New Releases

[Todd]

The Clara Schumann piano concerto is simply not good enough to justify this many recordings and live performances (the Dallas Symphony did it a few weeks ago). She was only 14 years old, and the work is quite formulaic and stiff except for the strangely beautiful slow trio for piano, solo cello, and timpani. I suspect a fundamental laziness by concert promoters and record labels, going for the famous, marketable "brand name" rather than looking through the rest of history for a work by a woman (or commissioning a new one).

Agreed across the board.  Even Ragna Schirmer can't make the concerto work. 

Either Naxos or an erstwhile major ought to team up with Sofya Melikyan and start a series of recordings devoted to female composers.

[Florestan]

I suppose in this case it's based on husband/wife.

Obviously. Had Clara Wieck never met or married Schumann, nobody would have cared for her piano concerto.

At least it's different than the Grieg coupling that seemed to be the default option for recordings of Robert's concerto.

Different, yes; better or more interesting, hardly. There is a reason why the two are very often coupled.

I'll likely get it, if only because I've never heard Clara's concerto.

After hearing it, you might even wish you never heard it. 

Clara Schumann's solo piano music is way better than her piano concerto.

[bioluminescentsquid]

I am not aware that this release is yet posted, so her it is.
I very much look forwards to it.

Has anyone ever listen to Melchior Schildt's organ music, also on Aeolus. And if yes, could I get some feedback on this interpretation.

Titelouze is now on Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/album/0UNQW9CxzncEy8vN0F2kzi
I have to say I am a little disappointed - while the organ sounds very well in this sort of music and Leon Berben makes interesting sounds with it, his playing comes off a little fussy and drags a bit imo. But it is something that I can see myself growing to like.

[Karl Henning]

I suppose in this case it's based on husband/wife.
At least it's different than the Grieg coupling that seemed to be the default option for recordings of Robert's concerto.
I'll likely get it, if only because I've never heard Clara's concerto.

My guess is that Clara's is worth hearing.

[Florestan]

My guess is that Clara's is worth hearing.

It certainly is, if only to decide it's not worth hearing a second time. Personally I hold Thalberg's Piano Concerto (also written in his teens) in higher esteem than Clara's --- but whether it's worth hearing a second time by anyone other than myself, I do not know or venture to speculate on. 

Guten Abend, lieber Karl!

[Que]

There is a lot of competition by existing recordings, including the IMO pretty definitive one by Labyrintho, but La Main Harmonique is a good ensemble.

[Madiel]

My guess is that Clara's is worth hearing.

My guess is that while a lot of Clara's music is worth hearing, something that she wrote at the age of 14 is unlikely to be her best work.

[Florestan]

My guess is that while a lot of Clara's music is worth hearing, something that she wrote at the age of 14 is unlikely to be her best work.

Unsurprisingly, she was at her best writing solo piano music.

[Madiel]

Unsurprisingly, she was at her best writing solo piano music.

Perhaps I'll reach the same conclusion once I've heard more of it than the very small amount I've heard. I don't assume these things (after all, no orchestral composer knows how to play everything in the orchestra). But again, I would expect the piano music she wrote as an adult to be better than what she wrote as a kid. Teenage Chopin isn't all that great in my opinion... especially not the piano concertos!

[Todd]

Just spotted this must-have.

[Brian]

The Brahms is sonata No. 3.

[Karl Henning]

My guess is that while a lot of Clara's music is worth hearing, something that she wrote at the age of 14 is unlikely to be her best work.

Fair enow.

[Brian]

JANUARY!

In addition to the Kopatchinskaja/Say CD Todd posted above and the new Bacewicz symphony cycle posted previously...







"This release is the fruit of the French pianist Nicolas Stavy's efforts to uncover unknown works by Dmitri Shostakovich. Spanning some fifty years of the composer's career, these rarities include early piano pieces influenced by Chopin and the fragment of an unfinished violin sonata, but is bookended by arrangements of symphonic music, by Shostakovich himself and by Mahler, a constant influence."

[Brian]

JANUARY PART II





1901 Steinway!







Rachmaninov 2, Scriabin 5, Medtner Op. 25 No. 2 "Night Wind"
Kenny Broberg got silver at the 2017 Van Cliburn Competition (behind Yekwon Sunwoo, and judged by Marc-Andre Hamelin, Arnaldo Cohen, Leonard Slatkin, Mari Kodama, and Anne-Marie McDermott), and third place at the 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition (behind winner Alexandre Kantorow and a second-place tie between Mao Fujita and Dmitry Shishkin).

[Madiel]

"New Mexican Music for Saxophone Quartet" seems deeply niche, but I appreciate how up-front they are about exactly what you're getting.

[Todd]

Ms Gens seems to record more now than in the 90s even.  Most excellent.

If I still purchased physical media in large quantities, I'd say that I like the trend of more Naxos boxes.  Too little, too late for me.

[ritter]

This Turandot could be interesting. Recorded live in Rome earlier this year, and using the uncut, original Alfano ending.



Announced on jpc for late February 2023.

[Todd]

19 discs.



This one came up before, but I believe without disc count and contents available.  113 CDs and 4 DVDs.  That's a lot more Haitink than I am willing to listen to.

[Roy Bland]

This one came up before, but I believe without disc count and contents available.  113 CDs and 4 DVDs.  That's a lot more Haitink than I am willing to listen to.

Does it contains unreleased dutch music?

[Spotted Horses]

This one came up before, but I believe without disc count and contents available.  113 CDs and 4 DVDs.  That's a lot more Haitink than I am willing to listen to.

I'm willing to listen to it, don't know if I'm willing to pay for it; I suspect it will be a premium product.

Note added: 300 pounds, actually not bad on a per disc basis, but daunting.