Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #69)

I'm not a fan, it's too polite to my ears. Besides, I don't like to hear these pieces on piano anymore, I prefer the harpsichord.

 

I should add that it's very mood-dependent which kind of interpretation I want to hear.

 

The main problem that I have with Fischer's Beethoven is not as much with her playing, although sometimes she strikes the piano too forcefuly for my taste, but with the editing. I find all these edits very distracting and after a while I started noticing incosistencies in tempo and style. Some sonatas are more affected by this (Moonlight), others are less (Hammerclavier is amazing), but the problem is there and these edits hamper my ability to fully enjoy this set.
I don't think that Fischer's Beethoven is for everyone but every music lover must listen to it and form an opinion. I can see however why some absolutely adore this set and why some feel less enthusiatistic about it.

 

I have yet to hear the edits and I hope I never do.

 

I wonder if anyone can help. I'm looking into (finally) buying the Mehta version of Wagner's The Ring. However, there are several versions available, and the cheapest seems to be a cut version?!?

There is this version:



Back looks like this:



Note: Opera running time given as 167 minutes.

Then there's this version:



And the back:



Note: Claims Opera lasts 245 minutes.

Anyone know what is going on?

 

Curiously, while Fischer and Schnabel are tied as my top pick for Op. 2/1 and 2/2, I don't like either in Op. 2/3. For that one, Gulda(Amadeo) and Goode are tied as my favorite.

 

Same here.

 

Those are only the first two of the four operas that make up "The Ring." The others are "Siegfried" and "Gotterdamerung."

 

Thanks for that, fair enough. Anyone know why the time differs so greatly?

 

Here's a thought, if you see Beethoven as a Romantic composer, Schnabel or Annie Fischer are who you enjoy. If you see him as a Classical composer, Gulda or Kempff are who you enjoy.

 

Sure. "Walkure" is a much longer opera than "Rhinegold." Technically, "Rhinegold" is just the introduction to the "Ring."

 

And what if I enjoy Arrau?

 

Can't the total arc of the sonatas be seen as a transition from classical to romantic?

 

Damn, So I need both of these.

 

And two more!

 

Much to my surprise, not long ago I found myself buying a copy of this very disc from an Amazon reseller on the cheap, if not, alas, as cheap as 95 cents! A curious position, considering how often I've grumbled at getting stuck with the upteenth copy of "Kostelanetz and His Orchestra Play Victor Herbert Melodies" or the like on 78s. (The rule of thumb for us 78 collectors: If the album is hand-labeled "Enrico Caruso, Unissued Test Pressings," the records inside are either broken or else pristine copies of "Kostelanetz and His Orchestra Play Victor Herbert Melodies" or "Kostelanetz and His Orchestra Play Stephen Foster Favorites." If the album is labeled "Kostelanetz and His Orchestra Play Victor Herbert Melodies" or "Kostelanetz and His Orchestra Play Stephen Foster Favorites," the records inside are pristine copies of "Kostelanetz and His Orchestra Play Victor Herbert Melodies" or "Kostelanetz and His Orchestra Play Stephen Foster Favorites." )

In general, I've always found such "opera without words" recordings--be they on 78s, LPs, or CDs--irritating, if for no other reason because NPR stations use them as an excuse, outside the Saturday afternoon Met ghetto, to say "OK, we played something for the opera lovers, see, we serve everybody" without risking--horrors!--that they'll disturb somebody who might make one of those $100 pledges. (Actually, that was back before inflation. The magic number now seems to be $1,000.) Much in the same way our local outlet, at least, will seemingly go to any length to avoid allowing a harpsichord to offend the tender ears of any potential donor out there in radioland. "Now we have a sonata by Domenico Scarlatti. He originally wrote it for harpsichord, but we'll hear it on the washtub bass."

But be that as it may, since my daughter began voice lessons, suddenly I've been finding myself in need of accompaniment recordings stripped of their vocals. For that, these things actually do serve a useful purpose. And so, with an eye toward the future, my purchase.

Pop quiz: when's the last time you heard a radio station play "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" sung by a chorus, the way Bach actually wrote it?

Extra credit: when's the last time you heard a radio station play the "Triumphal March" from Aida with a chorus, as Verdi actually wrote it?

I know better than to ask about an opera aria with a solo singer!

 

Now: Schubert: Piano Sonatas 13, D664; 21, D960 - Radu Lupu - Radu Lupu - Complete Decca Solo Recordings - 10 CDs, Decca; disc 8

 

Let us not forget that the recordings were made before the advent of tape, when fixing an error meant redoing an entire 4'30" take, and the project, while not exactly "assembly line," was an unprecedentedly monumental undertaking that probably had to keep to a fixed schedule that wouldn't have allowed much flexibility for preparation. Moreover, in those days before recordings ensured that every clinker would be immortal, artists in general just didn't worry about them as much. Not, mind, that anyone wanted to play wrong notes or counted them as some kind of virtue, but they just were something that went with the artistic territory, a cost of doing business if you will, not a calamity to be avoided at all costs.

 

Hi, George, if I may beg to differ, I find his Mozart nice enough in its way, but where Perhia has really grabbed me (and surprised me in the process, after having more or less written him off for years after that dreadfully disappointing Schubert Fantasy with Lupu), is as a Bach pianist. There's something in Bach's music that seems--pardon the expression--to strike a chord in this performer. At least, so my ears tell me. I'd be interested in your thoughts on the subject.

[Edit]

Uh, oh, sounds as if I may have stepped on a toe or two there. Sorry!

[Further Edit]

My word, I really do seem to be putting my foot in it, don't I? I agree that I'd prefer hpd., but if you're going to play Bach on the piano, play Bach on the piano, that's what I say. Recognize that you're by definition playing in transcription (a point Harold Bauer made about playing old music on the modern piano) and don't try to convert the instrument into some sort of hpd. with an iron frame. For my ears, Perhia pulls the balance off very nicely, probably because Bach's music is so strong and architectural that it can take a universe of approaches. I think I've heard Perhia in Handel a time or so (won't swear to it, but vaguely remember a suite or some such coming across on the radio) without being as satisfied.

 

Then you have exquisite taste.

And probably prefer a more romantic Beethoven.

 

I'd argue that they can be seen as a transition from classical to modern. (Beethoven was way ahead of his time.)

What I meant earlier was that if you prefer the bulk of the sonatas played in a Romantic way, then you'd like Schnabel or Annie Fischer.

 

It was a terrific show

 

Now disc 9 from this set - Schubert: Impromptus D899; D935

 

These two LPs were on the turntable this morning:





I can't even recall how many times in my life I have played these two. Maybe hundreds?
Although there are some pretty good modern recordings of Bartok's concertos these two LPs (tulip) are and will always be my preferred versions of these works.
The sound, for those of you that have not heard the vinyl, is significantly better than other DG recordings of the time but not as good as the Deccas or the EMIs from the same period.
Out of the various cds that have reissued these recordings, the one that gets close to the vinyl is this:



Close but still the magic of the LP is untouched.

 

On the way back from the Mutter,Bronfman, Harrell recital last night I was listening to classical KUSC. Good ole Jin Svejda played Beethoven Les Adieux Sonata performed by Ivan Moravec. It still gives me goose bumps. For me Moravec was and still is the ultimate interpreter and performer of Beethoven sonatas. Too bad he only did a few of them. **That** is how I like my Beethoven sonatas. Proof that technical excellence does not require any artistic sacrifices.