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#1

General Classical Music Discussion / Re: Your favourite Tchaikovsky...

Last post by 71 dB - Today at 03:34:13 AM

The absolute best:

There are many good performances.

Thanks for these! Since I am to explore all the symphonies, the Jurowski looks good and "modern sound" is a plus (modern sound can be bad if the sound engineers did lousy job).

[William Walton.Orchestral Works.See for details front cover,LPO, Bryden Thomson.Recorded: 1991, at the St. Jude's Church, London, UK.]

#2

General Classical Music Discussion / Re: What are you listening 2 n...

Last post by Harry - Today at 03:28:50 AM

William Walton.
Orchestral Works.
See for details front cover,
LPO, Bryden Thomson.
Recorded: 1991, at the St. Jude's Church, London, UK.

How beautiful are these recordings from yore. Well balanced recordings and performances. Listening to them is like discovering these works all over again. Everything is done with taste and respect for the composer. Not a step wrong with Thomson on this recording, plus the warm yet detailed resonance of St. Jude's.

#3

Great Recordings and Reviews / Re: Beethoven's Piano Sonatas

Last post by prémont - Today at 03:28:29 AM

The other names I saw attached were Sylvia Capova and Angela Giulini. The latter is fictitious. Capova might be real?

Creating fictional pianists is bizarre. Wasn't Joyce Hatto enough?

Yes, Sylvia Capova is real - and a pianist of distinction.

Angela Giulini has been declared a fictitious character by Discogs. Nevertheless, there is purportedly a picture of her on the internet. It's not surprising that some people make money by inventing fictional pianists in a world where we are constantly confronted with deceit.

#4

General Classical Music Discussion / Re: What are you listening 2 n...

Last post by Florestan - Today at 03:01:07 AM

#5

General Classical Music Discussion / Re: Your favourite Tchaikovsky...

Last post by AnotherSpin - Today at 02:48:48 AM

Well, I find Hanslick's comment particularly inept in view of the fact that the main theme of the finale has more than a vague resemblance to that of Mendelssohn's VC, and Felix certainly was not a vodka-drinking, unkempt, cursing muzhik.. I wonder what Hanslick may have said about Mussorgsky, who in his late years probably literally smelled like vodka. 

There are known examples of alcoholism among composers of other cultures. But in Russia, more than anywhere else, heavy drinking is literally elevated to the rank of valor and national pride. Have you seen the movie Brother 2? The protagonist, a simple and kind Russian man Danila comes to America to the devil of hell, an American capitalist who embezzled other people's money. And before the showdown begins, he forces him at gunpoint to drink vodka in glasses. By the way, this is a very curious movie for understanding the modern Russian ideology (namely, the fierce hatred of all non-Russians, especially Anglo-Saxons), much more to the point than any of Dostoevsky's books.

#6

Great Recordings and Reviews / Re: Beethoven's Piano Sonatas

Last post by Madiel - Today at 02:47:58 AM

Dieter Goldmann is a fictitious name. I own one of these budget releases where all three sonatas are attributed to Tomsic. However, I question whether it is her playing the Appassionata Sonata. Indeed, she recorded the Appassionata Sonata for the Koch label, but that is a separate recording. Interestingly, the budget Appassionata is much superior to hers.

The other names I saw attached were Sylvia Capova and Angela Giulini. The latter is fictitious. Capova might be real?

Creating fictional pianists is bizarre. Wasn't Joyce Hatto enough?

#7

Composer Discussion / Re: Elgar's Hillside

Last post by Roasted Swan - Today at 02:38:50 AM

Just listened to a disc that ticked several boxes at once in a rather pleasing way;



1) The whole disc is very fine but the coupling of "The Banner of St. George" is enjoyably apt today of all days.
2)  An "In Memoriam" for Andrew Davis - this is exactly the kind of recording he did so well.  Unfamiliar British music directed with zest and enthusiasm and considerable musical insight.  The only other recording was conducted by another great British conductor with very similar qualities - Vernon Handley
3)  Both works on this generously filled disc are "early" (pre-Engima - but not by much) and as a composer he will still be tarred with the brush of Imperial jingoism.  But listening to these made me ponder on the role of a composer within his society.  Surely a successful composer is one who speaks to his audience in a manner that the audience can relate to and understand.  A great composer will push the boundaries (or redefine them) for his age.  In the late Victorian age before composer royalties of "Performing Rights" if a composer could not sell a work to a publisher and by extension an audience/performers he would be very broke.  So why should Elgar - or any composer in a similar position - be criticised or dismissed 125 years later simply for be the sounding board (or mirror - to mix metaphors) for the time in which he lived.  Aspects of the libretti of both works sit slightly uneasily today but for me this does not diminish the skill of the musical setting or the sincerity of the writing.  And to give these works their best chance they need performances of the commitment and zeal they get here.

Hurrah for Elgar and Hurrah for Andrew Davis......

#8

General Classical Music Discussion / Re: What are you listening 2 n...

Last post by Florestan - Today at 02:24:20 AM

No. 4

#9

Composer Discussion / Re: The British Composers Thre...

Last post by Roasted Swan - Today at 02:24:00 AM

No better St George's Day listening for me, in England, in April, than the overwhelming masterpiece that is April-England, by John Foulds. A piece that gets to the heart of things, one that is always a treat to hear.

Completely agree - genuinely remarkable, occupying a similar landscape - literal and emotional to Bridge's equally masterful Enter Spring.

#10

Great Recordings and Reviews / Re: Beethoven's Piano Sonatas

Last post by prémont - Today at 02:18:38 AM

It turns out that the first 3 sonatas line up perfectly with a single album, where Dubravka Tomsic is listed as performing the Moonlight and Pathetique, followed by Dieter Goldmann playing the Appassionata.

So that is almost certainly the origin. Someone put a bunch of albums together, grabbed the name of the pianist on the first one, and, being a lazy so-and-so who probably barely understood classical music, went no further.

EDIT: In fact over the years there seem to be at least THREE different albums of the Moonlight/Pathetique/Appassionata combination where the first two sonatas are Tomsic, and the Appassionata is someone else's. All of them have the sort of cheap reissue look about them.

Dieter Goldmann is a fictitious name. I own one of these budget releases where all three sonatas are attributed to Tomsic. However, I question whether it is her playing the Appassionata Sonata. Indeed, she recorded the Appassionata Sonata for the Koch label, but that is a separate recording. Interestingly, the budget Appassionata is much superior to hers.