Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #63)

Tried at least one or two online translators without success (don't remember if Google was one of them).

Thank you! And I'll make note of that site for future reference.

 

Listening to Gould playing Berg's Piano Sonata. How many composers can claim that their Op. 1 is a masterpiece? Beethoven, perhaps (and unquestionably his Op 2).

 

Antonin Dvorak – Quintet for Piano, 2 Violins, Viola and Cello No.2 Op.81
— Jacob Lateiner, piano, Jascha Heifetz, Israel Baker, violins, Joseph de Pasquale, viola, Gregor Piatigorsky, cello

Jean Francaix – Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello
— Jascha Heifetz, violin, Joseph de Pasquale, viola, Gregor Piatigorsky, cello

From: The Heifetz-Piatigorsky Concerts (RCA Victor Red Seal – Sony Classical)

 

Dmitri Shostakovich – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No.1 Op.35 for piano, trumpet and strings
— Andre Previn, piano, William Vacchiano, trumpet

Dmitri Shostakovich – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No.2 Op.102
— Leonard Bernstein, piano

Francis Poulenc – Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orchestra, FP61
— Arthur Gold, Robert Fizdale, pianos

— New York Philharmonic — Leonard Bernstein (Sony Classical)

 

Ludwig Von Beethoven – Piano Sonatas No.16 Op.31/1, No.17 Op.31/2 "The Tempest", No.18 Op 31/3, No.20 Op.49/2
— Eric Heidseck (EMI Music France)

 

My apologies! -- Despite of having some weird Radiohead box as well as that what came after it, I've never been able to listen any of their ceedees from beginning to the end. However, I haven't tried that many often, nor in recent years at all.

 

Pulled this randomly out of that humongous Heifetz box on Sunday while reading the paper. Was taken by Jacob Lateiner's piano work. Not aware of any of the tunes. Fine disc, all around.

 

I'm a fan. Saw that on their last tour.

 

Giuliano Carmignola certainly doesn't disappoint on this new Bach recording. He plays with tremendous verve and beauty. I far prefer this disc to Rachel Podger's for both performance and sound quality even though the latter is SACD.

 

There was a lot of talk over the weekend here about Wagner overtures. I don't have much Wagner in my collection, other than several overtures from the Karajan-EMI Great Recordings box issued in 2008. I bought this a couple of weeks ago:


and listened to some of the orchestral works during the weekend. Today, I listened to the Liebestod for the first time. Holy crap - it was absolutly amazing. I've replayed it about 5 times since...

 

Speaking of Gould and the second Viennese school, I always love his playing on this '70s video of the Webern Variations. I don't think he ever officially recorded it, though he did it for the CBC in a version that was released at some point. Maybe I missed a studio waxing?

 

He's never disappointed me. An amazing artist.

 

So I splurged and bought the $46 SACD SHM (super high materials) version of this disc, which doesn't even include the original fillers of Till, Don Juan, and The Dance of the Seven Veils. Mind you, a new copy of the complete original recording sells for $6.10 from an Amazon seller. Is the shorn SACD version nearly 8x better in terms of sound? NO! I'd say there's about a 10-15% (if such matters can be quantified) improvement in clarity and detail.

 

I was listening to Jessye Norman as Sieglinde 10 minutes ago.

 

Don't say that! I've got 7 SHM SACDs on the way!

Jazz and rock though - also the price was only slightly more than $30 per disc plus shipping. These are the re-issues.

Edit - actually about $30 WITH shipping.

 

Oh...then the difference will be even less noticeable.

 

Just ordered the following CD's and SACD's at Presto Classical this evening ...

 

I have the original LP and there are no fillers, just the Zarathustra. Because I'm already in the process of getting rid off of the non-necessary ceedees (mainly pop, though), I'll wait for the downloadable hires-Flacs...

 

I have had problems with some earlier Concerto Köln barock recordings (to me, too fast tempi etc.) but I've liked Carmignola's Vivaldi recordings. So this GC & CK on Bach could be almost anything... And that must be stellar if it's going to be superior to Rachel Podger's Bach concertos (I doubt). I guess I have to dig it out for the xmas break.

 

Aha, perhaps it's better on the stage? I'm a fan of Enlightenment only, but if the term can be applied to my position in relation to the recent pop music, then I'd guess I'm a sort of fan of the Mars Volta (it's been the only pop act that I've considered to be somehow serious since the Belgian band Univers Zéro).

Sorry for the byway, folks.

 

It's to be expected, the recording itself seems pretty murky in comparison to the other pieces on the regular CD (which sound pretty good, only bass shy), but the Zarathustra has quite a nasty sound, and there's only so much you can do about it. Or perhaps if the original tapes (and better the multitracks) were taken from DG and given to some other engineers (with better ears), maybe they could do a much better job with the remastering/remixing and give a smoother and clearer sound unlike the botched "the originals" remasters.

 

I've got the original LP, scooped it up a few weeks ago for $1, haven't bothered to play it yet. My experience with mid-seventies DGG/HvK product is that it tends to be awful at the conception stage. My understanding is that HvK wanted to deploy "Rock" production methods on his '70's and '80s recordings. Lots of audio tracks, lots of spot miking, little sonic coherence. One would be much better off with the late 1950s recording of "Zarathrustra" with HvK and The Vienna Philharmonic, lots of copies of that fine sounding STS reissue floating around.

 

Steve Reich would not consider it a byway.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/sep/11/steve-reich-radiohead-interview-phillip-glass

 

I doubt that the harsh EQ and the muddy sound are the result of spot miking, it's more likely the fault of the mastering engineers (and perhaps HvK himself). We just don't know what the multitracks sound like, maybe if another label such as Pentatone will bee given a chance to work on them we will get much better results than what we had from DG. Of course it's all speculation.