Recordings That You Are Considering

Started by George, April 06, 2007, 05:54:08 AM

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André

Quote from: vers la flamme on February 16, 2020, 04:59:11 PM
OK, friends, what's the best Enigma Variations on record? Factoring in interpretation, orchestral playing, and last but not least, recorded sound. There are way too many out there for me to choose blindly, with my far too limited knowledge and experience of Elgar...

Another important factor with Enigma would be the coupling. Is there another Elgar work you want to explore? Enigma has been recorded to death - well, almost - so there is no dearth of great performances in good sound.

JBS

Quote from: vers la flamme on February 16, 2020, 04:59:11 PM
OK, friends, what's the best Enigma Variations on record? Factoring in interpretation, orchestral playing, and last but not least, recorded sound. There are way too many out there for me to choose blindly, with my far too limited knowledge and experience of Elgar...

I don't have many, and of them the best sounding is Sinopoli.
I also like Maisky's Cello Concerto that's coupled with it.

There are several issues of it, some with the Serenade for Strings as the third piece. The cover posted seems to be the cheapest overall.

If you're not interested in the Concerto, check Elder with the Halle. His entire Elgar series is excellent.

There are other newish recordings but I haven't heard them. Boult, Barbirolli, and Sargent of course recorded it. You'll have to decide for yourself about the sonics on those.

The one to avoid is Bernstein on DG, which I think is very good but is too idiosyncratic to be anything other than an alternate.


Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

mc ukrneal

Quote from: vers la flamme on February 16, 2020, 04:59:11 PM
OK, friends, what's the best Enigma Variations on record? Factoring in interpretation, orchestral playing, and last but not least, recorded sound. There are way too many out there for me to choose blindly, with my far too limited knowledge and experience of Elgar...
Elder, Gibson and Andrew Davis come to mind. For a non-English view, I might go for Mehta, Monteux or Sinopoli. There are many good ones. I could probably come up with another half dozen names (without duplication) that are also very good. But this ignores the other works on the disc, which may factor into the decision.
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

vandermolen

Quote from: vers la flamme on February 16, 2020, 04:59:11 PM
OK, friends, what's the best Enigma Variations on record? Factoring in interpretation, orchestral playing, and last but not least, recorded sound. There are way too many out there for me to choose blindly, with my far too limited knowledge and experience of Elgar...
I no longer listen much to the Enigma Variations but always liked performances by Sargent and Boult:
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"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).

Daverz

Quote from: vers la flamme on February 16, 2020, 04:59:11 PM
OK, friends, what's the best Enigma Variations on record? Factoring in interpretation, orchestral playing, and last but not least, recorded sound. There are way too many out there for me to choose blindly, with my far too limited knowledge and experience of Elgar...

Barbirolli


https://www.amazon.com/Elgar-Variations-Enigma-Falstaff-minor/dp/B000005GUE

However, I did not like the sound of the latest hi-res download of this Enigma on Warner.  Warner seemed to go overboard trying to find high-frequency detail with whatever EQ they applied.

Roy Bland

Derek Bourgeois's symphony but it's quite expensive and old recording

SurprisedByBeauty

The Barbirolli/Philharmonia is definitely the classic... and unlike many classics, I wouldn't consider it particularly overrated, even at this point.
It still strikes a good balance between emphasis but shies away from over-luxuriating... which can be sweet in its way, but distorts many a variation... most of all the abused Nimrod Variation.
The Hallé versions (1947, 1956) are harder to come by and less generously but more pointedly played.

That said, and I'm listening to it again, right now, there's also a version I really love -- very much to my surprise, because I was never a fan of the conductor: Solti! And with the Vienna Philharmonic, of all orchestras... a band no one has ever accused of having an aptitude for British music. But it's tight, to the point, massive but not over-the-top. Doesn't indulge. Doesn't budge. And has two absolutely tremendous (albeit non-Elgar) couplings.




Mandryka

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

T. D.

Quote from: Mandryka on February 20, 2020, 11:15:20 PM


Glenn Freeman (and others including violinist Christina Fong) have recorded quite a few number pieces, iirc most (originally) on the OgreOgress label. I expect they're still available via cdbaby.

Years ago I noticed that some of the recordings (incl. Four above) employed overdubbing, and I avoided them for that reason. Maybe unfairly, as there's no reason to doubt GF's status as a Cage interpreter.

Mandryka

#15709
Quote from: T. D. on February 21, 2020, 02:26:11 PM
Glenn Freeman (and others including violinist Christina Fong) have recorded quite a few number pieces, iirc most (originally) on the OgreOgress label. I expect they're still available via cdbaby.

Years ago I noticed that some of the recordings (incl. Four above) employed overdubbing, and I avoided them for that reason. Maybe unfairly, as there's no reason to doubt GF's status as a Cage interpreter.

Yes, I think he's the sole performer of his Four4, which is meant to be a work for four people. I just checked and it is indeed available from CDbaby for $3 so I'll get it later, thanks for pointing it out.

Anyway I want to hear every recording of Four4 I can find, and there are quite a few. The other recording I mentioned, from Gerauschhersteller, has an absolutely amazing, bold, Four4, which has really prompted me to think about silence in Cage - download one track of it from Bandcamp - you won't be sorry (well you may be sorry . . .) and you'll see what I mean!

By the way, the CDbaby website says that they will be closing their record store on March 31 this year!
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

vers la flamme



Thoughts on this? I am very interested in Karajan's Sibelius, some of which I've heard, but don't fully understand. I have the classic DG 2CD with symphonies 4-7 from the 1960s. To anyone who's heard both, I'd be especially curious how the recordings compare. Also, I would like to note that I am not interested in recommendations of Sibelius symphonies from other conductors at this time, but if anyone here feels compelled to provide them anyway, they are of course free to do so for the benefit of others reading this thread who are not me.

Does anyone know why he recorded this for EMI? I thought he was under exclusive contract through DG by this point.

SurprisedByBeauty

Karajan had made a return to EMI in those years... and kept recording for them, on and off, until 1984.
This is his third crack at an (incomplete) cycle of the Sibelius Symphonies (none of them are cycles of course; the first was split between HvK and Kletzki; the second between him and Kamu; the third was just him, incomplete.). Great SQ; a very different 4th than the DG 4th (not as typical of the 4th but wonderfully plush; almost Colin Davis-esque). Even when they're not my favorite almost-cycles, I still think that a dedicated Sibelian will find all three of Karajan's takes essential listening.

André

It was a golden period for Karajan. He seems to have had a freer hand in his EMI recordings. They were unfailingly more extreme than the DG equivalents: Bruckner 4 and 7, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky late symphonies, Strauss tone poems provide direct comparisons with his work on DGG.

With EMI his focus was on slower tempi, extreme dynamics, wider, bigger stereo soundstage and a focus on the orchestra's string section. How much is the result of engineering activism on his part is hard to tell, but I think that what we hear is exactly what he wanted to convey. A schwarzeneggerian orchestra that doesn't quite exist in reality.

This aesthetic went a bit over the top in his operatic recordings (Tristan, Salome, Pelléas, Il Trovatore, Don Carlos, Aida). I agree with Jens' statement (essential listening) and would even extend it to his whole EMI work of that period.

Daverz

#15713
Quote from: vers la flamme on February 22, 2020, 07:27:20 AM


Thoughts on this? I am very interested in Karajan's Sibelius, some of which I've heard, but don't fully understand. I have the classic DG 2CD with symphonies 4-7 from the 1960s. To anyone who's heard both, I'd be especially curious how the recordings compare. Also, I would like to note that I am not interested in recommendations of Sibelius symphonies from other conductors at this time, but if anyone here feels compelled to provide them anyway, they are of course free to do so for the benefit of others reading this thread who are not me.

Does anyone know why he recorded this for EMI? I thought he was under exclusive contract through DG by this point.

Great recordings of Sibelius 4 & 5, but also my imprint recordings of these works, so take that with a grain of salt.


vers la flamme

Favorite recording of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet? I have the Stoltzman/Tokyo. Curious what else exists.

JBS

Quote from: vers la flamme on February 27, 2020, 07:49:43 AM
Favorite recording of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet? I have the Stoltzman/Tokyo. Curious what else exists.

There seem to be loads of them, often coupled with the Mozart, or as part of larger offerings of Brahms's chamber works.

Quick stroll through Amazon reminds me I liked both of these.
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[asin]B008H5F1KY[/asin]

And I like the chamber music set in DG that centers around the Amadeus Quartet.

Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

vers la flamme

Quote from: JBS on February 27, 2020, 07:58:52 AM
There seem to be loads of them, often coupled with the Mozart, or as part of larger offerings of Brahms's chamber works.

Quick stroll through Amazon reminds me I liked both of these.
[asin]B00A6U5BLC[/asin]
[asin]B008H5F1KY[/asin]

And I like the chamber music set in DG that centers around the Amadeus Quartet.

Ah, good call. I have been wanting to further explore the recordings of the Amadeus Quartet (and the Melos Quartet, for that matter)—this might be a good place to start.

Those Harmonia Mundi discs you share also look great.

Jo498

The Leister/Amadeus is also available on a single DG Galleria disc, if this is more findable or convenient than the DG Brahms Chamber boxes. (Leister made about four recordings of the Brahms quintet, I think one was cheap on Brilliant (originally Nimbus?).
Almost every somewhat famous clarinetist made a recording of the piece, so there are plenty to choose from.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

SonicMan46

Quote from: vers la flamme on February 27, 2020, 07:49:43 AM
Favorite recording of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet? I have the Stoltzman/Tokyo. Curious what else exists.

Well, as already stated, there are plenty of options, depending on modern vs. period instruments and the other works included - I have the three shown below - Melos has the Op. 111 String Quintet; the 2-CD Audite set has the Trio, Sonatas, and Quintet on modern instruments; and the Jean-Claude Veilhan disc has a wonderful combo of Mozart & Brahms using period clarinets.  Dave :)

   

San Antone

Quote from: vers la flamme on February 27, 2020, 07:49:43 AM
Favorite recording of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet? I have the Stoltzman/Tokyo. Curious what else exists.

Martin Fröst



Thea King



Charles Neidich