Gurn's Classical Corner

[Opus106]

It should be illegal to composer more than 20 concerti for the same instrument that is not the piano.

But at the same time one should be allowed to write the same concerto four-hundred times over.

[Gurn Blanston]

It should be illegal to composer more than 20 concerti for the same instrument that is not the piano.

Of course, that makes one wonder if one could have tolerated a Viotti piano concerto or not... Nor does it take into account the millions of us (OK, dozens of us) who prefer the violin to the piano. Any day of the week, buddy!       0:)

[vanessa_zang]

Back of, Springy! Gurn is a moderator!

[karlhenning]

Keep him honest, Vanessa! 

[karlhenning]

Of course, that makes one wonder if one could have tolerated a Viotti piano concerto or not... Nor does it take into account the millions of us (OK, dozens of us) who prefer the violin to the piano. Any day of the week, buddy!       0:)

I think Paul was just looking for a ready revenue stream . . . .

[springrite]

Keep him honest, Vanessa! 

Truth be told, I think Vanessa is one of the dozens Gurn talked about!

[SonicMan46]

Unfortunately - and shamefully - I don't have any CDs by Viotti. I had once in my hands a set of complete violin concertos released by Dynamic, I doubted about buying it... and I didn't. I hope to get it one day (as well as the Spohr set).

Gabriel - after I posted here last night, I checked my CD collection - knowing for sure that I had one Viotti disc of Violin Concertos; well WRONG - absolutely nothing - thought that I was collecting some when I bought the box of Sporhr's works - so, will be doing some looking around and waiting for recommendations; doubt that all 29 or so of these Viotti compositions are available?  Dave 

[karlhenning]

Arkivmusic.com carries some 38 recordings of Viotti — who is even listed on the 'front-ish' page of Most Popular Composers : V (which, admittedly, includes the composer Various Artists) . . . .

[SonicMan46]

Arkivmusic.com carries some 38 recordings of Viotti — who is even listed on the 'front-ish' page of Most Popular Composers : V (which, admittedly, includes the composer Various Artists) . . . .

Karl - yes, seems to be plenty available w/ many on the Dynamic label mentioned by Gabriel - but Arkiv wants $20 each (where is Brilliant when one needs them!) - but the two below 'peaked' my interest for starters - anyone heard these discs?  Thanks - Dave 

 

[Gabriel]

Unless I'm missing something . . . there ain't no shame in that.

Well, I guess I should say I suppose it can be shameful, Karl! I mean that they are considered as important compositions, and sometimes I buy CDs about obscure classical composers who are seldom mentioned even by Gurn.

Gabriel - after I posted here last night, I checked my CD collection - knowing for sure that I had one Viotti disc of Violin Concertos; well WRONG - absolutely nothing - thought that I was collecting some when I bought the box of Sporhr's works - so, will be doing some looking around and waiting for recommendations; doubt that all 29 or so of these Viotti compositions are available?  Dave 

Dave, I guess this situation suggests a simultaneous exploration of this shamefully neglected repertoire!

[SonicMan46]

Hmmm - no Viotti recommendations or comments so far -    Can we ask Harry to convince Brilliant to put all of those Dynamic recordings mentioned by Gabriel into a BIG box?   

Well, tonight finishing up on a recent acquisition of Wolfie's last 20 Symphonies - post duplicated below from the 'Listening Thread' - I already own the Mackerras box, so have the early works & alternate performances of the later ones; now, just would like to obtain a more HIP collection - leaning toward Hogwood, but owned some of these years ago and was not impressed; however, my tastes & appreciation for this 'period instrument' music has changed, so is this the HIP set desired or another?  Not sure - 

Mozart, WA - Symphonies, 21-41 w/ Josef Krips & Concertgebouw Orchestra - 6 CD set from 1972-74; listening to the last 3 discs tonight.  A wonderful 'compact' collection of some great performances; these are 'modern' instruments but the orchestra is obviously 'small' and the strings and winds delightfully evident - might even persuade you to have this box as an 'alternate' to a HIP performance?  Hey, just saying - check out the comments by Jens HERE - 

[Gurn Blanston]

Hmmm - no Viotti recommendations or comments so far -    Can we ask Harry to convince Brilliant to put all of those Dynamic recordings mentioned by Gabriel into a BIG box?   

Well, tonight finishing up on a recent acquisition of Wolfie's last 20 Symphonies - post duplicated below from the 'Listening Thread' - I already own the Mackerras box, so have the early works & alternate performances of the later ones; now, just would like to obtain a more HIP collection - leaning toward Hogwood, but owned some of these years ago and was not impressed; however, my tastes & appreciation for this 'period instrument' music has changed, so is this the HIP set desired or another?  Not sure - 

Well, Dave, for ME, the $150 I invested in the Hogwood set was money very well spent, it has been an endless source of pleasure for me or the last 6 years. In truth though, I AM a tad more PI-centric than you are, since I have a good deal of trouble enjoying things like the Krips that you have pictured.

I would make this suggestion to you; get a disk from the Pinnock set and see what you think. It is a bit more mainstream sounding than Hogwood, very well played, and I would be strongly inclined to recommend it to you. But try it and see. If I may try and describe it, it was just too... good for me.



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Listening to:
Divertimento Salzburg / Haselböck - Hob 02 16 Divertimento in F for Winds & Strings 5th mvmt - Finale: Presto

[SonicMan46]

Well, Dave, for ME, the $150 I invested in the Hogwood set was money very well spent, it has been an endless source of pleasure for me or the last 6 years. In truth though, I AM a tad more PI-centric than you are, since I have a good deal of trouble enjoying things like the Krips that you have pictured.

Good evening Gurn - not sure if you've heard the Krips recordings, but I would venture to say if someone asked me (who had few classical music recordings and just wanted 'some' Mozart symphonies; and knowing that period vs. modern instruments would be an issue of no importance), I would strongly recommend purchase of this 6-CD set - these are like HIP performances on modern instruments - I'm keeping the set - 

Now, I'm still going to obtain a true HIP performance, and I've owned both Hogwood & Pinnock in the past, but has been a while - open to all suggestions - believe that I'd be perfectly happy w/ Hog - just would like a much lower price -    Dave

[Gurn Blanston]

Good evening Gurn - not sure if you've heard the Krips recordings, but I would venture to say if someone asked me (who had few classical music recordings and just wanted 'some' Mozart symphonies; and knowing that period vs. modern instruments would be an issue of no importance), I would strongly recommend purchase of this 6-CD set - these are like HIP performances on modern instruments - I'm keeping the set - 

Now, I'm still going to obtain a true HIP performance, and I've owned both Hogwood & Pinnock in the past, but has been a while - open to all suggestions - believe that I'd be perfectly happy w/ Hog - just would like a much lower price -    Dave

Hey, Dave,
Oh yes, I've heard it (the last 2 disks, actually, not the whole thing). I agree, nicely done. I think if I was going for something of that vintage though, I would stick with my Böhm/Berlin. But hey, that's just me, that's why they release recordings in different styles...

Well, those are clearly the main contenders, but there is also a set on Brilliant, the one in the Mozart Big Box, which was also released separately, is purely HIP. I have not heard it, so can't comment, but have heard good things about it. And bad things too, which tells me that it must be pretty good...



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Listening to:
Haydn Sinfonietta Wien / Huss - Hob 02 17 Cassatio a 9 in C 6th mvmt - Menuetto II

[Sorin Eushayson]

I've heard the Krips set as well as the Bohm.  For the sake of good relations I'll merely say that I was not impressed.    Marriner's wasn't too bad though.  I'm still pulling for Pinnock's set, however - it's magnificent!

Well, those are clearly the main contenders, but there is also a set on Brilliant, the one in the Mozart Big Box, which was also released separately, is purely HIP. I have not heard it, so can't comment, but have heard good things about it. And bad things too, which tells me that it must be pretty good...

I have that one!  Very laudable performances all around.

[Franco]

Mozart symphony sets I have are the, Jaap Ter Linden/Mozart Akademie Amsterdam, Bohm/Vienna (25-41), Pablo Casals/Marlboro Festival Orchestra (35-41) and Szell/Cleveland (35, 40 & 41). 

I really like the Szell on the three, but the Bohm and Jaap Ter Linden are all I need for the complete set (Bohm's is just the last half, I don't really need more than one version of the early ones especially since Linden is so good).  The Casals is a nice thing to have purely from a historical perspective as well as the playing is at times very exciting.

I may have a few other individual symphonies but can't bring them to mind at the moment.

[Sorin Eushayson]

For the 25th try Jérémie Rhorer's new recording!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVP2iGzyYkU

[monafam]

I am going to apologize in advance that I was too lazy to perform any searches of this particular issue (I figured this was the thread to post the question on), so it may have been spoke of at great length.

I recently checked out "The Classical Style" by Charles Rosen and I am having some trouble making my way through the book.  I'm only about 37 pages through, but I still feel lost.

Any suggestions on how to read this?  Is this the great book it's hyped to be (on the book jacket at any rate), or is it more suited for those with a deeper musical background than I apparently have?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Gurn Blanston]

I am going to apologize in advance that I was too lazy to perform any searches of this particular issue (I figured this was the thread to post the question on), so it may have been spoke of at great length.

I recently checked out "The Classical Style" by Charles Rosen and I am having some trouble making my way through the book.  I'm only about 37 pages through, but I still feel lost.

Any suggestions on how to read this?  Is this the great book it's hyped to be (on the book jacket at any rate), or is it more suited for those with a deeper musical background than I apparently have?

Thanks in advance for any help!

It's a bitch, isn't it?

Not being a musician myself, and still wishing to squeeze the juice out of that orange, the three times I read it, I merely looked at the musical examples and read what Rosen said about them, and took his word for it that they did what he said. For me, the meat of the book is the history aspect, and that's what I took from it. There's a lot of good info in there, if you don't allow the musical examples and arguments to overwhelm you.



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Listening to:
Mozzafiato / L'Archibudelli - Hob 02 27 Notturno #8 in G for Wind & Strings 2nd mvmt - Adagio

[monafam]

It's a bitch, isn't it?

Not being a musician myself, and still wishing to squeeze the juice out of that orange, the three times I read it, I merely looked at the musical examples and read what Rosen said about them, and took his word for it that they did what he said. For me, the meat of the book is the history aspect, and that's what I took from it. There's a lot of good info in there, if you don't allow the musical examples and arguments to overwhelm you.

Thanks!  I have tended to have the same experience with my other musical reads -- at this point it's been more theoretical than historical, so I'll keep pushing through to the stuff I can handle.  :-) 

It seems like Rosen takes the approach that Hayden, Mozart, and Beethoven are the be-all-end-all of this style and I find it almost insulting for these other "minor composers" that he mentions.  You still enjoy others beyond those three right?  :-)