That looks like a great set - I didn’t realise Brilliant did a Corelli box. I know Baudet and ter Linden from the Van Swieten Trio recordings, and I’ve heard good things about Belder (probably on this thread). Coincidentally, I ordered some discs from Oxfam Online the other day, one of which was a set of the Corelli Op. 5 sonatas, Andrew Manze and Richard Egarr on Harmonia Mundi. A bit of a stab in the dark, purchased unheard.
Yes. It was an original quadrophonic recording and Dutton-Vocalion has just re-released that original Quad mix (and the original stereo mix) on SACD:
It is actually (available on SACD). It was released on SACD by Sony Japan in 2018 (as part of a 3 disc set that's still available from CD Japan): I reviewed the release recently: Classical SACD and Conversation
Now playing: Paavo Heininen - Violin Sonatas (Boston Sonatas, Op. 134) - Kaija Saarikettu, Juhani Lagerspetz - recorded 2018
I gave this a second...or maybe third listen today (since it's a FLAC file, I can't say "spin"!). Good stuff.
Does anyone else here get a little annoyed when the conductor's name on the cover is bigger than the composer's ?
Absolutely, or any musician. Yes, I do sometimes buy a recording just because a certain musician recorded it, but the composer comes first.
It annoys me more when there's nothing but an image on the front cover But I agree, the composer should get first billing, followed by the conductor and orchestra - the combination is important.
Some chamber music this fine evening, now that the rain has subsided and I can hear pianissimos again without straining. The Hungarian Quartet's Bartok cycle is rightly well-known, these are classic performances that still sound great for their vintage; but the Leipziger Quartet doesn't get much press on this side of the pond. Pity too, I've yet to hear a bad performance from them, and they've recorded a wide swath of the String Quartet standard repertoire. Bonus points for the exceptional recorded sound. The Ravel gets a wonderful, nuanced reading that demands your attention though dozens of competitive versions of this work exist. The Milhaud also gets a top-shelf reading, partly due to the fact that there are far fewer available alternatives, unlike the oft-performed Ravel (which for once, refreshingly, is not paired with the Debussy). The Tailleferre is a somewhat odd inclusion though; the whole work runs less than ten minutes, and it's fairly derivative and not particularly interesting or remarkable in any way. One hears traces of Debussy and Faure, but pale imitations only. Bartok: String Quartets Hungarian Quartet DG Ravel, Milhaud, Tailleferre: String Quartets Leipziger String Quartet MD&G
I keep swinging between Schumann, Tchaikovsy and Rachmaninoff (no. 2) as my favourite piano concerto and I think today it's squarely Schumann. Probably his magnum opus. Fantastic playing from Serking and the sound quality is still amazing for a 40s recording. Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 Rudolf Serkin (piano) Eugene Ormandy Philadelphia Orchestra 1948
M 31837, issued 1973. This reissues recordings that first appeared on separate LPs. Mendelssohn recorded 12/19/57 & issued on MS 6128 in 1960. Producer: Howard Scott. Schumann recorded 3/17/64 & issued on MS 6688 in 1964. Produced by Thomas Frost. Both recorded at the Broadwood Hotel, Philadelphia. Serkin & Ormandy had recorded the Schumann previously in 1956 (ML 5168) & 1946 (78 set M 734, later on LP ML 4041, as shown by jambo in his post above.)
The first of three recordings Serkin & Ormandy made of the concerto. Recorded 1/21/46, Academy of Music. Issued as 78 set M-734 & then in Columbia Masterworks' first batch of LPs in 1948. The original cover was generic, showing a sort of white pedestal on a blue background, as used on all the original LPs. The illustrated covre you show came in 1950.
Now playing: Béla Bartók - Divertimento; Dance Suite; Hungarian Sketches; Two Pictures - CSO, Pierre Boulez - recorded 1992, 1993
In the Ormandy Philadelphia box they put the Schumann concerto on the end of a Brahms concerto disc, so you don't even get the real jacket for the physical release. I believe the book in the box set uses the artwork I used, and I just prefer it to the 1948 releases jacket. I really hope there's an Ormany Philadelphia Stereo box (or two), I've enjoyed the mono one so much and I keep seeing people posting their stereo LPs from the later era.
Now playing: Mieczysław Weinberg (Moishe Vainberg) - String Quartets Nos. 4 & 16 - Quatuor Danel - recorded 2006
These Serkin recordings going by in the feed prompted me to dig out this beauty: Brahms: Piano Concerto No.2 Philadelphia Orchestra & Eugene Ormandy Rudolf Serkin, piano Columbia (rec. 1960) This one doesn't get the fanfare of the Serkin/Szell 60's Brahms collaborations, but this is a very good recording, worth listening to for fans of either Serkin or Ormandy. Serkin actually *might* sound a bit more spry here, given that this recording was made about six years before the Szell recordings. I haven't gotten around to the recordings of the Brahms and Schumann concertos from the big mono Ormandy box yet; will need to add those to the list.
It's Bernstein, so I can forgive it (after all Bernstein was a great composer and conductor) but I draw the line in the case of hot-shot young upstarts like Teodor Currentzis (who dares to give himself equal billing with Beethoven)! Has he no shame!
I recently bought Serkin/Ormandy's later (1965) stereo recording but I have not had a chance to listen to it yet. I think I will pull it out to listen to this weekend. Thanks for the suggestion!
