Dohnanyi Konzertstuck for cello & orchestra Dvorak Cello Concerto Raphael Wallfisch, cello London Symphony Orchestra Charles Mackerras Chandos, 1989 Although I liked some of the orchestral playing, especially when Mackerras lets loose in the 3rd movement of the Dvorak, I never connected with the cello player, Raphael Wallfisch.
Martucci Orchestral Muisc Vol. 4 (2009, Naxos) Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma Francesco La Vecchia YouTube playlist
Now enjoying a first listen to this SACD, which contains two Mozart symphonies that I have not heard before, K45a and KV deest. The latter seems to have likely been written by Leopold Mozart.
I strongly suspect that Daddy Mozart had a hand in a lot of the very early pieces, although I have no proof. As I'm pretty sure I've opined here before, to my ear Mozart came into his own as a symphonist at no. 29.
HAYDN Piano Trios Vol. 8 (2023, Naxos) Aquinas Piano Trio Katherine Jenkinson, cello Martin Cousin, piano Ruth Rogers, violin YouTube playlist
The adagio. But what an incredibly beautiful concerto. Non-Classical newbies, start here. MEDIA=youtube]7dK0CWmE_oU[/MEDIA]
I am continuing my journey through these interesting( and sometimes remarkable symphonies). I am glad to have the entire cycle performed by this conductor and orchestra. The orchestra was founded in 1936 as the USSR State Symphony Orchestra and its first director was Alexander Gauk. Svetlanov studied conducting as a student of Gauk.
Yesterday, in the spirit of getting another bulky but not "collectable" box of LPs off my shelves, I did a binge listen/copy session of Beethoven concerti--the standard 5 for piano and the violin concerto (but not B.'s transcription of same for piano), all in one of the ubiquitous DG "Beethoven Bicentennial" sets: (image from Discogs, not mine) It contains Wilhelm Kempff's stereo cycle of the pno. cti., with Ferdinand Leitner conducting; the vln. cto. recording is the Christian Ferras/Karajan affair that used to be everywhere thanks to one of the record clubs that offered it as a sign-on premium. Indeed, I had experience with it, 'way back when, in precisely that way, although I hadn't heard it in decades since. In all cases, the orchestra is the Berlin PO. I'll make quick work of the vln. cto. record: I needn't belabor my opinions about That Man K for anyone who's been on this thread a while, and this record did nothing to change them--'nuff said. As to the pno. cti., this is Kempff's second complete cycle; his first was in mono, again on DG, again with the BPO, but with Paul van Kempen on the podium. Kempff also recorded two or three of the concerti on 78s. I don't have any of those, and if I ever had the mono LP set, it was in the form of long-gone cassette copies a friend did for me back in college--at this late date, I don't remember if those were the mono or stereo accounts. By reputation, however, the mono set seems to be held on average in higher regard. My "initial hearing" impressions of the stereo set were uneven but on balance not enthusiastic. The first three concerti I found to be somewhat underpowered and a mite undertempo; the playing was lovely, to be sure, but it just didn't have the kind of drive I want in Beethoven. I won't venture an opinon on the 5th, because my time with that record got repeatedly interrupted, preventing me from forming much of an impression, although what I did hear seemed to have something of the same problem as the first three, maybe to a lesser degree. The 4th cto., on the other hand, struck me as a really fine performance. I don't know that it knocked my favorite off its perch, but of all the records in the set that's the one that I'll most likely revisit for pleasure. One interesting facet of these recordings, and a good reason for retaining copies, is that Kempff plays his own cadenzas in all but the 5th cto. Unlike, say, Schnabel's for Mozart concerti, the Kempff cadenzas are stylish and of a piece with their surroundings, and they do make for a refreshing change. I wish more players would take that risk; among moderns, Fazil Say is the only one I can recall doing so. Oh, not to leave anyone hanging, since I blandly referred to "my favorite" in no. 4 without elaboration, here's the current lineup for the group: no. 1: Friedrich Wuhrer with the Vienna Pro Musica Or. under Swarowsky on Vox. To be honest, in general not all that much "better" than any number of other records, but I like the flourish he adds to one of the cadenzas. His Vox accounts of the Beethoven cti., on the whole, are generally OK but not his best recordings, in my opinion. I think this leads the pack, however. I haven't done a side-by-side comparison of his 3(!) accounts of the 4th (with the Bamberg SO under Perlea on Vox, with the "Austrian SO" under Randolf on Remington, and with the Vienna SO under Swarowsky on Club National du Disque). no. 2: Not my favorite Beethoven score; I don't often listen to it unless it crops up on the radio, so no real pick of performances here. no. 3: Fazil Say with the Frankfurt RSO under Noseda. See: comments about cadenzas, but on top of that a powerfully dramatic reading. no. 4: Noel Mewton Wood with the Utrecht SO under Goehr, something of a fine jewel in a plainish setting, originally issued by the Musical Masterpiece Society mail order club. It's had CD outings on Australian ABC and Dante. no. 5: Cor de Groot with the Hague PO under van Otterloo. I think a Philips recording, originally issued in this country on Epic. More recently reissued on CD by DoReMi encompassing de Groot's complete cycle. Wuhrer gave my absolutely ideal performance of the first two mvts., only to let me down with a sluggish tempo in the last. Sigh... In a "shootout" I did some years back, de Groot came closest in the "good" ones and was fully satisfying in the last. For whatever it's worth, only the Say recording is in stereo.
It's interesting, for the CD version of the Complete Beethoven Edition, they went a different way. I think it is an improvement on the performances that you list. As much as Kempff's Beethoven is admired, I often find his style to me better suited to other composers. In the CD Complete Beethoven Edition: PC 1/2 - Pollini/Jochum PC 3/4/5 - Pollini/Bohm VC on Piano - Barenboim with English Chamber Orchestra Triple Concert0 - Zeltzer/Mutter/Yo Yo Ma with Karajan Violin Concerto - Mutter with Karajan Romanze for Violin and Orchestra - Shaham with Orpheus Chamber Rondo WoO 6 - Richter/Wislocki When it comes to favorite Beethoven Piano Concertos, I tend to think of them more in cycles. My favorites: Serkin/Kubelik - Orfeo Russel Sherman/Neumann - Vanguard Backhaus/Schmidt-Isserstedt - Decca
I'm not familiar with Pollini's concerto recordings, but his sonata recordings show up on radio from time to time, and I've been impressed with the ones I've heard. I think he's very well suited to Beethoven, much more so than to Chopin. (Yeah, I know, radical opinion there.)
I like some of his Chopin once in a blue moon, but yeah, I don't think Pollini's gifts are suited for romantic music. His recordings of modern music are terrific, as is much of his Beethoven, late sonatas and concertos, especially.
On a similar note, fellow DG artists the Kontarsky brothers should never have been turned loose on Schubert, or at least on the D. 940 Fantasie. I had that record for a while; it was useful mainly as a refrigerator to keep soda pop icy cold.
I have the Decca double that compiles some of that set. He's great with the French repertoire, including the Saint Saens concertos with Roge, an old have of mine.
I only have two recordings by Hillary Hahn but many recordings by Julia Fischer as I like her better ...