Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #41)

Now playing CD3 - Symphony No. 2, etc. from the following set for a first listen ...

 

Agreed, there are some that are not that interesting to me also like these with Boston Pops for example.

 

That said, Arthur Fiedler, in his prime, had a unique talent for bringing off "light classical" fare; just the right touch, taking the music seriously but not *too* seriously, so to speak. To hear how good he was at it, one need only listen to some of those who came after.

 

Now playing CD4 - Preludes and Etudes etc. by Zoltan Kocsis from the following set for a first listen ...

 

Like John Williams?

 

have been listening to this today. Aside from the final movement which doesnt seem to flow so well as the rest, its surprisingly successful. I dont think anybody else has recorded this?

I bought it because I adore Idil Biret's recordings, especially her Chopin mazurkas.

 

John Williams is more exuberant and does more up tempo works.
Like many of the Sci-Fi movie scores and the like.

My lifetime came twards the end of Aurthur Fielder's time.
1979 when He died I think I was 14....so I only vaguely remember him on TV.

 

Now playing CD5 from the following set for a first listen ...

 

The thought had occurred. I'm afraid I'd need to cite Eric Kunzel, too, even though he seems to have been an enthusiastic musical ambassador and generally nice guy.

By then Arthur Fiedler was long past his prime, tending very much to symphonic Beatles transcriptions and the like. (See? Even the Classical Music Corner can become a Beatles thread... ) Remember, he got his start in the 1930s and recorded extensively throughout the 78 era; by the time Living Stereo came along, he was a long-time veteran. Incidentally, I've mentioned this before, but there was a more "serious" side to Arthur Fiedler; he formed the Arthur Fiedler Sinfonietta to perform and record neglected music by notable composers. For example, he and that group committed several Mozart organ sonatas to record (Victor 78 RPM set M 1019); Handel's "Cockoo and the Nightingale" organ concerto (Victor set MO 733); and, unless I'm much mistaken, the first ever recording of Pachelbel's Canon, then quite an exotic piece. (Not so any more, of course!) The soloist in the organ works was none other than a relatively young E. Power Biggs.

Among my favorite Fiedler/Boston Pops recordings are Chabrier's Espana Rhapsodie and the 1812 Overture, both derived from 78s, the latter a sentimental choice as, in the form of an LP reissue, it was among the records that started me on my voyage into classical music as a little kid. As was his first recording of Gaite Parisienne, for that matter. Oh, yes, and those "Evening at Pops" TV broadcasts: they were a weekly fixture of our lives when I was growing up.

Anybody remember Fiedler the Flack for Radio Shack? Somewhere I have an old audio magazine with one of the print ads, prominently showing Fiedler in the company of some unbearably gushy copy. Every other sentence ends with an exclamation point.

 

I am now playing my copy of that disc, hoping that it doesn't skip.

 

Thanks, David, for the notes on Arthur Fiedler, very interesting!

 

Do these "collectors edition" box sets by DG come with liner notes or just track listing? Thanks!

 

In my experience (I own a few of them), both.

 

i believe there were 54 titles released. Or was it 56?

 

Good to know, my local Newbury Comics has the 5 cd Box set of Kempff playing Schumann and I was thinking of buying it.

 

Looks incomplete - I don't see the operas.

 

His Gershwin disc is great.

 

ah thanks. I would like to buy some of these boxes, the Handel/Pinnock would be a nice one

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Handel-Orch...=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1349697250&sr=1-1

but I'm in doubt; missing out on the old liner notes would be a bummer.

I see there are some repackaged boxsets that come with just the tracklisting, the Ofra Harnoy - Vivaldi's Cello concertos is a good example where old info on booklets were not repressed

 

As far as I can tell, Arthur Fiedler is a particular favorite of our host. I recall early on at this forum making some crack about the Offenbach/Boston Pops SACD as being the one SACD in the 'Living Stereo' series avoid and got a very sharp retort from Mr. Hoffman. It's interesting, in retrospect. Steve's right, turning up my nose at Arthur Fiedler's Offenbach was rude and in no way helpful. The simple fact is, if you ever wanted to hear any version of Gaîté Parisienne, this SACD is the one to get. the Sound is amazing, the playing is full of energy. It might be that you don't like 'Offenbach' over the long haul, but you probably will get a kick out of this piece [so to speak.]



It would be really hard for anyone to dislike this recording of "Rhapsody in Blue" with Earl Wild as soloist. This is Fiedler and 'Classical' Gershwin at their best:



I've owned a lot of Arthur Fiedler discs over the years, Hi-Fi Fiedler is one I really didn't care for all that much. Mind you, I've owned all three titles on original 'Shaded Dogs' at one time or the other, thanks in large part to the exceptional sound quality of these original pressings. I have yet to hear Pops Caviar. I would like to note that Fiedler's Phase 4 recording of the Johann Strauss Jr's waltzes is very nice on my LP. Though I can't attest for the quality of the "Weekend Classics" issue of Fiedler's Strauss specifically, I cannot recall a single "Weekend Classics" issue that wasn't improved when later remastered.

 

Which two tracks?[/QUOTE]

I bought this used for $15 on Ebay. This disc had a pretty deep scratch in it. The final movement of the "Haffner" goes all to hell half way through and the opener of the "Linz" doesn't even play. It killed me because I was listening to the disc and thinking, "this may be the best disc in the set." Luckily I got the Philips disc for $2 bucks on Ebay as well.

 

His Schubert box in the same series is nice too.

 

Ah, I see. I am almost all the way through my copy without any problems. I thought it might have been a manufacturing defect.

 

On second thought, I think it might be the Schubert that they have, I 'll go and check later today.
Thanks for the recommendation George

 

I think that I have this on LP but I don't remember ever listening to it, I 'll try to locate it tonight and give it a spin.

I also own the SACD Hi-Fi Fiedler and, like Robin, I did not care for it that much.

 

It's even better than his Schumann. (you can ID it by the light blue border)

My pleasure!