Another frequent problem with Sutherland, albeit not an issue here: more often than not she came as a package with husband Richard Bonynge on the podium. He was, shall we say, not the most enlivening of conductors. Do you have Traviata on video? Opera was meant to be seen as well as heard, and these days I'd be inclined to look for a good video if possible.
Shostakovich: 24 PRELUDES AND FUGUES, OP. 87 (Tatiana Nikolayeva, rec. 1962 - Doremi, 2010) Excellent, and the dry, limited sound does not bother me. The piano tuning seems off to me, but I don't pretend to have a good ear for this. It's been too long since I've heard either of her later recordings to compare.
Today I ordered my first recording of Furtwangler, his Beethoven 9th from 1954 at Lucerne. I ordered the Audite SACD version as it was fairly cheap and readily available. However after reading these comments I am hoping the mastering does not suck. I hate an overly bright, boosted sound!
Welcome to Furt's world! Furt's Beethoven 9th Lucerne 1954 was a good quality recording from the beginning, so I think this edition should be very very good. It's a great Ninth, also if I personally prefer the versions recorded in Berlin 1942 (both 2 recordings) and in Bayreuth 1951. But in order of sound quality, Lucerne 1954 is considered to be the best.
My father passed away at 97, leaving behind over 1500 mint condition vinyl records that I'm not sure what to do with. This 1950 Francis Poulenc LP is among them, in which he plays his own works and those of Satie. It's also the original Columbia Masterworks release, ML 4399. Except for the mention here, however, I can't find it anywhere online...whether for purposes of background or value. Any ideas?
The place to go is Discogs, which has info on pretty much everything, including its value. The entry for the LP you mention, for example, is Francis Poulenc, Satie* - Poulenc Playing His Own Works: Mouvements Perpetuels ‧ Nocturne In D Major ‧ Suite Francaise ‧ Piano Music Of Satie.
I have only listened to the first two movements, but so far this Furtwangler Ninth isn't really impressing me. Maybe it will take time to grow on me. From what I've heard so far I prefer the Karajan 63 recording. I find it to be just as intense, and I prefer the quicker tempos. Maybe my opinion will change though.
Toscanini said once that Furtwängler used to conduct the Ninth too slow; and the german Maestro replied "Maybe is Toscanini that conducts it too fast..."
I think I read somewhere that when recording his Ninth in 62 Karajan studied and tried to emulate Toscanini.
Among the conductors I like the most, the slower Ninth Scherzo I've heard so far is this by Karl Böhm:
Found this in the local consignment store a couple days ago. If it was ever played it wasn't often, judging from the condition of the box and LPs.
I like Toscanini, but you're damn right about Karajan's 60's recordings! I bought this box set in the year 1996, love it: A precious booklet included too. But when W. Furtwangler is concerned, I agree that his approach is completely different from Karajan's. I love them both but Furtwangler's recordings have no parallel to me in terms of originality, and what most haunts me is that every interpretation of him that I've heard so far has something different to discover and appreciate...
I asked a local conductor of semi-pro and local professional orchestras why Beethoven's Missa Solemnis isn't more often performed. He told me it is too difficult for most of his musicians and, although roughly from the same period as some of the master's later works, not equally accessible, although it is a quality work. To me it almost unique among Beethoven's works and not just because it's a mass. I've read he might have been influenced by Cherubini, whose own Missa Solemnis is of similar length. As Donald Tovey says, "Not even Bach or Handel can show a greater sense of space and of sonority. There is no earlier choral writing that comes so near to recovering some of the lost secrets of the style of Palestrina. There is no choral and no orchestral writing, earlier or later, that shows a more thrilling sense of the individual colour of every chord, every position, and every doubled third or discord." I copied this quote from Wikipedia, although Tovey's comment is represented elsewhere on the web as well. I keep watching for a CSO performance, as Muti is becoming so well regarded as one of their best conductors. Maybe he's done it before and the CSO is certainly up to its demands - in fact, they've performed it for Haitink, although I think Muti would be, if anything, more ideally suited to it, or at least what I like in it. I can dream anyway. I would imagine Karajan would be a great conductor for this. I have never heard his version. Good catch!
Yes, it’s the 70’s set I cut my teeth on as it was released. I still have a few of the original vinyls. The Eloquence reissue pictured is remastered in excellent sound.