Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #3)

With which ITA.

 

Listening to...

Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy - Those Fabulous Philadelphians
CBS Records - U.K. - 1970 - "one eye"
-A1 / -B1



1. What is the Philadelphia Orchestra? Symphony or Philharmonic?
2. Why the regular CBS label? Did Columbia not use the Masterworks label in the U.K.?

 

Smetana

Now playing:

• Smetana: Ma Vlast - Vaclav Talich/Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
  Biddulph 1997, the complete 1941 HMV recording, transfers by Ward Marston. Magnifique!!

 

Schubert

One more before retiring:

• Schubert: Piano Sonata D960 + Allegretto in C Minor D915 + Three Piano Pieces D946 - Maurizio Pollini
  Orig. DG aluminum-to-center 'Made in USA' 1987 edition, this may be the finest performance I've heard of Schubert's last and greatest (IMO) sonata, the B-flat major. Anyone heard it? George?

 

I haven't heard it, sorry. I like Pollini's performances of 20th Century works and some of his Beethoven.

 

Composer: Brahms
Work: Symphony No. 4
Performer: Fritz Reiner, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Medium and Label: CD, Chesky
Date of performance: 1961

I'll be listening to this and the 1963 Karajan recording on DG over the next few days to see which I like best (from both a performance and SQ point of view).

 

Thomas Tallis
Spem in Alium
Oxford Camerata/Jeremy Summerly
Naxos 8.557770
2005

Good morning.

George,
The Eagle Beatles have landed. Thanks much, buddy!

 

My first observation is that this sounds quite different to the Reiner recordings with the Chicago Symphony I have on Living Stereo SACD-Hybrid. They sound closer miked - this one with the Royal Philharmonic has a more distant, although perhaps more cohesive feel to it. Chesky's remastering of these old tapes is certainly top notch.

 

I think I have the same recording as part of a 2 disc set.

http://www.amazon.com/Schubert-Die-...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1229090634&sr=1-1

(This may be a remaster - I bought mine at least 15 years ago.)

I like it, but I prefer Richard Goode

http://www.amazon.com/Schubert-Sona...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1229090853&sr=1-2

 

For me, the Schubert sonatas are profound in the hands of Richter. I have every recording he made of the Schubert sonatas and they are all wonderful.

 

Well, that's sayin' somethin'.

 

Indeed. Collecting his Schubert was a challenge. The sonatas are spread out over many different discs, some of which are very hard to find. I wish he had recorded all of the sonatas. He has a policy of not recording/performing works that either he doesn't like or feels another pianist has played incredibly.

 

Here 's what I played the last couple of days:

Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 5 - Claudio Arrau--The Philharmonia Orchestra/Alceo Galliera (Columbia LP 1959)

This is a great performance worth seeking by those who like Beethoven and piano. It should be available on CD but I was lazy to search.
The producer is the great Walter Legger and the sound is good.

Here is what Robert C. Marsh wrote in High Fidelity magazine in 1961:

"This performance finds Arrau in excellent form and more than able to prove himself among the finest pianists of the day. Galliera, as in the earliest discs in this series, proves an accompanist well suited in both musicianship and temperament to support the big, solid performances Arrau contributes to their collaboration. Some of Arrau's passage work here has an authority and substance only an exceptional artist can provide."

Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No 1 - Sir Clifford Curzon--The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Georg Solti.(London LP 1958)

This performance is available on CD in the box set Original Masters - Clifford Curzon Vol 3

I cannot say that I am overly excited about this. It is not a bad performance by any means, but I guess it would be more appreciated by the fans of Curzon's style, which is not always to my taste.

Great conducting by Solti by the way and very good sound.

 

This is what I have ...

http://www.amazon.com/Alan-Marks-pl...r_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1229132296&sr=1-11

 

Lazar Berman refused to record any works of Chopin after he thought he had unfairly lost in the International Chopin Competitions held in Warsaw according to one biography I read ...

 

This just arrived in mail today and will play it some time this weekend ...

 

I am not familiar with this, but Scherchen is a very interesting conductor. I know him for his Bach and his great contributions in performing modern music, such as various Xenakis works.

Did you guys know this?

"Another notable achievement is his 1958 recording of Beethoven's Eroica symphony for the Westminster label (subsequently reissued on compact disc), containing what is still (as of 2006) the fastest first movement ever recorded and the closest to Beethoven's own, problematic, metronome mark."

Quote from wikipedia.

 

Stuart, let us know how it sounds, I am interesting in getting this.

 

This Bach Organ Works set by Helmut Walcha, the stereo version also arrived today. I have yet to finish listening to the monaural set that arrived last week.

 

This too arrived today. Richter conducting Bach St John Passion ...

 

Absolutely. From what I have read, the performance should be similar to the 1963 LvB Symphony No. 9 ... the best of all HvK's Beethoven 9th.