Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #32)

On German vinyl:

 

Angel S-35892.recorded 4/21-3/60,Abbey Road Studio No.1.producers:
Walter Legge & Walter Jellinek.engineers:Harold Davidson & Douglas Larter.
released on (English) Columbia SAX-2387,8/61.also released in the US on
Capitol SG-7228,which may have been the 1st American release.i wasn't
sure about this one at first,but's grown on me with additional listens.

 

IMO Giulini is a highly under rated conductor

 

Re Arrau/Giulini/PO Brahms PC in D minor:

I've heard great things about that recording, of one of my favorite works by Brahms, but it has eluded me yet. How is it?

 

Looks like a 'go' to me, John.

 

I'm actually an .ape user pretty much exclusively, although I do have a few FLAC downloads that I've picked up along the line. I chose .ape because for some reason the antiquated computer that I was using when I started my server project liked it better than FLAC. FLAC is more popular, and it has far, far more support from mfrs. of portable players. (Not hard to do, since .ape has next to none--I think there may be one or two players out there with .ape support at most.) Don't know about tagging; given how I have organized my system, it really isn't an issue. In .ape's favor, it is slightly more efficient than FLAC. I've seen some independent reporting to that effect, and a quite unscientific comparison that I once ran suggested maybe a matter of 3% or so. I'd say that unless you plan to go portable or have some other compelling reason, it's not worth the bother to convert, as both formats yield fine results.

 

Note that the Prima Voce issues are controversial. Nimbus made them by playing 78s on an open horn gramophone in a reverberant hall and recording the results with microphones. While I'm not necessarily convinced, I think you can make a case for that approach with acoustic records (like Caruso's); I think it's poppycock for electrics. Many others, however, are not even so charitable regarding the acoustics. I wish I could be more positive help, but I'm not really up on reissues because I listen mostly to my own 78s. If, however, there's something out there like a Naxos reissue mastered by Ward Marston, that would probably be a safer choice.

Thanks, by the way, for all the effort you've put into this project. Nice labor of love there!

 

it didn't make much of an impression on first hearing,but then i seemed to have never heard the concerto before.i knew i must have some recordings on CD & found & listened to 3.the Cliburn/BSO/Leinsdorf left me unconvinced,but
i really liked Rubinstein/CSO/Reiner & Katchen/LSO/Monteux, and the sound on those two is very good.playing the Arrau again i appreciated it
more,but still like the Rubinstein & Katchen better.my Angel pressing is
listenable,but i'd like more vivid sound.

 

DRH: (David)

You like Cello?

Here are a coupla fav sets I have got over the past 2 years.
These are great if you don't have em already!!

 

Deutsche Grammophon 138 077.recorded in Warsaw 10/11/58(Concerto)
4/29/59(Intro & Allegro) 4/30/59(Toccata) & 5/2/59(Novellette).with the
Warsaw Philharmonic,conducted by Witold Rowicki(Concerto) & Stanislaw Wislocki(Intro & Allegro).the Concerto is excellent and sound is good.i believe this was issued in 1960,then reissued a couple of years later with a different cover,one with Richter's photo.

 

Alexis Weissenberg RIP

.

 

Alexis Weissenberg RIP

I think it was not mentioned before, but the great pianist Alexis Weissenberg died yesterday Jan 8, 2012, aged 82 after severe illness.

http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2012/01/sad-news-great-pianist-dies.html#comment-10506

RIP.

Exactly when EMI decided to release a 10-CD set dedicated to his EMI output:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alexis-Weissenberg-ICON/dp/B006MO0N6Y/ref=lh_ni_t

I wonder which of the 2 recordings he did of Rachmaninov's 3rd PC will be inlcuded in this box (Pretre/Chicago SO or Bernstein/ORTF; hopefully the first, although issued by RCA on vinlyl but included in EMI's Introuvables Weissenberg box...),

Alex

 

OK, so I guess I'm gonna be the first guy in this thread to get this.

 

Never heard of John Garth, so I just looked him up. English composer, lived an incredibly long life 1721-1810. Freemason. Married a woman 30 years his junior (when he was 73, no less).

From Wikipedia:

 

Now playing:

• Stenhammar: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 1, and 2 in D minor, Op. 23 - Niklas Sivelöv (piano); Mario Venzago / Malmö Symphony Orchestra [Naxos 2011, Recorded at the Malmö Concerto Hall, Malmö, Sweden, on August 25-29, 2009, Producer and engineer: Sean Lewis, Booklet notes: Richard Whitehouse — No. 2 premiered in Gothenburg in 1908, a great unheralded über-Romantic concerto by this Swedish contemporary and close friend of Jean Sibelius]

From Music Web International:

 

Hi Zod

This list came out of a project I started to create an introduction to classical playlisy on MOG. I asked people on this thread to make suggestions, first of works and then of performances, and I assembled a list using those suggestions and MOG's library. My guiding principle has been variety, in music type, era and performer.

I did place a cut-off, because this project needs to come to an end. I know there are some composers missing, but that was because they were not nominated by anyone. (I had to add Handel to my final nominations or he would not be represented.) I will add the Elgar/DuPre cello, because I love it. For most composers I only chose one work. Exceptions were for composers who were nominated by several people.

In response to other points, I vacillated between D894 and D960 (both of which were nominated), but I listened to D894 last week and went for it.

I forgot to pick a performer for Haydn. If I go with Davis, I'll change performances of the Figaro overture to Solti.

The only other choice for Caruso was an RCA album that had been processed through a no-noise system.

On the whole I stayed away from older pre-stereo recordings as I felt that might be a turn-off for some people.

Edit - found an EMI Caruso disc purportedly released in 1999. There are others on smaller labels, but you don't get engineering info. Should I go with that?

Anyone want to nominate a Bruckner 4th?

 

When Weissenberg moved to DG, they released to discs simultaneously, one of Scarlatti and one of Debussy. I cherish them both. I also have the Beethoven concerto cycle he did with HvK as part of the big EMI box.

 

Although I'm no cello specialist, I do love the instrument. I have the du Pre set (bought it in the great EMI blowout at Importcd.com a year ago); the Rostropovich I really should but don't. To be honest, the top of my "cello gaps to fill" list right now is the rest of Starker's first Bach set on Period; I lack suites 2 and 5. If you take a listen to suite 3 (disc 6, tracks 6-11), you'll see why that failing has become so irksome!

 

Nice

 

The Rostropovich 2 CD-Set was among the first cds that I ever bought.
I remember till then I was considering cds inferior in sound quality to LPs but this particular recording made me reconsider.

 

Great pianist. RIP.

 

APE and FLAC contain the same info, just different compression. I use CDBurnerXP to burn CD-R, which supports APE.

 

That is how and when I got my Du Pre set as well....less than $10 shipped for a 17 CD set.....it was a no brainer!

My Rostropovich set I got at a Garage Sale for a crazy $5 and is like new.
Excellent set and if you can find it reasonable I recommend it HIGHLY!
It's also a Penguin Guide Rosette Winner!

 

.

 

I used that on my old computer using Win XP and limited HD space for years!
I now use Burning Studio 11 cuz I can burn ANYTHING with it and I'm no longer cramped for HD space.

I guess the reason I got hooked on FLAC is cuz I read somewhere it's the best quality and compression. Not to mention the most popular of the Lossless formats.