Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #39)

Mine are Perahia and Schnabel. Will keep on the lookout for Pires.

 

She plays them in a Richteresque way, she even dedicated the release to Richter.

Spotify has three of her Schubert Impromptus.

 

Columbia ML 5443,music of Gabrieli & Frescobaldi,E.Power Biggs & The Boston
Brass Ensemble,conducted by Richard Burgin.recorded 3/26,27,30,31 & 4/1,
1959,Romanesque Hall of the Busch-Reisinger Museum,Harvard.the organ was
built in 1958 by D.A. Flentrop.very enjoyable.sounds good in mono & even better in stereo on the Masterworks Heritage CD 'The Antiphonal Music of
Gabrieli' ,where it is added to the contents of the title LP.

 

Enjoying another recent PREX find. As many of you know, I don't like many modern pianists, but this guy is great. I have only three CDs of his, but they are all wonderful. And the recorded sound on this one is superb!

 

I never had a complete cycle of Schubert's symphonies until I realized that all of them were included in the HvK EMI box. Last night I listened to Symphony No. 1 for the first time. Umm. . . boring. I enjoy No. 5. How are 2-4 and 6?

 

I have the Perahia and Schiff and like them both.

 

Schubert's Second Symphony is great, much in the same way that Beethoven's Second Symphony is great. Beecham made a delightful recording of the "Little C major" Sixth Symphony. 3,4 & 5 are not on my radar. And the Unfinished and Great C major Symphonies really are in a class of their own.

 

I listened to them a few years back (via Boehm's set) and enjoyed them enough, but haven't been inspired to listen again. I should do so soon.

 

music for a day off

Prokofiev
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C, Op. 26
Rachmaninoff
Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Opus 1
Prokofiev
Toccata
Schumann
Variations on a Theme by Clara Wieck (“Quasi Variazoni”)
Mendelssohn
Song without Words, Opus 62, No. 1
Octavio Pinto (1890-1960)
Three Scenes from Childhood

Byron Janis, piano
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Kyril Kondrashin
(recorded in Moscow in 1962, except the Schumann recorded NYC, 1964)



Janis's staccato articulation in the Prok 3's first movement is astonishing...and they're not taking the movement slowly either.
Thanks George and John for the heads up on this classic.

 

The rach PC 1 on there aint no slouch either. One of, if not the best Rach PC1 (and Richter recorded that work too.)

 

Someday maybe Rachmaninoff will hit me between the eyes. Even though I've had close calls (Isle of the Dead), he has so far evaded me...or I him.

 

Call me Michael mcDonald.

(I keep forgettin')

 

seeing it live, played well should do the trick. Rach's piano concertos are pretty much as good a s music gets for me.

 

Homer: "Shiney McShine?"

His sacred choral music is very beautiful and very much in the tradition of the Russian Orthodox church. And if Argerich in Rachmaninoff's Third Concerto doesn't excite you, you need to be checked out by a doctor to see if you still have a pulse.



And whatever you do, avoid David Helfgott's trainwreck of a performance.

 

Ralph Dopmeyer's label. I remember interviewing him for KPFA in the late 80's. Gave me my first practical lessons in recording.

 

That Lute recording is pretty homely sounding...not too dull nor flashy....it does serve the instrument really well I think.

 

He told me he used ORTF [Schoeps Collettes, as I recall], had a standard formula for positioning the microphone stand, set levels and let the tape roll. His M.O. was non-interventionist, to say the least.

 

dang, nice stuff!

 

Rachmaninov's style is more varied than is usually given credit for. The Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini is the most popular of his later works, but you might enjoy the Third Symphony and the Symphonic Dances (in two versions, for two pianos, and orchestra). They're written in a tougher, more unpredictable and economic style and while recognizably Rachmaninov with a characteristically Russian flavour, they don't have that kind of gushing late-romanticism and contrasting big tunes that most people associate his style with and can sometimes verge on formula. Even the much earlier piano Preludes, op. 32 and the set of Etudes-Tableaux look forward to this leaner, subtler style, which may be more appealing to those who find his other stuff too opulent or sentimental.

 

Microphones are funny beasts. In my experience Schoeps Collettes are PERFECT for harpsichord, but little else. Microphones prove that resonant activity trumps frequency response. Collettes resound with Harpsichords. Neumann 84's are the perfect guitar microphone. And for some reason, the supercheap Soviet Oktava's work beautifully with female choral vocals. No microphone is really an "All Purpose Microphone."

 

Lute can be a bit more clangy than guitar..like a harpshichord...maybe it works well with them?...

 

"A Supposedly Fun Thing That I'll Never Do Again"

The lute offers a somewhat softer sound than the guitar.

The best combination of Microphone and Lute that I am aware of—B & K 4003's, with their high voltage phantom power and line-level output—can be heard on Hopkinson Smith's Astree CD of the music of Ennemond Gualtier:



I've recorded a lot of lute players, including "Hoppy." As the lute is a remarkably quiet instrument, self-noise is a critical issue. I spoiled my first recording of the lute master by recording using an all-tube chain [right up to the DAT recorder] in a room with dimmer switches on the lights. The buzz often overcame the sound of the instrument.

 

Cool info!! thanks for sharing!!

 

Knew you'd like it!
I had been waiting for a deal on that one for a while.
Patients pays off in the long run!!