Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

Started by Chaszz, December 10, 2009, 04:35:52 PM

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Quote from: SurprisedByBeauty on March 29, 2019, 04:10:12 AMYes, I thought that is a very fine recording that I liked better - in some ways - than, say, Makhtin / Berezovsky / Kniazev & Lang / Repin / Maisky. Has anyone heard the Moscow Rachmaninov Trio on Hyperion?

I haven't heard that Moscow Trio performance on Hyperion in quite some time, but I recall not being too impressed with it. I thought some of the subtlety and nuance was lost, especially in the Trio élégiaque No 2 in D minor, Op. 9.

vandermolen

#361
Instructed to go and 'look for some nice summer trousers' in a Sue Ryder charity shop whilst on holiday in Suffolk I naturally headed straight to the second-hand CD section. Normally there is not much to interest me here, amongst the selection of Jim Reeves, Elvis, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass CDs etc (not that there is anything wrong with these artists just not my cup of tea) but I found a great bargain - the complete Rachmaninov symphonies on two CDs conducted by Walter Weller on Decca for £1.00. No.1 is well known to me and IMO one of the greatest performances of that fine work but I'm unaware of nos 2 and 3 conducted by Weller.  Actually the notes are all in Japanese but there is a fine photograph of the composer contained therein. I also snapped up a recording of Shostakovich's 'Leningrad Symphony' on the Stradivarius label - also for £1.00. I was able to smuggle them out the shop concealed in the trousers (not really, actually my wife made no fuss about the CD purchases).
8)
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

pjme

Hahaha! More or less my experience last weekend.
On sunday mornings, I quite regularly go to the small town of Heist - op - den - Berg. Its market is famous and still has a "Brueghelian" feel. You'll find butchers, greengrocers, sellers of farmers tools and small animals, lots of bric-à-brac,  old books, used toys and the odd antique gem. There are two charity shops ...and Cds . And, yes, Jim Reeves, Elvis, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass , Helmut Lotti and the Three tenors apparently were as popular here as in Suffolk.
Interesting Cds are very rare, but do pop up. I didn't find any Rachmaninov, but was amazed to discover music by Brazilian Marlos Nobre (°1939).

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

pjme

#364


63 ,- $ on Amazon, 1.50 € in Heist - op - den - Berg!



Maestro Nobre today...

Christo

Quote from: pjme on July 11, 2019, 01:13:59 PM
63 ,- $ on Amazon, 1.50 € in Heist - op - den - Berg!
Great story, nice place!
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

vandermolen

#366
Quote from: pjme on July 11, 2019, 01:05:39 AM
Hahaha! More or less my experience last weekend.
On sunday mornings, I quite regularly go to the small town of Heist - op - den - Berg. Its market is famous and still has a "Brueghelian" feel. You'll find butchers, greengrocers, sellers of farmers tools and small animals, lots of bric-à-brac,  old books, used toys and the odd antique gem. There are two charity shops ...and Cds . And, yes, Jim Reeves, Elvis, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass , Helmut Lotti and the Three tenors apparently were as popular here as in Suffolk.
Interesting Cds are very rare, but do pop up. I didn't find any Rachmaninov, but was amazed to discover music by Brazilian Marlos Nobre (°1939).
I like the sound of the 'Brueghelian' market - one of my favourite Flemish painters. I don't see any second-hand CD stalls in the picture below however!
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Andy D.

Another composer who recently clicked for me. Hugely in love with the symphonies and PC 3.

vandermolen

Quote from: Andy D. on July 19, 2019, 12:44:48 AM
Another composer who recently clicked for me. Hugely in love with the symphonies and PC 3.
Good to know Andy. Symphony 1 and PC 4 are my favourites but I enjoy them all. I wonder if you know 'The Bells' which I think is his masterpiece and The Isle of the Dead, both are marvellous works IMO.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Andy D.

Quote from: vandermolen on July 19, 2019, 03:18:48 AM
Good to know Andy. Symphony 1 and PC 4 are my favourites but I enjoy them all. I wonder if you know 'The Bells' which I think is his masterpiece and The Isle of the Dead, both are marvellous works IMO.

Good morning from sunny Vermont! I have the Askenazi box with all of those pieces. LOVE it!!!!

I'll be my usual fanatic self and start digging up other recordings soon.... ;)

George

Quote from: Andy D. on July 19, 2019, 12:44:48 AM
Another composer who recently clicked for me. Hugely in love with the symphonies and PC 3.

Hey Andy!

Tried the solo works yet, like the Preludes?
"I can't live without music, because music is life." - Yvonne Lefébure

vandermolen

Quote from: Andy D. on July 19, 2019, 03:31:32 AM
Good morning from sunny Vermont! I have the Askenazi box with all of those pieces. LOVE it!!!!

I'll be my usual fanatic self and start digging up other recordings soon.... ;)
Greetings from rainy Sussex!
Excellent and I think that Ashkenazy is a great conductor and performer of Rachmaninov.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

kyjo

Quote from: Andy D. on July 19, 2019, 12:44:48 AM
Another composer who recently clicked for me. Hugely in love with the symphonies and PC 3.

Excellent, Andy! Rachmaninoff is one of my favorite composers and I love nearly everything he wrote.
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Florestan

Quote from: kyjo on July 19, 2019, 06:05:09 AM
Excellent, Andy! Rachmaninoff is one of my favorite composers and I love nearly everything he wrote.

+ 1.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

pjme

Anna Moffo and Stokowski (Moffo sings an arrangement by Arcady Dubensky).
Gorgeous!

https://www.youtube.com/v/GibjzBPwhBU

Irons

So many great moments in Rachmaninov's music. The saxophone solo in the first movement of Symphonic Dances is one, the opening of the 1st Symphony is another. There are many more.
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

vandermolen

#377
Quote from: Irons on July 20, 2019, 12:11:05 AM
So many great moments in Rachmaninov's music. The saxophone solo in the first movement of Symphonic Dances is one, the opening of the 1st Symphony is another. There are many more.
+1 for Symphonic Dances. I find Symphony 3 rather moving and love the ending. Symphony No.2 and PC No.3 were my mother's favourite pieces of classical music, so I have a soft spot for them too. I recall that she loved the LP with Ashkenazy/Fistoulari doing the PC No.3 and Ashkenazy conducting the Second Symphony.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Florestan

Quote from: Irons on July 20, 2019, 12:11:05 AM
So many great moments in Rachmaninov's music. The saxophone solo in the first movement of Symphonic Dances is one, the opening of the 1st Symphony is another. There are many more.

Yes. And what makes him all the more endearing to me is his willingness to actually take the audience's response to his music into account, both as composer and performer.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

kyjo

Quote from: Irons on July 20, 2019, 12:11:05 AM
So many great moments in Rachmaninov's music. The saxophone solo in the first movement of Symphonic Dances is one, the opening of the 1st Symphony is another. There are many more.

Wholeheartedly agreed. Also, I find the ethereal coda of the first movement of the Symphonic Dances to be one of the most magical passages in all of music. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the opening and ending of the 1st Symphony are among the most gripping and cataclysmic.
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff