Recordings That You Are Considering

[Jo498]

I am somewhat intrigued by the series of recitals from the Southwest German Radio on haenssler (the following search results do not contain only these but they are easily recognizable). Has anyone heard some of them?

https://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=Swrmusic+

[king ubu]

If you are referring to the Amazon Music Unlimited, I signed up and have been listening to both boxes. 

Strauss is still a hard sell for me, so I won't purchase either, at this time - but completeness is more important to me than a different box with fewer operas but by one conductor that contains some recordings more people think are better.  I can alwaays supplement the big box with individual CDs.

Thanks for pointing out that both volumes are available in one big box.

The Strauss route I took was that DG box, the EMI box, the Solti Decca "Salome", and several of the standalone Böhm sets on DG where the box has other recordings instead (those come with libretti, but I think many or most are OOP by now - not sure if some of them are around again in the EMI cheapo series, which adds another disc with PDFs on it) ... this is how the Böhm ones look:



Some but not all are in the DG box.

And this is the EMI (now Warner) box - backcover w/contents at link:

[asin]B00FM60U8E[/asin]


Now don't ask my opinion on these recordings ... I'm only getting started, but my library building efforts with regards to Strauss operas are nearly complete, I guess 

This is the Solti "Salome":

[asin]B000E6EH04[/asin]
(with libretto, if I'm not mistaken ... but I have the GROC Karajan - which is in the EMI/Warner box as well - with libretto already, so I didn't care about with or without libretto when buying the Solti)

[kishnevi]

I am somewhat intrigued by the series of recitals from the Southwest German Radio on haenssler (the following search results do not contain only these but they are easily recognizable). Has anyone heard some of them?

https://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=Swrmusic+

I have the Kondrashin Mahler 6.  Sonics are average for the time and place. 

I would say if the artist and music is of interest to you, try them.

[André]

All of Svetlanov's Mahler is worth hearing. If the artist and his companions (orchestra and technicians) are up tp your standards. I miss 1 and 4.

[PerfectWagnerite]

Anyone has this monster?

[Orpheus]

One question:

if you have to choose between this two box, which buying?



or this?

 

Thanks in advance to all! 

[ritter]

One question:

if you have to choose between this two box, which buying?



or this?

 

Thanks in advance to all! 

Not to make matters more complicated for you, Orpheus, but there's a third big Karl Böhm box out there:

[asin]B00BK40R1M[/asin]

I own both the "Late Recordings" box, and "The "Symphonies" (the one I've just posted) sets, and there's no overlap between them (as "The Symphonies" has complete cycles recored years before the takes included in the "Late Recordings" box). "A Life in Music" seems to be a combination of both sets, plus some additional Mozart and Richard Strauss (all more or less readily available in other relatively inexpensive sets).

So...if you're really into Böhm, I'd go for the two sets I own (i.e. "The Symphonies" and "Late Recordings"). If you want a general traversal of his art, then the "A Life in Music" box would appear as the right choice, as it includes the "best of both worlds", so to speak, and you get some of the glorious late recordings (i.e., Beethoven's Ninth, Ein Heldenleben, some of the Mozart)....

[betterthanfine]

One question:

if you have to choose between this two box, which buying?



or this?

 

Thanks in advance to all! 

As far as I can tell from the back covers, the 'A Life in Music' box contains everything that's in the 'Late Recordings' box, plus some extra Brahms and Strauss. Either go for the cheapest one, or the one with the most music. It won't matter much anyway.

[André]

When it comes to "late Böhm", you're treading into sacred grounds. You don't mention if you have any of those recordings ? It's rather unusual to be prepared to invest hard-earned money for recordings of a 122-year old conductor.

It will be a decision based on repertoire and price, then. I would be curious to know if the "Life in Music" Brahms 1 is from the early sixties (BPO) or mid seventies (WP). They are quite different.

Böhm in his late years was sometimes an angry old man, sometimes a schulmeister, rarely an avuncular figure (à la Ormandy). Some of his most spectacularly intense interpretations are among his most recent (he died in 1981, well into the stereo era, even the digital, DDD one).

I do not mean by that that his interpretations sounded anything like Solti-ish. His conducting could be tense (derived from the internal pulse of the music), not intense (drawing attention to itself). Or maybe some would claim it's vice-versa ? The idea is that the intensity is in the music, not in the gesture.

In the end, it depends what you have, what you want to explore in a different light, and of course, what unique lights Böhm shed on specific composers/works (and opinions differ on this).

If I may add to the prevailing confusion, no serious "late Böhm" collection would be complete without his Japanese concerts discs with the WP, captured by the DGG engineers. These are less easily accessible (and affordable), but they are worth any collector's money (check Youtube).

My top picks are for the more unusual repertoire:

- Dvorak 9 WP
- Tchaikovsky 4 and 6 LSO
- Bruckner 8 (the greatest studio disc of that work ever)
- Strauss Heldenleben WP
- The WP Wagner recordings
- Mozart 38-41 WP

In his last years, the only composers he conducted a little bit slowly were Mozart, Beethoven and J. Strauss. Many (many)  consider Böhm a walking dead of a conductor. Nothing could be further from the truth.

[Orpheus]

When it comes to "late Böhm", you're treading into sacred grounds. You don't mention if you have any of those recordings ? It's rather unusual to be prepared to invest hard-earned money for recordings of a 122-year old conductor.

It will be a decision based on repertoire and price, then. I would be curious to know if the "Life in Music" Brahms 1 is from the early sixties (BPO) or mid seventies (WP). They are quite different.

Böhm in his late years was sometimes an angry old man, sometimes a schulmeister, rarely an avuncular figure (à la Ormandy). Some of his most spectacularly intense interpretations are among his most recent (he died in 1981, well into the stereo era, even the digital, DDD one).

I do not mean by that that his interpretations sounded anything like Solti-ish. His conducting could be tense (derived from the internal pulse of the music), not intense (drawing attention to itself). Or maybe some would claim it's vice-versa ? The idea is that the intensity is in the music, not in the gesture.

In the end, it depends what you have, what you want to explore in a different light, and of course, what unique lights Böhm shed on specific composers/works (and opinions differ on this).

If I may add to the prevailing confusion, no serious "late Böhm" collection would be complete without his Japanese concerts discs with the WP, captured by the DGG engineers. These are less easily accessible (and affordable), but they are worth any collector's money (check Youtube).

My top picks are for the more unusual repertoire:

- Dvorak 9 WP
- Tchaikovsky 4 and 6 LSO
- Bruckner 8 (the greatest studio disc of that work ever)
- Strauss Heldenleben WP
- The WP Wagner recordings
- Mozart 38-41 WP

In his last years, the only composers he conducted a little bit slowly were Mozart, Beethoven and J. Strauss. Many (many)  consider Böhm a walking dead of a conductor. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Thank you for your kindly answer, and thank you to betterthanfine and ritter.

I have only a handful Bohm's recordings:



I do not own nothing ( except Bruckner no. 7 & 8 ) of "Late Recordings" or "A life in music". But I would have preferred a "Complete Edition" (similar to Symphonic or Operas box devoted to Karajan). It is wise to wait a new comprehensive box or to collect any items?

[North Star]

Thank you for your kindly answer, and thank you to betterthanfine and ritter.

I have only a handful Bohm's recordings:

You must have big hands.

[Ken B]

I don't agree it's weird to want to invest in recordings of a 122 year old conductor. There are distinctive voices in music and his was one. If I am going to have my 7th recording of a piece I want a distinctive voice. I find approaches from different periods interesting.
How old is Reiner?

[Spineur]

I dont think I know Prokofiev string quartet.  Since I enjoyed the Janacek CD from Pavel Haas quartet, I am considering

[GioCar]

I dont think I know Prokofiev string quartet.  Since I enjoyed the Janacek CD from Pavel Haas quartet, I am considering

Yes! Go ahead!

[Mirror Image]

Yes! Go ahead!

+1 A great disc for sure.

[Madiel]

You must have big hands.

Damn. Someone got there ahead of me.

[PerfectWagnerite]

I must be in the minority as I have grown to be less and less of a Bohm fan over the years. I just don't find his intepretations very interesting. They are good, solid, nothing really revelatory. I give the example of the much vaunted Beethoven symphony cycle. Last week I listen to him and then to Bernstein, with the same Vienna Philharmonic. The Bernstein feels so much more alive, so much more lithe with much more flexibility in tempo, balance, and dynamics. With Bohm you just get this big soupy orchestral texture all the time. And Lenny gets you the exposition repeats !

One Bohm recording I do like, a lot is this one:



because miraculously he made a decidely second-rate orchestra SOUND like the Vienna Philharmonic.

[Madiel]

Looking for a set of Bartok string quartets.

I had previously had the Takacs on my shopping list, but last time I looked it wasn't easy to find at a decent price. What about the Tokyo quartet set from the early 1980s?

[asin]B00C3MK7PQ[/asin]

[mc ukrneal]

Looking for a set of Bartok string quartets.

I had previously had the Takacs on my shopping list, but last time I looked it wasn't easy to find at a decent price. What about the Tokyo quartet set from the early 1980s?

[asin]B00C3MK7PQ[/asin]

I don't know as many recordings as some here, but I can say that the set is outstanding. Very well played.

[kishnevi]

Looking for a set of Bartok string quartets.

I had previously had the Takacs on my shopping list, but last time I looked it wasn't easy to find at a decent price. What about the Tokyo quartet set from the early 1980s?

[asin]B00C3MK7PQ[/asin]

Don't have the Tokyo recording but I can suggest this
[asin]B000004199[/asin]