Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #50)

No warring camps here. My Furtwängler and ABBA records just figured out they're gonna get along anyway. Mengleberg in the St. Matthew Passion? I can get in the mood for that. Speedmetal Baroque a la MAK? Ok but I also play a copy of Brian Eno's take on Pachelbel's Canon as well.

I'm not sure why, but I have fewer problems with Bernstein's late recordings as regards SQ. This is good, as his third recording of Mahler's Ressurection is my favorite.

 

Listened to Elgar's Symphonies 1 & 2 with Barbirolli. Then In The South with Constantin Silvestri. For awhile this was the only way I could find his In The South. Now it is also on the EMI Icon Silvestri box.

British Composers. Elgar. EMI 2 CDs 2009

 

Interesting blog on the orchestra and soloist not preparing to play the same piece

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/stephenhough/100071203/maria-joao-pires-the-panic-the-miracle/

 

I agree with Stephen Hough, the whole affair seems very fishy. But it's incredible, if true, which it might.
Maria Joao Pires is a great pianist, no doubt about that.

 

Bernstein's M2 on DGG: Taffy pulling at its finest maybe -- all I can say is GET ON WITH IT, man!!
I guess you had to be there.

 

I agree. I like his earlier release on Sony more.

 

I like it too—even the one in Ely Cathedral—but I find the DGG recording has the most visceral impact of the three. You would not believe how many recordings of that work I've owned. My favorite performance was sitting front row at Davis, right in front of the principle cello, Michael Tilson Thomas directing the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. In this case, one really did have to be there. That particular seat for that particular concert was the best I ever experienced for any concert of anything. The commercial release of a different performance with the same forces is a pale imitation of what I heard in concert, 1998.

 

well-played piano pieces by MacDowell, Beach & Gottschalk, as well as arrangements by Grainger. recorded in 1991 in England by
American Feinberg.

 

No warring camps. I am not religious about any particular performance styles. I know a bad one when I hear it. There is nothing inherently wrong with performing baroque works on modern instruments. BTW, I have that SMP by Mengleberg on Naxos Historical and it is quite listenable.

 

BRO is indeed speedy. The order I placed in the early morning of 10/25 arrived this evening via UPS. Now I just need to make sure the order is complete, i.e. there are indeed 29 CD's/CD sets ...

 

Now playing CD1 from the following set for a first listen. Decent performance of Chopin Ballades ...

 

Now playing CD2 from the following set for a first listen ...

 

Robin, thanks for not taking offense to my post; I woke up at 4AM this morning worrying about that. I have not heard the Ely Cathedral recording, though I recall Jay F condemning it more than once for both performance and sonic reasons. I gather the air was positively electric in Avery Fisher Hall during those M2 concerts, which proves, along with your experience in SF, that there's no substitute for being there.

You have reminded me of the subsequent Tilson Thomas/SF release from 2004. It certainly has its moments, but I find it strangely uninvolving despite the presence of the great Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, and despite the wonderful SACD sonics. It's difficult for me to describe -- part of the reason is some of the slower tempi -- but it's not that simple. In fairness, I should revisit that one. My mind's not completely made up yet.

For the time being, two versions reside at the top of my M2 pile: the Litton/Dallas on Delos (thanks RRB!), and the nearly flawless Fischer/Budapest Channel Classics SACD.

 

I'm not entirely convinced of the "Wonderfulness" of the SACD sonics in this case. Dare I say it? A tiny touch of compression would have helped? I've bought/listened to MTT/STS SACDs of 2, 6 & 7, like but do not love the 7th. Then again, I've got an early pressing of Bernstein leading in the 7th and can't forget Solti's red-hot version. And not only are there too many good versions of the Resurrection Symphony, there's too many bad ones as well. In any case, I find Bernstein's personal engagement with Mahler much like Furtwängler's take on Beethoven. It's very emotional and for some too melodramatic, but one is still gripped by the commitment to a personal vision.

As regards the Ely Cathedral recording/performance, the only real problem is that there's just too much of the generous cathedral acoustic in this recording than critics deem appropriate. Having made many recordings in very generous acoustics, it's a slice or reality in comparison to the usually spotlit solos and 'dry' brass sounds. But obviously not for everybody.

In any case, I think I stripped my gears as regards "Musical Taste" ages ago, when I figured out the chords to Hesitation Blues.

 

I listened to Katchen playing Rachmaninov and Dohnanyi last night.



Despite that the LP was kind of noisy, I managed to enjoyed it a lot.

 

HVK ALERT. Shield Your Eyes.


Now Listening To

Tchaikovsky, Symphony 5. von Karajan BPO. UK EMI postage stamp. A fine performance in the central European tradition.

 

A US or UK pressing? Also was it early ffss or ffrr? UK ffrr tends to have the quietest vinyl. My copy is fine. A wonderful performance.

 

It was a UK pressing and visually was looking beautiful. The noise was due to non fill problems as I could see by holding it to the light. Both sides for approximately ten minutes or so. For these things there is nothing to do and of course a good cleaning did not helped. Bummer.
When was this recorded, anyone knows?
It sounded great, despite the noise, with a very nice wide stereo soundstage.

 

I'll be washing my ears out for weeks, trying to get the sound out.

I'm a fan of the Generalmusikdirecktor in some music, not all.

Never really cared for HvK in Tchaikovsky, not as long as there's recordings by Mravinsky laying around the digs.

 

My understanding is that the FFRR/FFSS series had identical pressings for the UK and USA. Phase 4 titles had different masterings and pressings. I think our host got into the subject a while back. If the LP 5-String played has the same cover as the posted photo, it's the UK outer sleeve.

 

Are you referring to this title specifically or in general? There were some Decca London classical titles pressed in the USA on inferior vinyl. They won't say Made in the UK on the label. I think you mean that there were no differences between the UK London and the Decca masterings and pressings. That has been verified. They did have different sleeves of course. But there are mastering and vinyl formulation differences between UK FFSS and FFRR issues of the same LP. This can be verified visually and audibly.

As for HvK Tchaikovsky this is a very histrionic forum concerning Herbie baby. I dislike anything orchestral from him pre Beethoven and anything French. However in his zone he was often outstanding. Sorry if that horrifies the audience here.

 

A title of that vintage, of course. I have bought a few "Made in USA" "London" and STS titles and the inferiority to UK pressings is obvious. I would expect variation between different stampers/masterings of titles that stayed and stayed and stayed in their catalogs, like the Westminster Choir series on Argo.

Like HvK in "La Mer." His Berlioz, however, is psychotic.

 

I don't know if you folks are familiar with Arthur Salvatore. He used to have an audio retail store, in Canada I believe. He is also a big time audiophile and classical music lover. He has a very interesting website where he talks about audio, pressings etc. (http://www.high-endaudio.com//)
Salvatore is not one who's afraid to speak his mind, and his fights with Stereophile and high end audio journalist (Michael Fremer in particular) have become legendary. You can read all about it in his website.

Anyway, concerning the differences between Decca vs. London, Salvatore has written a few interesting things:

http://www.high-endaudio.com/softw.html#De/Lo

http://www.high-endaudio.com/softw.html#Decca

It's a lot of reading, I know, but it's definitely worthy and helpful to classical vinyl collectors.

 

This arrived today! I found it so cheap on ImportCDs.com, I couldn't say no. I paid $92, it's now down to only $90* I don't recall seeing many photos online and although mine leave a lot to be desired, I wanted to show them, as I am really impressed with the construction and design of this set. The contents of each CD can be easily read via the spine. The book is huge, beautiful and comprehensive. The set weighs 16 pounds!

http://www.importcds.com/music/2358603/arthur-rubinstein-the-complete-album-collection

 

This Bach/Chorzempa CD is positively sublime.

In case the image ever craps out, I refer to Philips cat#412 117-2: Schübler Chorales, BWV 645-650; Fantasia in G, BWV 572 & Partita BWV 768.