Past Purchases (CLOSED)

[eyeresist]

M, I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on the many versions of the Symphonic Dances - if you ever find time to listen to them all!

[marvinbrown]

Wagner

Der Ring Des Nibelungen

James Levine
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Deutsche Grammophon

OK....I so wanted my first Ring Cycle purchase to be the magnificent Solti/WP set....but.....I couldn't pass this one up.  Only $40 at McNally Robertson.  Not only the price being great, from alot of the comments on GMG, this seems to be another highly tauted set. 

I'm super excited for having a full Ring Cycle, forever, in my home! 

  A fine set no doubt, I own the Levine MET DVD and enjoy it very much!  I have read that there are some minor differences between the CD and DVD versions although I am not sure what they are exactly??  Anyway I hope you enjoy it and please keep the Solti Ring in mind as a future purchase!!

  marvin

[ChamberNut]

and please keep the Solti Ring in mind as a future purchase!!

  marvin

Without question, I will keep it in mind! 

[Sergeant Rock]

Wagner
Der Ring Des Nibelungen
James Levine
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Deutsche Grammophon
Only $40 at McNally Robertson.

Congratulations on the purchase. If not a first choice, it's still a very good Ring, and at that price, a true bargain. The Götterdämmerung is superb, Alan Blyth even thinking "it may become known as one of the great Wagner recordings of our time....by and large, a magnificent achievement." The major weakness of the set is Goldberg's Siegfried, but then Siegfried is often the Achilles' heel of modern Rings.

Sarge

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Siegfried is often the Achilles' heel of modern Rings.

A classic mixed (and mythological) metaphor, Sarge! I like it... 

[M forever]

M, I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on the many versions of the Symphonic Dances - if you ever find time to listen to them all!

I did actually listen to all those versions, and tonight I will probably also listen to the Ashkenazy version, and I think I may also have one with Previn, but I don't know if I will be able to find it since most of CDs are still packed up in moving boxes.
Maybe I will start a thread about the piece and all those recordings.

In the meantime, even more Rachmaninoff came in:



Wait - this doesn't contain any Rach...ooops. I must have misclicked 

[ChamberNut]

  A fine set no doubt, I own the Levine MET DVD and enjoy it very much!  I have read that there are some minor differences between the CD and DVD versions although I am not sure what they are exactly??  Anyway I hope you enjoy it and please keep the Solti Ring in mind as a future purchase!!

  marvin

The other downfall of the Levine MET cycle is it does not include the libretto. Only an Act by Act synopsis.  I'll have to see if I can find one from the net, which I'm sure I'll be able to.

[Renfield]

Siegfried is often the Achilles' heel of modern Rings.

Sarge

Presumably due to the shortage of proper Wagnerian heldentenors in recent years, that I keep hearing about?

If so, why isn't Wotan a problem? Are good "heldenbasses" () more readily at hand?


Edit: My knowledge of the operatic world, and particularly the people in it, is very limited indeed. That's why I'm asking.

[PerfectWagnerite]

If so, why isn't Wotan a problem? Are good "heldenbasses" () more readily at hand?

There is no such thing as a "heldenbass". Roles such as Wotan, Gurnemanz, and Dutchman are sung by another pretty much Wagnerian creation, the bass-baritone who has essentially the sound and texture of a bass but can hit the high notes like a baritone. Quite often this role requires hitting notes as high as an "F" is isn't normally what you would expect a true bass to sing.

We still have James Morris and John Tomlinson both of whom are superb Wotans. And we have been blessed that unlike Siegfried and Brunnhilde we have had some fabulous Wotans over the past 30 or 40 years.

[Renfield]

There is no such thing as a "heldenbass". Roles such as Wotan, Gurnemanz, and Dutchman are sung by another pretty much Wagnerian creation, the bass-baritone who has essentially the sound and texture of a bass but can hit the high notes like a baritone. Quite often this role requires hitting notes as high as an "F" is isn't normally what you would expect a true bass to sing.

We still have James Morris and John Tomlinson both of whom are superb Wotans. And we have been blessed that unlike Siegfried and Brunnhilde we have had some fabulous Wotans over the past 30 or 40 years.

Hold your Wagnerian fire: the term was a jest.

And thank you for the answer. Tomlinson I can concur about myself, to the limited extent of my operatic experience.

[Wanderer]

Awaiting your impressions. His Petrouchka CD has gotten some good reviews.

[M forever]

This is a great disc. I "stumbled" over it while looking for Symphonic Dances recordings and checking out what else is available with the St.Petersburg Philharmonic. Tchaikovsky's 1st piano concerto is not a piece I listen to often, and I don't have many recordings of it either. But I listened to a few clips and decided to get this recording anyway because that first impression was very good. Plus the coupling - Shostakovich' 1st concerto - is interesting. I had never heard Matsuev before, but he is obviously a spectacular pianist. He makes it sound as if these pieces were easy to play. He plays them with great and self-confident virtuosity, but there is also a lot of fine detail and he shapes the music eloquently. The orchestral part is great, too. Great playing by the wind soloists, with very characterful timbres and great phrasing, and incredibly unified and sonorous playing of all the string sections. The contribution of the bass section in the first movement of the Tchaikovsky alone is worth the price of the disc, even though I suspect that is not a high priority for collectors of piano music... Plus the recorded sound is, to use an often abused word, outstanding. Some might find it a little too close-up, but then you can always turn the volume down! The orchestra is captured in very "natural" sound, you can really hear the timbres of individual players and sections very well.

[scarpia]

The contribution of the bass section in the first movement of the Tchaikovsky alone is worth the price of the disc, even though I suspect that is not a high priority for collectors of piano music...

I knew a percussion player who was also a fan of opera.  If you asked him about a certain recording he might say it was awful.  On further questioning, you would find out that this is because he didn't like the type of mallet used on the timpani, or the variety of cymbals used. 

Anyway, there lots of copies of this disc for sale on Amazon market place for 5 bucks or less, and I figured it's worth the chance for the Shostakovich.

[eyeresist]

I knew a percussion player who was also a fan of opera.  If you asked him about a certain recording he might say it was awful.  On further questioning, you would find out that this is because he didn't like the type of mallet used on the timpani, or the variety of cymbals used. 

Was that a certain Mr Hurwitz?

[scarpia]

Was that a certain Mr Hurwitz?

No one you'd know, I'm afraid.

[M forever]

Anyway, there lots of copies of this disc for sale on Amazon market place for 5 bucks or less, and I figured it's worth the chance for the Shostakovich.

It's worth it for the Tchaikovsky, too. You may not want to admit it because it's such a classical "mainstream" piece and totally overplayed, but it's a great piece. I rarely ever listen to it, but I find myself enjoying it a lot whenever I do. I don't think I had listened to it for many years before putting on this recording - the last time I heard it was live in Berlin, with Argerich and Abbado, about 8 years ago. This performance here by Matsuev is one of those which make you hear the music freshly, and it makes it sound rather as innovative and unconventional as it once was. It is, after all, not Tchaikovsky's fault that this piece is so massively overplayed. Or actually, I guess it is! But can we hold that against him?

I knew a percussion player who was also a fan of opera.  If you asked him about a certain recording he might say it was awful.  On further questioning, you would find out that this is because he didn't like the type of mallet used on the timpani, or the variety of cymbals used. 

That's pretty sad, actually. My perception of performances is not dependent on how good the basses are. Anyone who really knows a musical craft can also appreciate craftsmanship in other instrumental groups. Which is why I mentioned the basses more or less self-ironically, although they do sound extremely good in this recording, and that is both a testimony to the players - I know that you only get a section sound as good as this if everyone in the section plays on a very high level - and the recording, because the bass region is particularly difficult to capture on a recording and place into context in a larger spectrum. But what's so great about the orchestral contribution in this recording is that every section plays with great sound and musicality, and that that is captured so well by the recording. There are so many subtle highlights - the soft trumpet signals in the mysterious episode in the first movement, when they call from afar and you can hear how carefully they form each note, how subtly each round attack is sounded but at the same time, how much sound they produce even at that soft dynamic. The flute and oboe solos in the slow movement - marvelous. Simple and poetic. Very articulate and natural, with refined but not vain articulation and phrasing. The whole disc is demonstration quality when it comes to musical playing culture.

[Wanderer]

I appreciate the review, M. The available soundbits do sound quite good. From what I've been reading, Matsuev's been constantly improving since his first recording efforts, which is not that common for young performing pianists. I'll have this disc of his and a couple of others that look interesting in mind for my next purchases.

[karlhenning]

It's worth it for the Tchaikovsky, too. You may not want to admit it because it's such a classical "mainstream" piece and totally overplayed, but it's a great piece.

It is, indeed;  a great piece which entirely deserves its popularity.

[ChamberNut]

It is, indeed;  a great piece which entirely deserves its popularity.

Agreed!!  ie. Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1  0:)

[ezodisy]

Awaiting your impressions. His Petrouchka CD has gotten some good reviews.

I haven't heard it (I mean the Petrushka) but I know that Matsuev is one of those super virtuosi , like Pollini, like Volodos, Sokolov, Gekic, Pogorelich and so on. Of course that's not to say it's going to be a vivid, colourful or sensitive account. It will be impressive, but then this is the sort of piece you don't play unless you can play the pants off it, no?