Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #65)

Believe it or not....I just saw Gavrilov play Rach III last night at the SOKA Performing Arts Center with the St. Petersburg State Orchestra.

 

Computer user here. I've taken it one step further: I break each album down into its component works, and each performance goes into a subfolder of a folder for the work in question. As far as I'm concerned, aside from those preserving actual recitals or concerts (say, Rudolf Serkin's American debut concert with Toscanini and the PSONY on Feb. 23, 1936) or those that were deliberately constructed around a theme by the performer(s) (say, Molly Newton Steier's disc titled "Winter"), I see no reason to preserve all those artificial and often hackneyed couplings that we've lived with for the last seven decades, give or take, for reasons of record length. If I may shamelessly flack my own article on the subject , see here: http://www.tnt-audio.com/vintage/procrustes_e.html

Of course, for analogue disks, the process is much, much slower than for CDs, as LPs or 78s or what have you must be transferred in real time and then edited before being integrated into the computer collection, and I'll probably never get everything in those formats copied. For those, I shelve LPs and 78s originally issued as albums by label and catalogue number; 78 singles go into numbered generic storage albums shelved sequentially. Access is via a computer catalogue; there's not much chance I'll remember where any individual record is to be found otherwise.

 

Peter Serkin did a Waldszenen recording for RCA that I like, although I think the tempos are on the deliberate side of average.

 

Pretty much guilty as charged, your honor. I'll add 3a: When putting 78s back in their album, I make sure the first record is in the first sleeve, the second in the second, and so on. Might seem obvious, but upon their purchase I not infrequently find the sets in automatic sequence sleeved the other way about (last record in first sleeve on through to first record in last sleeve), presumably because that order simplified pulling the records out to stack on a changer. [edit] I'll further add 1a: I always place cylinders in their boxes so the title end is up.

Parenthetically, the most irritating arrangement is the sequence of sides designed for slide changers (the Victor AM series) as opposed to drop changers (DM), as one never gets simply to flip the record when playing them on a manual turntable. When I find a set in manual sequence, progressively less common for sets issued after the first third of the 1930s and nearly impossible for wartime pressings, I'm in heaven.

 

Of course!

 

Did you like his performance?

 

Just heard a few fragments of this 2CD-set on Dutch radio. A little bit of Mozart, which sounded a tad subdued, and Chopin, which was interesting. However, it was too little to say whether I liked it or not.

 

Haha, yes, I imagine his playing didn't appeal to all tastes. I did think some parts were over the top, and fewer wrong notes would have been nice, but at least he put his heart and soul into it and didn't treat the keyboard like a musical typewriter! He clearly has thought about every single note in the piece.

 

Now playing the DVD from the following box on my Dell desktop but the audio is piped through my main stereo system ...



Brandenburg consort conducted by Stephen Cleobury
Lynne Dawson Soprano
Hilary Summers Alto
John Mark Ainsley Tenor
Alastair Miles Bass
Crispian Steele Perkins Trumpet

Recorded at Pieterskerk, Leiden, 1993

 

Modern technology can be fantastic. My Dell desktop is linked to my outboard DAC via USB and the DAC is fed into the CD port of my preamp. Selecting USB input on the front panel source selector of the DAC and I am in biz, i.e. watching the DVD on my computer screen while enjoying the audio provided by my bipolar tower speakers ...

 

I haven't listened to much classical lately-mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!

Giving this CD a listen. I still have a small pile of used classical vinyl that I need to clean.

 

I think most musicians put their heart and soul into their work. Some just wear it on their sleeves.

I can't begin to speculate on what thoughts went into every single note in this particular case. I would say that if there were a society dedicated to the prevention of cruelty to musical instruments they would be out picketing this guy's concerts. During a few of the cadenzas he beat the crap out that poor piano. I could only liken it to this famous performance



aside from all the wrong notes my issues were all the sloppy tempos, bizarre Shatneresque phrasing, lack of color (there were only two, dull and sound of piano crashing into concrete) Rachmaninoff's 3rd concerto tells so many stories with so many colors and emotions. I got almost none of that from this concert. There was no flow to the runs, in fact they were consistently clunky and heavy handed. And for me he did himself no favors by all the show boating. He may have out Lang Langed Lang Lang. I mean really, jumping off the bench and doing a full pirouette at the end was a bit much. (not making that up). What he did last night has virtually nothing in common with his recording which I like.

One thing it wasn't though was boring. It had all the excitement of a car wreck.

 

Wow. That leaves no room for misunderstandings

 

Speaking of piano, this afternoon....



It is astonishing to hear Messiaen's Preludes, composed in 1928-29 in his student days. Even in those early days of his long musical life, Messiaen had already found a lot of his signature sound albeit with obvious Debussian influence. The last piece on the disc is "Ile de feu II" from Quatre Etudes de rythme (1950), a captivatingly ferocious, perpetual motion miniature that dovetails nicely into:



I'm not sure I understand Denk's motivation for sandwiching Beethoven's Op.111 between Ligeti's first two books of etudes, but there it is. The Ligeti is fine, no surprise for a pianist of prodigious technique and the Beethoven is played well I think. He relishes the syncopation of the third variation in the last movement. I confess to thinking of Scott Joplin everytime I hear that passage, even though I know some people such as Andras Schiff strongly object to any sort of association in his lecture on the sonata.
About 25 minutes in:
http://audio.theguardian.tv/sys-audio/Arts/Culture/2006/12/20/03-32cminop111.mp3

 

That was a notorious screw-up with white noise or something on the disc. I bought it at the time for around a hundred bucks and Sony/Columbia had a dedicated way of replacement as this was some large pressing problem. I think they just sent me a replacement disc in a white envelope without much hassle. Does not happen today.
Funny story, I still have the entire box sealed, on a shelf in the closet. Never got around to opening and now with the astronomical prices for the set...

 

Oh, I far and away prefer his recording. There's no way I'd want a CD of what he did that night--it was just a lot of fun to watch from 12' away! And I did like some of the inner voices that he brought out. I'm not sure what to make of this picture that he just posted on Face Book, though!

 

Given his political fights in the former soviet union I totally get this picture. the guy has quite a personal story

 

Back from the ballet. I was seated over on the side in the second row, which is a very different perspective from my normal seats. I was too close to take in the entire stage at once, but I could see the expressions on the dancers' faces (as well as their panting from time to time). I could also see into the orchestra pit.

If anyone wants to understand what Balanchine meant by "see the music," this triptych demonstrates it as well as I can imagine. The flowing grace of the Tchaikovsky Serenade, the atonal score and unpredictable rhythms of Stravinsky's "Agon," the youthful effervescence of Bizet's Symphony are not only reflected but enhanced by the movements of the dancers. A number of the stand-out dancers were featured. Just a wonderful afternoon.

 

This is certainly an enjoyable disc. I've only heard his Toccata, so I was happy to hear more of his piano works. The Sonata and Poem give the pianist quite a workout, but she's fully up to the task. Excellent sound, too.

 

He wrote a nice trio for clarinet, violin and piano as well.

 

Beecham's Delius are the definitive ones.Barbirolli a close second.I have all of the Beecham Delius on the Capitol stereo,including Florida Suite,which usually only turns up on Seraphim.

I just wish I had all of the Columbia Delius Society 78 sets.

 

One of the earliest EMI stereo recordings.1956,I think.My copies are an original German Electrola white/gold stereo,and a British 70s "postage stamp" HMV press.