Past Purchases (CLOSED)

[not edward]

The Jansons disc was a particularly good scoop, as it's hybrid SACD.

IMO, the Hindemith is the best scoop of all. A wonderful work, and scandalously overlooked on disc.

[Bogey]

Thought it was about time I heard Karajan's classic 1963 Beethoven symphonies cycle, so imagine my delight at finding this on Amazon for £10:



There's another set on offer, if anyone's interested.

There are many of us that now can rest easier here Mark.  Nicely done.  Let us know your thoughts when you give them a spin.

OR

Resistance is futile.

[12tone.]

Should'a gone with the Menuhin! 

[M forever]

All this came in this week:

[Mark]

I's an excellent set, Mark! Probably the best all-round recommendation, save maybe for his later 1977 cycle (but that's much more expensive). It should be supplemented by a better Pastorale (the cycle's weak point) and another 3, 5 and 8 for alternative viewpoints.

Thanks, Lilas. I have it in mind to complete the '77 set cycle (I already own the Ninth) before the year is out.

There are many of us that now can rest easier here Mark.  Nicely done.  Let us know your thoughts when you give them a spin.

Will do, Bill.

IMO, the Hindemith is the best scoop of all. A wonderful work, and scandalously overlooked on disc.

At £3 for a double CD, I'll say it was.

Welcome back, M.

Can I take it the Bohm Brahms set is worth owning?

[PerfectWagnerite]

Supposedly Beethoven's Symphonies 1-9, some overtures and the VC with Issaac Stern, Bernstein and the NYPO. Got it for $12 off ebay.



and finally this:

Harmonia Mundi's 30CD 50th Anniversary box that they say only in print from August till December of this year (we'll see about that). But supposedly all the works (50 in all) are complete. At $55 that is less than $2 per disc and I really don't have any of the works they include so what the heck. And I am ditching a bunch of recordings I no longer listen to on Ebay for this...

[Peregrine]

I've now taken my CD buying up to the £180 mark for the week, which quite frankly, is rather worrying! 

But the Juilliard's 60's Mozart recordings are now available in Japan:



also put these in the order:

The Weller's Haydn Op.33:



And Larrocha playing some Ravel:

[Heather Harrison]

I found this at the Utah Symphony gift shop.



Works for clarinets and strings:  Ingolf Dahl - Concerto a tre; Bohuslav Martinu - Serenade for two clarinets, violin, viola, and cello; Karel Husa - Evocations de Slovaquie.  Sonolumina Ensemble.  This is a recording of rather unfamiliar chamber music performed by local Utah artists.  Dahl's piece is a delightful work in a neoclassical style.  Martinu and Husa make use of idioms from their native Czechoslovakia; their works are quite interesting and enjoyable.  The performances are also very good; I have heard many of these musicians live in chamber music concerts, and they have never disappointed me.  Sound quality is very good; the tone of the clarinets is especially clear and is nicely captured.  (So far, I have only listened to the 4-channel SACD layer; I haven't listened to the 2-channel SACD or CD programs yet.)  This is a very small local production and probably isn't easy to find.  It is listed on Amazon, but it shows as unavailable.  It is apparently available from the record label's website:  http://www.isomike.com/ .  They don't have very much available yet; their offerings mostly consist of demonstration CDs of their recording technique.  Hopefully, they will record more local musicians in the future.

This makes me wonder how many other cities have tiny record labels that get very limited distribution, and which might have some good quality recordings available.

Heather

[Sean]

Hello M, so you're back for a bit on this crazy forum; I find it hard to change my spots much as I want to. Anyway, those discs are obviously some key listening. I'm sure you've many recordings: initially I got know the Brahms from Mackerras in 1, Karajan 2-3 & Haydn var, and Jochum in 4, a fabulous reading. Bruckner 2 was Haitink, who uses the more approved and leisurely Haas, Rhapsody in blue I know from the Previn, Mahler 9 from ravishingly balanced Barbirolli, Death&transfig from the amazing Karajan, also the Alpinsinfonie, and Firebird 1947 from a very fine Bernstein LP; the early Tchaik I also know from Jansons and Tranfigured night from the peerless Karajan again.

[Danny]

[AnthonyAthletic]

I was given this version (3cd set) of the Messiah last week by a Friend.

The Night Pro Symphony Orchestra (haven't heard of them before), with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir under Sir David Willcocks.  Looks like it was recorded on their own record label.

Not being a great Messiah lover, I will look forward to listening this come Christmas week, which isn't too long off now 

The only previous versions I have heard of the Messiah are by the Scholars Baroque Ensemble and a late 1950's Marriner version on EMI.

Anyone heard this?

[rubio]

This one:

[Que]

Bargains...

   

Q

[Marcel]

I am very satisfied with it, especially the Symphony is played beautifully. The price is also low. Hear the samples here: http://www.supraphon.com/en/catalogue/on-line-database/detail/?idtitulu=2011332

[Brian]

For the first time in over two months ... purchases!







And in the spirit of Marcel,

[M forever]

Welcome back, M.

Can I take it the Bohm Brahms set is worth owning?

Not necessarily. It is only for those who can really appreciate very stylish and idiomatic music making. For those who can, this is one of the best Brahms cycles. The WP recorded the 4 symphonies for DG no less than 4 times in less than 2 decades, with Böhm (not "Bohm"), Bernstein, Giulini, Levine. These are all very interesting in their very different ways, and among these, Böhm's is probably the most "balanced". That doesn't mean the readings are necessarily "reserved" or "bland". Not at all. But Böhm does not go for cheap effects or highlighting. He always has the long line in mind and builds it up with masterful control. The sound is very good, too, DG recorded these in the Musikverein in a slightly distanced, not in-your-face perspective, in nicely balanced and "natural" analog sound. It is pretty amazing how much detail can be heard here. Böhm's style of music making also allows the orchestra to play very naturally and the individual sections to unfold their characteristic timbres. So the sound is very balanced, but not blended or smudged. All the sections are in the right proportions to each other, so they can all be heard. This is as "authentic" music making as it gets in this music, but it doesn't hide its individuality and particular historical perspective either.

[Mark]

Not necessarily. It is only for those who can really appreciate very stylish and idiomatic music making. For those who can, this is one of the best Brahms cycles. The WP recorded the 4 symphonies for DG no less than 4 times in less than 2 decades, with Böhm (not "Bohm"), Bernstein, Giulini, Levine. These are all very interesting in their very different ways, and among these, Böhm's is probably the most "balanced". That doesn't mean the readings are necessarily "reserved" or "bland". Not at all. But Böhm does not go for cheap effects or highlighting. He always has the long line in mind and builds it up with masterful control. The sound is very good, too, DG recorded these in the Musikverein in a slightly distanced, not in-your-face perspective, in nicely balanced and "natural" analog sound. It is pretty amazing how much detail can be heard here. Böhm's style of music making also allows the orchestra to play very naturally and the individual sections to unfold their characteristic timbres. So the sound is very balanced, but not blended or smudged. All the sections are in the right proportions to each other, so they can all be heard. This is as "authentic" music making as it gets in this music, but it doesn't hide its individuality and particular historical perspective either.

I'll take that as a recommendation, then. Unless by ' ... those who can really appreciate very stylish and idiomatic music making* ... ' you're implying, 'Not you, buddy.'


* It's "music-making", by the way. Not "music making" (that hyphen makes all the difference to the sense, huh? ) .

[M forever]

Is it really? I never know when to use a hyphen in English or not, when to put two words together, when to leave them separate without a hyphen. I actually wanted to look up the rules for that sometime. I generally leave the hyphens out as nobody here in America seems to use them. Is it "check list" or "check-list" or "checklist"?

I'll take that as a recommendation, then. Unless by ' ... those who can really appreciate very stylish and idiomatic music making* ... ' you're implying, 'Not you, buddy.'

That's entirely up to you. I am not really implying anything. Since I grew up in Berlin in the Karajan era, I was used to the very rich, smooth, and blended orchestral style he cultivated there (and which did sound really awesome) and so at first, I myself didn't "get" this style of music making (or music-making) and found it less "cultivated" and too "rough edged". Which is total nonsense of course. It doesn't get any more cultivated and stylish than this, and that dawned on me after a while, actually mostly through listening to these recordings, Böhm's Beethoven symphonies - his last recording, Beethoven 9, was a revelation for me in this respect -, and some of Bernstein's recordings with the WP, in addition to hearing them live with Bernstein, Abbado, and others.
Beyond personal preference and listening experience, there is no doubt anyway that this orchestral style is the single most "authentic" when it comes to this kind of music. Which doesn't mean it is the only "right" style, but music is also a historical phenomenon - and especially "historical" music, of course - so knowledge of and appreciation for playing and interpretation styles and where they stand in the performance tradition of a particular body of music is very important and always enrichening.

[Mark]

Is it really? I never know when to use a hyphen in English or not, when to put two words together, when to leave them separate without a hyphen. I actually wanted to look up the rules for that sometime. I generally leave the hyphens out as nobody here in America seems to use them. Is it "check list" or "check-list" or "checklist"?

I believe "checklist" has fallen into common useage these days.

Since I grew up in Berlin in the Karajan era, I was used to the very rich, smooth, and blended orchestral style he cultivated there (and which did sound really awesome) and so at first, I myself didn't "get" this style of music making (or music-making) and found it less "cultivated" and too "rough edged". Which is total nonsense of course. It doesn't get any more cultivated and stylish than this, and that dawned on me after a while, actually mostly through listening to these recordings, Böhm's Beethoven symphonies - his last recording, Beethoven 9, was a revelation for me in this respect -, and some of Bernstein's recordings with the WP, in addition to hearing them live with Bernstein, Abbado, and others.
Beyond personal preference and listening experience, there is no doubt anyway that this orchestral style is the single most "authentic" when it comes to this kind of music. Which doesn't mean it is the only "right" style, but music is also a historical phenomenon - and especially "historical" music, of course - so knowledge of and appreciation for playing and interpretation styles and where they stand in the performance tradition of a particular body of music is very important and always enrichening.

Thanks for the detailed reply. I'll look into this set.

[Brian]

Congrats to Mark for reply #2000!

The hyphen question is really intriguing. One of those things I feel like I ought to know.

Perhaps for words ending in -ing (music-making, giant-killing, cake-eating, book-throwing) the hyphens indicate that the words could just as easily be the other way around:

-He was making music, killing giants, eating cake, and throwing a book.
-He was a music-making, giant-killing, cake-eating, book-throwing kind of guy.

But I really don't know what the rule is. Intriguing mental puzzle...