Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #6)

OK, I'm a bit belated getting back to this. I think the measures may have been omitted deliberately in order to fit the work into the number of records allotted. The break comes at a point where most listeners wouldn't notice it as they flipped sides. More to the point, I have both English and US pressings of the set, and while both omit measures there, they omit slightly *different* measures. (The US set draws on different takes in spots.) Oh, and speaking of pitch, some of the sides are not at the same speed as the others (I forget whether the deviation is up or down.) Incidentally, as you've doubtless noticed, the orchestra relies on tubas in lieu of double basses, a la an acoustic reorchestration, and those guys get a real workout!

 

I recently got a few 'Living Stereo' CDs:

• 
  Brahms, Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos - Heifetz/Reiner

• Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition etc. - Reiner

and one SACD:

• Ravel: Bolero, La Valse, Rapsodie Espagnole - Munch

I will be listening only to the Redbook layer.
I find the CDs sound great but the Ravel SACD (Redbook layer) sounds just a
bit better, I really like 'Pictures' and wondering if replacing it with
the SACD version would give me that extra bit of quality?
Or maybe my ears are playing tricks on me?

Thanks, and I will be purchasing more SACD from this series.

 

I don't find the redbook layers on the few LS releases I've heard to be substantially inferior to the SACD hybrids. I recall reading that standard redbook versions were used and no remastering was done for the redbook layers. So, it might be a waste of money unless you plan to get an SACD player in the future (a great idea for classical, btw -- stereo or multi-channel). My $0.02.

 

Thanks, maybe I'll hold off replacing 'Pictures' for now and get a few
SACDs first, 'Offenbach: Gaite Parisienne' on the radar.
Can't believe how cheap they are here at Amazon.ca, about $11 CDN.

 

Got Hilary Hahn's Lark Ascending and Paganini discs on clearance from BMG today. That makes 4.

 

If you're interested in getting into SACDs, keep an eye out for a Sony SCD-CE595. These players are quite well regarded (and have been extensively discussed right here on the SH Forums), and if you're alert you can scare up a "reconditioned" unit for maybe $60-70. I've been quite happy with mine, although I'll confess I prefer single-disc players to 5-disc changers.

 

Mine has stopped reading SACDs after five years. It plays for awhile then sticks. I hear this clicking noise. Crutchfield told me there's nothing to be done, as it would probably cost $100 to fix, and when you add in shipping, that's the cost of a new one. Maybe I'll buy one of these el-cheapo specials. It has always been a nice-sounding player.

 

Brahms

Now playing:

• Brahms: Cello Sonatas - Marc Coppey (cello) and Peter Laul (piano).
  Aeon 2008, new release, I like this cellist a lot, not top tier, but it was $6 sealed new at Amoeba, couldn"t resist another version of these evergreen works.
  -Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38
  -Sonata for Violin (Cello) and Piano in D Major, Op. 78 (1879, transcription 1897)
  -Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 2 in F Major, Op. 99

 

Bummer! That said, if a sub-$100 player sounding as good as the Sony lasts for 5 years, it may still qualify as a good "entry level" choice while building a library of SACDs. A point to ponder, anyhow. Meanwhile, I'll keep my fingers crossed that mine keeps chugging along.

 

I haven't really built a library. I bought the SACD player because of the Rolling Stones and Dylan, and then SACD crapped out. I've bought a little classical, mostly Tilson-Thomas' and Gergiev's Mahler cycles.

And now the player (sometimes) won't play any of them. I have another one that still works, but I want to make sure this one doesn't play SACDs at all before I switch them.

 

I posted this as a separate thread over on the main Music forum, but I'll cross-post it here as it seems more appropriate:
................................................................................................................
If anyone owns the mono LP set of this recording, perhaps you can help me figure something out (the mono set with the rehearsal excerpts is Columbia D3L 344.)

I have a monoraul reel-to-reel work-tape of the rehearsal excerpts that would eventually make their way to the final LP set. The tape doesn't have the overlapping producer narration later added, but it is edited in the same sequence. However, my mono tape has an extra 7 minutes of rehearsal tacked onto the 1st Movement rehearsal section which isn't on the stereo CD I compared it with (the work-tape also begins at a different point in the rehearsal).

Basically, I'm trying to figure out if the tape I have is an alternate/rejected editing "take", or if it's actually the editing take that really was used for the finshed mono release (but not for the finished stereo release.) Here's a portion of the extra 7 minutes; the additional "not on stereo" part begins at the 25th second: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?nqjmdz30zyj

 

I had begun a review of Richter's commercially released performances of Schubert sonatas and took some time off. This weekend I hope to cover a few more. Today I did the sole released performace of

Review of Schubert's Piano Sonata D 845

Moscow 2 March 1957 (Living Stage) – I also have this performance on Urania (marked incorrectly as D 850 on the artwork and CD) but the Living Stage has slightly better sound, so I used that one for this review. As with the D 850, the D 845 finds Richter in an austere, even harsh mood. This is not helped by the dry, cold sound evoked by the recording. Close miking only serves to intensify the harshness of forte passages, though it does help to capture all of the quiet moments well in this work. These quiet moments had a great mystery to them and provided a nice contrast to the more extrovert passages. Richter seemed to play better as he went on in this work, the second movement was so much more playful and lighter in mood that one would swear another pianist had stepped in. The finale was particularly fine, saving an otherwise marginal performance. Though I am sure that this is not the greatest recording ever made of this sonata, I do find it to be recommendable.

 

Listening to now...

Insipred by the scene in the Woody Allen film Vicky Cristina Barcelona where Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) tells Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) that he was inspired with his paintings by her introducing him to the Scriabin Piano Sontas.

Vladimir Ashkenazy - Alexander Scriabin - Piano Sonatas - 2 CD set
London Records - Polygram - U.S. - 1989



DDD/ADD

BTW, a well deserved Oscar nod for Penélope Cruz. Her performance in the film is outstanding.

 

Wonderful! I wish I could hear that too. I only have an excerpt on a compilation somewhere.

 

Thought I'd try out some "big" classical music with the new Nagaoka MP-200 cartridge I purchased recently. Supposed to very good for classical and jazz.

Anatole Fistoulari-The Roya Philharmonic Orchestra - Tchaikovsky Fourth Symphony In F minor, Opus 36
Decca Phase 4 Stereo - Decca - U.K. - 1971




Recorded at Kingsway Hall, London, U.K.

-2L on both sides

Found this LP for I think a dime, at a white elephant sale a few years ago. They had an album rack of classical LPs for .10 each. Picked up a few others as well including some DG LPs.

 

What is the thinking regarding original Japan-pressed Telarc discs?

 

I failed to mention what my question above was referring to: Bruno Walter's Mahler 9th w/Columbia Symph. Orchestra rehearsals

 

I just received my new Hungaroton box set Annie Fischer Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas today, from Arkiv Music. [heh]

I saved $44.00 over the Amazon price.

 

Nice!! I will be curious to hear what you think of that set.

 

Just played Mozart's Paris and Prague Syms. in the Pentatone release with the Concertgebouw under Krips. Very nice in a big-band-Mozart sort of way; the sound is not a model of delicacy, but the interpretations have strength and power. Well worth checking out if you aren't wedded to period instrument accounts.

 

I have always loved Mozart's music. When I listen to Haydn, I wish that he would take things further, like Beethoven did. Listening to Mozart, I don't have this problem. I love his sense of balance and beauty. His Piano Concertos, String Quartets, symphonies and piano sonatas are all great!

 

Looks like a major screw up on GMG's server, eh. Normally when things like that happen you just undo whatever change you made to get it working again, then try to work out what went wrong...

Currently I'm familiarising myself with Saint-Saens VC3, as I'm seeing Janine Jansen and Ashkenazy play it with the Melbourne Symphony soon. I have Szeryng on Philips and Perlman on DG. I'm leaning toward the latter as my favourite, although I've only listened once or twice. It's a lovely sounding VC.

 

That should be great!

Be sure to check out the pianos concertos when you get a chance. Roge has a lovely 2 disc set on a Decca 2for1 with all 5 PCs. They are wonderful.

 

Listening to this on (downloaded unabridged audio from Audible.com)

I'm close to the end and will probably finish it tonight (only took me 3 days!). Amazing tales on the significance of music psychologically and physiologically in humans.

Not sure if this belongs here, but most of the musical examples are classical. I'm also about to start 'The rest is Noise: listening to the 20th century' - a book about modern era classical.

 

Shall do

Now playing (recorded 1980/83):