Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #14)

EDIT: For all the Dvorak symphonies, actually.

 

The Bartok is one of the best

 

If you're amenable to less than up to date sonics, the Dvorak "New World" was one of Toscanini's finest achievements with the NBC Symphony Or. on record.

 

As long as we're sharing recent acquisitions, here are 4 that I bought within the last week or so--about $20 for all, shipped. The Schubert is new/'sealed; heard part of the sym. 3 on the radio and was much taken with it.

 

I have that exact Bartok and it's EXCELLENT great choice on your part!!

As for the Sea Symphony....I never heard that one you ordered but this one I have is EXCELLENT IMHO.
It was a joint venture with MHS and EMI...same exact CD and cover art just MHS logo.
Cover art on mine is more exciting!

 

My kinda Guy!!
Gotta love deals like that...they are out there if ya hunt a lil.
In the end it's well worth the $$ saved.....means more CD's for your dollar.

.

 

I highly recommend this 6 CD Set....it can be found VERY reasonable 2nd hand like new.
I got mine for around $20 USD Shipped used like new!



It's also a Penguin Guide Rosette Top Award Winner

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Decca/4300462

 

I stand corrected ....I got mine for $15 USD used like new......CHEAP for this excellent ward winning set!!

 

This Living Stereo is a fine recording, talking about Living Stereo - I was just made aware of this box set, which I think is only issued in Japan.

 

... and now this fine recording

 

OMG THUD!!

Wonder what the price tag is on that USD?

 

Listening now to another great LP from the 50s...

 

amazon.us does not have it in stock but I saw a pricing around $150. Not bad for 60 Living Stereos.

 

Ordered this 5 disc set new for under $20 shipped.

 

New Chopin release, due out September 14, 2010. amazon link

More Info Here - http://www.arbiterrecords.com/

 

That does look like a nice set!
The samples at Amazon sound VERY nice.
I think I'll pursue this as well!

BTW: It's a 4 disc set dude! OOppsss

 

Are these SACDs?

 

The descreption doesn't say but since there were only 53 (56?) Hybrid SACDs issued it would have to be the regular CD version by default.

 

Thanks, that what I though.

 

I've owned an earlier Kertész performance of the New World Symphony on London's Stereo Treasury Series, one of the orange-labeled thick pressings, probably from the original stampers. The Kertész set is great, LP lovers should hunt down early pressings on London or [better still] UK Decca, the CD sound is a little lackluster in comparison. In the same STS LP series, there's an early stereo recording of the Vienna Philharmonic led by Rafael Kubelik. I love the Cinerama sound-staging and Kubelik's idiomatic onducting. Also have Vaclav Talich and the Czech Philharmonic from 1954 on a mono Supraphon LP from 1968, not as vivid as Kubelik, but worth seeking out anyway:
http://www.amazon.com/Vaclav-Talich-13-Dvorak/dp/B000NHG7NE

Also have Bernstein/NYPO on an original issue Columbia LP—mid-sixties solid grey label. Very zippy [esp. the sound], American and brash. For Lenny's fans. Bruno Walter and the Columbia Symphony orchestra manage to squeeze the nth degree of emotion from Dvorak's 9th, my Odyssey LP predictably has tipped-up bass and treble.

I'd give a strong recommendation for Christoph von Dohnányi/Cleveland Orchestra's set of Dvorak's last three symphonies, in particular for the vivid and energized performance of the Seventh Symphony. Excellent SQ.


http://www.amazon.com/Dvorak-3-Great-Symphonies-Antonin/dp/B0000042EI

 

Regarding the "New World," earlier, I mentioned the Toscanini recording, for those who can live with '50s mono. I should have mentioned another for those with tolerance for WW II-era sound: Oswald Kabasta with the Munich Phil. Or., an account I like even better (and that's saying something). Alas, at the moment the recording seems to be available only in this pricey set, which is the way I have it on CD:

http://www.amazon.com/Oswald-Kabast...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1281187208&sr=8-1

For LP lovers, it was also issued pseudonymously (as the "Berlin Sym. Or. under Karl List") on Royale 1257. If you see a copy, it will probably set you back next to nothing, but be aware that the ultra-budget label Royale's surfaces were reminiscent of 50 grit sandpaper even when new. One curiosity: there's a patch at the beginning of the final mvt. where the sound, otherwise pretty decent for the period, takes a radical turn for the worse and then abruptly rights itself--almost as if someone patched in a bit from a different, much inferior recording. The same thing happens in both the Royale and Music and Arts editions, so I presume it's an artifact of the original tapes.

 

I think I 've seen this LP in my local record store...you're talking about this one, right?

 

That's the one--although my cover is more of a magenta background than what's coming through as orange on my monitor. Nothing unexpected; consistency was not one of Royale's long suits. A most frustrating label, in fact; it specialized in grabbing material, some of it supremely interesting, off the air in Europe or pirating tapes obtained who knows how and then issuing the things under patently bogus pseudonyms with about the worst pressing quality imaginable. The Dvorak is well worth picking up for a buck or so, but DO NOT pay more than that--even if it looks "mint," the record will have the noisiest surfaces you've ever heard. Remington has top-end DG silent surfaces by comparison. If your preamp has a "mono" setting, use it; I can't imagine trying to play back a Royale in stereo. (Oh, and I should add: if you buy a Royale, treat the cover gently. Royale covers are extremely prone to splitting at the seams.)

Another example of an interesting Royale, just the sort of thing that drives me to distraction: no. 1324, Prokofiev's Lt. Kije suite, issued as being by the "Berlin Sym. Or." under "Gerd Rubahn" (two recurring pseudonyms on Royale). The performance is mostly a horrid plod--it manages to take up in full both sides of the record!--but it features the rarely-heard alternative with baritone singing the songs that Prokofiev wove into the score. (My favorite: "A Woman's Heart Is Like an Inn that Charges Modest Fees.") The singer's name given on the sleeve is no more genuine than Rubahn's: Armin Kessel. Just who was really responsible is unknown, although a good candidate, based on contemporary broadcast archives, is a Dutch baritone named Caspar Broecheler with the NDR SO under Walter Goehr. Why so frustrating? Well, Broecheler (or whoever) sings very well, albeit in German--much better than the only others I've heard on record (there are only two, one Iordachescu with Leinsdorf and Andreas Schmidt with Ozawa, and both singers are pretty unlovely, in my opinion). So, on balance a good candidate to be the best account recorded to date of the sung version--but the performers are uncertain, the pressing is abysmal, and the likelihood of its resurfacing in a better setting is nil.

 

Thanks for the useful info I 've never had any Royale LP in my collection, as a matter of fact, this is the first time I am hearing of this label.
I 'll grab the Dvorak next time I 'll visit my local store.

 

Adding a little drama to the evening ...