GMG Classical Music Forum

These are the pianists I keep coming back to.

Daniel Barenboim said that Cortot "always seeks the opium in the music." That seems spot on to me. It's hard to single out the real high points: everything he did is marvellous I would say – even the late recordings. Maybe the high point of his art is the Chopin Etudes, but really, all his Chopin, Schumann and  Debussy is glorious.

Benno Moiseiewitch is a master of piano tone, a magician of the pedal. Such depth of feeling; such tenderness. High points for me are the Schumann's Fantasiestuecke Op 12; the Chopin Preludes and Scherzos and Barcarolle; Brahms' Handel Variations. And Rachmaninov fans love his Rach.

V.V. Sofronitsky is so passionate in Schumann – the Op 11 sonata and Symphonic Etudes especially – that it's almost frightening. Idem for his Schubert and Liszt. And for me his highly distinctive Beethoven is just as good  – in the Pastoral, the Appassionata and in Op 111 he is probably my favourite. And Scriabin fans  love his Scriabin.

These three --  and others including Rosenthal, Friedman and  Rachmaninov and Edwin Fischer and Artur Schnabel  –  are the pianists which other pianists revere. Brendel and Hough are keen collectors of their work.

And here's a thread to celebrate them.

Great thread idea!

I have really been getting into Rosenthal and Cortot's Chopin. I also love Cortot's Schumann, more than anyone's, except Richter.

The more I hear Schnabel, the more I love him. His Beethoven has that great urgency in the outer movements and incredible depth in the slow ones.

Hoffman was very slow for me to appreciate. After hearing the Casimir recital however, I quickly picked up all of Marston's issues of his complete recordings. There's still one to come, too!]

Sauer is another I have recently come to appreciate. I lucked into his 3 disc Marston set for a very good price and really enjoyed it.

Sofronitsky remains a bit of a mystery to me, but I shall keep trying. I have the 2 disc Scriabin Denon CD in my to listen to pile.

Godowsky was a bit of a dissapointment, as I have learned that he played much better for small audiences in his home. Still, some great stuff in those Marston volumes.

Moisewitsch is another one who has somewhat eluded me. I suspect it's his subtle style that has made it a bit of a challenge for me to appreciate his stuff. I plan to get his preludes/ballades CD on Naxos at some point.

Of course Rachmaninoff's complete recordings on RCA are a real treasure. I have been savoring my copy and have made it about halfway through it.

Pachmann, Friedman and Edwin Fischer are some that I need to hear more of. I have collected quite a bit of their stuff, but haven't spent much time with it yet.   

I'm sure I am forgetting one or two, but I'll fill in the blanks later.  :)

In addition to those mentioned, I love the artistry of Gieseking and Backhaus.

Quote from: George on February 16, 2010, 12:08:00 PM
I have really been getting into Rosenthal and Cortot's Chopin. I also love Cortot's Schumann, more than anyone's, except Richter.

I think Rosenthal is  outstanding in the Waltzes .  And the Mazurkas.

I prefer him to Ignaz Friedman in the Mazurkas in fact, even though both play directly and both play them as if they are real dances.

Quote from: George on February 16, 2010, 12:08:00 PM
The more I hear Schnabel, the more I love him. His Beethoven has that great urgency in the outer movements and incredible depth in the slow ones.

Yes, but with some reservations. I don't much appreciate what he does with the early sonatas. The very slow tempo of the largo of Op 10/3, for example.

Quote from: George on February 16, 2010, 12:08:00 PM
Hoffman was very slow for me to appreciate. After hearing the Casimir recital however, I quickly picked up all of Marston's issues of his complete recordings. There's still one to come, too!]

I have real problems with Hofmann. Take the nocturnes from Casimir Hall. In Opus 9/3 all  I can hear in the more dramatic passages is bluster. All I can hear in the quieter passages is elegant vapidity.

I am not sure there is any depth of feeling  to Hofmann's art -- though I can hear he is often seductive and ravishing and free.

Quote from: George on February 16, 2010, 12:08:00 PM
Sofronitsky remains a bit of a mystery to me, but I shall keep trying. I have the 2 disc Scriabin Denon CD in my to listen to pile.

One problem may be that his best (non-Scriabin)  recordings are a little hard to find -- the Symphonic Etudes, the Op 11 Sonata, the Liszt Sonata, the Pastoral sonata, the Appassionata, Op 111, the 1960 D960, the Impromptus, Kreisleriana, the 1949 Chopin concerts. None of them are in the Brilliant box or on Naxos I think.

I do urge you to hear the Beethoven and Schumann if you don't know it.

One I haven't heard is his Schumann Fantasie -- can someone upload it?

What do you think of his Schubert/Liszt?

Quote from: George on February 16, 2010, 12:08:00 PM
Godowsky was a bit of a disappointment, as I have learned that he played much better for small audiences in his home. Still, some great stuff in those Marston volumes.

His style in the Chopin nocturnes is very simple and direct. I like that a lot -- it reminds me of Gilels a his best (in the Mozart sonatas on Orfeo.)

In fact, in a strange way, he is one of my real favourites.

Quote from: George on February 16, 2010, 12:08:00 PM
Moiseweitsch is another one who has somewhat eluded me. I suspect it's his subtle style that has made it a bit of a challenge for me to appreciate his stuff. I plan to get his preludes/ballades CD on Naxos at some point.

Very good Preludes in very good sound. Subtle is not the word. In fact, his preludes seem to me in the same league as Cortot33 and Sofronitsky49.

In the  Fourth Ballade,  there's a  pedal point hold just before, and under, all the five descending chords leading into the frantic-frenzied coda. A unique masterstroke.

I think you are more sympathetic to Rachmaninov's music that I am.

Quote from: George on February 16, 2010, 12:08:00 PM
Friedman and Edwin Fischer are some that I need to hear more of. I have collected quite a bit of their stuff, but haven't spent much time with it yet.   

Op 55/2 from Friedman is outstanding. He plays the mazurkas as if he's in a dance hall. He's very free and clearly at ease -- but that style is not the only one with this music.

You know, when Schnabel was recording the complete Beethoven sonatas for EMI he got anxious that ill health would prevent him from completing the task. He asked Edwin Fischer to take over from him if anything unforeseen should happen. Not Elly Ney. Not Alfred Cortot. But Edwin Fischer, such was his esteem for the man.

For me, the best of Fischer are his Mozart concertos (especially the ones from Denmark) , the Beethoven sonatas, and the Bach concertos.

Quote from: Bulldog on February 16, 2010, 02:24:09 PM
In addition to those mentioned, I love the artistry of Gieseking and Backhaus.

I like Gieseking a lot in Brahms. And in Mendelssohn. And in Schumann.

Quote from: Mandryka on February 16, 2010, 11:23:04 PM
I don't much appreciate what he [Schnabel] does with the early sonatas. The very slow tempo of the largo of Op 10/3, for example.

The only problem I have with his Largo e mesto is that it makes the last two movements utterly irrelevant. After such desolation and hopelessness there is really no need for more sound. But in itself it's pure gold. To each his own. :)

Quote from: Florestan on February 17, 2010, 01:53:22 AM
The only problem I have with his Largo e mesto is that it makes the last two movements utterly irrelevant. After such desolation and hopelessness there is really no need for more sound. But in itself it's pure gold. To each his own. :)

I knew that would get a reaction!

The largo is beautiful, it is desolate, and it is taken very slowly.

There is another way with 10/3 which I like more than Schnabel's. A lighter, more witty, funnier way. Gould's way. Gulda's way.

Quote from: Mandryka on February 17, 2010, 06:04:11 AM
I knew that would get a reaction!

The largo is beautiful, it is desolate, and it is taken very slowly.

There is another way with 10/3 which I like more than Schnabel's. A lighter, more witty, funnier way. Gould's way. Gulda's way.

I can understand that. Gulda is very fine indeed.

Slightly off-topic: If it was possible to go back in time and hear Liszt or Chopin playing, how would we appreciate them? Just imagine, to hear Chopin's Nocturnes played by himself, or Liszt's Sonata (or Paganini's Caprices, for that matter). What would it be? Awe or disappointment? :)

Quote from: Florestan on February 17, 2010, 06:17:37 AM
I can understand that. Gulda is very fine indeed.

Slightly off-topic: If it was possible to go back in time and hear Liszt or Chopin playing, how would we appreciate them? Just imagine, to hear Chopin's Nocturnes played by himself, or Liszt's Sonata (or Paganini's Caprices, for that matter). What would it be? Awe or disappointment? :)

Either case, I'd love to hear them play.

Found this great website today (http://www.npj.com/homepage/teritowe/hrp.html)

Alfred Cortot : Masterclasses from the Ecole Normale, Sony

It contains quite excerpts from this pianist in works otherwise unavailable -- Beethoven sonatas, a Bach Partita, Chopin mazurkas, Mozart sonatas.

The sound quality is often excellent. That is pretty important since his tone was important to his art. Hearing these well recorded performances has helped me imagine what he may well have sounded like whan he made the recordings from the 20s and 30s.

If you are curious about Cortot, then you won't regret hearing these CDs.

I assume the spoken part is in French? Is it clear who's playing the piano at every point? Perahia was the student, right?

Quote from: Florestan on February 17, 2010, 06:17:37 AM
Slightly off-topic: If it was possible to go back in time and hear Liszt or Chopin playing, how would we appreciate them? Just imagine, to hear Chopin's Nocturnes played by himself, or Liszt's Sonata (or Paganini's Caprices, for that matter). What would it be? Awe or disappointment? :)

A good dose of reality.

Quote from: George on March 22, 2010, 10:31:18 AM
I assume the spoken part is in French? Is it clear who's playing the piano at every point? Perahia was the student, right?

This is 100% Cortot.

Cortot explains how to play e.g. Les Adieux by demonstrating at the keyboard and making comments. Students had played for him beforehand, and no doubt they inspired some of the points he makes, but unfortunately we don't have a record of what the students did. 

Perahia wasn't a student AFAIK. He has written an intro and commentry in the book that comes with the 3 CDs.

Cortot's comments are mostly in clear French (though sometimes they are hard to make out) -- I can understand French, but if you can't there's a translation in the booklet.

This is quite a document. Cortot discusses and demonstates Bach Partita 1; Mozart K475, 310, 331; Beethoven Op 81a (Les Adieux); 90, 101,109,110; Schumann Op 22 (sonata)  and the Fantasie; lots of Chopin including 5 mazurkas.

Of course most of these aren't  complete performances. But still , there are some good little chunks.

I think Cortot's 1939 recording of Weber's second sonata shows him at his very best -- free, imaginative, daring. And it is beautifully remastered here by Ward Marston.


Astonishing, the way this man Cortot made music.

Quote from: Mandryka on March 22, 2010, 02:09:24 PM
I think Cortot's 1939 recording of Weber's second sonata shows him at his very best -- free, imaginative, daring. And it is beautifully remastered here by Ward Marston.


Astonishing, the way this man Cortot made music.

At your recommendation, I picked up the late Cortot recordings of Kinderszenen, Carnaval and Chopin's 2nd sonata, also from Naxos. Haven't listened to it yet, though. 

(http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/t_200/naxos8111118.jpg)

Listening to the Preludes on this one. Great, poetic performance! The piano tone is gorgeous. I may have found a new favorite!

Quote from: George on March 22, 2010, 06:56:59 PM
(http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/t_200/naxos8111118.jpg)

Listening to the Preludes on this one. Great, poetic performance! The piano tone is gorgeous. I may have found a new favorite!

Yes, that is a beautiful disc. Ditto on the Cortot with the Weber that Mandryka mentions, above.

I cannot help but sigh at the amount of discs I've bought over the last couple of years that are buried within stacks, due to an unforeseen issue with storage space; many of which are are of repertory I haven't otherwise explored too much, like the Weber.

http://classik.forumactif.com/discographie-f2/vladimir-sofronitsky-t3899.htm

An extremely valuable website for anyone interested in Sofronitsky

Cortot recorded the Debussy preludes (Book 1) twice –once in the late 40s and once in the 30s.

The later one is widely available – they are  in his Great Pianists for example, and they are on an APR CD.

The earlier one is harder to find.  Mark Obert-Thorn transferred  them on an out of print Cd from Biddulph.

Those earlier preludes are really worth their weight in gold. They're the ones to get, I think. Light, lyrical, hallucinatory playing, like no one else. And in excellent sound on Biddulph.

QuoteListening to the Preludes on this one. Great, poetic performance! The piano tone is gorgeous. I may have found a new favorite!

I love that recording!

Quote from: Mandryka on February 16, 2010, 11:35:04 PM
I like Gieseking a lot in Brahms.

I need to hear his Brahms at some point. Is the Arbiter release the best?

Quote from: George on September 08, 2010, 03:50:58 AM
I need to hear his Brahms at some point. Is the Arbiter release the best?

This is the one I have and like

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brahms-Piano-Works-Walter-Gieseking/dp/B0001UL4UO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1283957651&sr=8-3

The Arbiter has the sonata, which I'm not very keen on.

Quote from: Mandryka on September 08, 2010, 06:57:08 AM
This is the one I have and like

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brahms-Piano-Works-Walter-Gieseking/dp/B0001UL4UO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1283957651&sr=8-3

The Arbiter has the sonata, which I'm not very keen on.

Thanks.

Usually stuff on Archipel has been available before on CD. I wonder where Archipel got these recordings from?

Another pirate label has even more of his solo Brahms: http://www.amazon.com/Walter-Gieseking-Plays-Brahms-Johannes/dp/samples/B000Y0ZVQE/ref=dp_tracks_all_1#disc_1

I wonder if these are the same performances as the Archipel?

Also, I found a Gieseking discography - http://fischer.hosting.paran.com/music/Gieseking/discography-gieseking.htm#brahms-solo

Anyone know where I can find one of these?  CD ; Toshiba TOCE 8131~36(6 set) / TOCE-11064~69(6 set)

Quote from: George on September 08, 2010, 08:26:57 AM

Another pirate label has even more of his solo Brahms: http://www.amazon.com/Walter-Gieseking-Plays-Brahms-Johannes/dp/samples/B000Y0ZVQE/ref=dp_tracks_all_1#disc_1

I wonder if these are the same performances as the Archipel?

Anyone know where I can find one of these?  CD ; Toshiba TOCE 8131~36(6 set) / TOCE-11064~69(6 set)

Yes - the Brahms pieces are the same - 20-23 Jun 1951, Zurich Kongresshalle. Originally Columbia 78's and latter issued as Columbia, EMI, Pathé, Electrola  LP's. AFAIK these were issued  in CD for the first time in Japan - the OOP Toshiba-EMI CD sets you mention.

Quote from: George on September 08, 2010, 03:50:58 AM
I need to hear his Brahms at some point. Is the Arbiter release the best?

The Arbiter release includes some wonderful Brahms solo recordings - Sonata Op.5 (Frankfurt, 1948), Op.76/2 (Washington, 1956), Op.76/3-4, Op.116/4, Op. 118/6, Op.119/2 (New York, 1939). The Capriccio Op.76/2 has probably one of the best sound Brahms piano solo by Gieseking and the reading is magical.

Other Brahms piano solo recordings by Gieseking on CD were issued by Pearl - Op.79/2 (Berlin, 1924), Op. 76/3,4,8 (Frankfurt, 1949), Op. 116/6 (Frankfurt, 1949), Op. 118/5 (Frankfurt, 1949), Op.76/1 (1956) - and Music & Arts - Op.76/1-8 (Berlin, 1955), Op. 118/2,5 (Berlin, 1933), Op. 119/3 (Berlin, 1933).

Unfortunately, in most of these Gieseking recordings (even in the studio) the sound is not the best for its age. But in some the beautiful tone of his playing was still captured. And the freedom and inventiveness of the phrasing is always surprising.   

Quote from: ccar on September 08, 2010, 04:18:11 PM
The Arbiter release includes some wonderful Brahms solo recordings - Sonata Op.5 (Frankfurt, 1948), Op.76/2 (Washington, 1956), Op.76/3-4, Op.116/4, Op. 118/6, Op.119/2 (New York, 1939). The Capriccio Op.76/2 has probably one of the best sound Brahms piano solo by Gieseking and the reading is magical.

This sounds like a must buy to me. I'm glad that the sound is good, often it is really atrocious with Arbiter reccordings.

Quote from: Verena on September 08, 2010, 05:04:59 PM
This sounds like a must buy to me. I'm glad that the sound is good, often it is really atrocious with Arbiter reccordings.

By "best sound" in the Capriccio I mean comparing to the "worse sound" in most of the other recorded pieces. The Op. 76/2 Capriccio is a live recording where you still have crackles and hiss - but the tone and dynamic details are more clear than in the earlier recordings.

As I said you can't expect "good" sound in any of the Gieseking Brahms solo I Know. The studio 1951 have less background noise but the CD sound is too "compacted" and the colors are even less defined.           

Quote from: ccar on September 08, 2010, 05:20:36 PM
By "best sound" in the Capriccio I mean comparing to the "worse sound" in most of the other recorded pieces. The Op. 76/2 Capriccio is a live recording where you still have crackles and hiss - but the tone and dynamic details are more clear than in the earlier recordings.

As I said you can't expect "good" sound in any of the Gieseking Brahms solo I Know. The studio 1951 have less background noise but the CD sound is too "compacted" and the colors are even less defined.           

Hm, had overlooked that part. I find Gieseking recordings in general have rather bad sound, at least those I know (some Beethoven, Bach, some Schubert, Debussy, Mendelssohn) - all in less than stellar sound even for their age IMO.

Quote from: dirkronk link=topic=3279.msg502137#msg502137 date=1301587896,  Mozart's Piano Concertos


Re Elly Ney. Thanks for the link: I'll try to check it out this weekend. I have her with Strub  doing some Reger, but not the Trout. Oddly enough, while I have several discs of prewar performances, it's her late recordings that I find intriguing. There are some instances of phrasing in her mid/late '50s Waldstein that are so beautifully and delicately done (and she's not really known for the delicacy thing) that they literally make me catch my breath. OTOH, as I mentioned, this Waldstein is just too fragmented to hold together as an entirety. Pity.
Have you ever listened to her Wanderer Fantasy (the late one, not the 1941 version)? That one DOES hold together, and in an exceptional way.

Cheers,

Dirk

Yes that's very good indeed. I didn't realise there were such treasures among the late recordings. I've been disappointed when I've dipped my toes there in the past. The Op 111 seems a shadow of her pre war Op 111. And the Brahms Intermezzi seemed really unsuccessful.

What else have you enjoyed from the post war recordings?

Quote from: Mandryka on April 01, 2011, 02:05:04 AM
Yes that's very good indeed. I didn't realise there were such treasures among the late recordings. I've been disappointed when I've dipped my toes there in the past. The Op 111 seems a shadow of her pre war Op 111. And the Brahms Intermezzi seemed really unsuccessful.

What else have you enjoyed from the post war recordings?

Can't say I'm really surprised that you've been disappointed. The late recordings are frustrating, because they have moments of sheer genius, and occasionally entire movements of great power or subtler emotional impact, but very few works that you can point to and say, THAT'S a performance to put ahead of anyone else's, totally satisfying all the way through. The Wanderer Fantasy qualifies (for me anyway); she plays it unlike almost anyone else I've heard, and it really works. On the other hand, I'd be hard put to give you other unqualified examples. It takes infinite patience to go through and find these moments, but when you find one, you don't forget it. Remember, Ney is pretty darn ancient here, which is a major reason (I think) that so few of the big pieces hold together as a whole. But she has also imbibed the notes, the runs, the language of the works for a lifetime; so you're hearing her play the same basic notes of a Beethoven sonata you've heard a million times by a thousand different pianists...and out of the blue, she adjusts a phrase ever so slightly and BAM! She's made your jaw drop. She's made you catch your breath. She's wrenched a tear, even a sob from you with no warning. It's like hearing a veteran actor recite a line of poetry or scripture that you've heard over and over, but the WAY he says it suddenly makes you see a depth or difference of meaning that you'd never attributed to it. If it were just me, I'd say that this kind of reaction was an aberration. But I was informed of this phenomenon years ago and remained a naysayer myself until I experienced it FOR myself. My friend Ron Moore is the one who first told me about this. He ordered the original Colosseum LPs for my favorite local record store back in the early or mid 1980s, and he literally couldn't keep them on the shelves. As soon as an order came in, every one would be sold. The buyers were mostly pianists themselves or long-time piano specialist collectors. It's not like they needed another Waldstein or Appassionata or you name the piece. They were simply out to discover and soak in those special moments. So that's the way I've always looked at Ney's late stuff: these are adjunct performances to whatever mainstream versions you prefer. But the longer I live with them, the greater the importance I see in having them available. That's why, although I still own a few particular Colosseum LPs, I searched out and purchased the box set of Colosseum CDs from Europe. Even though I dip into them infrequently, I can't see being without them. All this has made me kinda curious to hear Ney some more. So maybe I'll do some box diving and some more concerted listening next week. If this results in my discovering something more specific to recommend, I surely will chime back in.

Cheers,

Dirk

Quote from: dirkronk link=topic=15838.msg502452#msg502452 date=1301681767, Mozart's Piano Concertos
So maybe I'll do some box diving and some more concerted listening next week. If this results in my discovering something more specific to recommend, I surely will chime back in.

Cheers,

Dirk

I'll do the same. How you describe her is spot on -- the music fits her like a glove.

Quote from: dirkronk link=topic=3279.msg502137#msg502137 date=1301587896, Mozart's Piano Concertos

Re Elly Ney. Thanks for the link: I'll try to check it out this weekend. I have her with Strub  doing some Reger, but not the Trout

The pre war recording with Strub I love the most is The Ghost Trio. Really -- she makes he hold my breath for about 15 minutes in the central movement. You don't happen to have Strub's performance of the Schubert G major Quartet do you?

Quote from: dirkronk link=topic=3279.msg502137#msg502137 date=1301587896, Mozart's Piano Concertos

There are some instances of phrasing in her mid/late '50s Waldstein that are so beautifully and delicately done (and she's not really known for the delicacy thing) that they literally make me catch my breath. OTOH, as I mentioned, this Waldstein is just too fragmented to hold together as an entirety. Pity.
Have you ever listened to her Wanderer Fantasy (the late one, not the 1941 version)? That one DOES hold together, and in an exceptional way.

Cheers,

Dirk

Accentuate the positive. That is one hell of a Waldstein. Astonishing. Full of little surprises. Just how I like it -- poetic and relatively contemplative. That makes two Waldsteins I love -- Arrau (Philips) and Ney. And two Wanderers -- Arrau (EMI) and Ney  ;)

Quote from: Verena on September 08, 2010, 05:04:59 PM
This sounds like a must buy to me. I'm glad that the sound is good, often it is really atrocious with Arbiter reccordings.

Hi Verena! :)

If you get it, let me know?

Quote from: dirkronk on April 01, 2011, 10:16:07 AM
All this has made me kinda curious to hear Ney some more. So maybe I'll do some box diving and some more concerted listening next week. If this results in my discovering something more specific to recommend, I surely will chime back in.

Try the Beethoven Concertos with Hoogstraten.

I must say I find the thread title confusing since it seems to obvious to me that the golden age of pianists is now.

Quote from: Il Barone Scarpia on April 04, 2011, 01:18:57 PM
I must say I find the thread title confusing since it seems to obvious to me that the golden age of pianists is now.

;D

Well, I tend to think of it as a continuing narrative, starting from well before recordings were ever made. Great pianists (performers) populate every era and by now it's obvious this isn't some kind of anomaly. It's NATURAL! And it'll never end.

So is it really fair to point to that one small epoch at the dawn of the recording age and say "That's the one-and-only time anyone really knew how to play the piano!"?

Balderdash.

I like to pick and choose pianists (performers) from EVERY era - the picking is ripe so why limit myself?

Another Elly Ney Colosseum find -- the adagio of the Hammerklavier. I also liked the Op 36 variations on the same CD, but it's the adagio  which is really unusual I think. I'll try to listen to some of the Mozart next.

Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on April 04, 2011, 05:04:24 PM
;D

Well, I tend to think of it as a continuing narrative, starting from well before recordings were ever made. Great pianists (performers) populate every era and by now it's obvious this isn't some kind of anomaly. It's NATURAL! And it'll never end.

So is it really fair to point to that one small epoch at the dawn of the recording age and say "That's the one-and-only time anyone really knew how to play the piano!"?

Balderdash.

I like to pick and choose pianists (performers) from EVERY era - the picking is ripe so why limit myself?

Agreed, I don't think there is anything magical about the current era either.  However, I think it is clear that, in terms of pure numbers, there are more fine pianists performing now than at any time in the past, and we certainly have the technology to record them better.  I certainly find it interesting to listen to the old records and listen to the way pianists played at other times, but I'd rather listen to the modern pianists who are influenced by those same recordings or traditions.  For instance, I have the Nat set of Beethoven Sonatas, but isn't it more pleasant to listen to splendid digital recordings of Lortie?

Quote from: Il Barone Scarpia on April 06, 2011, 12:48:41 PM
I think it is clear that, in terms of pure numbers, there are more fine pianists performing now than at any time in the past,

This is a rather extravagant claim, isn't it? The only way to compare is by listening to the recordings --- an exercise that works for a comparison between, say, 2011 and 1951, or even 1921. I'm very curious, though, about what 1851 or 1821 recordings you own or have heard.  ???

Quote from: Il Barone Scarpia on April 04, 2011, 01:18:57 PM
I must say I find the thread title confusing since it seems to obvious to me that the golden age of pianists is now.

Strange. Most modern pianists i've tried sucked. Horribly. Perhaps you'd like to expand on your claim?

Quote from: Mandryka on April 01, 2011, 11:50:27 AMThat makes two Waldsteins I love -- Arrau (Philips) and Ney. And two Wanderers -- Arrau (EMI) and Ney  ;)

Gosh. I may be slow on the uptake...but I sorta see a pattern emerging here...

Hmmm.

Dirk

Quote from: Josquin des Prez on April 07, 2011, 04:33:18 AM
Strange. Most modern pianists i've tried sucked. Horribly. Perhaps you'd like to expand on your claim?

Well, it does depend on what they are playing, n'est-ce pas? But for the romantic repertoire I would tend to agree with you that the qualities of magic, of elegance, hypnotic reverie etc tend to be rather lacking with contemporary pianists. I would take Schumann's Op. 6, the Davidsbündlertänze as an example: I have several recordings of this, Rosen (I think), Berezovsky, Pollini, X, Y & Z (my record collection is elsewhere any my memory rather challenged), but the very first recording I acquired, back in the 60s, was a clattery performance by Walter Gieseking (which has been slightly improved sonically on various CD incarnations), but after a few minutes you were literally entranced and transported. At the time I played this to student flat-sharers heavily into Dylan etc: they were rapt, and wore the LP out in the following months. This effect still works. The Cortot is marvellous too -
- but Gieseking...I can't explain it.

There's a high romantic style which may suit DBT, and Gieseking and Cortot were were good at it. Ugorski's DBT is pretty successful in the same style. And there are plenty of excellent DBTs a notch below -- Perahia's for example, and Le Sage's and Arrau's. And of course there's a radically different conception from Pollini. That's not a bad spread of good performances pre war to quite recently.

Even if you (sorry ccar by "you" I don't mean you . Il vaudrait mieux dire si l'on n'aime pas les pianistes de nos jours...) don't like modern pianists -- if you don't like Sokolov's Chopin Op.25 or Virssaladze's Waldszenen or Ranki's Haydn sonatas or Lubimov's Mozart or Beethoven concertos or . . .   --  then by all means don't listen to them. But  nothing follows about state of pianism. If you want to draw a conclusion about that,  rather more argument is needed.

Quote from: mjwal on April 08, 2011, 08:54:34 AM
Well, it does depend on what they are playing, n'est-ce pas? But for the romantic repertoire I would tend to agree with you that the qualities of magic, of elegance, hypnotic reverie etc tend to be rather lacking with contemporary pianists. I would take Schumann's Op. 6, the Davidsbündlertänze as an example: I have several recordings of this, Rosen (I think), Berezovsky, Pollini, X, Y & Z (my record collection is elsewhere any my memory rather challenged), but the very first recording I acquired, back in the 60s, was a clattery performance by Walter Gieseking (which has been slightly improved sonically on various CD incarnations), but after a few minutes you were literally entranced and transported. At the time I played this to student flat-sharers heavily into Dylan etc: they were rapt, and wore the LP out in the following months. This effect still works. The Cortot is marvellous too -
- but Gieseking...I can't explain it.

The obvious explanation is that it was that it made the strongest impression because it was the first recording you heard.  Personally Gieseking has bored me to tears whenever I've listened to him, and I can't imagine a better performance of the Davidsbundlertanze than Pollini's.

Il Barone Scarpia wrote: "The obvious explanation is that it was that it made the strongest impression because it was the first recording you heard.  Personally Gieseking has bored me to tears whenever I've listened to him, and I can't imagine a better performance of the Davidsbundlertanze than Pollini's."
This explanation seems to make sense - until I reflect that hardly any of my present preferences derive from my first experiences with a work, whether on record or more seldom in concert. Actually only this and to a lesser extent Erik Tuxen's Sibelius #5. For me, Pollini's Schumann is impeccable but lacking in that "rêveusement" that Cortot enjoined upon his pupils.

Quote from: mjwal on April 08, 2011, 12:46:49 PM
Il Barone Scarpia wrote: "The obvious explanation is that it was that it made the strongest impression because it was the first recording you heard.  Personally Gieseking has bored me to tears whenever I've listened to him, and I can't imagine a better performance of the Davidsbundlertanze than Pollini's."
This explanation seems to make sense - until I reflect that hardly any of my present preferences derive from my first experiences with a work, whether on record or more seldom in concert. Actually only this and to a lesser extent Erik Tuxen's Sibelius #5. For me, Pollini's Schumann is impeccable but lacking in that "rêveusement" that Cortot enjoined upon his pupils.

I assume "rêveusement" means "wrong notes" because that is the only thing I find missing in Pollini's recordings.   0:)

I don't mean to imply that I think modern pianists are superior, but I think one is just as likely to find ones transcendent performance among new pianists as old, and why listen to those technically horrid recordings from old days?

Corot's 1954 Kreisleriana has just been uploaded on symphonyshare, so I've finally had a chance to hear it. This is a recording he never authorised, presumably partly because of the numerous wrong notes. It was published by error in Volume 1 of his Great Pianists. Philips withdrew all copies when they found out the mistake.

The interpretation is memorable. The second Sehr Langsam (6)  and Sehr racht (7) seem to me to have  that special hallucinatory quality which is a characteristic of his best recordings.

There are some wrong notes, and even some whole bars, where he loses the plot. Best to focus on the positive I say.

Quote from: Il Barone Scarpia on April 08, 2011, 10:39:36 AM
The obvious explanation is that it was that it made the strongest impression because it was the first recording you heard.  Personally Gieseking has bored me to tears whenever I've listened to him, and I can't imagine a better performance of the Davidsbundlertanze than Pollini's.

A different take: Gieseking playing Schumann is thoroughly exciting, and I've heard better performances of the Davidsbundlertanze than from Pollini (including Gieseking).

Quote from: Bulldog on August 18, 2011, 02:08:15 PM
A different take: Gieseking playing Schumann is thoroughly exciting, and I've heard better performances of the Davidsbundlertanze than from Pollini (including Gieseking).

What an impossible piece to get right! Although I still think Pollini has a stronger interpretive profile than perhaps Schiff, Zacharias, le Sage, who are all very meticulous.

I think I will have to order the Catherine Collard Lyrinx version from France to have a modern version with which I can be satisfied. Her Erato is highly regarded as well, but her later recordings won so many french awards, I have a feeling they have more character and I think the samples on youtube sound just great.

(http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/imgs/s300x300/4779527.jpg)

DG will be releasing in September this hodge-podge 10 CD set of previously unreleased recordings by five pianists (2 CDs each): Arrau, Moiseiwitsch, De Larrocha, Lewenthal, Petri.

Among the rest it'll include bunch of Arrau's Beethoven sonatas from mid 50s never released before in any form and Benno Moisiewitsch 1961 American Decca recordings (Schumann, Beethoven, Mussorgsky), and those are the ones I want to hear the most. By this time Moiseiwitsch technique probably wasn't what it used to be, but some claim that these 1961 sessions are recorded in best sound ever given to him and that they capture his inimitable tone qualities as none before.

I have to say I'd prefer five two-fers, to pick and choose but DG went for box under rather spurious title probably for marketing reasons and they were probably right.

Contents here:
http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/DG/4779527

Quote from: Il Barone Scarpia on April 08, 2011, 10:39:36 AM
The obvious explanation is that it was that it made the strongest impression because it was the first recording you heard.  Personally Gieseking has bored me to tears whenever I've listened to him, and I can't imagine a better performance of the Davidsbundlertanze than Pollini's.

I think that's part of it. However I did not imprint first on Gieseking, and still I do think it's a very special recording. As for Pollini, I used to have a live Salzburg DBT (from 1984 if memory serves) that was really great. The studio recording I find less compelling.

Perahia's early recording is one of the best modern recordings  -  although one may say that a 1970's recording is vintage, too, in a way.

Quote from: Il Barone Scarpia on April 08, 2011, 12:50:31 PM
I assume "rêveusement" means "wrong notes" because that is the only thing I find missing in Pollini's recordings.   0:)

I don't mean to imply that I think modern pianists are superior, but I think one is just as likely to find ones transcendent performance among new pianists as old, and why listen to those technically horrid recordings from old days?

The term "Golden Age' is used rather loosely here, including pianists who recorded in the 1940s and later, when recording techniques were sufficiently advanced to allow for good sound, especially with today's restoration instruments. A solo piano after all is not as difficult to catch as a complete orchestra.

I think perfection is musical performance is a double edged sword. There are pianists today who can play material that was way over Cortot's, Gieseking's or Rubinstein's head. But in many cases this proficiency seems to come at a price, in that there seems to be less rapturous music making. Meticulous studio practice, recording pieces in tiny, pristine sections doesn't help either.

Personally I think Pollini's legacy would have been much better served if he (and DG) hadn't been so obsessed with making the ultimate recording every time, and just had recorded his performances live. The sound could hardly have been worse than in the studio (Pollini is very very badly served by DG's engineers who want to make him sound like this steely fingered robot man) and there would have been more poetry in his recorded music making.

I think that what you say has a lot of truth in it Herman . You know some of the pianists who give rapturous, poetic performances today tend not to record in the studio. I'm thinking of Sokolov and Ranki.

Nevertheless it's not hard to think of rapturous recent studio performances -- Ugirski's Davidsbuendlertaenze, and  Lubimov's Prokofiev 7 for example.  I can see why Scarpia says what he does too.

Pollini's about something different -- there are different values. I need to think about it.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41PDXXAE3AL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)

How about this dude?

I just grabbed this CD today and haven't had a chance to listen to it yet.

Quote from: George on August 23, 2011, 05:04:56 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41PDXXAE3AL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)

How about this dude?

I just grabbed this CD today and haven't had a chance to listen to it yet.

Busoni's performance of the HR 13 is extraordinary.

The best thing about Busoni is his name:

Ferruccio Dante Michelangelo Leonardo Busoni

Petri's like Backhaus -- no nonsense.

Happy Birthday, Alfred! :wave:

Now enjoying:

(http://image.allmusic.com/00/acg/cov200/cl000/l074/l074582462b.jpg)


Henry Purcell Minuet 1937
Henry Purcell Siciliana 1937
Henry Purcell Gavotte 1937
Henry Purcell Air 1937
Antonio Vivaldi Chamber concerto 1937
JS Bach Concerto No. 5 in F minor Arioso 1937
Handel Harmonious Blacksmith 1926
Schubert Litanei 1937
Franz Schubert Ländler (12) for piano D. 681 1937
Brahms Wiegenlied 1925
Albéniz Malagueña 1930
Albéniz Seguidillas 1930
Albéniz Sous le palmier 1926
Saint-Saëns Caprice En Forme De Valse 1931
Chopin Etude in A Flat 1925
Chopin Waltz in C sharp minor 1925
Chopin Impromptu in F Sharp 1925
Chopin Ballade No. 1 1926
Chopin Berceuse 1926
Chopin Arr. Liszt - My Joys 1939

Quote from: George on September 26, 2011, 04:56:57 AM
Happy Birthday, Alfred! :wave:

Now enjoying:

(http://image.allmusic.com/00/acg/cov200/cl000/l074/l074582462b.jpg)


Henry Purcell Minuet 1937
Henry Purcell Siciliana 1937
Henry Purcell Gavotte 1937
Henry Purcell Air 1937
Antonio Vivaldi Chamber concerto 1937
JS Bach Concerto No. 5 in F minor Arioso 1937
Handel Harmonious Blacksmith 1926
Schubert Litanei 1937
Franz Schubert Ländler (12) for piano D. 681 1937
Brahms Wiegenlied 1925
Albéniz Malagueña 1930
Albéniz Seguidillas 1930
Albéniz Sous le palmier 1926
Saint-Saëns Caprice En Forme De Valse 1931
Chopin Etude in A Flat 1925
Chopin Waltz in C sharp minor 1925
Chopin Impromptu in F Sharp 1925
Chopin Ballade No. 1 1926
Chopin Berceuse 1926
Chopin Arr. Liszt - My Joys 1939

It's a very good CD. The Purcell is really nice and the Vivaldi especially is astonishing -- it's a shame we don't have more of that sort of thing.

There's a longish discussion, argument, about  the Brandenburg concerto  movement on this forum .

No one, not even Cortot, has helped me to enjoy Schubert Landlers.

It's the Vivaldi though which haunts me the most.

Quote from: Mandryka on September 29, 2011, 11:47:19 AM
It's a very good CD. The Purcell is really nice and the Vivaldi especially is astonishing -- it's a shame we don't have more of that sort of thing.

There's a longish discussion, argument, about  the Brandenburg concerto  movement on this forum .

No one, not even Cortot, has helped me to enjoy Schubert Landlers.

It's the Vivaldi though which haunts me the most.

Yeah it is a great CD. The Vivaldi moved me as well.  :)

Quote from: toucan on September 30, 2011, 01:23:59 PM
Perhaps I should check and see if the Gavotte was recorded by that fine pianist, Marcelle Meyer, who also had an affinity for Erik Satie. Small world, huh.

If you mean the one with six variations Meyer recorded it twice at least.

http://www.youtube.com/v/7PKAFOhVZ4Q

Quote from: George on October 23, 2011, 03:25:26 AM
Yes, I got it, but I need the late Symphonic Etudes and Kreisleriana by Cortot, if you can help me out I'd appreciate it.

Cortot's 1954 Kreisleriana

http://groups.google.com/group/Symphonyshare/browse_thread/thread/15f146b367461094/292032e20c740b30?lnk=gst&q=cortot+kreisleriana#292032e20c740b30

Cortot's 1953 Schumann Etudes

http://quartier-des-archives.blogspot.com/2009/05/schumann-12-etudes-symphoniques-alfred.html

The Etudes are for me one of the few really  hallucinatory  piano records. Schumann on opium.

Quote from: Mandryka on October 23, 2011, 03:54:31 AM
Cortot's 1954 Kreisleriana

http://groups.google.com/group/Symphonyshare/browse_thread/thread/15f146b367461094/292032e20c740b30?lnk=gst&q=cortot+kreisleriana#292032e20c740b30

Thanks!

QuoteCortot's 1953 Schumann Etudes

http://quartier-des-archives.blogspot.com/2009/05/schumann-12-etudes-symphoniques-alfred.html

The Etudes are for me one of the few really  hallucinatory  piano records. Schumann on opium.

For this link, I get:

"The key you provided for file download was invalid. This is usually caused because the file is no longer stored on Mediafire. This occurs when the file is removed by the originating user or Mediafire."  :-[

The 1954 Etudes

http://www.sendspace.com/file/05qmmu

Quote from: Mandryka on October 23, 2011, 05:42:18 AM
The 1954 Etudes

http://www.sendspace.com/file/05qmmu

Thanks, so to be clear, the first pressing of Cortot's GPOTC set (mistakenly) had three Schumann recordings from the 1950s:

1. Symphonic Etudes 1954
2. Carnaval 1953 (recently re-released on Naxos Historical)
3. Kresleriana 1950s (Unauthorized and previously unreleased)

Is all that correct?

I believe so.

Alfred Cortot first recorded Schumann's "Kreisleriana" for His Master's Voice in July of 1935; this is the version most commentary describes. It was on HMV 78s, Angel and EMI LPs, and M&A, Biddulph Labs, Pearl, and Philips CDs (Great Pianists series, especially chosen by Alfred Brendel). By "mistake", an unissued EMI tape of unissued 1953-1954 takes were sent to the CD factory and issued on some, but not all, Philips volumes of Cortot's Schumann. Brendel was appalled and insisted the 1935 version be substituted, which was done on later Philips pressings.

Cortot also recorded "Kreisleriana" in Paris in 1956 and 1957 for Voix de son Maitre, unissued.

The interest to Cortot collectors is the chance to hear the beauty of his phrasing and piano tone in relatively modern sound. He makes the same mistakes that many other pianists do before tape-editing, but admittedly he was not in good shape by 1954. His 1953 "Etudes symphoniques", for instance, are incredibly beautiful, the very finest I know, but the finale is almost unlistenable as he wasn't up to it by then, at least on that day. With Cortot, you never know.

Those concerned for safety and mechanical accuracy will always choose other pianists.

Quote from: Mandryka on October 23, 2011, 07:09:35 AM
I believe so.

Alfred Cortot first recorded Schumann's "Kreisleriana" for His Master's Voice in July of 1935; this is the version most commentary describes. It was on HMV 78s, Angel and EMI LPs, and M&A, Biddulph Labs, Pearl, and Philips CDs (Great Pianists series, especially chosen by Alfred Brendel). By "mistake", an unissued EMI tape of unissued 1953-1954 takes were sent to the CD factory and issued on some, but not all, Philips volumes of Cortot's Schumann. Brendel was appalled and insisted the 1935 version be substituted, which was done on later Philips pressings.

Cortot also recorded "Kreisleriana" in Paris in 1956 and 1957 for Voix de son Maitre, unissued.

Thanks for the details!  :)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FO6DF-9jL._SS400_.jpg)

Finally picked up this set, since it was dirt cheap on amazon ($23.62 new for 6CDs.) The seller, Zoverstocks sent this big box in a padded bag, so the rear of one of the cases was damaged. Oh, well. Since I already own a ton of Chopin, I wanted to find out how much of these performances I already had. Turns out a lot of it I didn't already have, which I am very happy about. In order to determine what I already had, I did a full inventory of the contents, using a discography and the liner notes, labeling the things that appear elsewhere on CD. For the curious, I will post the info here:

CD 01
01 Berceuse - 1920 – Pearl 9386 and Biddulph Complete Acoustic Victor Rec
02 Chant Polonais - 1923 – Music & Arts CD-615, Biddulph LAB 014~15
03 Op. 10 No. 5 - 1923 - Biddulph Complete Acoustic Victor Rec
04 Op. 25 No. 9 - 1923 - Biddulph Complete Acoustic Victor Rec
05 Op. 25 No. 11 – 1923 – Biddulph Complete Acoustic Victor Rec and Pearl 9386
06 Impromptu 1 – 1922 – Pearl 9386, Biddulph LAB 014~15
07 Impromptu 2 – 1925 – Biddulph LHW 020, Pearl 9386, M&A CD-317 / CD-4871
08 Op. 25 No. 1 – 1925 - Biddulph LHW 020, Pearl 9386, M&A CD-317 / CD-4871
09 Waltz Op. 64/2 – 1925 - Biddulph LHW 020, Pearl 9386
10 Berceuse – 1926 - M&A CD-317, CD-4871, Biddulph LHW 020
11 Ballade  - 1926 - Biddulph LHW 020, Pearl 9386, M&A CD-717
12 – 18 Preludes 1926 – Naxos
19 – 22 Sonata 3 – 1931 - M&A CD-717, Biddulph LHW 001


CD 02
01 Prelude Op. 28/12 – 1928 - Only available in this set
02 Nocturne – Op 9/2 – 1929 – Naxos 8.111245, Biddulph LHW 001
03 – 06 Sonata 2 – 1933 - Music & Arts CD-717, Biddulph, Brilliant 99228 / 99230
07 Polonaise no. 6 – 1933 – Naxos, Music & Arts CD-717
08 - 11 4 Ballades – 1933 – Biddulph
12 Fantasie – 1933 - Music & Arts CD-717, Naxos 8.111035
13 Tarantelle – 1933 - Toshiba TOCE-6661~65(5 set) / TOCE-7817


CD 03
01 Barcarolle – 1933 - Toshiba TOCE-6661~65(5 set)
02 -25  Etudes – 1933/34 – Naxos, Philips 456 751-2 (GPOTTC)
26 – 29 Waltzes – 1934 – Naxos, TOCE-11199~203(5 set)


CD 04
01 – 03 Concerto 2 – Barbirolli – 1935 - M&A CD-717, Pearl 9491, Naxos 8.110612
04 Impromptu 3 – 1933 - Naxos 8.111023
05- 18 Waltzes (complete) - 1943 - Sirio 530014, Shinseido SGR-8102


CD 05
01 -24 Preludes – 1943 - Philips 456 754-2(GPOTTC), Shinseido SGR-8104
25 – 36 Etudes Op. 10 – 1942 - Shinseido SGR-8103


CD 06
01 -12 Etudes Op. 25 – 1942 - Shinseido SGR-8103
13 – 14 2 Chants Polonais 1939 – Naxos, Biddulph 020, Pearl 9396, M&A CD-662
15  Nocturne No. 4 Op. 15/1 – 1952 –  Naxos
16  Nocturne No. 5 Op. 15/2 – 1949 –  Naxos    
17  Nocturne No. 7 Op. 27/1 – 1952 – Naxos
18  Nocturne No. 15 Op. 55/1 – 1947 - Naxos
19  Nocturne No. 16 Op. 55/2 – 1947 – Naxos
20 -22 3 Nouvelles Etudes – 1949 – Naxos
23 Prelude – Op. 45 – 1950 - Naxos

I came into a little bit of money, so I decided to order some stuff from my MDT wishlist. Naxos is on sale there until December 19th.

(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/Jun02/Mendelssohn_Schumann_trios_Naxos.jpg)(http://www.cdbiblio.com/eingang/cdimages/img_beethoven/beethoven0486.jpg)(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Jan11/cortot_8111381.jpg)

(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2009/Aug09/Cortot_8112012.jpg)(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Dec07/cortot_8111261.jpg)

(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/Dec08/Gilels_8111350.jpg)(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/Nov10/gilels_v2_8112051.jpg)

If you start to enjoy Thibaud try to get hold of his record of the Beethoven Violin Concerto with Victor Desarzens. I can always upload it if it's hard to find. I find it very touching.

I like  Cortot's Liszt --La Leggierezza and  the sonata especially. The reason the sonata isn't more widely appreciated is, I suspect, purely to do with all the marketing hype surrounding Horowitz's first recording, which was published just a couple of years after Cortot's.  Cortot's Weber Sonata is also fun to listen to.

The early Gilels doesn't seem very interesting to me except for Gilels collectors.

Quote from: Mandryka on December 05, 2011, 09:11:45 PM
The early Gilels doesn't seem very interesting to me except for Gilels collectors.

I thought that at first too, but then I revisited my 2CD set of Early recordings on DG and was compelled to get as much of his early stuff as possible.

I wonder if someone here can help me out.

He gave a concert in London in May 1990 with Beethoven op 111, the Chopin Mazurka Op 33/4, first Scherzo and Op22 Andante Spianto and Grande Polonaise.

Is the Andante Spianto and Grande Polonaise on record anywhere?

I'm trying to reconstruct the concert, which may well have been his last. I have all of it except the Chopin Op22. What I have is very interesting interpretatively.

Quote from: Mandryka on December 09, 2011, 10:27:55 AM
I wonder if someone here can help me out.

He gave a concert in London in May 1990 with Beethoven op 111, the Chopin Mazurka Op 33/4, first Scherzo and Op22 Andante Spianto and Grande Polonaise.

Is the Andante Spianto and Grande Polonaise on record anywhere?

I'm trying to reconstruct the concert, which may well have been his last. I have all of it except the Chopin Op22. What I have is very interesting interpretatively.

I'd love to get my hands on that (hint, hint.)

I recently downloaded the 2CD set of Tokyo recordings. If you don't have it, it's up on Demonoid.

Quote from: George on December 09, 2011, 10:56:57 AM
I'd love to get my hands on that (hint, hint.)

I recently downloaded the 2CD set of Tokyo recordings. If you don't have it, it's up on Demonoid.

If that's the one with the Ravel Valses I'd like to hear it -- I can't see it though. Can you give me a link?

I'm getting interested in the last period of his career -- from 1980 through to 1990. There's some outstanding stuff on Aura from concerts in Bregenz and London, including a very surprising and wonderful Paganini Variations, an excellent Bach Busoni Chaconne and some stunning Debussy. and, of course, all the London 1990 material except the Op 22!

The London concert is very strange. I think this is the MAzurka from it though I haven't checked carefully. :

http://www.youtube.com/v/8_lSXjYOdzQ

Quote from: Mandryka on December 09, 2011, 11:33:54 AM
If that's the one with the Ravel Valses I'd like to hear it -- I can't see it though. Can you give me a link?

I'm getting interested in the last period of his career -- from 1980 through to 1990. There's some outstanding stuff on Aura from concerts in Bregenz and London, including a very surprising and wonderful Paganini Variations, an excellent Bach Busoni Chaconne and some stunning Debussy. and, of course, all the London 1990 material except the Op 22!

The London concert is very strange. I think this is the MAzurka from it though I haven't checked carefully. :

http://www.youtube.com/v/8_lSXjYOdzQ

Is this ABM we are talking about? I seem to have lost the context of this somewhere.

Quote from: Mandryka on December 09, 2011, 10:27:55 AM
I wonder if someone here can help me out.

He gave a concert in London in May 1990 with Beethoven op 111, the Chopin Mazurka Op 33/4, first Scherzo and Op22 Andante Spianto and Grande Polonaise.

Is the Andante Spianto and Grande Polonaise on record anywhere?

I'm trying to reconstruct the concert, which may well have been his last. I have all of it except the Chopin Op22. What I have is very interesting interpretatively.

London 1990 concert was released by Ermitage and then Aura. Both long out of print.

Aura Music AUR 431-2
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/2179HN42C2L.jpg)
http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Sonata-32-Minor-111/dp/B000020651

Ermitage ERM 432-2
(http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/6131/3435834.jpg)
(can't see it listed anywhere)

most of the recital, except Andante Spianato, in also in the Documents brown box.

The London wasn't his last recital though, that would be all Debussy Hamburg recital from May 1993, on Memoria:

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51pfXSKe9TL.jpg)
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Recital-Arturo-Benedetti-Michelangeli/dp/B0000245YM

Quote from: Holden on December 09, 2011, 11:51:31 AM
Is this ABM we are talking about? I seem to have lost the context of this somewhere.

Actually, I am the one who is lost. I thought we were talking about Cortot.

Quote from: Drasko on December 09, 2011, 12:19:50 PM


The London wasn't his last recital though, that would be all Debussy Hamburg recital from May 1993, on Memoria:

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51pfXSKe9TL.jpg)
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Recital-Arturo-Benedetti-Michelangeli/dp/B0000245YM

And how is that CD? Sound? Performance?

No idea.

Quote from: Mandryka on December 09, 2011, 01:40:46 PM
And how is that CD? Sound? Performance?

The recording of ABM last recital - Hamburg 1993 May 7 - comes from a concertgoer. There are the obvious deficiencies – you may be distracted with the noise coming from the concealed recorder and some cough from the audience is obviouly very near. But the piano sound is still quite present and you can even listen to ABM humming and singing along while he plays. For me it is a recital to treasure. Debussy served fresh - with amazing colors, insight and imagination.   

Quote from: ccar on December 10, 2011, 04:12:31 AM
The recording of ABM last recital - Hamburg 1993 May 7 - comes from a concertgoer. There are the obvious deficiencies – you may be distracted with the noise coming from the concealed recorder and some cough from the audience is obviouly very near. But the piano sound is still quite present and you can even listen to ABM humming and singing along while he plays. For me it is a recital to treasure. Debussy served fresh - with amazing colors, insight and imagination.   

I've ordered it.

I'm very interested to see how his Debussy style changed towards the end of his life. There's a performance of Images on Aura from 1987. But a lot of water could have passed under the bridge between 1987 and 1993.

In the preface to Aspects de Chopin, Grimaud quotes Cocteau as saying that Cortot used to tell his students that their job is to do three things:

1.   Understand the score psychologically. That's to say, try to get a grip on the states of mind which gave rise to the composition.

2.   Understand how he himself (the pianist) is effected by his understanding of the composer's mental states as reflected in the score.

3.   Bring these two understandings together in performance to make the music live.

Does anyone teach piano like this today? Are there any pianists who play like this today? What influenced Cortot to develop this theory of performance?

Here's the Cocteau/Cortot quote, in case someone else wants to have a go at an exegesis:

"C'est ce  que nous ressentons qui compte. Il s'agit de reconstituer, non une prétendue objectivité, mais la vérité des états d'âme qui engendrèrent la partition à l'interpréter, et selon la résonance profonde qu'ils éveillent dans son propre esprit : rendre vivant ce qui est écrit."

I'm not sure about "engendrèrent la partition à l'interpréter"

Quote from: George on November 01, 2011, 06:24:12 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FO6DF-9jL._SS400_.jpg)

Finally picked up this set, since it was dirt cheap on amazon ($23.62 new for 6CDs.) The seller, Zoverstocks sent this big box in a padded bag, so the rear of one of the cases was damaged. Oh, well. Since I already own a ton of Chopin, I wanted to find out how much of these performances I already had. Turns out a lot of it I didn't already have, which I am very happy about. In order to determine what I already had, I did a full inventory of the contents, using a discography and the liner notes, labeling the things that appear elsewhere on CD. For the curious, I will post the info here:

CD 01
01 Berceuse - 1920 – Pearl 9386 and Biddulph Complete Acoustic Victor Rec
02 Chant Polonais - 1923 – Music & Arts CD-615, Biddulph LAB 014~15
03 Op. 10 No. 5 - 1923 - Biddulph Complete Acoustic Victor Rec
04 Op. 25 No. 9 - 1923 - Biddulph Complete Acoustic Victor Rec
05 Op. 25 No. 11 – 1923 – Biddulph Complete Acoustic Victor Rec and Pearl 9386
06 Impromptu 1 – 1922 – Pearl 9386, Biddulph LAB 014~15
07 Impromptu 2 – 1925 – Biddulph LHW 020, Pearl 9386, M&A CD-317 / CD-4871
08 Op. 25 No. 1 – 1925 - Biddulph LHW 020, Pearl 9386, M&A CD-317 / CD-4871
09 Waltz Op. 64/2 – 1925 - Biddulph LHW 020, Pearl 9386
10 Berceuse – 1926 - M&A CD-317, CD-4871, Biddulph LHW 020
11 Ballade  - 1926 - Biddulph LHW 020, Pearl 9386, M&A CD-717
12 – 18 Preludes 1926 – Naxos
19 – 22 Sonata 3 – 1931 - M&A CD-717, Biddulph LHW 001


CD 02
01 Prelude Op. 28/12 – 1928 - Only available in this set
02 Nocturne – Op 9/2 – 1929 – Naxos 8.111245, Biddulph LHW 001
03 – 06 Sonata 2 – 1933 - Music & Arts CD-717, Biddulph, Brilliant 99228 / 99230
07 Polonaise no. 6 – 1933 – Naxos, Music & Arts CD-717
08 - 11 4 Ballades – 1933 – Biddulph
12 Fantasie – 1933 - Music & Arts CD-717, Naxos 8.111035
13 Tarantelle – 1933 - Toshiba TOCE-6661~65(5 set) / TOCE-7817


CD 03
01 Barcarolle – 1933 - Toshiba TOCE-6661~65(5 set)
02 -25  Etudes – 1933/34 – Naxos, Philips 456 751-2 (GPOTTC)
26 – 29 Waltzes – 1934 – Naxos, TOCE-11199~203(5 set)


CD 04
01 – 03 Concerto 2 – Barbirolli – 1935 - M&A CD-717, Pearl 9491, Naxos 8.110612
04 Impromptu 3 – 1933 - Naxos 8.111023
05- 18 Waltzes (complete) - 1943 - Sirio 530014, Shinseido SGR-8102


CD 05
01 -24 Preludes – 1943 - Philips 456 754-2(GPOTTC), Shinseido SGR-8104
25 – 36 Etudes Op. 10 – 1942 - Shinseido SGR-8103


CD 06
01 -12 Etudes Op. 25 – 1942 - Shinseido SGR-8103
13 – 14 2 Chants Polonais 1939 – Naxos, Biddulph 020, Pearl 9396, M&A CD-662
15  Nocturne No. 4 Op. 15/1 – 1952 –  Naxos
16  Nocturne No. 5 Op. 15/2 – 1949 –  Naxos    
17  Nocturne No. 7 Op. 27/1 – 1952 – Naxos
18  Nocturne No. 15 Op. 55/1 – 1947 - Naxos
19  Nocturne No. 16 Op. 55/2 – 1947 – Naxos
20 -22 3 Nouvelles Etudes – 1949 – Naxos
23 Prelude – Op. 45 – 1950 - Naxos

As far as I can see the 1942 Etudes aren't part of the the Toshiba Cortot box (The Art of Alfred Cortot). Is that right? Yongrock Lee mentions a Shinseido CD with them, but it's not obvious where to find it.

If all that's correct the only place to find the 1942 is on the execrable transfer on French EMI. And one othet -- on this CD from Forgotten Records:

(http://www.forgottenrecords.com/images/covers/cache/CHOPIN%20ETUDES%20CORTOT%201942%20front_192.jpg)

If the sound is better than EMI France (and it must surely be), then that CD could be well worth having. That 1942 recording shows Cortot really on top of this music.

I am fairly happy with the sound in the French EMI box, Mandryka.

Apparently EMI are going to issue a remasterisation of the 1942 etudes, the new transfer done in France. Due this autumn.

Quote from: George on October 23, 2011, 06:07:41 AM
Thanks, so to be clear, the first pressing of Cortot's GPOTC set (mistakenly) had three Schumann recordings from the 1950s:

1. Symphonic Etudes 1954
2. Carnaval 1953 (recently re-released on Naxos Historical)
3. Kresleriana 1950s (Unauthorized and previously unreleased)

Is all that correct?

Quote from: Mandryka on October 23, 2011, 07:09:35 AM
I believe so.

Alfred Cortot first recorded Schumann's "Kreisleriana" for His Master's Voice in July of 1935; this is the version most commentary describes. It was on HMV 78s, Angel and EMI LPs, and M&A, Biddulph Labs, Pearl, and Philips CDs (Great Pianists series, especially chosen by Alfred Brendel). By "mistake", an unissued EMI tape of unissued 1953-1954 takes were sent to the CD factory and issued on some, but not all, Philips volumes of Cortot's Schumann. Brendel was appalled and insisted the 1935 version be substituted, which was done on later Philips pressings....The interest to Cortot collectors is the chance to hear the beauty of his phrasing and piano tone in relatively modern sound. He makes the same mistakes that many other pianists do before tape-editing, but admittedly he was not in good shape by 1954.

Thanks for clearing up a mystery, guys. I apparently have one of the first "mistaken" prints of the GPOTC. I've always been astonished how great these 1928 (Carnaval), 1929 (Etudes) and 1935 (Kreisleriana) recordings sound  ;D  Now I know why.

Sarge

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51V1EOthaWL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)

Using Youngrok Lee's excellent discography, I think I have found all of the performances that are new to CD (or at least not in his discography) from the above set. Here's what I got:

CD 08 - 1930 – Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody 11
CD 16 – 1937 – Schumann – Des Abends
CD 23 – 1950 – Chopin - Mazurkas 2 and 41
CD 25 – 1952 – Schubert - Litanei
CD 25 – 1953 – Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody 11
CD 26 – 1953 – Debussy – Children's Corner
CD 26 – 1953 – Schumann – Symphonic Variations
CD 27 – 1953 – Schumann – Kreisleriana (accidentally issued on GPOTTC)
CD 27 – 1953 – Chopin - Largo from Piano Sonata 3
CD 28 – 1957 – Chopin – Preludes and Ballades
CD 38 – 40 – 1958-1959 Beethoven Sonatas (Ops. 13, 27/2, 57, 79, 81a, 90) and Commentary

I am now enjoying the latest release from Marston records, Lamond plays Liszt and Beethoven. I am a subscriber, so I get releases ahead of the general public, which means that Marston doesn't even have an entry on their site for this 2CD set, except in the future releases section:

QuoteFrederic Lamond Plays Liszt and Beethoven:
A Selection of Broadcasts and Commercial Recordings
52071-2 (2 CDs)

Frederic Lamond was born in Glasgow in 1868. As a teenager, he studied with Hans von Bülow; had lessons with Liszt at Weimar and Rome; was coached by Brahms; and was greatly influenced by Anton Rubinstein, with whom he was well acquainted. In addition to being an early champion of Brahms, Lamond is considered an authority on Beethoven's piano music and is a member of that small circle of Liszt pupils who had the opportunity to make records. This two CD set includes two concerto broadcasts [LvB PC 3 and Liszt PC 2], never before available, and a selection of his best recorded performances of Beethoven [Op. 10/2, 27/2, 31/3, 53, 57] and Liszt [Gnomenreigen, Transcendental Etude 5, Liebestraume No, 2]. The set will also include a brief but fascinating spoken reminiscence by Lamond about Liszt [14 min, English].

Quote from: George on June 21, 2013, 03:23:32 AM
I am now enjoying the latest release from Marston records, Lamond plays Liszt and Beethoven. I am a subscriber, so I get releases ahead of the general public, which means that Marston doesn't even have an entry on their site for this 2CD set, except in the future releases section:

I've got an earlier Biddulph release with 17, 21, 23 and 31. It would be interesting to compare masterings. The Biddulph was remasterd by ....drum roll.....Ward Marston.

In your notes you mention Op 31/3 yet I've Op 31/2 (correct because I've just had a quick listen). Is there a possibly a typo?

Quote from: Holden on June 21, 2013, 01:51:43 PM
I've got an earlier Biddulph release with 17, 21, 23 and 31. It would be interesting to compare masterings. The Biddulph was remasterd by ....drum roll.....Ward Marston.

In your notes you mention Op 31/3 yet I've Op 31/2 (correct because I've just had a quick listen). Is there a possibly a typo?

No, it's 31/3. I think the Marston performances are all previously unreleased, even the works that appeared before, the performance is different.

Long article on Michelangeli here

http://www.forte-piano-pianissimo.com/MichelangeliMonograph.html

Quote from: Mandryka on May 18, 2014, 02:49:10 AM
Long article on Michelangeli here

http://www.forte-piano-pianissimo.com/MichelangeliMonograph.html

Thanks for posting that Mandryka! On my TBR pile!  :)

Yes, thanks for posting that.

Quote from: Mandryka on May 18, 2014, 02:49:10 AM
Long article on Michelangeli here

http://www.forte-piano-pianissimo.com/MichelangeliMonograph.html

Many thanks for this! I hope all is well with you.

Posted elsewhere:

Here is the direct link to the podcast of "Jorge Bolet: A Centenary Celebration" over WWFM.

http://64.234.215.170/bolet2014.mp3

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41J927GuiIL.jpg)

Saw this today for the first time.  The pianist was apparently far past his prime and this is evident. The plot of the film is simple and somewhat charming.

Honestly, I have yet to understand what people see in this pianist. I have a 2CD set of his earliest recordings and they leave me cold. Apparently I am not alone, as David Dubal quotes an anonymous pianist (perhaps Moriz Rosenthal?) in his book The Art Of The Piano as saying "Paderewski did everything well, except play the piano."

Quote from: George on January 11, 2015, 01:17:49 PM
[David Dubal quotes an anonymous pianist (perhaps Moriz Rosenthal?) in his book The Art Of The Piano as saying "Paderewski did everything well, except play the piano."

Tchaikovsky on Brahms, anyone?  ;D

Paderewski should be judged on his own merits, not on what Rosenthal might have said about him.

So George, do you like Paderewski or not? If yes, why? If no, why?

Quote from: Florestan on January 27, 2015, 11:28:24 AM
Tchaikovsky on Brahms, anyone?  ;D

Nah, more like Britten on Brahms. ;)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51V1EOthaWL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)

This is now only $54 on amazon.com. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB7E1D_3Na4)

Best sounding and most complete Cortot set out there!

Quote from: George on January 11, 2015, 01:17:49 PM
Honestly, I have yet to understand what people see in [Paderewski].

I think it's mostly his historical position which has turned into a legend that you and me and some others find undeserved yet remains intact nonetheless. As with Niedzielski and Koczalski, their pedagogical ties and the times they lived in are enough to perpetuate their recordings.

(http://www.marstonrecords.com/levy4/cover_levy4_lg.jpg)


The Haydn is even better than the previously released sonatas - more humour, more energy and tremendous symphonic colour. The Schubert D 664 is as moving a performance of it as I've ever heard. The Beethoven op 109 is full of personal touches, there's a feeling of tragedy. I haven't thought about the Liszt, Franck and Brahms yet.

Sound is often rather good, never a problem.

Levy is a real poet musician, the performances make points about style irrelevant - the music making is so totally convincing it effaced the memory of all others. I can't recommend it more enthusiastically.

All four volumes of Levy's on Marston are indeed special.

Did Horowitz ever actually study with Schnabel, or were they just friends?  :-\ I have a book with a picture of them together in 1932...

(http://s20.postimg.org/d890lyo3x/image.jpg)

Quote from: B_cereus on May 03, 2016, 02:17:55 PM
Did Horowitz ever actually study with Schnabel, or were they just friends?  :-\ I have a book with a picture of them together in 1932...

(http://s20.postimg.org/d890lyo3x/image.jpg)

Well, in that book ("Artur Schnabel - Musiker/Musician, 1882-1951", hg. Werner Grünzweig, Stiftung Archiv der Akademie der Künste, Hofheim: Wolke, 2001) it says, next to the picture, that Horowitz privately played for Schnabel in 1923 (while Schnabel was in St. Petersburg), that he was enthusiastic and later helped H. leave Russia, that H. wanted to have Sch. teach him, which Sch. found unnecessary (there's a reference to his autobiographic lectures there, "Aus dir wird nie ein pianist", which I don't have). So the answer is right there and is: no  :)

Adding this: the picture is online, too:

(http://schnabelmusicfoundation.com/wp-content/gallery/artur-schnabel/schnabel_a_1116.jpg)

Courtesy of the Schnabel Music Foundation:
http://schnabelmusicfoundation.com/artists/artur-schnabel/artur-schnabel-gallery/

Thanks v much! I'm listening to Schnabel's Beethoven op109 in the GPOTC 2CD issue :)

I wonder if the BBC will release any more of its live recordings of Boult/Gilels Beethoven concerto cycle in 1967? They've only released #1 & #3 so far. My understanding is that all 5 were recorded.

(http://www.icaclassics.com/28-thickbox_default/emil-gilels.jpg)

He seemed to have enjoyed their collaboration :)

(http://s20.postimg.org/rx2qzdz0t/image.jpg)

https://youtube.com/v/JYc6Y6EQhwE

This is Benno Moiseiwitsch doing Chopin's 3rd sonata and at least from the point of view of interpretation it's worth catching. Was it ever released commercially?

Quote from: Mandryka on June 23, 2016, 12:42:12 PM
https://youtube.com/v/JYc6Y6EQhwE

This is Benno Moiseiwitsch doing Chopin's 3rd sonata and at least from the point of view of interpretation it's worth catching. Was it ever released commercially?

Yep: https://www.amazon.com/Recital-Ludwig-van-Beethoven/dp/B000000WQA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466715497&sr=8-1&keywords=Pearl+in+recital+benno

Quote from: George on June 23, 2016, 12:58:34 PM
Yep: https://www.amazon.com/Recital-Ludwig-van-Beethoven/dp/B000000WQA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466715497&sr=8-1&keywords=Pearl+in+recital+benno

Ah right, I never bought that one because I'm not interested in pictures,

Quote from: Scherzian on November 29, 2016, 02:07:04 PM
Even though it's written in French, maybe some members of the board will be interested to know that a discography of Vladimir Sofronitsky is available through a download link near the top of this page (next to the PDF icon):

https://sofronitskydiscographie.wordpress.com/

Thanks!! Does Adobe translate?

Is this really Cortot playing Haydn variations? I think it is.


https://www.youtube.com/v/KreXU0Ev5Cg

What are your thoughts on Eileen Joyce as a pianist?
As you may know Decca/Eloquence just released a compilation that includes the previous studio recordings issued by APR (2011) and a number of new ones.

Review @ MusicWeb: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2018/Mar/Joyce_studio_4826291.htm
Review for the 2011 APR: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2012/Mar12/Joyce_Parlaphone_7502.htm

Decca/Eloquence's site: https://eloquenceclassics.com/releases/eileen-joyce-the-complete-studio-recordings/

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71WmcxF43pL._SL1232_.jpg)(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71VAS2rAwcL._SL1205_.jpg)

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eileen_Joyce

https://www.youtube.com/v/3ZWUddpLGgQ

I came across this fascinating interview with the British pianist Harriet Cohen (recorded in 1962)
(Sibelius, Bax and more....)

https://www.youtube.com/v/tVSqSIMujW8

Quote from: Moonfish on May 27, 2018, 11:24:57 PM
What are your thoughts on Eileen Joyce as a pianist?
As you may know Decca/Eloquence just released a compilation that includes the previous studio recordings issued by APR (2011) and a number of new ones.

Review @ MusicWeb: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2018/Mar/Joyce_studio_4826291.htm
Review for the 2011 APR: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2012/Mar12/Joyce_Parlaphone_7502.htm

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71WmcxF43pL._SL1232_.jpg)(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71VAS2rAwcL._SL1205_.jpg)

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eileen_Joyce

https://www.youtube.com/v/3ZWUddpLGgQ

Do you know if the new box contains the APR transfers or did they do them all over again?

cbf going through the whole thread. Just want to know: are there any good recordings available, particularly box sets, of Josef Hofmann's work up until 1938?

Quote from: George on May 28, 2018, 04:49:00 AM
Do you know if the new box contains the APR transfers or did they do them all over again?

Good question, George. I do not have the set (yet) so I cannot check the issue of the transfers. The reviewer at MusicWeb mentions that the recordings found in the APR release are also in the new Decca/Eloquence compilation. It is not exactly clear how thay have been processed at this point in time. Does anybody own the set that could check this specific question?  :-\

Quote from: Moonfish on May 28, 2018, 09:50:03 AM
Good question, George. I do not have the set (yet) so I cannot check the issue of the transfers. The reviewer at MusicWeb mentions that the recordings found in the APR release are also in the new Decca/Eloquence compilation. It is not exactly clear how thay have been processed at this point in time. Does anybody own the set that could check this specific question?  :-\

I found this in the MusicWeb review:

"The recordings, spanning twenty-five years from 1933-1958 have scrubbed up well, and sound fresh and vibrant in expert restorations and remasterings by Mark Obert-Thorn and Chris Bernauer."

Obert-Thorn being involved is great news, but I wonder how much of the set he did?

Quote from: George on May 28, 2018, 10:30:49 AM
I found this in the MusicWeb review:

"The recordings, spanning twenty-five years from 1933-1958 have scrubbed up well, and sound fresh and vibrant in expert restorations and remasterings by Mark Obert-Thorn and Chris Bernauer."

Obert-Thorn being involved is great news, but I wonder how much of the set he did?

It seems promising...but one can read this statement either way:
"Only APR have seriously championed her cause with a 5-CD set: 'The Complete Parlophone and Columbia Solo Recordings 1933-1945', issued in 2011. Needless to say, all of those recordings are to be found in this new Eloquence edition."

I wish this kind of information (as well as the actual booklets) were available on the label's web site!  >:(

Quote from: Moonfish on May 28, 2018, 03:04:57 PM
It seems promising...but one can read this statement either way:
"Only APR have seriously championed her cause with a 5-CD set: 'The Complete Parlophone and Columbia Solo Recordings 1933-1945', issued in 2011. Needless to say, all of those recordings are to be found in this new Eloquence edition."

I wish this kind of information (as well as the actual booklets) were available on the label's web site!  >:(

I just dug out Mark's email and sent him a message, asking for clarification.

EDIT he responded 60 mins later with this:

"...basically it's the five discs of the APR set I did, plus new transfers I did for the Decca set, excluding the Decca 78 rpm piano solo sides and "Barazza" (transferred by Seth Winner) and the Tchaikovsky 2nd Piano Concerto (transferred by Ward Marston).  I did everything else, although in a couple instances (the Rachmaninov 2nd Concerto and one unissued piano side), I had to work from flat, unedited transfers sent to me by the British Library and the EMI Archives.  The person who is co-credited for "remastering" in the booklet actually did the technical bits of CD authoring associated with the release.  The co-crediting is misleading.  I hope this makes things more clear. "

Quote from: George on May 28, 2018, 03:58:27 PM
I just dug out Mark's email and sent him a message, asking for clarification.

EDIT he responded 60 mins later with this:

"...basically it's the five discs of the APR set I did, plus new transfers I did for the Decca set, excluding the Decca 78 rpm piano solo sides and "Barazza" (transferred by Seth Winner) and the Tchaikovsky 2nd Piano Concerto (transferred by Ward Marston).  I did everything else, although in a couple instances (the Rachmaninov 2nd Concerto and one unissued piano side), I had to work from flat, unedited transfers sent to me by the British Library and the EMI Archives.  The person who is co-credited for "remastering" in the booklet actually did the technical bits of CD authoring associated with the release.  The co-crediting is misleading.  I hope this makes things more clear. "

That is fantastic! Thanks for contacting Mark, George! He was certainly most kind in responding so quickly and with so much detailed information!

APR is acknowledged in the set as source. I can look up further details (for the remaining parts of the box) if needed at home tonight.

EDIT: first post from my work computer in what, three months? First time I was able to click around on the site for 15-20 times without being thrown out. There is hope ...

Looking around on Amazon I haven't been able to find substantial collections of Hofmann recordings that aren't OOP. Does anyone know of any?

(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71jGCJ-yvuL._SS500_.jpg)

I knew Conrad Hansen initially through his Beethoven concerto with Furtwangler. This Mozart playing is muscular and poetic, some of the best Mozart playing I've ever heard. Is there a better transfer? The one on Qobuz is a bit metallic.

He recorded the Trout Quintet with The Strub Quartet, which I'm keen to hear if anyone knows of a transfer.

I don't know what Quobuz is offering. But the soundbits at amazon for the Hansen sound like a historical fortepiano to my ears?!? Certainly not like a 1940s or 50s piano recording...

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01BCP3WWY/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp

Yes is believe it is a fortepiano, not a very good one IMO, though I can't find the details.

Hansen was a pupil of Edwin Fischer, and it shows, in fact I like his style more than I like Edwin Fischer's! 

Quote from: Mandryka on April 06, 2019, 11:24:04 AM


He recorded the Trout Quintet with The Strub Quartet, which I'm keen to hear if anyone knows of a transfer.

This turns out to be available for free here, a very good transfer IMO and an excellent performance, with surprisingly "dark" moments and both pianists and Strubs inspired by their encounter,  better than the one that the Strubs made with Ney IMO

https://paulmichaelvonganski.wordpress.com/tag/strub-quartett/

The Strub Quartet are amazing IMO, I have them in this recording of the Schubert string quintet

(https://www.meloclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/MC.4002.Strub_.Quartet.Front_-580x515.jpg)

If anyone sees a transfer of their recording of the Schubert G major quartet please let me know.

If you can understand French this is fun

https://www.youtube.com/v/YBuYX62w_mw

Thanks for the Hansen/Strub link! Interesting and as you say, rather "serious" interpretation. And the sound is very good as well. (I am not the biggest fan of the "Trout" but it still is a great piece once in a while, maybe Schuberts first instrumental masterpiece together with the sonata D 664.)
It's surprising that there are so few recordings with the Strub Qt. I had not been aware that they were active for 20 years after the war until the mid 60s. I thought I had more Strub from some private transfers, but I can't find it...

(https://direct.rhapsody.com/imageserver/images/Alb.206210736/500x500.jpg)


I very much enjoy Petri's late Beethoven and for the first time I've started to listen to his Brahms op 117. Vigorous youthful late Brahms, no romantic effusion or Edwardian gentleman wiping away a tear of nostalgia here! No mystery neither but we can't have anything. 

Anyone else appreciate this pianist?

Years ago when I first heard this approach to late Brahms in Grimaud, I thought of it as "modern", but nothing could be further from the truth. It may be modernist, but it's not modern.

(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71TaanHensL._SS500_.jpg).  (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51kIOJx7uvL._SX466_.jpg)

Comparing the 1955 Munich recital of Chopin preludes on these two transfers, I find myself much preferring the Urania. The Warner transfer (CD 28)  seems to have a boomy bass.

Quote from: Mandryka on November 07, 2019, 01:37:39 PM
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71TaanHensL._SS500_.jpg).  (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51kIOJx7uvL._SX466_.jpg)

Comparing the 1952 Munich recital of Chopin preludes on these two transfers, I find myself much preferring the Urania. The Warner transfer seems to have a boomy bass.

Interesting findings, as I generally find Urania's work to be inferior to their competitors. I haven't compared a ton of them, though.

The Urania cover reads 1955/56 and your post references 1952. But Disc 28 on Warner/EMI is a 1957 London performance. 

28.

I too was surprised. It sound much closer, I think that the closeness is putting me off, you probably hear more of the piano tone, but at a cost.

Quote from: Mandryka on November 07, 2019, 01:45:43 PM
28.

I too was surprised. It sound much closer, I think that the closeness is putting me off, you probably hear more of the piano tone, but at a cost.

Thanks, I just edited my post above, can you clarify?

Quote from: George on November 07, 2019, 01:47:57 PM
Thanks, I just edited my post above, can you clarify?

No . . . tomorrow  . . . it's late here!

Quote from: Mandryka on November 07, 2019, 01:50:22 PM
No . . . tomorrow  . . . it's late here!

OK. The reason for the difference in sound is that they are actually two completely different performances, recorded in different places and in different years.

And yes, the Warner/EMI transfer is overly dark and heavy on the bass. A shame, since it is the latest recording in that box. In 1957 they should have been able to get MUCH better sound than this.   

Quote from: George on November 07, 2019, 01:54:54 PM
OK. The reason for the difference in sound is that they are actually two completely different performances, recorded in different places and in different years.

And yes, the Warner/EMI transfer is overly dark and heavy on the bass. A shame, since it is the latest recording in that box. In 1957 they should have been able to get MUCH better sound than this.

Ah, that explains it! Thanks

Quote from: Mandryka on November 07, 2019, 02:02:48 PM
Ah, that explains it! Thanks

No problem. Thanks for getting me to pull out the Cortot box. It has been gathering dust for too long now.

Does Vladimir Horowitz count? The guy created some absolutely amazing recordings.

These are some Horowitz CDs that I really like, made up of recordings from different points in his career:

(https://cdn-s3.allmusic.com/release-covers/500/0002/059/0002059768.jpg)

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51oTVa3EroL._SY355_.jpg)

^This disc contains an astonishing recording of Poulenc's C major Novelette. It's two minutes long but it blows me away every time I hear it

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71O6f21pjUL._SY355_.jpg)

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/815xmBIc-AL._SY355_.jpg)

^Great, arch-Romantic Scarlatti. Horowitz gives a new meaning to what Jan Swafford once wrote about Scarlatti: that he was to the harpsichord what Chopin was to the piano. If you do not like "anachronistic" music then steer clear.

Love that Scarlatti disc, anachronistic or no....  even in some of his very late recordings, Horowitz's technique is just jaw-dropping.... :)

https://www.youtube.com/v/mmQigJQM9JQ

Benno interview from the BBC. Good comments on Schumann, as you would expect.

Quote from: Mandryka on February 29, 2020, 11:25:51 AM
https://www.youtube.com/v/mmQigJQM9JQ

Benno interview from the BBC. Good comments on Schumann, as you would expect.

Yeah, that's on his most recent Testament release, a 3CD set.

(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71HB7hIdZgL._SL500_.jpg)

Having just enjoyed this new 2CD release, I highly recommend it! Great transfers and performances. Her Chopin is particularly special.