Now playing: Kurt Atterberg - Piano Concerto; Violin Concerto - Dan Franklin Smith, Christian Bergqvist, Gävle SO, B Tommy Andersson - recorded 1999
On the turntable this Saturday afternoon: Sinfonia Antartica by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Very dynamic performance by Haitink & the London Philharmonic Orchestra. EMI-Angel LP / 1985 / Pressed by EMI Germany This is very "pictorial" music, somewhat reminiscent of a movie soundtrack. Its many moods and colors requires a very large orchestral forces including full percussion section, celeste, harp, piano, organ, women's choir and even a wordless soprano part (beautifully fulfilled by Sheila Armstrong). EMI's digital recording and DMM mastering here are more than up to the task, delivering open/airy sonics, a wide soundstage, and tons of resolution. I wouldn't call it "audiophile" or demo material, but it's certainly impressive and the German pressing is admirably quiet.
First listen to new arrival, CD 1 from "Chopin - Piano Works II" performed by Tamas Vasary on DG. 12 Etudes Op. 10 12 Etudes Op. 25 4 Impromptus I had a hard time finding an inexpensive copy of this over the last number of years buy my luck finally turned around.
Now playing: Ottorino Respighi - Piano Quintet; String Quartet; Six Pieces for Violin and Piano - The Ambache - recorded 2000
On the turntable: Symphony No. 1 by Carl Nielsen. Previn / London Symphony Orchestra RCA Red Seal LP / 1967 recording & release (mine is a repress from ca. 1970) Previn's warm, Brahmsian, and very romantic reading of Nielsen's 1st Symphony was something of a "standard" in its day, and stands in contrast to some later approaches such as Salonen's lighter and more propulsive take with the Swedish Radio Symphony (on CBS/Sony)-- the latter having better sonics than RCA-- but I can enjoy it either way, depending on my mood.
Now playing CD14 from the following box for a first listen ... Toward the Unknown Region Dona nobis pacem Fantasia London Philharmonic Choir London Philharmonic Orchestra Adrian Boult
I love Vásáry's Chopin and I bet this is a great set. Congratulations on the find! I didn't realize something like this was so scarce now, but fortunately I picked up most of these recordings on LP back in the day.
Now playing: Steve Reich - Coming Out; New York Counterpoints; Three Movements (LSO, Michael Tilson Thomas) - recorded 1986, 1996, 1992 From this set:
Based on music he had written for the 1948 film Scott of the Antarctic, about the doomed polar explorer. I just finished a biography of Ernest Shackleton, who was on Scott's first expedition & led his own after Scott's death.
Don't leave out Bruno Leonardo Gelber, another gifted Argentinean pianist who is the same age as Martha Argerich (they are a year older than Daniel Barenboim). I continue to be impressed by Argentinean pianists (such as Ingrid Fliter and Adriel Gomez-Mansur; there must be something in the water in Argentina): ...and impressed by Turkish pianists like Can Cakmur:
I have 2 or maybe 3 Chopin LP's by Vasary. I gave up looking for new releases after a while so I grabbed the 2 trios real fast when I saw them online a number of years ago ...
Sir Ernest Shackleton's former home in Putney is up for sale, and it's a home fit for a hero - Country Life I saw this online a few months ago ...
Approaching the end of this CD. It is mostly 'modern' English choral works. Unfortunately, I am no @royzak2000 who is really into such works. I am partial to English choral works if they are baroque or Renaissance ...
They found Shackelton's ship Endurance on the bottom of the Weddell Sea this spring, where it sank in 1915 after being crushed by the ice. Shackelton failed to reach the pole when Scott's first expedition had to turn back and failed again in his quest to cross Antarctica. His great feat was saving all of his party after Endurance sank.
IIRC, Shackelton is buried in St. George Island. @TonyACT may be more familiar as that is in his neck of the 'world' ...
Coincidentally I had been reading about Shackleton just a week or so ago. But next up for me will be RVW's London Symphony, which is the next CD in the Decca / DG Shaping the Century boxes I am (slowly) journeying through. I hadn't previously listened to much of his work; apart from the one or two short pieces everyone knows. I came across his first symphony and liked it a lot - so I've begun listening to more of his music, primarily through the Boult EMI box.
I still prefer to go with the following box where I can find all his symphonies in one place. The problem with the EMI box is it does not have the CD list on the back panel of the box and as such I will have to go through the libretto to find a particular symphony (each CD comes only with a white paper sleeve). Presumably the EMI box also has all his symphonies ...
Tonight: FRANCK Sonata for violin and piano DEBUSSY Sonata for violin and piano Sonata for flute, viola, and harp RAVEL Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet, and string quartet Kyung Wha Chung, violin Radu Lupu, piano Osian Ellis, harp The Melos Ensemble recorded in London in 1962 and 1977
