Classical Corner Classical Music Corner

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

  1. ragepil

    ragepil Forum Resident

    Location:
    Barcelona
    Maximum noob on classical music. I mean, I enjoy the Four Seasons, the Branderbourg Concerts, Paganini...

    Any audiophile (SACD prefered) compilation with the classic and famous tunes?
     
  2. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
  3. Speaking of Living Stereo, I am unimpressed by the sound/recording quality of the LP below. My copy is a shaded-dog one (Canadian pressed/US stampers) which I have bought still sealed. I find it sounding thin - instead of warm, deep and engaging - as if their microphones were not fantastic or something... I'm only mentioning this because 1) I have very little experience with the shaded dogs; and 2) they have such as sky-high reputation...

    [​IMG]
     
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  4. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    [​IMG]

    Chillin out with this CD.
     
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  5. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    Others more tuned in to the subject will doubtless have more to contribute, but that is a "Dynagroove" pressing, and I believe those are not well regarded. As I understand things, the Dynagroove records were designed to be very thin, and the process compromised the sound they yielded. I don't know if an earlier issue of that recording in a more conventional pressing exists.
     
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  6. No this is a 1966 recording, according to Discogs, so the earliest version ought to be the Dynagroove I believe. I should have thought about the Dynagroove thing, thanks. Even though I have played the Prokofieff cello concerto by the BSO/Leinsdorf shaded-dog, another canadian Dynagroove, right after the Van Cliburn one, and the orchestra sounded full, warm and nice.
     
  7. sambamaster

    sambamaster Forum Resident

    I think you are confusing Dynagroove with DynaFlex which were designed to be thinner which I think was simply a money saving scam by RCA. I worked in record stores when DynaFlex was introduced, and they caused nothing but problems. Simply awful.
     
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  8. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Don't know how I missed this. Someone put up a live 1975 performance of The Juilliard String Quartet performing Beethoven's Op. 131, a particular piece they're known for having "conquered". I think I still prefer the 1962 RCA vinyl but the video record of them playing this is awesome.

    [​IMG]
     
  9. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    [​IMG]

    Now enjoying Brahms symphonies 2 and 3 from the above box set.
     
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  10. Nipper

    Nipper His Master's Voice

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    I just picked up this set a few months ago. :wave:
     
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  11. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Nice pick!
     
  12. Adam9

    Adam9 Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй.

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
  13. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    Spinning-
    [​IMG]
     
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  14. dale 88

    dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

    Location:
    west of sun valley
    These 7 overtures are very well-played. Exceptional performances. The only drawback for me is that they were recorded at a low distant level and I have to keep turning up the volume.:shh: They complement the recent complete overtures from Naxos.
    Claudio Abbado
    The Chamber Orchestra of Europe
    Rossini Overtures
    DGG, 1991
    [​IMG]
     
  15. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
    [​IMG]
    Tchaikovsky The Seasons Brigitte Engerer (1982, Philips)

    This is a 2010 Universal Music remastering of the Philips recording. I was completely unfamiliar with these solo piano pieces by Tchaikovsky until today. Nice discovery.
     
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  16. dale 88

    dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

    Location:
    west of sun valley
    Earl Wild
    Liszt: the 1985 sessions
    Ivory Classics, 2001
    2 discs
    These were recorded in December 1985, before Wild gave 3 Liszt recitals in Carnegie Hall and elsewhere in 1986. These play nicely with the Vanguard Liszt recordings of Wild around 1967.
    [​IMG]
     
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  17. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    I like that set and listened to it recently.
     
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  18. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    Spinning this great sounding disc.
    [​IMG]
     
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  19. sherrill50

    sherrill50 Well-adapted Melomaniac

    Location:
    Mukilteo, WA
    NP: Johann Helmich Roman, 'the 'Swedish Handel'.

    [​IMG]
     
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  20. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    [​IMG]

    Finally found a reasonably priced copy of Arrau's last recording of the Beethoven sonatas yesterday. Plan to listen to some of it tomorrow, keeping in mind that the playing isn't quite up to the same level as his prior set on Philip's.
     
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  21. dale 88

    dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

    Location:
    west of sun valley
    Rudolf Serkin
    Philadelphia Orchestra
    Eugene Ormandy
    Schumann: Piano Concerto


    Rudolf Serkin
    Budapest Quartet
    Schumann: Piano Quintet, Op. 44

    This concerto performance by Rudolf Serkin is still one of my favorites. It was recorded in 1964, released in 1965. This CD was issued in 1982. Overall, I think the sound is better than some of Ormandy's 1970s recordings.
    [​IMG]
     
  22. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    [​IMG]

    OK, 4 discs into this set, I am reminded of what is illuminating, but also frustrating about Arrau's Beethoven. Illuminating in the sense that he brings out great beauty, especially in the slow movements, which are absolutely breathtaking. Unfortunately, in the fast movements he is frequently deliberate, lacking excitement and forward momentum. Sure, these sonatas (except for two) were recorded at the end of his life, but I still wish he'd pick up the pace a lot of the time. This is not Beethoven for the thrill seekers, this is Beethoven for those who want the scenic view, for those who have all the time in the world. The piano tone is captured beautifully. I have read from those more knowledgeable than I that Arrau's tone was never more accurately captured.

    Considering he had already recorded the complete set for Philips, I have to wonder his reasons for giving them another go, especially when many consider his first complete set to be superb.
     
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  23. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    Excellent points. His style works for me with some of the sonatas. I like how he takes the first movement of the Waldstein for example.
     
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  24. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    I am enjoying his Waldstein right now.
     
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  25. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    In the past several days, after a few weeks' break, I've been back to copying the Michael Ponti complete Tchaikowsky piano music set (9 LPs, lackluster Murray Hill pressings licensed from American Vox, destined to be deaccessioned once I'm done), and tonight I came to a work previously unfamiliar to me, the Variations and Coda on an Original Theme in F, op. 19 no. 6. Well, actually, many of the works in these records are unfamiliar to me, but I'm particularly glad to have made the acquaintance of this one; it's a good piece, definitely a cut above a lot of the salon music (admittedly, of a high order) that seems to make up a high percentage of ol' Pyotr Ilyich's solo piano oeuvre. Curiously, the other five works in op. 19 are all of that character, and the variations notably overshadow them in length as in quality.

    As has been the case throughout this project, Ponti's performance is technically accomplished, albeit hard-toned, without offering any special insights; I get the feeling he swallowed big expanses of repertory without ever fully digesting them, camping out on (incontestably) outsized digital facility. I have one other recording of the piece, a performance by one Ramon Coll, about whom I know naught, on an MHS LP licensed from the Spanish Ensayo label. The good news: while I wouldn't say Coll's is necessarily the last word in insightful performance, it's considerably more imaginative than Ponti's, and Coll for the most part plays with more attractive tone, although his piano sounds a bit odd to me in the upper registers. An instrument built in next door neighbor France, perhaps? The album jacket is not forthcoming. The bad news: whether from being a bad pressing or just a record that has seen better days (I got it used, don't remember where), it's noisy and flawed, even after machine cleaning. Too bad. Well, be that as it may, I do wonder why this work doesn't get more attention. Granted, Tchaikowsky's piano music, like that of Sibelius, generally gets treated as something of a backwater, but the op. 19/6 strikes me as something good enough to hold its own with the standard repertory and that could add some welcome variety thereto.

    A curiosity: both sets of program notes go out of their way to contend Tchaikowsky was (to paraphrase) "the best writer of variations, aside from Brahms, of the Romantic era." I'd take issue with that claim; I'd say in the later Romantic era Max Reger has at least a fair claim to that title, and earlier Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Schumann were not exactly slouches, either. Silly effort to puff up the goods at hand, if you ask me.
     
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