Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #5)

That CD is in the clearance section of BMG's site for less than $5 total. I totally wanna get it. Both the Bach and Sibelius/Schoenberg discs I have from her are fantastic.

 

Can you describe the Schoenberg concerto? How "Schoenbergy" is it? I'll confess that Second Viennese School fare and I usually get along about as well as the proverbial oil and water, but I've admired what I've heard of Hahn's work, and I suspect that she would make as strong a case as one might find for this piece.

 

Great CD. I have all her recordings. Does anyone know if there is a good vinyl recording of The Lark Ascending?? I've been looking but haven't found any.
Thanks

 

I thought it would prove interesting to survey Sviatoslav Richter's performances of Schubert sonatas. I decided to start with D960 and work my way backwards through the sonatas. I spent the morning with 5 recordings of Richter's Schubert D 960. All are live except the Salzburg:

1. Moscow 1957 on Parnassus
2. Moscow 1961 on Brilliant Classics
3. Aldeburgh 1964 on Living Stage
4. Salzburg 1972 on Regis (studio recordiing)
5. Prague 1972 on Praga

The first thing I did was listen to the first minute of each one to get a sense of the sound. Except for the Praga, they have all been noticeably filtered, thus blemishing Richter's tone. Since in Richter's hands, this work relies so much on beauty of tone, especially in the first two movements, I listened to the Praga first. The first movement was indredibly moving, Richter's tone sounded beautiful. The first crescendo surprised me, swelling to an expressively loud climax, sending shivers down my spine. Richter's playing throughout was focused and captivating. His second movement conveyed a beautifully calm and serene mood. The concluding two movements provided a perfect balance to what had come before. The intensity of the finale was particularly impressive, even if the occasional outbursts seemed somewhat out of place. All in all, this was a rich and rewarding experience.

I then compared the Praga to the three other live versions that I have. The 1964 Living Stage Aldeburgh performance was good, but the aforementioned filtering issues, coupled with the intrusive audience noise limited my enjoyment of it. The piano was better recorded on Brilliant, 1961 Moscow, but again the audience noise intruded. The playing of Richter seemed less focused as well. The second movement improves on this a bit and the concluding two movements bring an extra does of excitement. In all, a good performance but not as good as the Praga. Finally I listened to the earliest version I have, the 1957 Moscow on Parnassus. This one actually had the most filtering of any of these, something I found disappointing because the interpretation was a bit different than the others. The first movement was played two and a half minutes slower than the Prague performance and was focused and straightforward, but also less moving. The filtered sound really hampers the slow movement, with the piano sounding as if it were recorded down the hall from the listening position. The third movement was swift, but also muddy. Overall, just not a great recording.

Then I compared my only studio version, Salzburg 1972 on Regis, of this work by the pianist to my front runner, the Prague 1972. Recorded only as month or two apart, I thought this would prove to be an interesting comparison. The Salzburg had the benefit of almost no noise on the recording (certainly no audience noise here), though the reverberant hall was not the best choice of venue. The performance of the first two movements was good, but lacked some of the poetic qualities I enjoyed in the Prague. The finale also did not have that live performance energy and suffered because of it. Moreover, the reverberant sound often muddied up the imaging, making Richter's playing less clear. Still, it was my overall second choice, with the Prague being the clear winner.

 

Thanks George, this is very useful

About to listen:

Beethoven: Die Klavierkonzerte
Wilhelm Kempff
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Paul Van Kempen

DG 3-cd set

 

Now playing disc 2

 

These are great recordings, I have them on 2 Columbia Masterworks LP set.

 

I read about the bio of Emmanuel Pahud and came away quite impressed. He was a member of the BPO, as James Galway, once nicknamed "the man with the golden flute" was in the early 70's. BPO is really in a class of its own relative to all other orchestras.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Pahud

 

I think these are the same works that Trevor Pinnock performed with Emmanuel Pahud on the new 2008 EMI release.

 

Yes almost the same list.

The EMI cds have 8 sonatas for flute with accompaniment (harpsichord and cello) (BWV 1033, 1031, 1020, 1039, 1034, 1035, 1030, 1032).

My Lps don't have 1039.

Instead there is a great performance of the Partita for Solo Flute BWV 1013

 

The late Jean Pierre Rampal was a tremendous flutist. He was part of the all-star cast in this Bach Brandenburg Concertos recording, conducted by Neville Marriner and the Academy of St Martin. IMO, this is the best Brandenburg Concertos among the 16 versions I have, even if some considers Marriner a mediocre conductor ...

 

I've always liked Marriner's mediocre Mozart. And one of my favorite classical LPs back in the day was his mediocre Royal Fireworks/Water Music. But I was young and stupid then, so I did not recognize his mediocrity. At least Water Music was on the Argo label, and not the mediocre Philips label.

 

Time for another installment in Richter's Schubert Sonatas. Moving backwards through the repertoire, we arrive at D 958, as Richter chose not to record D 959. I have read that he explains the reason for this in International Piano Quarterly (Fall 1997), which I believe quotes a book, but I have not seen or read either. If anyone has read this or has a transcript, I'd love to hear more about it or, better yet, read it.

D 958

Salzburg 1972 (Regis) – Overall a wonderfully subtle and introverted performance. The piano sound is rich and full, requiring only a bit of treble boost to sound great. Richter’s playing is confident and expressive without sounding harsh. He turns in a typically focused performance. The first movement and especially the second has a number of beautifully tranquil passages that are conveyed well by the pianist. A palpable tension is present throughout, but is only hinted at, except for a few explosive moments. The slow movement is mysterious, tender and stern. These contrasting elements work wonderfully in Richter’s hands. The third movement is pleasant, but the rhythms sound a bit limp. Richter plays again with great subtlety and authority in the finale. Rather than try to set speed records, he impresses with his ability to sustain the drama of the music by varying the intensity of his playing. As with the early movements, the tension bubbles below the surface, occasionally appearing at key moments, only to submerge again. I don’t think this is the best that the pianist has played this work, but it is the best one that I have heard.

Budapest 1958 (Living Stage, M&A) – If Salzburg was the introverted Richter, then Budapest is surely the extrovert side of the pianist. From the opening measures, it is clear that Richter saw this work at the time as being urgent, more like Beethoven than Schubert. The first movement is played in an incredibly raw fashion, with phrases tumbling into the next with more concern for drama and power than beauty. The cold but fully audible sound tended to underline this point. I chose the Living Stage release for this performance, as it is a clearer transfer, with less filtering. In the second movement, things slow down nicely and the tranquil mood provides a nice contrast to the first movement. However, the audience noise and recording noise spoiled this mood for me. The third movement had a lovely dance feel, with rhythms much more taut than the later Salzburg recording. Richter’s rhythms in the finale absolutely amaze. The drama that is created by his technical wizardry here is infectious. Overall, while I certainly recommend this recording, I prefer it’s Slazburg counterpart, for I prefer my Schubert to be played with more subtlety.

 

Yes I have this version and I agree, it's great. I don't really have a favorite version of the Brandenburgs, there are so many recordings of these great concertos, maybe the one by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment comes close to be my favorite.

Marriner is not that bad maybe a lit overrated but I do not consider him by any means mediocre.

 

Now playing

 

A moment of silence?

 

I was having a little problem with getting the right number of pixels for that last scan. As there is nothing on the internet for me to pilfer, I have to scan in the original CD jacket. But the hi-res scan has proved to be too large to be uploaded ...

 

Jean Pierre Rampal performed the work of Friedrich Kuhlau on this CD. FK??

http://www.amazon.com/Rampal-Ritter...r_1_28?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1232385800&sr=1-28

 

Here is a CD for the work composed by Antonio Salieri, who F Murray Abraham played in the original Broadway "Amadeus" in which he called himself the Patron Saint of Mediocrity ... That one-liner certainly elicited some good laughs from the audience. The world is full of mediocrity since all the geniuses and originals have died. BTW, I own this mediocre CD.

 

Listening to:

Schubert
D 894
Richter
The Master Series
Philips

 

Next: My favorite Albinoni works performed by the mediocre oboist ...

 

I found out this morning that Richter's favorite Schubert sonata is the same as mine. It's the one listed above.

 

Cool. Were you able to find any reference as to how Richter felt about Bach keyboard works?

 

I wasn't. I just got a quote from a fellow poster online. There's a book on the pianist where he discusses some of this stuff and an incredible film by Montsaingeon called Richter the Enigma.

 

The book is by the director of the above film and is much easier to find than the DVD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691095493/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=

Here's the DVD, but it's a Region 2 http://www.amazon.com/Richter-Enigm...ef=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1232392781&sr=1-1