Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #4)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Jay F, Dec 28, 2008.

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  1. Jay F

    Jay F New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    It's not me who had to contact importCDs. I don't know who it was. I got a broken case from Newbury, plus I had to have them pick something out for me over the phone. Not something you can do with importCDs. You know, from what little I've read, I wonder if the language barrier is part of why import doesn't communicate better with customers.

    And FWIW, I like Movie Mars, a.k.a. Movie Marz, the way you like your little buddy outside Philadelphia. A pox on both its houses.
     
  2. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    My first 2 orders with MovieMars were fine. The third order was a monaural recording of JS Bach Cantatas with Schwartkopf and Klemperer. The CD was less than $10. It arrived in used condition - no shrink-wrap and CD has some scratches which skipped when I played it. I emailed them once and received absolutely no response. It was not worth my trouble to return the CD. I then canceled another order that was taking too long. There will be no more future orders with MovieMars for me.
     
  3. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    Alas, that balance business indicates that they are good recordings. If you can hear a fortepiano over orchestra the way you hear a modern grand over orchestra, it's a sure sign that the engineers have been pulling a fast one. At least, that's what I concluded after hearing a concerto or two in concert as performed on the antiques; they just did not have enough power to make themselves heard even over a modest chamber orchestra in an intimate hall. Hence the inexorable campaign in the 19th century to apply the industrial revolution to the piano and develop what we know today as the concert grand, with its massive cast iron frame and other innovations all directed toward making it *louder*.

    If you want to hear an example of the sort of engineering shenanigans that I mean, try to scare up a copy of Anthony Newman's recording of the Emperor Cto. on fortepiano for Newport Classic. If you listen on headphones, you can hear the recorded perspective of the piano get dramatically closer every time Beethoven asks it to ride a crescendo over the orchestra, then drop back again as the music quiets. In reality, the piano would have been swamped.
     
  4. OE3

    OE3 Senior Member

    Mahler DVD

    Now watching:

    Conducting Mahler and I Have Lost Touch with the World
    Directed by Frank Scheffer, 132 min
    Ideale Audience 2005.

    I try to watch this once a year, as I always learn something new. I don't know which film I like better, really, but if forced to choose I'd go with the earlier (ie. Conducting Mahler) because of the varied perspectives and inclusion of all symphonies. A classic, IMO.

    Conducting Mahler: The film documents the interpretations of Gustav Mahler's compositions by conductors Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado and Simon Rattle, who detail the special relationship they have with Mahler's work. The film includes fantastic rehearsals and performances of each of Gustav Mahler's ten symphonies by the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Berliner Philarmoniker and the Wiener Philarmoniker at the Mahler Festival in May 1995.

    I Have Lost Touch With The World: The film is based on Mahler's 9th Symphony. In the four parts of this film, renowned conductor Riccardo Chaily and Mahler's internationally acclaimed biographer Henry-Louis de la Grange analyse the four movements of this masterful musical piece. Reaching into the heart of Mahler's music, the film marks Riccardo Chailly's celebration of his departure from Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in June 2004, after sixteen years of close collaboration.
     

    Attached Files:

  5. Jay F

    Jay F New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Thanks, Eddie. I just put that in my Netflix queue, plus Claudio Abbado conducting the M7.
     
  6. OE3

    OE3 Senior Member

    I Have Lost Touch with the World

    Watching the latter film now. I really like Chailly, and the Concertgebouw -- well, there just doesn't seem to be a better Mahler orchestra. Need to get more of the Chailly cycle, only have the two SACD's (3, 9). Still kicking myself for passing on his Decca cycle box when I was in Vancouver last year, one of those Canada-only deals, for US$35. Here it is if you want it: http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/Mahler-Complete-Symphonies-12-CD-Box-Set_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ150309547172. PS. Chailly just commented that Alban Berg's favorite symphonic movement was the first of the Ninth. Mine too.
     
  7. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    With the pound hitting new lows against the dollar on a daily basis, buying from MDT has never been more compelling ... :righton:
     
  8. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
  9. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Sony has been remastering the Szell catalogue in fits and starts. I wish they would do it in an organized fashion.

    I have a recent DSD remastering (non-SACD) of some of the symphonies. A couple of the others were available as a single layer SACD (which I did not buy at the time as I already had a remastered redbook, and I hoped to see an SACD box set). There's probably some stuff available from Japan, but I have yet to pay those prices

    There's a legendary story about Szell - and it may only be legend - that he listened to master tapes of his recordings through bookshelf speakers that he placed near room corners, and that as a result everything sounded boomy. So he kept telling the engineers to reduce the bass.
     
  10. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Very interesting. Some speakers such as the Klipschhorns were designed specifically to go in a room corners but he used bookshelves ...
     
  11. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Perhaps, but for me it means the music doesn't work. I keep the set in the hope that at some point I will be able to make the auditory adjustment, but I think I would have preferred a bit of cheating. It's often said of Mozart's work that he was at his best when the musical form had innate dramatic tension. This was the case for opera, of course, but also for concertos, pitting soloist against orchestra. With the Bilson, the orchestra wins without a fight.

    I also have Bilson's original instrument recording of the two piano quartets which I find much more satisfying.
     
  12. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
  13. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    Interesting story, regardless of being true or not my LP sounds fantastic but it somehow lacks bass in comparison to other records from the same period.

    Now listening...

    Haydn - Die Schopfung (The Creation)
    Wiener Philharmoniker
    Herbert von Karajan
    Live recording 1965

    DG mono

    [​IMG]
     
  14. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Oops - I should have made clear I was referring to Mozart Symphonies.
     
  15. darkmatter

    darkmatter Gort Astronomer Staff

  16. Bogey

    Bogey Spy Vinyl User

    Location:
    Colorado
    I have this pair and they are yummy.

    [​IMG]

    How many more mono recordings from above are there?
     
  17. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    I like to hear about recommendations for some Rudolf Serkin's CD's, preferrably those in stereo. I have none in my collection ...
     
  18. Bogey

    Bogey Spy Vinyl User

    Location:
    Colorado
    I tend to lean toward his mono recordings Stuart. Just what works for me (and even then, I have only a handful of what is out there). However, George sent me this disc a while back:

    [​IMG]

    Here is why this may be a good place to start:

    1. You probably have a number of these pieces by other performers, so comparing would be an apples to apples venture.

    2. It is solo piano without the orchestra to filter when listening.

    3. They are very good performances by Serkin IMO.

    4. It is only $7.99 new at Amazon!
    http://www.amazon.com/Rudolf-Serkin...=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1230569687&sr=8-4

    If you find the works not to your liking, you are only out 8 bones and have a reference cd on the shelf.
     
  19. coopmv

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

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Is this in stereo? Unless I missed it, the Amazon webpage makes no mention of it. Actually, of all the "Moonlight" Sonatas I have, the best one may well be on the LP with Rudolf Firkusny and I do not play my LP's often ...
     

    Attached Files:

  20. Bogey

    Bogey Spy Vinyl User

    Location:
    Colorado
    No mention of mono in the liner notes. Also, Arkiv has it listed as stereo, right above length of cd:

    http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=77664
     
  21. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    I tend to agree in the Mozart concerti in particular. As a rule of thumb, I'd suggest avoiding his late series of recordings on DG and Telarc; go for the ones on Columbia/Sony/whatever-it-is-now. There's a Marlboro anniversary 2-disc set in stereo that *is* commendable for the best account I've ever heard of Beethoven's Choral Fantasy (R. Serkin at the keyboard and son Peter conducting), but much is given over to chamber works not featuring Serkin, it's out of print, and it commands fancy prices on Amazon at least. In the "historic" mode, don't miss Serkin Sr.'s traversal of the Kreutzer Sonata with his father-in-law, Adolf Busch. There was also a box collecting an extensive, but not complete, run of Beethoven sonatas, including several not previously released, that bears listening. Some like Serkin's Schubert (I do), and some don't especially care for it (I hope I'm not slandering George P by saying that I recall that he doesn't); you might like to try his account of D. 960. If looking for something "completely different," you might also enjoy trying his late Columbia account of the Reger Variations on a Theme of Bach. Serkin was an early and committed exponent of this composer, who has never really caught on in the US but who, at his best, could be extremely compelling--think Bach crossed with Brahms, only more so. On the other hand, I would not try Serkin first in the Beethoven Appassionata; I've never heard one of his recordings in this work that I found sufficiently "passionate."

    These are the ones that I have, all on LP (I also have no. 14 on 78s):

    No. 09 in E-Flat, K. 271, w/ Marlboro Fest. Or./Schneider.
    No. 10 in E-Flat (for Two Pianos and Orchestra), K 365. w/ Peter Serkin and Marlboro FestO/Schneider.
    No. 11 in F, K. 413. w/ Marlboro Festival Or./Schneider
    No. 12 in A, K. 414. w/ Marlboro Fest. Or./Schneider
    No. 14 in E-Flat, K. 449. w/ Busch Ch. Players/A. Busch (this one is from 78s)
    No. 17 in G, K. 453. w/ Columbia SO/Szell
    No. 19 in F, K. 459. w/ Columbia SO/Szell
    No. 20 in d, K. 466. w/ Marlboro Fest. Or./Schneider (stereo); also w/ Columbia SO/Szell and w/ Philadelphia Or./Ormandy (both mono)
    No. 21 in C, K. 595. w/ Columbia SO/Schneider.
    No. 22 in E-Flat, K. 482. w/ Perpignan Fest. Or./Casals
    No. 23 in A, K. 488. w/ Columbia SO/Schneider
    No. 25 in C, K. 503. w/ Columbia SO/Szell
    No. 27 in B-Flat, K. 595. w/ Columbia SO/Schneider; also w/ Philadelphia Or./Ormandy
     
  22. Bogey

    Bogey Spy Vinyl User

    Location:
    Colorado
    Here you are Jay, that is, some folks' opinions on the cycles by HvK.

    There are more threads that mention the cycles of LvB by HvK, but I found this one quickly.

    This one has mentions of the 60's v. 70's with little mention of the 80's. Note jwinter's and Harry's takes (and George would agree, two very nice folks that also lap up this genre) here.

    http://www.good-music-guide.com/comm...pic,241.0.html

    However, if anyone here has read otherwise this would be good news for me as I have always enjoyed what I have of the 80's set.

    Bottom line, all of the cycles probably have something to offer and all should be on one's shelf.:laugh:
     
  23. Bogey

    Bogey Spy Vinyl User

    Location:
    Colorado
    Thanks for the above effort drh....now where is that print button.:agree:
     
  24. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    Wow that's a great collection!

    On LP I only have Beethoven 14, 8, 32 on Columbia and the Triple Concerto with Laredo and Parnas on Eterna.
     
  25. Bogey

    Bogey Spy Vinyl User

    Location:
    Colorado
    Mozart
    Piano Concerto No. 14 K. 449
    The Busch Chamber Players with Rudolf Serkin
    Pearl 9278
    Recorded 1938
     
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