I'm trying to find the vintage of my Barbiere di Siviglia vinyl box by Claudio Abbado. Bizarrely neither Popsike nor Discogs seem to have any entry marked "Made in West Germany" (as on the labels), which ought to be a sure sign that it's an early pressing, right? (Matrix codes: 2561 214 = 4 S1... S2... etc.)
At my best, I look upon my collection of classical music as a library that I can enjoy for the rest of my life. When I think of it this way, the pressure to hear it all ASAP goes away and I can simply listen to what I want to listen to in the moment, without worrying, or even thinking about what I will listen to next.
I read an interesting Glenn Gould fact that I've never heard before so I thought I'd share it here: By [1979], however, he had already decided that, sooner or later, he would give up piano playing for good. "A piano career was never something I wanted to spend my entire life doing", he admitted in 1981 to William Littler of the Toronto Star. "To devote the middle thirty years of your life to doing that is a lot of time -- especially the last twenty years, without concerts and other silly diversions. I have pretty well exhausted the music that interests me..." And at the end of 1980, in one of his last (telephone) interviews with the journalist Illa Collgrass of Music Magazine, he declared: "Part of a long-term plan that I developed when I was around twenty years old was to stop concertizing when I was thirty and to record probably until I was fifty. Well, I stopped concertizing in my early thirties and and my contract with CBS (which Gould had extended for a further five years on April 25, 1978) runs a bit beyond my fiftieth year -- but I'm not a stickler for such detail. After that, there is going to be a major change of gears, much as there was twenty years ago -- about which I prefer to say nothing at the moment. I have always believed in change, because there are too many things I want to do. From the Glenn Gould Collection Haydn 2CD set, 2012. Notes by Michael Stegemann
Many thanks for the time, effort and knowledge you put into those extremely educational reviews. Much appreciated.
I have read your threads on the concertos when you first posted them and you really describe the entire recording and include the pianists approach and the recording itself. The link I provided only describes the music from a technical standpoint. I have a similar opinion with all of your reviews. However, over time, I have soured towards the Argerich/Chailly 3rd.
As a footnote to that... In his last couple of years, Gould was quite busy (and happy) working on a number of projects such as writing, orchestral recordings (as conductor), and documentary films. He also wanted to concentrate of composing. I think a few other things weighed on his decision to stick with his plan to discontinue piano recordings: By the '80s his favorite recording venues --the CBS 30th Street Studio in New York and the Eaton Auditorium in Toronto--were both closing and his beloved Steinway CD318 piano was so beyond repair that he reluctantly re-recorded the Bach Goldberg Variations on a finicky Yamaha in 1981. I believe he was more than ready to move on to other pursuits by then.
Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons and Hamlet Incidental music-from this wonderful box set( by the way these early 1950s era recordings are very good-very clear and clean-all the nuances and details are there-the color of very good performances is preserved):
One of my very favourite pieces of orchestral music. My preferred conductors for this are Rafael Kubelik and Jiri Belohlavek. This is the wonderful repress by Speakers Corner. I do like Smetana's work. It's wet and miserable here so what else is an old fellow supposed to do but listen to some wonderful music.
I think I'll follow Ma Vlast with one of my CDs of Jitka Cechova playing some of Smetana's piano works. I think she and Smetana were made for each other.
I'd love to waltz into McKay's Bookstore in Knoxville or Chattanooga, TN. Find this in the Classical bin, and they'd have it marked $.99. Inspect it, find NM visual grade. Sometimes really good finds do happen there. I would love to hear this.
The original LP of this I treasure. One of my favorite records he made of this work. Still gives me pleasure many years after hearing it the first time. Paid $1 for my NM original.
drh, how are you, good friend?. Wish this had had a CD issue which would be easier had. Love Nimbus approach to making recordings.
Lots of good music to discover. I still approach it like I did when young. It relaxes me, helps me unwind after a long day. And makes us more well rounded as people. What's wrong with some new music?
Good call on some nice John Williams Spanish guitar records, collect them all. I love John Williams, the Classical Guitarist. He made many nice records. I enjoy any I find in nice condition. And often won't cost you much money. Hunt down some Andres Segovia, Julian Bream, any Romeros records, any Christopher Parkening you can find. All worthwhile listening. McLover Approved and Endorsed. Good enough for me, fine enough for any music lover of good taste.
Awesome pianist. Superb EMI recording. And West German pressed in Koln, Germany EMI-Electrola style (as is the mastering). Fine Empire 598 turntable and arm. I call this partnership one heck of a fine evening of musical pleasure. (McLover drools over that Empire 598 photo any time he sees it, as an admirer). Glad to see you play this one the first time ever. You're ideal for this assignment. Enjoy the music as always as a kindred spirit and friend.
Understand this post well. And relate to it. Being a longtime Dragon Naturally Speaking user, and user of assistive technology tools for many years. Clever workarounds for physical challenges, sometimes have a mind of their own, as do people with CP and their muscles with minds of their own. Used to be if I dictated "Boss" Dragon would recognize it as "Toilet". At one time, this AI was accurate about that boss. Back to our regularly scheduled programming.
A longtime favorite at Casa de McLover. Always enjoyed this performance on LP in the day, always nice sounding, and great performance.
I think she will make a fine head of Arts & Classical Music. Hope she does well. I hope the BBC keeps the quality high, and the standards of excellence they've had for so many years.
I like 1964 as well as any of them, but enjoy the older performances. But musically, I am an omnivore. Do bear that in mind. I love Rudolf Serkin as a pianist greatly.
Spinning now, after sitting on the shelf for five years or so, for a first listen - CD 1 with symphonies one and two: They seem to be decent performances, though Nielsen is relatively unfamiliar territory for me. They were bought when my budget was stretched after a forced downsize and my Ormandy set went missing in the chaos.
