Recordings That You Are Considering

[marvinbrown]

None of them. This one:

[asin]B00005IB57[/asin]
(remastered version)

I'd bet my immortal soul: Arrau recorded the best version of The Nocturnes. 

  I agree. Arrau's recording of Chopin's Noctures are magical.  He brings so much heart and soul to these works.


  Looking to buy my first ever COMPLETE set of Haydn string quartets and seriously considering this:

  [asin]B001QBXFTA[/asin]


  marvin


 

[Coopmv]

  I agree. Arrau's recording of Chopin's Noctures are magical.  He brings so much heart and soul to these works.


  Looking to buy my first ever COMPLETE set of Haydn string quartets and seriously considering this:

  [asin]B001QBXFTA[/asin]


  marvin

I Have the Chopin Nocturnes by both Moravec and Arrau (plus many other versions).  I think Moravec gives Arrau a run for the money.  But it is not easy to decide who is better ...

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[marvinbrown]

I Have the Chopin Nocturnes by both Moravec and Arrau (plus many other versions).  I think Moravec gives Arrau a run for the money.  But it is not easy to decide who is better ...

[asin]B000005J03[/asin]

  I am not familiar with Moravec but I remember that I breathed in delight when I first heard nocturne  no.1 from this set. Arrau breathes life into these performances:

  [asin]B0000041ND[/asin] [asin]B00005IB57[/asin]



  I do not know why the cover of these 2 sets are different but the one I have also includes the impromptus as well.


  PS: my quest for  my first COMPLETE recording of Haydn's string quartets continues.........

[marvinbrown]

Why sample these days?  Between Spotify, Naxos, & Mog (and I used to use Rhapsody before they messed up their service levels)--not to mention various non-authorized downloads--I can usually hear full selections of almost anything over the internet before buying.

I do not have a complete set, only the 20-some works recorded by Quatuor Mosaïques, and they more than satisfy me.

You are way ahead of me David .  I do not have a membership with Naxos nor am I familiar with Spotify ?? nor Mog ??  These have membership services like Naxos? What exactly do they offer? How much do they charge?

[DavidRoss]

You are way ahead of me David .  I do not have a membership with Naxos nor am I familiar with Spotify ?? nor Mog ??  These have membership services like Naxos? What exactly do they offer? How much do they charge?

Spotify is free with advertising.  Mog has a free trial period, then $5/mo (not sure what UK charge is).  Rhapsody now offers a free trial, then $10/mo.  They all offer streaming play and have huge record catalogs. 

[Que]

The recent HIP-debate is to be found HERE.

Q

[Lethevich]

Has anyone had their eye on this?

[asin]B005HK8KXM[/asin]
I was not impressed by Gergiev's Philips recordings, but apparently (according to the IRR review) these ones represent a revision of the conductor's concept - they are less middle-ground, and more emphasising the classical aspects of the music. It sounds potentially worth trusting, although I hope half the shots aren't of the conductor grimmacing.

[Mandryka]

Ney/Hoelscher -- Beethoven Cello Sonatas -- transfer from two LPs by Forgotten Records

http://www.forgottenrecords.com/Hoelscher-Ney--Beethoven--372.html

[Drasko]

Has anyone had their eye on this?

I caught the Pathetique on Medici TV some time ago, and if it is the same one, from Paris concert, it is the best Pathetique I heard in years. Definitely not middle-ground, I'm not sure I'd call it classical, but again it was one time listen. Can't recall what was the video like, was too busy enjoying the audio bit.
Again if it is the same one it would be worth my time anytime.

[mc ukrneal]

Has anyone had their eye on this?

[asin]B005HK8KXM[/asin]
I was not impressed by Gergiev's Philips recordings, but apparently (according to the IRR review) these ones represent a revision of the conductor's concept - they are less middle-ground, and more emphasising the classical aspects of the music. It sounds potentially worth trusting, although I hope half the shots aren't of the conductor grimmacing.

I saw one or two of them on Mezzo I think, and I remember disliking them. I was all excited when I saw what he would be playing (5th is my favorite), but then disappointment. I cannot remember exactly why anymore, but I may have written about it in the listening thread at the time. I'll see if I can find it.

[jlaurson]

I was not impressed by Gergiev's Philips recordings [of Tchaikovsky], but apparently (according to the IRR review) these ones represent a revision of the conductor's concept...

Ah, but the 6th (or was it the 5th?) in the Gramophone Choice Edition should be a collector's item because the sleeve bills the orchestra as the Weiner [sic] Philharmoniker, which I think is priceless.

[mc ukrneal]

I saw one or two of them on Mezzo I think, and I remember disliking them. I was all excited when I saw what he would be playing (5th is my favorite), but then disappointment. I cannot remember exactly why anymore, but I may have written about it in the listening thread at the time. I'll see if I can find it.

Two comments from this page: http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,9.msg464552.html#msg464552. Not sure how helpful they will be. I see I need to be a bit more specific in future if I listen and watch along.

[Opus106]

Ah, but the 6th (or was it the 5th?) in the Gramophone Choice Edition should be a collector's item because the sleeve bills the orchestra as the Weiner [sic] Philharmoniker, which I think is priceless.

From the NYT:

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: October 27, 2011

An article on Tuesday about the cracking of an 18th-century code known as the Copiale Cipher misspelled the surname of the mathematician to whom Warren Weaver, a pioneer in automated language translation, wrote a letter in 1947 that suggested applying code-breaking techniques to the challenge of translating a foreign language. He is Norbert Wiener, not Weiner.

[Lethevich]

I thought that this would be an instant-buy when I initially saw it announced, but there is an alarming review on Amazon with regards to the recording quality, which is making me wary...

[asin]B0057JWUVG[/asin]

[kishnevi]

I thought that this would be an instant-buy when I initially saw it announced, but there is an alarming review on Amazon with regards to the recording quality, which is making me wary...

[asin]B0057JWUVG[/asin]

I'm not sure how much of this has been previously released.  Apparently, it contains the string quartet recorded by Quatour Ebene which was included in their first Virgin release (with Debussy and Ravel).

[The new erato]

Most of it seems to be new. There's a long review of it in the International Record Review which I received some days ago, noted that they liked it and recommended it strongly, but didn't read it in detail. Can dig it mout during the weekend and comment more in detail if there's any interest.

[Lethevich]

I may have that issue too, I should actually read the thing -_-

Almost all of it is new, which is very strange, really, given its price-point, and the label and format. The whole thing screams "reissue", but it's not. To quote the pertinent part of the Amazon reviewer's comments:

"With the exception of the Quatuor Ebene release, all the other performances were recorded in the Fondation Singer-Polignac in Paris at roughly the same time, and are characteristic of recordings in which the engineer records the ensemble at a too-great distance to achieve ambience and a big ensemble and then seeks to correct for the attendant loss of warmth and fullness by adding artificial low and low mid frequencies via equalization. The result is a recording that sounds like it was made from the last row of a huge concert hall by an enterprising fan with a pocket recorder who then tried to salvage the results back at home with studio gimmickry."

The reason why I don't dismiss this out of hand is because he still gave it 4 stars, so wasn't being hysterical. He also has the same opinion as myself that Virgin/EMI is often good at recording chamber music, so he has a basis for comparison in his judgement.

[mc ukrneal]

I may have that issue too, I should actually read the thing -_-

Almost all of it is new, which is very strange, really, given its price-point, and the label and format. The whole thing screams "reissue", but it's not. To quote the pertinent part of the Amazon reviewer's comments:

"With the exception of the Quatuor Ebene release, all the other performances were recorded in the Fondation Singer-Polignac in Paris at roughly the same time, and are characteristic of recordings in which the engineer records the ensemble at a too-great distance to achieve ambience and a big ensemble and then seeks to correct for the attendant loss of warmth and fullness by adding artificial low and low mid frequencies via equalization. The result is a recording that sounds like it was made from the last row of a huge concert hall by an enterprising fan with a pocket recorder who then tried to salvage the results back at home with studio gimmickry."

The reason why I don't dismiss this out of hand is because he still gave it 4 stars, so wasn't being hysterical. He also has the same opinion as myself that Virgin/EMI is often good at recording chamber music, so he has a basis for comparison in his judgement.

Looks interesting. Here's a review that briefly mentions sound (an issue, but the ear adjusts; they also give it 5 stars): http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/sep/22/faure-complete-chamber-music-review

[Opus106]

Most of it seems to be new. There's a long review of it in the International Record Review which I received some days ago, noted that they liked it and recommended it strongly, but didn't read it in detail. Can dig it mout during the weekend and comment more in detail if there's any interest.

There is interest. Thanks.

[Lethevich]

Most of it seems to be new. There's a long review of it in the International Record Review which I received some days ago, noted that they liked it and recommended it strongly, but didn't read it in detail. Can dig it mout during the weekend and comment more in detail if there's any interest.

I read it, and it has no complaints at all about the sound quality - in fact it claims it to be very good.

So far we have "it's awful", "it's ok" and "it's perfect". Dude