Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #47)

I am a very avid listener of Jazz, though not really so hot for the singer/songwriter Steven Bishop.

 

No TV for me as well. Just home theater. Shut off the cable 15 years ago.

 

Now enjoying Haskil, the great Mozartian, playing Mozart concertos.

 

All time favorites!

 

The Gold Standard!

 

I have this complete recording of Firebird on a Naxos hybrid SACD and find it really good, both performance- and sound-wise. It's on a slow side, but the conductor was professionally associated with the composer, so I suppose it isn't too unidiomatic. It seems already to be OOP, so the prices are starting to go through the roof, but it's still available for cheap from some marketplace sellers.

 

I'm a fan of Holly Cole. I have Temptation on disc already, so I may go for Don't Smoke in Bed.

I may pick up some of the Prestige titles as well.

I will look into Avanti.

 

now listening to Bartok's "The Miraculous Mandarin" from this Riccardo Chailly box set; 16 CDs for just €22 from Amazon.it





http://www.amazon.it/The-Art-Riccar...TF8&qid=1369398514&sr=8-1&keywords=B00975F05O

edit: I see the guys at Amazon.com want some dollars more for this collection

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Ricca...TF8&qid=1369398514&sr=8-1&keywords=B00975F05O

 

I had the pleasure of hearing excerpts to "Firebird" earlier this week while watching Balanchine's choreography. (He did not use the entire score.) Unfortunately it was not a great performance, dancewise. I wish more of his work was available on video. I would be recommending incessantly. (More than I do now .)

Based on his equipment, I believe that Faders Up prefers vinyl. However if digital is an option, I would recommend the Dorati recording on Mercury (also available on vinyl, but not cheaply I suspect.) One option would be HDTracks which has a 88/24 and 176/24 versions available.

 

Avanti is an Allegro Music label, so you can order at 20% off on Allegro's website. Here's one of their best releases, sonically and musically, to date:
http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/4701

And from Northstar's studios, I just bought this new release. If you can buy into the concept, the playing is wonderful.
http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/8578

 

If you want just the Firebird Suite, as opposed to the complete ballet, the playing and recording on this SACD are fabulous (and come with a very strong version of Rite of Spring):
http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/5313

 

I've got a little over 2000 CDs/SACDs, about equally divided between classical and jazz. My last two purchases (this past weekend) were Eric Alexander, Lazy Afternoon- Gentle Ballads IV (Venus)-- Alexander is the best tenor player under 50, imho-- and an album on Challenge featuring the Brahms clarinet sonatas in an arrangement for chamber ensemble, with the RCO's principal clarinetist, Arno Piters.

Andre Previn, with all due respect, was a marginal jazz player. If you had to draft a list of the top fifty pianist/composers in jazz during his period of jazz activity, he wouldn't be on it.

 

Both look interesting. I have studied the clarinet pieces. It is difficult for me to imagine them with strings, but you never know.

 

It takes some getting used to... Tempi are a bit on a the slow side, and maybe it's the strings-- but the legato element predominates. On the other hand-- these are RCO players, and the clarinet playing, in pristine sonics, is excellent.

Another Avanti record worth investigating is a Prokofiev album with Leschenko and her mentor, Martha Argerich. They collaborate on a transcription of the Classical symphony, and PL plays the seventh sonata in a suitably frightening manner.

 

I thought I saw an album of French violin sonatas with Argerich on their site as well.

 

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This record went far beyond my expectations for a quality LP. To begin with the record is as quiet or quieter than any other record I own. If it didn't sound so darn good, I'd think I was listening to a CD from a digital recording. No, the stunning dynamics of the best Mercuries and RCAs of the day aren't there, but this is Columbia after all. In that respect this record gives a sense of texture far beyond most other records I own. There's real darkness between the instruments and a sense of depth I'm unaccustomed to from anything other than the best recordings I have of the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam or of Maazel at Cleveland.
But like most Columbia records, there's really not much in the way of bottom end. It kinda hints at real bass from time to time, but there's nothing here that would shake the walls like that Reference Recordings Stravinsky stuff done with the Minnesota Orchestra. Still, there really is a sense of a set of real drums being played in a large space every now and then, and, given all of the other subtleties that put this Columbia almost in a class of its own, I will happily overlook that.
My old Sensible Sound colleague, John Puccio, who served as the magazine's classical music editor mentions some of Bernstein's distinctions from other performances out there and awards it his accolades for a fiery performance in his amazon review. I'll differ just slightly by saying that I expected MORE fire from Lenny than what I'm hearing in this performance, but it is, as John says, one of the best out there. I can't say that I had ever heard this recording before last night. There is nothing here that would raise any eyebrows as a result of some departure from the norm that Bernstein was want to inject into his efforts. This is straightforward, just-what-you'd-expect Stravinsky with no surprises.
I see, too, that Amazon's price for this record has increased a good bit, so that is another reason to have preordered. I admit to being curious about the CD, but I wonder if it would differ much from the free digital download that comes with the album. You don't think this is MP3, do you?
Heartily recommended.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BQSSHEQ/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

One version of the complete Stravinsky Firebird, that I feel has 'real sound ginger' is Franz Welser -Most's digital version on EMI.

 

I may be in the minority here but the Firebird suite has always been enough for me, as although Stravinsky was yet to fully find himself (even if it was his breakthrough work), in this shorter, more succinct form, the work's strengths and exciting promise that captivated the public and critics alike back in 1910 are brought to the fore - the colourful and exotic orchestration, memorable and recognizably Russian folk-like melodies and already that exciting Stravinskian elemental rhythmic impetus. Conversely, in the complete ballet, its weaknesses become more obvious - long-winded impressionistic passages that lack the sharpness and concision of later mature Stravinsky, undigested influences of the French and late Romantic Russian schools and Wagner, and I find it somewhat tedious as a whole. Though not unenjoyable, it's easily my least favourite of the major Stravinsky works (and from what I've read Stravinsky came pretty close to disowning it himself, becoming sick of its popularity over works that he felt were much stronger and more characteristic). Doubtless others will strongly disagree though, and that's the beauty of discussion on music forums!

 

Now playing CD3, the last CD - Couperin works from the following set for a first listen ...

 

This set is probably in mono, is that right?

 

Now playing CD1 - Beethoven Piano Concertos from the following set for a first listen ...

 

I used to think so too. After many recordings, this is the only one that excites me enough to the point that Franz Liszt was when he sight read the score........

 

Now playing the following CD for a second listen ...

 

Hmm. I ll try it for sure!

 

Actually, with the passing of the years, I also tend to prefer some, if not most, long, "programmatic" pieces in their abridged suite form - when used strictly for listening. As I wrote before, nowadays I prefer to watch operas and ballets (especially ballets). OTOH, I can usually "assemble" my "own" suite from a longer piece programming the player or ripping particular tracks, so a complete version still may have some historical/comparative relevance, as well as serve as a background music. So, if a complete recording is pretty good, I still would prefer it to a suite (and even more so to a compilation of random suites from various composers, which are often compiled with a kind of "supermarket target audience" in mind, i.e. carelessly from a classical connoisseur's standpoint).