Recordings That You Are Considering

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

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ritter

#15800
Quote from: Madiel on June 17, 2020, 03:38:30 AM
Is anyone, by some small chance, familiar with this album? I'm intrigued by the programming.



The French seem to have been seriously into these collective compositions at a certain point.
I've had it since it was first released. The most successful collection of homages in it is, IMHO, the first such venture, dedicated to Haydn. It's good to have the famous pieces of this collection (the Debussy and Ravel--the latter being the best of the lot, I'd say), along with the lesser-known ones (Hahn's delightful pastiche, d'Indy's Menuet, the Dukas plaintive Prélude...). As the basic melodic material is the same (as prescribed by the commission), it's actually quite fascinating to hear how each composer treats it.

The Fauré and Roussel homages left a weaker impression on me (but the Ravel Berceuse for violin and piano--in the former--is quite enchanting). IIRC, since both these sets have pieces with different instrumental combination--including, in some cases, singing--(as opposed as the Haydn collection, which is for piano solo in its entirety), they also appear less unified (not that this is good or bad per se). Still, I should revisit them soon.

Margaret Fingerhut's playing is first rate. Here's a very positive review from Gramophone.

Madiel

Thanks! Much appreciated including the Gramophone link.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Todd





I want to 1.) hear how the younger Fouchenneret sounds in Beethoven, and 2.) know why he and his brother didn't record the violin sonatas.



Hmm.



Hmm, indeed.
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Todd




I can't believe I missed this before, Herbert Schuch teaming up with Reinhard Goebel and Mirijam Contzen to play some Hummel.  I'm thinking I need to buy.

He also recently teamed with Sarah Christian and Maximilian Hornung (!) to perform some Mozart Piano Trios for Bavarian Radio.  Man, I hope that gets released. 

And Ms Christian has paired up with Ragna Schirmer, too.  So many things to look forward to hearing.
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Mandryka

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

vers la flamme



Thoughts? I'm interested primarily for the Piano Concerto w/ Alicia de Larrocha. I'm not really sure if I need another recording of the 2nd symphony at the moment, enjoying Järvi/RSNO quite well. But this is a cheap set.

Mirror Image

Quote from: vers la flamme on July 06, 2020, 03:33:30 PM


Thoughts? I'm interested primarily for the Piano Concerto w/ Alicia de Larrocha. I'm not really sure if I need another recording of the 2nd symphony at the moment, enjoying Järvi/RSNO quite well. But this is a cheap set.

I've thought about that set as well, but, honestly, I don't really need it. The Piano Concerto is an outstanding work, IMHO. If the price is right, then I'd say go for it. I'm not sure how the performances are, but I'm sure some of these are pretty old performances. I would say if you're interested in the concerti, then you may want to turn your attention to the newer series on CPO. If you really like Järvi's conducting then you may want to try this recording, which is excellent (if you can find it for a good price):


vers la flamme



Considering going for this. I have two other entries in the Vista Vera Sofronitsky series. The playing is phenomenal; the recordings seem to be quite heavily filtered, almost to the extent that there is no hiss at all. I have mixed feelings about this. Anyway, on one hand I'm not sure I need yet another Schumann Carnaval or Kreisleriana; on the other, those works are very close to my heart, and this is Sofronitsky we're talking about here.

Mandryka

Quote from: vers la flamme on July 08, 2020, 03:01:02 AM


Considering going for this. I have two other entries in the Vista Vera Sofronitsky series. The playing is phenomenal; the recordings seem to be quite heavily filtered, almost to the extent that there is no hiss at all. I have mixed feelings about this. Anyway, on one hand I'm not sure I need yet another Schumann Carnaval or Kreisleriana; on the other, those works are very close to my heart, and this is Sofronitsky we're talking about here.




Kreisleriana  1952 (tough!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJzfwdL0-Rg (tough)

Arabesque  1952 (wonderful!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dT4d_iqa-0

Carnaval 1959
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J68I2J8AgYw

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

vers la flamme



Thoughts on this Smetana Má vlast w/ Karel Ancerl?



Quote from: Mandryka on July 08, 2020, 04:33:09 AM



Kreisleriana  1952 (tough!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJzfwdL0-Rg (tough)

Arabesque  1952 (wonderful!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dT4d_iqa-0

Carnaval 1959
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J68I2J8AgYw

Definitely leaning towards getting a copy. These sound great.

Mirror Image

Quote from: vers la flamme on July 12, 2020, 01:11:32 PM


Thoughts on this Smetana Má vlast w/ Karel Ancerl?

A fine performance but not a first-choice. My favorite Má vlast is from Kubelik and the BSO on Deutsche Grammophon. There used to be an outstanding Smetana 2-CD set with several of Kubelik's Smatana performances on it on DG, but I think this set may be OOP, but I would definitely track it down.

Brian

As a Ma Vlast lover and shameless collector, I LOVE Kubelik in Boston...and really like Kubelik in Prague at the end of his life...and really like Ancerl (except Moldau which is rather fast)...and really like Wit on Naxos (the ideal Moldau tempo). Hrusa's recording is nice as well if not on their level.

It all depends what you want, vers la flamme. If this is a piece where you just need one great recording, or if you'd like to have 3-4 good ones that are all a little bit different.

Jo498

I recall several harsh comments on the "Gold series" by Supraphon because supposedly the sound was "improved to death". Cannot comment on details of that particular recording but I'd try to get more information and have a look if older/alternative issues of the recording are available.
The most celebrated Kubelik seems to be the Czech live recording from 1990 after the Fall of the Iron Curtain.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Todd

Quote from: vers la flamme on July 12, 2020, 01:11:32 PM


Thoughts on this Smetana Má vlast w/ Karel Ancerl?


Nice.  Buy Kubelik.  CPO, BSO, BRSO, CSO, WP, in that order.
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Mandryka

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: vers la flamme on July 12, 2020, 01:11:32 PM


Thoughts on this Smetana Má vlast w/ Karel Ancerl?

I'll add another vote from Kubelik live with the Czech Phil and two votes (I'm stuffing the ballot box) for Wit. As Brian said, the ideal Moldau.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Daverz

#15816
Quote from: vers la flamme on July 12, 2020, 01:11:32 PM


Thoughts on this Smetana Má vlast w/ Karel Ancerl?



Definitely leaning towards getting a copy. These sound great.

There's a Tower Records Japan SACD that sounds clearer than previous issues.  Very expensive if you can find it on ebay or other sources, but I thought you should know about it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Karel-Ancerl-Smetana-Ma-Vlast-My-Country-SACD-Hybrid-Limited-Edition-Japan-New-/202434657952

https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NEODAI-55008

It's possible the regular Denon CD sounds just as clear. 

https://www.hmv.co.jp/en/artist_Smetana-1824-1884_000000000021328/item_Smetana-My-Country_1427653

It's still difficult to get stuff from Japan right now, though.

As an alternative, I'd recommend Berglund.  If you can, get the Berglund Icon box, which has his Vaughan Williams, Shostakovich, and a lot of other great stuff.

[asin]B00DKAH74Y[/asin]

The Hurwitzer did a video on Ma Vlast:

https://www.youtube.com/v/lZrMh-KFn_I

vers la flamme

^I have the Berglund/Dresden already. It's good, but I think I owe it to myself to get a Czech conductor's take on it (preferably also a Czech orchestra, but not necessarily—Kubelik in Boston is still in the running)—or at least a Slav (hence Wit, a conductor I greatly admire, is also in the running).

Anyway, that Berglund Icon box looks good. I didn't realize he conducted so much Shostakovich, plus it looks like less overlap with what I already have (Ma Vlast and the Bournemouth Sibelius cycle) than I expected.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I don't have a problem with the Ancerl Gold series, I have a few of them and they sound fine to me. I actually just ordered one of them today: Dvorák's Requiem. Anyway it seems Kubelik totally owns this piece. I didn't realize he'd recorded it 5 (!) times. It looks like the Prague live one is the best regarded. From the samples, it seems the sound is a bit on the rough side, but that's not really a deal-breaker.

Daverz

Quote from: vers la flamme on July 12, 2020, 04:55:34 PM
^I have the Berglund/Dresden already. It's good, but I think I owe it to myself to get a Czech conductor's take on it (preferably also a Czech orchestra, but not necessarily—Kubelik in Boston is still in the running)—or at least a Slav (hence Wit, a conductor I greatly admire, is also in the running).

You may also want to consider Belohlavek on Decca, though I haven't lived with that one long enough.  Mackerras with the Czech Phil might be a good compromise.  Mackerras is sort of an honorary Czech conductor.



vers la flamme

Quote from: Daverz on July 12, 2020, 07:33:19 PM
You may also want to consider Belohlavek on Decca, though I haven't lived with that one long enough.  Mackerras with the Czech Phil might be a good compromise.  Mackerras is sort of an honorary Czech conductor.

Mackerras has recorded a ton of Czech music. What is the connection there...? Is he just very fond of that repertoire?