Classical Corner Classical Music Corner

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by George P, May 29, 2015.

  1. J.A.W.

    J.A.W. Music Addict

    Not quite - for many of their sets the transfers and masterings were done by engineers who were hired by Mosaic, not by the licensing labels, although they did use Blue Note in-house engineer Ron McMaster for their BN sets.

    That's what I was told by someone at Mosaic and it is confirmed in their booklets.
     
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2017
  2. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    Finished listening to Martha Argerich playing Chopin's 24 Preludes. This might have been the performance I heard first so I have some sentimental attachment to them even they aren't perfect.

    Is Rubinstein's early recording on Naxos as good as his early recordings of the Scherzi and Nocturnes? If so is this one of the better sounding Naxos releases or is there a better CD?

    [​IMG]
     
    crispi likes this.
  3. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Hers was one of my first sets of the Chopin Preludes and her playing was good enough to get me excited enough about the music to buy 27 more recordings of the preludes. A few years back I did a survey of these 27 recordings, comparing and ranking them. Although she made my top ten, she didn't make my top 3 recordings of the work:

    1. Sokolov - (live) - Naive
    2. Moravec - Supraphon
    3. Lucchesini - EMI

    No, Rubinstein's Preludes are not among his better Chopin recordings. In addition to his mono recordings of the Scherzi and Nocturnes, I highly recommend his mono Mazurkas and Polonaises. But not his preludes.
     
    hvbias likes this.
  4. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    Thanks George, always nice to save money :D I actually do have the Mazurkas, Polonaises set.

    I greatly enjoy Moravec's Chopin and Scriabin. I have multiples of these recordings, but what a fine conundrum to have when it's the Chopin Preludes! The Sokolov Naive live, this was released twice on CD. Is this the earlier CD you are referring to:

    [​IMG]
     
  5. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Yes, that's it!
     
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  6. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    In case it helps, here are my notes on my three favorite (in order) Chopin Prelude recordings:

    1. Sokolov (Naive)- An epic performance, with the best finale I have heard. Richter never recorded the complete preludes, but I imagine this is how it would sound if he had. A unique and powerful performance.

    2. Moravec (Supraphon)- I had previously thought the much rarer, OOP VAI preludes were better than these, but after comparing them side by side, these are the clear winner. The piano tone is clearer and the playing is more beautiful and more exciting. Tempos are more common than many of Sokolov's choices.

    3. Lucchesini (EMI) - Definitely a surprise for me, as this one never seems to get mentioned anywhere. However, he is remarkably consistent throughout. The recorded sound is excellent and he plays with great sensitivity and clarity. The faster preludes do not disappoint either.
     
    hvbias likes this.
  7. crispi

    crispi Vinyl Archaeologist

    Location:
    Berlin
    Yes, in rare cases you get independent engineers working on sets, like John R.T. Davies doing transfers, but you never have McMaster working on a Sony set, or Andreas K. Meyer working on Blue Note stuff.
     
  8. Bubbamike

    Bubbamike Forum Resident

    Brilliant started out repacking other companies recordings and selling sets cheaply in Dutch drug stores. When they first appeared in the US they were very inexpensive but a new importer and prices went up. Still very cheap for what you get.
     
  9. J.A.W.

    J.A.W. Music Addict

    OK, but you mentioned Mosaic as an example for using transfers made by the licensing labels and that is not the case with most of their releases, they hire independent engineers to do the transfers and masterings for them.
     
  10. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    [​IMG]

    Another bunch of powerful performances from Mr. Serkin, from the big SONY box.
     
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  11. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    [​IMG][​IMG]

    While not the best Op. 106 I heard (Pollini's holds that title), Rudolf Serkin's is certainly up there. A powerful, focused and relentless reading of this complex work.
     
    RiRiIII, JMR and hvbias like this.
  12. J.A.W.

    J.A.W. Music Addict

    [​IMG]
     
    RiRiIII likes this.
  13. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece

    Long due and welcomed.
     
  14. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Can anyone tell me how the recent DGG reissues are? There are ones listed as being from the "original master tapes from Universal Music" and "pressed at Pallas in Germany".
     
  15. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    What do you think of Beethoven Piano Concerto 4 with Serkin/Toscanini? Hope the mastering is good on the mono/historical releases.
     
  16. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    I heard that one weeks ago. I don't recall anything outstanding or terrible about the sound. I can say that I compared the sound on this set to all my old Serkin CDs and the only one that wasn't at least as good from the box was the Bernstein LvB 5th PC, but in that case it lost our to my 35DC.
     
  17. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    Finished listening to Brahms Violin Sonata 3, this is CD 8 from the Horowitz Complete Original Jacket Collection

    [​IMG]

    On a side note I upgraded to a laptop with a 4k screen... 800x600 used to be my preferred resolution for folder art or posting to the listening to threads; that resolution looks like a thumbnail at 4k!
     
  18. bruce2

    bruce2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    I mentioned before how the only Brahms symphony I have by Klemperer is the 2nd. I do enjoy it so I ordered his 3rd and 4th. I hope to receive and listen to them tomorrow. I can't wait as they are two of my favorite symphonies overall. Right now my go to copies are Solti for the 3rd and Abbado for the 4th. I do own and like the Kleiber 4th but I do not enjoy the sound of that recording so give the overall edge to Abbado and Berlin Philharmonic. I am presently listening to Soltis Brahms First and find it to be excellent.
     
  19. bruce2

    bruce2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    Hey George I recently ordered the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 by Pollini with Bohm on DG. Do you have any opinion on this recording?
     
  20. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    One of the very best, if not the best recordings of that work, IMO.
     
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  21. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    For what it's worth, on my computer that image fills more than the entire screen. I had to scroll down to see the bottom third of the image.
     
  22. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    I was just curious how it would look (plus it was the first result in Google), I am playing around with the browser scaling so I won't be posting huge images.
     
    George P likes this.
  23. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    Although we all know which one you mean ("official" 1944, NBCSO), as a side note, there are actually at least two recordings of the 4th by Serkin with Toscanini: Guild has issued Serkin's US debut concert from 1936, which included the same cto.; on that occasion, Toscanini conducted the Philharmonic-Symphony Or. of NY. That one is pretty dim from a sonic point of view, although certainly it's a historical (and historic) document of considerable value. That concert was quite the marathon for Serkin, by the by; on the same program, he, Toscanini, and the PSONY also played Mozart's 27th cto.
     
  24. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    I do hope we continue to get more Guild releases. They have put out some great stuff!
     
    drh likes this.
  25. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    I have thought about buying this performance from Immortal Performances but there are several pieces that don't interest me for the premium price.

    I listened to some more Horowitz last night, Czerny's Variations on La Ricordanza Op.33 and the unreleased

    [​IMG]

    He was the earliest pianist I got into heavily; I would buy all his CDs if I saw them in the bins which resulted in a few duplications :p and later the big OJC and Carnegie Hall boxes. He is what primarily sparked my great interest in Scriabin. I was enamored by his virtuosity and his "tonal color" though at the time I didn't know the terminology for it, you just knew it. I still greatly enjoy his playing even though I haven't listened to him heavily in many years. I was also going through some of the most stressful moments of my life (med school!) so the music I listened to at those times continues to have a profound lasting impact and for that I'm grateful.
     
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