Recordings That You Are Considering

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

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MusicTurner

#16380
Regarding Nielsen symphonies: Kuchar is surprisingly good. So is Leaper, on Naxos, speaking of budget labels. Kuchar must probably be said to have better sound.

Brian

Quote from: vers la flamme on November 27, 2021, 07:15:46 AM


Thoughts?
Super thrilling interpretations, third tier orchestra. Sometimes I hear the strings struggling with something and wish they'd let him redo it with Chicago or Pittsburgh. But it is definitely worth having if you also have a great cycle with a great orchestra (Gilbert/NY or Oramo/Stockholm) as I like the wilder ride Kuchar provides.

There is a Theodore Kuchar Brilliant box of 14 CDs of his work available for around US $30. I own it because it also comes with lots of Dvorak, complete Smetana orchestral works, and Shostakovich ballet and jazz suites. (I originally bought the release you posted from ImportCDs for $6 but they never mailed it. Jerks.)

vers la flamme

Quote from: Brian on November 27, 2021, 07:23:18 AM
Super thrilling interpretations, third tier orchestra. Sometimes I hear the strings struggling with something and wish they'd let him redo it with Chicago or Pittsburgh. But it is definitely worth having if you also have a great cycle with a great orchestra (Gilbert/NY or Oramo/Stockholm) as I like the wilder ride Kuchar provides.

There is a Theodore Kuchar Brilliant box of 14 CDs of his work available for around US $30. I own it because it also comes with lots of Dvorak, complete Smetana orchestral works, and Shostakovich ballet and jazz suites. (I originally bought the release you posted from ImportCDs for $6 but they never mailed it. Jerks.)

14 CDs for $30 is tempting. Wait, do I like Kuchar enough to justify that? He's a fine conductor but do I need 14 discs? Hmm...

Brian

Quote from: vers la flamme on November 27, 2021, 07:25:50 AM
14 CDs for $30 is tempting. Wait, do I like Kuchar enough to justify that? He's a fine conductor but do I need 14 discs? Hmm...
It's all good stuff. He doesn't have a tremendous personality or ego, he just plays things as straightforward and exciting as possible. And none of it is "profound" repertoire. Dvorak tone poems, Czech Suite; there's also a disc of Venezuelan music. In general I highly recommend it. I'll put one on at random sometimes when working from home thinking it would be fun to crank up some really loud romantic music  ;D

Mirror Image

Quote from: Brian on November 27, 2021, 07:28:15 AMthere's also a disc of Venezuelan Latin American music.

Fixed that for you. The recording in question:


Mookalafalas

This is one I was sure I could do without... It's an attractive box, I hear Barbirolli's name all the time, but never as peerless in anything--except maybe some English music, and I don't really listen to much English music.

  However, here in Japan, the price has dropped to under $110--just under a dollar a disk.  I don't have any of it. :-\

   
It's all good...

Mirror Image

Quote from: Mookalafalas on December 01, 2021, 11:02:25 PM
This is one I was sure I could do without... It's an attractive box, I hear Barbirolli's name all the time, but never as peerless in anything--except maybe some English music, and I don't really listen to much English music.

  However, here in Japan, the price has dropped to under $110--just under a dollar a disk.  I don't have any of it. :-\

   

You live in Japan now?

Mookalafalas

Quote from: Mirror Image on December 03, 2021, 07:32:32 AM
You live in Japan now?

Yeah. I moved from Taiwan to Japan in April.  I live in Hokkaido.
It's all good...

Mirror Image

Quote from: Mookalafalas on December 03, 2021, 03:55:06 PM
Yeah. I moved from Taiwan to Japan in April.  I live in Hokkaido.

Very nice! Have you ever been to Tower Records in Tokyo? One of the floors in nothing but classical music. I'd be heaven!

Mookalafalas

Quote from: Mirror Image on December 03, 2021, 07:41:19 PM
Very nice! Have you ever been to Tower Records in Tokyo? One of the floors in nothing but classical music. I'd be heaven!

  Never been. I visited the Tower Records in Sapporo. Big, but not remarkable. Oddly (to me, anyway), Vinyl has come back big here.  I was hunting down music stores and they kept turning out to be vinyl only :o
It's all good...

Mirror Image

Quote from: Mookalafalas on December 03, 2021, 07:44:52 PM
  Never been. I visited the Tower Records in Sapporo. Big, but not remarkable. Oddly (to me, anyway), Vinyl has come back big here.  I was hunting down music stores and they kept turning out to be vinyl only :o

Yeah, it does seem vinyl has come back in a huge way. Personally, it's just too much upkeep for me. If you're ever in Tokyo and go in that Tower Records, please report your findings as I want to know if it's as cool as it looks on YouTube.

Spotted Horses

#16391
Quote from: Mookalafalas on December 01, 2021, 11:02:25 PM
This is one I was sure I could do without... It's an attractive box, I hear Barbirolli's name all the time, but never as peerless in anything--except maybe some English music, and I don't really listen to much English music.

  However, here in Japan, the price has dropped to under $110--just under a dollar a disk.  I don't have any of it. :-\

   

There is nothing that is "peerless" in classical music. I ordered this box the instant it was available. Barbirolli's Vaughan Williams and Elgar show great affinity for the music, his recordings of Mahler are unique, the Brahms symphonies and overtures are something I treasure, as well as the Sibelius recordings. He is one of a few conductors whose thoughts on any music are of interest to me.

Quote from: Mookalafalas on December 03, 2021, 03:55:06 PM
Yeah. I moved from Taiwan to Japan in April.  I live in Hokkaido.

Wise move. You wouldn't want to wake up one day and  find yourself living in the PRC.
There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind. - Duke Ellington

André

Quote from: Mookalafalas on December 03, 2021, 03:55:06 PM
Yeah. I moved from Taiwan to Japan in April.  I live in Hokkaido.

Quite a climate change !

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Quote from: Mookalafalas on December 03, 2021, 03:55:06 PM
Yeah. I moved from Taiwan to Japan in April.  I live in Hokkaido.

Enjoy crabs and Ishikari-nabe.

MusicTurner

Quote from: Mookalafalas on December 03, 2021, 03:55:06 PM
Yeah. I moved from Taiwan to Japan in April.  I live in Hokkaido.

Nice, I'd like to do Northern Japan & go to Hokkaido, maybe nearby Rishiri island ...

Seems to have cultivated lands as well as some wilderness - and big, wild bears too, in some parts ...

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Quote from: MusicTurner on December 04, 2021, 06:37:09 AM
Nice, I'd like to do Northern Japan & go to Hokkaido, maybe nearby Rishiri island ...

Seems to have cultivated lands as well as some wilderness - and big, wild bears too, in some parts ...

Hokkaido is a beautiful place though it is not cultured like Kyoto or Tokyo. You may want to visit villages of Ainu indigenous people or National Ainu Museum. Also you may want to extend your travel to Hirosaki, a castle town, and Towada Lake, in Aomori, which locates to the south of Hokkaido. There are many shamisen (string instrument) players in Hirosaki and the city is beautiful.

MusicTurner

#16396
Thank you, good to hear about a scenic town up there, some - or most - Japanese cities tend to be extremely modernized. I met an Ainu-fan once, I think down in Kagoshima, running a cafe, who told a bit about them & played Ainu folk music for a plucked string instrument during our visit, also got a CD from him for free, as a sort of oppositional feature against the overly modernized/westernized trends in Japan. But the true Ainu culture itself seems to be very much a thing of the past ...

Mookalafalas

Quote from: Spotted Horses on December 03, 2021, 09:09:19 PM
There is nothing that is "peerless" in classical music. I ordered this box the instant it was available. Barbirolli's Vaughan Williams and Elgar show great affinity for the music, his recordings of Mahler are unique, the Brahms symphonies and overtures are something I treasure, as well as the Sibelius recordings. He is one of a few conductors whose thoughts on any music are of interest to me.

Wise move. You wouldn't want to wake up one day and  find yourself living in the PRC.

   Glad to see at least one person is defending Barbirolli! Anyway, I'll keep it on my radar.

        The interest in Hokkaido rather surprises me, but everyone is right--it is lovely, and fun to live here. Great food, and I love the weather. And the trains, etc. etc.  A fun change from Taiwan.
It's all good...

Mirror Image

Quote from: Mookalafalas on December 05, 2021, 01:21:49 AMGlad to see at least one person is defending Barbirolli! Anyway, I'll keep it on my radar.

The interest in Hokkaido rather surprises me, but everyone is right--it is lovely, and fun to live here. Great food, and I love the weather. And the trains, etc. etc.  A fun change from Taiwan.

I'll defend Barbiroll, too! His Sibelius, Mahler, Vaughan Williams, Elgar and Delius are absolutely essential, IMHO.

T. D.

#16399
Close to pulling the trigger on a Russian chamber music extravaganza:

 

I already have some outstanding Taneyev recordings of chamber music w. piano and string trios, but this would be an effective way to get the SQs. The Myaskovsky SQ are terra incognita. There's a "20% off $65" deal at an eBay seller I sometimes use...