Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #46)

In the last few weeks I've been listening to Ruy Coelho's second violin sonata from 1923. I'm outside my usual familiar territory here, or comfort zone, if you will; I usually don't spend a lot of time with 20th century music, and so I'd not be surprised if someone more knowledgeable were to write it off as "hopelessly derivative."

And yet--and yet--I keep coming back to this thing. In parts it has a glowing autumnity about it, together with some beautiful, rich sonorities (when it's not being rather busily "modern" in an early-20th-century sort of way), and I just can't make up my mind whether the appeal is in the music itself or in the ferociously committed performance by Vasco and Grazi Barbosa (violinist and pianist, respectively). Neither name means anything to me beyond this recording, but together they put their hearts and souls into the music: clearly they believe in it 100%. In the process, I suppose they've made a believer of me, too.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that the recording is very, very nice. PortugalSom PS 5012, which also contains the same composers vln. sta. no. 1, a suite for orchestra called Summer Walks, and the ballet The Princess with the Iron Shoes. Doing the honors in the orchestral works are more names otherwise unknown to me: Orquestra Sinfonica da RDP under Silva Pereira.

It occurs to me that an interesting discussion might center around recordings of music that may or may not be first-rate but that put it across on the strength of the performance. Anybody care to offer other examples?

 

Silver Apples of the Moon is one of the best known electronic works. Another one done a year later by Subotnick called The Wild Bull is also on Nonesuch. The Wild Bull is a much darker work than Silver Apples but a bit more lyrical if that word can be used in this context. Notice how much better analog synthesizers sound compared to digital. The oddity in the sonics is the very flat soundstage as the sound emanated from speakers.

 

One person's apocalyptic is another person's bland. Such is the nature and part of the beauty of classical music.

 

I didn't find Barbirolli's 6th bland because it is so dense with quality, it just doesn't have the big climatic impact that others have.

I too prefer my Mahler to be balls out and raw. I ordered a copy of the LSO live cycle under Gregiev, which seems to get mixed reports but from what I've heard it is definitely fast and fiery. I will report back!

 

both were issued on a CD by WERGO.

 

I have not heard the Barbirolli M6. I do have the Gergiev. He and the LSO march quite smartly. Here's a sample:



The quickest first movement I've heard is Levi/Atlanta. The sense of movement is accentuated by the fact that he doesn't take the exposition repeat. Sound and performance are first rate. The scherzo is the best I've heard. (The Gergiev is Andante-Scherzo. Levi is Scherzo-Andante which I prefer, but I can take the order either way.)

 

Not sure if it is too late to cancel. This is the curse of having too many recordings ...

Perhaps it is not too late to cancel since the 'request to cancel' link is still available to me.

 

Another beautiful sounding new arrival via the postman...

 

Playing disc 1 of this set now.......

 

i have a number of EMI imported LPs like that one,where they had to cover the HMV dog with a sticker on the cover.

 

YUM!

 

GREAT set!!

Now enjoying a gift from my girlfriend (which I picked out), anyone else have this set?

 

Wow, just catching up on this thread after a 12-hour absence to spot not one, but two mouth-watering items to put on my wish list! Not often I can say that about CMC.

The only Schubert symphonies I know are the "Tragic", "Unfinished" and the "Great", so I imagine that set must be as definitive as any. Likewise, the only Haydn concerto I know is the trumpet (but which I adore) and I'm especially interested in hearing the piano concertos from that set - also, as I'm no purist when it comes to HIPP, I'm glad to read that those are all being performed on modern instruments, as it keeps the music fresh and alive and unburdened by dubious notions of "authenticity".

 

I believe also that some were covered with Odeon stickers..

 

I'm going to be listening to a boxset I found in my closet shortly. It is Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Wilhelm Furtwangler conducting on the Angel Records label #3588 E/L [1959]. Does anyone know which stylus tip would be optimal for this recording? I have both .7-mil conical and 1-mil conical styli.

Thanks!

 

A couple of points in response to the review. First, Mme. Thompson tells us, "Likewise, the D major Cello concerto (no. 2) is graceful and refined under the bow of Maria Kliegel, the gorgeous slow movement coming across with special beauty. Lest anyone think that Haydn was only capable of conveying one emotion in his concerto writing, Kliegel then throws herself into the swinging rondo finale of No. 4. " I was aware of only two cello cti. by Haydn. Are there really four? Assuming that's right, what are nos. 3 and 4 like, and when were they discovered?

Second, regarding the lyra she laments, "Pairs of wind instruments take the lire organizzante’s role here, and it’s a bit of a shame that we couldn’t have had at least one play-through with the genuine article, if one still exists." All five of these concerti have been recorded on an actual lyra, albeit with electric blower rather than hand pump, all played by one Hugo Ruf as soloist; I have nos. 1, 3, and 5 on Turnabout TV 34055S, a stereo LP, identifying the backup musicians by name, and nos. 2 and 4 on a CD issue, Preludio PHC 3138, which simply lumps them together as the "Stuttgart Soloists." I presume all derive from the same set of masters. It's worth noting that, at least according to the liner notes for another LP issue in my collection, Haydn himself transcribed the lyra part for flute and oboe, presumably the form found in the Naxos set. All that said, for my money the lyra concerti, like what I've heard of the jillions of baryton trios, are much more "interesting" than "compelling," extremely minor chips from the master's workbench at best.

 

Now playing this CD - I imagine some must be familiar with this pianist/recording?



http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Transcriptions-Arcadi-Volodos/dp/B0000029T8

This was recorded in 1997 when Russian super-virtuoso Arcadi Volodos was in his mid-20s and hyped by many as the next generation Horowitz (his performances of the Carmen Variations and Flight of the Bumblebee were actually painstakingly transcribed from the Horowitz arrangements which were never written down) but, apart from going to a live concert in London a few years after, I haven't heard much about him since. As expected, he has a phenomenal technique in the glorious tradition of 19th century/early 20th romantic piano virtuosity, but this CD shows him to be far more than a showman - he has a remarkable expressive range, sensitivity and all-round musicianship as showcased by the wide variety of material on this recording. My favourites are the Schubert-Liszt, Prokofiev and Bach transcriptions - I'd highly recommend it to anyone at all a fan of great piano playing, and as you can see it has very favourable reviews on Amazon.

 

Volodos's Rach 3 didn't do much for me.

 

Ah! The bad old days of vinyl record imports with problems arising over international copyright logo issues. Sometimes you were lucky and enthusiast shops provided 'forbidden private parallel imports' from under the counter, if you quietly asked. To this day, we are still patching holes in our collections with now freely available CD versions of previously unobtainable material.

 

There is a new release coming from Volodos, of ...of all things -Mompou's music.

 

I briefly reviewed the 2010 2CD set Volodos in Vienna in an older thread here. Some of this program I liked.

01 - (2:01) Scriabin : Prelude, Op. 37/1
02 - (2:16) Scriabin : Prelude, Op. 11/16
03 - (1:04) Scriabin : Dance Languide, Op. 51/4 (From Pieces for Piano, Op. 51)
04 - (3:14) Scriabin : Guirlandes, Op. 73/1 (From Pieces for Piano, Op. 51)
05 - (12:25) Scriabin : Piano Sonata No. 7, Op. 64
06 - (1:22) Ravel : Valses Nobles Et Sentimentales - I. Modere
07 - (2:18) Ravel : Valses Nobles Et Sentimentales - II. Assez Lent
08 - (1:19) Ravel : Valses Nobles Et Sentimentales - III. Modere
09 - (1:02) Ravel : Valses Nobles Et Sentimentales - IV. Assez Anime
10 - (1:15) Ravel : Valses Nobles Et Sentimentales - V. Presque Lent
11 - (0:41) Ravel : Valses Nobles Et Sentimentales - VI. Assez Vif
12 - (2:48) Ravel : Valses Nobles Et Sentimentales - VII. Moins Vif
13 - (4:38) Ravel : Valses Nobles Et Sentimentales - VIII. Epilogue (Lent)
CD2:
01 - (2:13) Schumann: Waldszenen, Op. 82 - 3. Einsame Blumen
02 - (1:25) Schumann: Waldszenen, Op. 82 - 2. Jäger Auf Der Lauer
03 - (3:20) Schumann: Waldszenen, Op. 82 - 4. Verrufene Stelle
04 - (1:11) Schumann: Waldszenen, Op. 82 - 5. Freundliche Landschaft
05 - (2:02) Schumann: Waldszenen, Op. 82 - 6. Herberge
06 - (2:04) Schumann: Waldszenen, Op. 82 - 1. Eintritt Im Walde
07 - (2:48) Schumann: Waldszenen, Op. 82 - 7. Vogel Als Prophet
08 - (2:23) Schumann: Waldszenen, Op. 82 - 8. Jagdlied
09 - (4:17) Schumann: Waldszenen, Op. 82 - 9. Abschied
10 - (17:02) Liszt: Après Une Lecture De Dante
11 - (3:28) Vivaldi/Bach: Concerto in D Minor, BWV 596 - Sicilienne
12 - (3:32) Tchaikovsky: Children's Songs, Op. 54/10 - Berceuse
13 - (1:58) Scriabin: Pieces for Piano, Op. 45/1 - Feuille D'album

 

I would have to agree with your assessment about "more interesting than compelling", however I often find enough that is interesting to me to keep on listening

 

That doesn't look quite as interesting as the Transcriptions CD (a bit too much Scriabin for my full liking) but I'd love hear his take on the Ravel Valses Nobles et Sentimentales.

 

He has some great recordings out there. I like the transcriptions CD.
I saw him perform Prokofieff Piano Concerto #2 some years ago. He was one of the few pianists to really articulate the angular melodies in the first movement to really make them sing.

 

Yes, I purchased this box set even though I had a couple of the single discs earlier. I enjoy it. (I need to locate and give away those single discs.)