Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #56)

Schubert's last quartets (13-15 plus the quartettsatz) are worth checking out as well. And while the Trout Quintet lacks the profundity of the string quintet, it is some of the most enjoyable music ever written.

IMHO Brahms was at his best in chamber music. If you haven't given that a listen you should (even his horn trio). But you could start with his four great chamber works featuring the clarinet, starting perhaps with the clarinet quintet.

 

Thanks for the recommendation on Schubert's quartets. On the list.

Regarding Brahms. Sigh. Tried it; more than twice. I own the CDs to prove it. And I played clarinet for eight years of my life and I wouldn't wish clarinet music upon myself if I had 200 more years to live! I tried the string quartets, string quintets, string sextets, and first four symphonies.

 

I gotta say the Brahms piano concertos (Gilels or Serkin) and late piano works (Radu Lupu) are superb!

 

Furtwangler,Klemperer,Walter,Reiner,Stokowski,Toscanini,Koussevitzky.this was the sort of stuff I cut my classical teeth on crate digging at thrift stores,so when I started moving up into the later decades,there was a lot that was lacking for me.It took a lot of adjustment to adapt to the "younger generation",like Previn,Dutoit,and Hatnik.

 

These are great.I have two of the 1986 Philips LPs WTC/Preludes and Fugues by Lewis.

Two of my favorite recordings of the Mathis der Maler symphony are from the 1950s.The one on Deutsche Grammophon/American Decca with Hindemith and The Berlin Philharmonic,and the early stereo Capitol recording with Steinberg.Both are essential.

My favorite Hindemith of all are the recordings he made with the Philharmonia,on the British pressed Angels from 1954-55.

 

Listening to the first disc of 10 in this box of Columbia recordings. I already had the 'Original Jacket Collection' of his RCA recordings.

 

Looks like his big Original Jacket box is being reissued over at AmazonUK, back in stock 6/8...

 

It looks the later pressing vinyl.

The CD is quite good in SQ. Non-stop from the start to the finish and you will be pleasantly exhausted.

 

Just enjoyed Gilels playing the Tchaikovsky PC 2. I mean, really enjoyed it! Such a shame that this excellent work has to be ignored in favor of the overplayed PC 1. If you haven't heard it yet, Gilels is your man.

Now, onto Tchaikovsky's PC 3.

 

I'm a big fan of #2; in fact, I'll go out on a limb and say that while it isn't as flashy and instantly appealing as #1, it's a better piece. Does this one present the work as writ, or in Siloti's abridgement? I think the piece loses a lot in the latter form. Oh, and which of the two pianistic worthies on the cover did the honors?

 

Sorry, Gilels plays all three in this set. I edited my post to make that clear. He plays the Siloti version. I also have Cherkassky, who plays the Siloti as well.

I also have two pianists that (I think) use the original version, Pletnev and Postnikova. However, their timings are quite different:

Pletnev (Postnikova)
19:46 (24:39)
14:23 (16:58)
7:00 (8:09)

Have you heard these? The Pletnev says original version right on the CD, but the Postnikova does not.

 

I have the Pletnev, not the Postnikova. I'll do a bit of nosing in my own collection--can't right now, as I'm running out the door to take my daughter to a ballet lesson!

 

Took a quick glance at my catalogue now that I'm at the studio and have my laptop set up. Which Cherkassky do you have? I have him in three different recordings: with Rachmilovich and the Santa Monica SO on the old limited issue Concert Hall Society label (78s); with Kraus and the BPO on mono American Decca; and with Susskind and the Cincinnati SO on stereo Vox Cum Laude. Those last two are both LPs; I also have Moiseiwitsch on 78s (Weldon and Liverpool PO), and on LP I have Fernadi, Mewton-Wood (definitely Siloti edition), Magaloff, Nikolaeva (original), Ponti, and Wuhrer. I have only four on CD: John Lill (a BBC Music Magazine release, original version), Mewton-Wood again (reissue of the performance I have on LP), Lowenthal, and Pletnev. As time permits over the next few days, I'll try to check out a few timings for you. Most of these, by the by, are mono, and I'm fairly confident that they overwhelmingly will hew to the Siloti ed.

 

Now listening to CD 2 "Planctus" performed by Studio Der Fruhen Musik from the "Music From The Middle Ages" box set on Virgin Classics. Love the basic, simple recordings on this.

 

This morning:



Who knows, maybe Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829) is an ancestor of the former mayor of the Big Apple. In any case, the elder Giuliani was born in southern Italy's Apulia region, and according to the album notes, Giuliani won "sufficient acclaim that he was dubbed the "Paganini of the Guitar." In 1806, he settled in Vienna. and came to be regarded as the leader of the city's guitar movement following the premiere of his Concerto No. 1 there in April 1808.....Giuliani was much admired in Vienna by both musicians and the public: Beethoven arranged some songs for him; he performed in concert with violinist Joseph Mayseder and pianists Johann Hummel and Ignaz Moscheles; and his virtuosity encouraged Schubert, Spohr, and others to write for his instrument.

Guitarist David Russell displays awesome technique and very musical tone in this recording made in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, NYC, 1999.

Edit: and I thought Paganini was the Paganini of the guitar.

 

I have several David Russell discs. Two are Baroque transcriptions. One is a mixed program in SACD. Nothing by Giuliani though.

 

Is this your second listen? I have only gone through the set once ...

 

Second or third; lost track.

 

Now listening to "Prokofiev - Piano Concerto no.2 op.16/Ravel - Piano Concerto in G Major" performed by Anna Vinnitskaya with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin led by Gilbert Varga on Naïve.

 

You are doing much better than I am ...

 

Chopin: Polonaises. Peter Frankl, Vox purple label.

 

I just acquired this and it is well done.

Yefim Bronfman
Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra
David Zinman
Beethoven Piano Concertos 1 & 2
Arte Nova ANO825870, 2006

 

This recent acquisition includes the 1955 recording of Mathis with the Berliners. I have been too busy to give this 3 CD box the attention it deserves which I hope to correct in the near future.



I am not familiar with the Philharmonia recordings.

 

I think the entire Zinman Beethoven run on Arte Nova is excellent except for his 9th

 

Looking to get a CD version of Sviatoslav Richter - Tchaikovsky Piano Recital recorded 1983. Can anyone recommend good sounding cds out of: Tchaikovsky on JVC VDC515 (Japan 1984), Vol.4 Tchaikovsky Recital on Olympia (1995), Tchaikovsky Piano Music including "The Seasons" on Regis (2007?) or if there is any better version i have missed? Thanks!