Past Purchases (CLOSED)

[karlhenning]

I need to hear more accounts of the Seventh, Bill, though I very much like this one in the Kertész/LSO set.

[PerfectWagnerite]

I need to hear more accounts of the Seventh, Bill, though I very much like this one in the Kertész/LSO set.

You should try the Colin Davis/Amsterdam 7th, probably my favorite for sheer drama and lively playing. The Concertgebouw sounds awesome in this recording.

[Bogey]

I need to hear more accounts of the Seventh, Bill, though I very much like this one in the Kertész/LSO set.

Do not know that one karl, but I am guessng that a few on the shelf for this piece cannot hurt.

You should try the Colin Davis/Amsterdam 7th, probably my favorite for sheer drama and lively playing. The Concertgebouw sounds awesome in this recording.

Always loved Davis when I want to go "heavy" on something.  May be a future pick-up.

[karlhenning]

I especially like the Kertész account of the Eighth, which (curiously, perhaps, for a non-Russian conductor?) brings out wonderful Tchaikovskian highlights.

[Bogey]

I especially like the Kertész account of the Eighth, which (curiously, perhaps, for a non-Russian conductor?) brings out wonderful Tchaikovskian highlights.

And the set as a whole?

[Harry]

I sampled both for a while last night Gurn.  The Brilliant had a bit too much sparkle for my taste so was going to skip the solo piano works altogehter.  Then I caught George's post at the Dvorak Den and thought I might give Rvapil a try.  Though not floored by the samples, they were enjoyable enough to at least give them a go.  I will report on all the recordings in the Dvorak Den as soon as they arrive and I give them the proper listen.

I thought the Dvorak set on Brilliant rather good, to be honest.......sparkle yes, but that is how it should be..anyway a happy new year Bill, it past midnight here, well just.

[Harry]

Kubelik is the answer to all your prayers Bill, even for the 7th.....

[PerfectWagnerite]

And the set as a whole?

Are you kidding? Absolute essential listening. Kertesz was a pioneer in early Dvorak symphonies when nobody would touch them with the perennial ten foot pole. After him you get a bunch of others starting with Kubelik. But you got to respect Kertesz for what he did.

[longears]

As a record collector, I found Kertesz's cycle Dvorák symphonies highly problematic--the problem being that every time I listened to one, I was so satisfied that any desire to acquire another interpretation simply vanished.  That said, there are many other good recordings, of course, and I, too, am a fan of Kubelik's set.

[karlhenning]

As a record collector, I found Kertesz's cycle Dvorák symphonies highly problematic--the problem being that every time I listened to one, I was so satisfied that any desire to acquire another interpretation simply vanished.  That said, there are many other good recordings, of course, and I, too, am a fan of Kubelik's set.

I'll sign on here.

[Daverz]

From www.hmv.co.jp.



Barbirolli doing Tchaikovsky Symphonies 4-6 and the Serenade for Strings.  Actually, I bought this just for the Serenade, which I have on Lp and love.  You can also get the Symphony No. 5 and the Serenade on an ArchivCD, but this Royal Classics set seemed like a better deal.  Guess I'll find out how the transfer is.



Includes the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 with Henriot-Schweitzer.



Brahms Symphony No. 2 -- Monteux/LSO.  One of those silly overpriced paper sleave CDs, but I had to have this one after hearing it on a poorly pressed Lp where the beauty of the playing and recording still came through, and even though I already have a Monteux Brahms 2 with the VPO.



Didn't have a Smetana Quartet recording of these (this is from 1976).



Piano Trios 1-7 and various works for piano trio.

From Amazon marketplace (I'm outa control!)



Didn't have any recordings of these sonatas.



The famous 1963 recordings supposedly (and with the wrong personnel on the cover if so!).  Already have these on LP, where they sound pretty good.  Hope the transfer is good.

[Brian]

As to Dvorak, permit me to chime in as the anti-Kubelik voice. His Seventh is almost unbeatable, but Kubelik's take on the early symphonies is downright dull. As a big fan of those works, I remain convinced that the Kubelik readings are one of the primary reasons people still express dislike for them. (Kubelik himself was not a fan of the first few symphonies, and said so.) Those forum members who cite Dvorak in the "Worst First" thread or who complain that the early symphonies don't really exhibit the composer's own unique voice need to investigate the Anguelov box set - to see what they have been missing. Yes, I have a couple reservations about Anguelov's Seventh Symphony, but the reason is not so much that he conducts it badly as that the performance doesn't rise to the standard he sets in the other eight symphonies ... which is to say, revelatory.

My two cents  . (I own the full Suitner set, have obtained via my university the full Gunzenhauser, Anguelov, and Jarvi boxes, own parts of the Andrew Davis and Istvan Kertesz cycles, have the Libor Pesek set but haven't listened to it at all yet, and have listened to the Kubelik and Rowicki performances sporadically. Suitner's is the best buy, since it's dirt cheap, includes a thrilling, unique Eighth, and is all-around spectacular, but my very favorite so far is the Anguelov. I really want to hear Vaclav Neumann's performances...)

[The new erato]

Didn't have any recordings of these sonatas.

You won't regret buying this. A marvelous record of some seriously underappreciated sonatas. Lots of yearning and melancholy in this music. One of my favorite chamber music records - and I have quite a few!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

You won't regret buying this. A marvelous record of some seriously underappreciated sonatas. Lots of yearning and melancholy in this music. One of my favorite chamber music records - and I have quite a few!

Poor Schumann got squeezed between Beethoven and Wagner. Thanks to them (heroes of mine, I must add), I neglected his music for years. Then I was in Bonn and visited the Friedhof where he lies buried with Clara (and Mathilde Wesendonck is there too, and Schopenhauer's mother...) When I returned home I started listening to the piano music and the symphonies, and was completely overwhelmed by their beauty. Now, for me, Schumann is really 'up there' with the greats.

[The new erato]

Now, for me, Schumann is really 'up there' with the greats.

Agree. Uneven maybe, but lots of great music in his unique rhapsodizing, meandering style which puts a premium on phantasy and free thought. The 2nd string quartet, the songs.....essential for me in addition to the more obvious choices. And from what I've read, a thoroughly nice and human man (which I think is more than can be said about your two other favorites - am currently reading Jonathan Carrs The Wagner Clan); his sickness and the way his life ended is one of music's great tragedies.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Agree. Uneven maybe, but lots of great music in his unique rhapsodizing, meandering style which puts a premium on phantasy and free thought. The 2nd string quartet, the songs.....essential for me in addition to the more obvious choices.

Yes, uneven he is, but when he's good he writes a music the world has never heard before or since. When I heard the opening of the Cello Concerto it was so achingly beautiful I had to stop. I don't have that with other composers. There is a tenderness and fragility to him that I can only manage in small doses. That's why I don't listen that often to him. Which says as much about him as about me, I suppose...

[Harry]

As to Dvorak, permit me to chime in as the anti-Kubelik voice. His Seventh is almost unbeatable, but Kubelik's take on the early symphonies is downright dull. As a big fan of those works, I remain convinced that the Kubelik readings are one of the primary reasons people still express dislike for them. (Kubelik himself was not a fan of the first few symphonies, and said so.) Those forum members who cite Dvorak in the "Worst First" thread or who complain that the early symphonies don't really exhibit the composer's own unique voice need to investigate the Anguelov box set - to see what they have been missing. Yes, I have a couple reservations about Anguelov's Seventh Symphony, but the reason is not so much that he conducts it badly as that the performance doesn't rise to the standard he sets in the other eight symphonies ... which is to say, revelatory.

My two cents  . (I own the full Suitner set, have obtained via my university the full Gunzenhauser, Anguelov, and Jarvi boxes, own parts of the Andrew Davis and Istvan Kertesz cycles, have the Libor Pesek set but haven't listened to it at all yet, and have listened to the Kubelik and Rowicki performances sporadically. Suitner's is the best buy, since it's dirt cheap, includes a thrilling, unique Eighth, and is all-around spectacular, but my very favorite so far is the Anguelov. I really want to hear Vaclav Neumann's performances...)

Of course you are permitted my dear friend.
But if you allow me, I will heartily disagree with you about Kubelik's take on the Dvorak symphonies.
Allthough Kubelik may have said such a thing, his professional attitude would never allowed him to botch the first three symphonies up.
And to my ears he does a swell job, especially in the second symphony. there is not one dull moment for me.
Its good that there are so many opinions, and fervent admirers......

[Harry]

Yes, uneven he is, but when he's good he writes a music the world has never heard before or since. When I heard the opening of the Cello Concerto it was so achingly beautiful I had to stop. I don't have that with other composers. There is a tenderness and fragility to him that I can only manage in small doses. That's why I don't listen that often to him. Which says as much about him as about me, I suppose...

Forgive me, but I fail to see or hear unevenness in his compositions. If they are there, I am blissfully ignorant of them......

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Forgive me, but I fail to see or hear unevenness in his compositions. If they are there, I am blissfully ignorant of them......

First - happy 2008, Harry!

Schumann's 'unevenness' is a relative affair, of course. Schumann can't be really 'bad'. But he wrote a lot, and as his best work is so intense and inventive, you notice it when it isn't (some of the later piano music, for instance, after the early explosion; and I don't think his string quartets are uniformly successful).

[springrite]

Forgive me, but I fail to see or hear unevenness in his compositions. If they are there, I am blissfully ignorant of them......

A few of Schumann's late works are especially uneven, even bad. But that is expected when you consider his mental condition, under which, depending on the situation, could produce works or genius or clankers.