inexpensive (I'm seeing around $380), so I'm hoping for some insight.

    [​IMG]
     
    Bubbamike likes this.
  7. Bachtoven

    Bachtoven Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    This is a great series of rather unfamiliar music/composers, most of which avoid sounding overtly Spanish! Many are also not especially tuneful, either, but they are still interesting.
    [​IMG][​IMG]
     
    scompton likes this.
  8. bruce2

    bruce2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    Understandable. I wanted to ask you what you think about Beethoven's piano concertos by Fleisher and Szell? I have a CD of them doing the 3rd and 4th and really enjoy it, so much so that I haven't felt the urge to sample any other options! I still love the Emporer Concerto by Pollini and Bohm that was recommended to me on this thread.
     
  9. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    So much competition in those works, for some reason those performances never grabbed me as much as others, like Serkin/Kubelik, Backhaus (i like his sonatas, but i LOVE his concertos) and for a superb modern reading, Russell Sherman.

    If you want to grab a great PC 1, I suggest Richter/Munch!

    But then, it should be inexpensive to complete your Fleisher set, as those discs have been issued many times in budget form.
     
  10. Bachtoven

    Bachtoven Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    One of my favorite performances of this work:

    [​IMG]
     
  11. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    [​IMG]

    Now enjoying the Schumann concerto from this CD.
     
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  12. Bachtoven

    Bachtoven Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    Powerful, and at times, harrowing music. Very well recorded.

    [​IMG]
     
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  13. ToddBD

    ToddBD Forum Resident

    On the turntable tonight, Columbia 6-eye LP, Haydn Quartets Op. 76, No. 5 in D major, and No. 6 in E-flat Major, Budapest String Quartet on Stradivarius instruments at the Library of Congress. I thought this might be an Andy Warhol cover but I haven't found confirmation of that yet.
    [​IMG]
     
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  14. Bachtoven

    Bachtoven Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    A great collection of sonatas transcribed for guitar, many of which are not normally played on the guitar due to their extreme difficulty, but Schmidt plays them effortlessly.

    [​IMG]
     
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  15. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    I have the CD incarnation of this set. I played lots of it when I bought it some time ago and not much since, so my memory is not fresh, but I'd say it's worth having, although it does contain some duplications (e.g., Beethoven's 5th Sym. from 1947 and 1954), and the circumstances were a bit odd: the recordings are from broadcasts of Furtwangler made under the auspices of the American occupation forces after his "de-Nazification" following WW II. (RIAS = "Radio in the American Sector.") The Philharmonie having been destroyed by bombing, they originated from a big former movie theater called the Titania-Palast, the sole suitably large hall remaining undamaged in Berlin. Whether it's worth spending the kind of $$$ required for premium LP pressings of non-state-of-the-art recordings when they presumably can be had much more cheaply on CD is up to you.
     
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  16. crispi

    crispi Vinyl Archaeologist

    Location:
    Berlin
    To add to what @drh said earlier, I’m not too fond of Audite’s remastering style. They try too much to make it sound “modern” and in the process they stray too much away from the original sound of the tapes. Plus, they use audible digital noise reduction in spots. Some of these recordings have been issued by Deutsche Grammophon as well, and they sound much more natural and fuller in their mastering. Of course, if you want the whole shebang, you can only get it from Audite, as DG only issued selected symphonies throughout the years.
     
    eflatminor and J.A.W. like this.
  17. J.A.W.

    J.A.W. Music Addict

    Like crispi I am not fond of Audite's masterings.
     
    crispi likes this.
  18. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    I listened to it last night (before reading this reply) I did like Annie Fischer's performance, it had her usual passion and it was a nice romantic performance. Where I was let down was by the orchestra/conducting, a bit flat and an obvious studio recording (if you know what I mean by this); contrast this to the Ormandy/Serkin where it sounds like he has the orchestra playing for their lives. I noticed I kept turning up the volume to try and get some more dynamics out of the orchestra.

    Yes indeed, I have been trying to branch out into discovering much lesser known composers, particularly from the baroque. But it's easy to keep falling for my real loves :love:
     
    George P likes this.
  19. Thomas R

    Thomas R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    What a beautiful cover.
     
    crispi likes this.
  20. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Yeah, they don't make 'em like that anymore.
     
    Thomas R likes this.
  21. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    What do you think of the mastering on the FIM/LIM CDs? I heard Albeniz's Iberia, the famous Decca recording, reissued by them and besides being slightly bright (with some boosting to the high treble air frequencies) it sounded good.

    I believe Winston Ma was working on a big Decca book before he passed away.
     
    crispi likes this.
  22. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    I haven't heard any others, though this one [Lupu/Previn - Schuman/Grieg] has nice warm sound. Would not call it bright at all, if anything a bit bottom heavy.
     
    hvbias likes this.
  23. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Now playing the following CD, an early baroque recording by S. Richter which just arrived yesterday for a first listen ...

    [​IMG]
     
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  24. Bachtoven

    Bachtoven Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    I think it's going to take more than one listening session to absorb this 98 minute Piano Sonata by Chris Dench! (It's available as a hi-res FLAC from Piano Sonata | Chris Dench )


     
    Marzz likes this.
  25. Pericles

    Pericles Forum Resident

    Location:
    Edmonton
    Apart from the two piano concertos, I have an amazing lack of Chopin in my classical music collection. I can get Rubinstein's "The Chopin Collection" (which I believe has everything excerpt for the Etudes) quite cheaply. But at 11 CDs, I am quite certain I will only ever listen to a fraction of it (I'm on a quest to downsize my music collection to essentials only). There's a 2-CD Rubinstein set of Nocturnes Nos. 9, 15, 27, 32, 37, 48, 55, and 62, but then that leaves out much of Chopin's other work (which I am admittedly not familiar with). Is there a somewhat generally agreed upon list of essential Chopin works which can be assembled in under 4-5 CDs?
     

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