Any piece that you have lots of recordings of but still not completely happy?

[amw]

Beethoven's Hammerklavier and Schumann's Carnaval, both of which I've heard almost no recordings of that are faithful to the score and successfully manage to convey the feeling of the work at the same time. In the case of the Hammerklavier, almost no one can convey the feeling of the work at all, regardless of how close they are to the score.

Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze, Chopin's Sonata No. 3, and Beethoven's Op. 130 with the substitute finale, all of which I haven't yet found recordings that ideally express the nature of the music.

As far as list making goes it's worth noting I listen to a lot more recordings online (or through technically illegal means) than I actually acquire.

Beethoven Op. 106:
- Badura-Skoda Astrée
- Rosen 1965
- Rosen 1980s
- Rosen 1997
- Schiff
- Goodyear
- Korstick
(Have heard: Schnabel, Brendel Philips and Vox, Leslie, Yudina, Gilels, Gulda Decca and Amadeo, Laul, Peter Serkin, Solomon, Pienaar, Guy Zig-zag, Annie Fischer, Pollini, Lévinas)

Schumann Carnaval:
- Le Sage
- Egorov
- Rosen Sony
- Rosen Nonesuch
- Uhlig
- Sokolov
- Schuch
(Have heard: Michelangeli DG, Ammara, Uchida, Bianconi, Larrocha, Pescia, Freire)

Davidsbündlertänze:
- Le Sage
- Anda DG
- Kempff EMI
- Rosen Sony
- Rosen Nonesuch
- Uhlig
- Schiff
(notably none of these were acquired specifically for the DBT but rather as part of complete sets/albums with other things on them)
(Have heard: Cooper Chandos and the earlier one?? Claves or something??, Bianconi, Ammara, Kempff DG, Casadesus, Perahia, Pollini Salzburg, Indjic)

Beethoven Op. 130
- Brentano Quartet
- Taneyev Quartet
- Belcea Quartet
- Busch Quartet

(with Op. 133 as finale: Hagen Quartet, Juilliard Quartet 1960s, Edding Quartet, Camerata Nordica)

(Have heard: Borodin Quartet Chandos, Budapest Quartet, Lindsays [who supply two different interpretations of the Cavatina rather than simply sticking the alternate finale straight after the Grosse Fuge, so at least clearly thought about the piece both ways]. Most people simply put the alternate finale after the Grosse Fuge if they play it at all, but I have reversed order to listen to the Takács, Alban Berg, Juilliard 60s, Endellion and Cypress Quartets.)

Chopin Sonata No. 3
- Pires
- Shelley
(Have heard: Argerich DG studio & EMI, Varjon, Moog, Weissenberg, Pollini, Andsnes, Arrau, Ashkenazy, Gilels, Lee, is there a Barenboim? I swear I've heard a Barenboim)

[Jo498]

Are the vertical lists the ones you like best or have most recently listened to or what? I might be dense but the purpose/distinction to the other enumerations is not entirely clear to me.

[amw]

The vertical lists are the ones I have. Legally own or whatever. The rest are the ones I know well enough to have remembered off the top of my head, but don't actually own copies of.

I don't have particular "favourites" but what I'm looking for I guess is

Op. 106: Schnabel in good sound and without mistakes
Carnaval: Imaginary interpretation by Martha Argerich (but with Schumann's pedal instructions followed faithfully)
Davidsbündlertänze: some combination of the best features of Kempff and Cooper I
Op. 130: Busch Quartet in good sound, with the Cavatina of the Lindsays
Chopin Sonata: Imaginary interpretation by Annie Fischer (with exposition repeat)

[Mandryka]

Yes Kempff in DBT is interesting. Do you know the live recording in Besançon, made in 1973? I don't know Imogen Cooper's recordings. Have you heard Hewitt Masselos, William Masselos. That's what you need William Masselos?

The colourful and percussive quality of the best of Annie Fischer's Schumann and Bartok  could be good in Chopin I agree. She made a record of the second sonata but it is unlistenable. Try Pollini's first recording, from the Chopin competition in Varsavia in 1960. Actually, maybe not. Maybe Arrau is better for what you're after.

You could just play Op 106 like Schnabel without mistakes yourself couldn't you? After all it's just technique, you don't have to worry about interpretation. Use a computer to speed up the first movement if you have to.

[vandermolen]

It's here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07xhvzd - starting at about 55' with Rattle explaining that the first movement ought to go at the speed of the Italian symphony.  I can't see myself how a Brucknerian Majestoso is the same as a Mendelssohnian Allegro vivace, but perhaps the new edition of which he speaks changes Bruckner's marking.  The Radio 3 introduction also puzzles me - surely it's the 5th whose structure is based on Beethoven 9 (old themes rejected at the start of the finale), not the 6th?

Many thanks for posting the link.

[Vaulted]

This thread is fitting, as I have just spent a lot of money as a result of increasing frustration with Mozart's string quintets. I have bought a bunch of complete sets of these works over the last few years, but none has been adequate. At last, I resolved to get "adequate (according to my tastes), at least" performances of all works, (almost) regardless of the cost. After comparing a lot of samples, I have ordered recordings by the Fine Arts Quartet (the 80s recordings for Lodia), Zukerman (with his own group, not the Tokyo Quartet), and a relatively recent but very rare complete set (you win a set of steak knives if you can guess which one) to round out the cycle.

Like many a collector, I am all a-tingle at the thought that once my order arrives I will finally be in some sense more "complete".

[Que]

This thread is fitting, as I have just spent a lot of money as a result of increasing frustration with Mozart's string quintets. I have bought a bunch of complete sets of these works over the last few years, but none has been adequate. At last, I resolved to get "adequate (according to my tastes), at least" performances of all works, (almost) regardless of the cost. After comparing a lot of samples, I have ordered recordings by the Fine Arts Quartet (the 80s recordings for Lodia), Zukerman (with his own group, not the Tokyo Quartet), and a relatively recent but very rare complete set (you win a set of steak knives if you can guess which one) to round out the cycle.

Like many a collector, I am all a-tingle at the thought that once my order arrives I will finally be in some sense more "complete".

Tried the kinda "classic" recommendation for those quintets?

[asin]B007CMTNMU[/asin]
Q

[Vaulted]

I thought Grumiaux was the "default" recommendation.
Talich is one of the few I don't have, but, to be honest, from the samples I've heard I find their intonation too sour.
The first movement of K.614 is a hell of a test, and very few pass.

[Camphy]

While I second Que's recommendation, I think this brand new set is also very good. The Auryns are a great quartet and Tacet's recording quality is (as always) second to none.



http://www.tacet.de/main/seite1.php?layout=katalog&language=en&filename=production.php&bestnr=02170

[Jo498]

I have not heard it (being rather content with Smetana/Suk, Melos, Talich, Griller and a few single discs) but I have seen very positive comments about Sine Nomine/Oleg (although the 84 min discs might be a problem with older CD players?)

[asin]B00CZCEONK[/asin]

[Mandryka]

This thread is fitting, as I have just spent a lot of money as a result of increasing frustration with Mozart's string quintets. I have bought a bunch of complete sets of these works over the last few years, but none has been adequate. At last, I resolved to get "adequate (according to my tastes), at least" performances of all works, (almost) regardless of the cost. After comparing a lot of samples, I have ordered recordings by the Fine Arts Quartet (the 80s recordings for Lodia), Zukerman (with his own group, not the Tokyo Quartet), and a relatively recent but very rare complete set (you win a set of steak knives if you can guess which one) to round out the cycle.

Like many a collector, I am all a-tingle at the thought that once my order arrives I will finally be in some sense more "complete".

I think that it's probably a good idea for you to say what it is that attracted you to the extracts and what it is that disappointed you about the recordings. That way we may get an idea of what you're looking for.

[Vaulted]

Okay, I guess I will play my card now - this is the set I ordered:

[asin]B01LZA87LC[/asin]


Except the cover will look more like this:

[asin]B0006OR3W8[/asin]