Recordings That You Are Considering

[jwinter]

Why just 1-7, I wonder?  Why not wait and do the full set?  He's done 9 with the Lucerne orchestra, I'm pretty sure...

[TheGSMoeller]

Not that I need another Elgar 1, up to 8 or 9 now I think, but just read a good review for this other Colin Davis recording, samples I've heard don't really hit upon key areas of the piece. Any feedback is appreciated.

[madaboutmahler]

Not that I need another Elgar 1, up to 8 or 9 now I think, but just read a good review for this other Colin Davis recording, samples I've heard don't really hit upon key areas of the piece. Any feedback is appreciated.

I'm sorry but I haven't heard this one, Greg - although, the BBC 'Building a Library' podcast programme did actually list it as the very top recommendation when they surveyed all the available recordings!

[TheGSMoeller]

I'm sorry but I haven't heard this one, Greg - although, the BBC 'Building a Library' podcast programme did actually list it as the very top recommendation when they surveyed all the available recordings!

Good to know, thanks for the info, Daniel. Do you have a link to that podcast? I'm always interested in topics such as this.

[madaboutmahler]

Good to know, thanks for the info, Daniel. Do you have a link to that podcast? I'm always interested in topics such as this.

Sorry, I don't think the podcast is still available as it was quite a while ago, Greg. However, you can subscribe to the series for free, a different work is surveyed every week: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/bal

[TheGSMoeller]

Sorry, I don't think the podcast is still available as it was quite a while ago, Greg. However, you can subscribe to the series for free, a different work is surveyed every week: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/bal

No worries, thanks, Daniel. 

[Wakefield]

Currently I'm contemplating with lascivious eyes some Schumann by Franz Vorraber (on Thorofon); so it would be appreciated some word about him and his Schumann.

I listened to his Papillons and was pleasantly surprised by an interpretation of controlled, measured emotion.

[Scarpia]

I've discovered the I really like Samuel Barber. 

I got this recordings, that someone here mentioned

[asin]B000004CVV[/asin]

and decided I want to hear it all.  Then I found this:

[asin]B003VC51S0[/asin]

Any comments?

[kishnevi]

I've discovered the I really like Samuel Barber. 

I got this recordings, that someone here mentioned

[asin]B000004CVV[/asin]

and decided I want to hear it all.  Then I found this:

[asin]B003VC51S0[/asin]

Any comments?

Worth getting.  This is one composer with whom Alsop definitely does a good job.

I have, IIRC, three CDs out of that series as individual issues.  To tell the truth, I should get off my rear and order this to make sure I've got the whole set....

[Scarpia]

Thanks for your comments!

[kishnevi]

Thanks for your comments!

De nada.

I should have also mentioned that the Naxos CD of the piano music (the "complete published" piano music,  not the complete complete piano music) is also a keeper.

[Brian]

Should I get these from the ArkivMusic clearance sale? Most are $7-8.




That last is Maazel's Franck D minor and Mendelssohn 5. The Beethoven is Colin Davis.

[Scarpia]

Should I get these from the ArkivMusic clearance sale? Most are $7-8.




That last is Maazel's Franck D minor and Mendelssohn 5. The Beethoven is Colin Davis.

Everything Curzon did was excellent, but the sound is an issue on that recording.

[eyeresist]

I got this recordings, that someone here mentioned

[asin]B000004CVV[/asin]
and decided I want to hear it all.  Then I found this:

[asin]B003VC51S0[/asin]
Any comments?

It may have been me who mentioned the Zinman disc - were you the guy asking for stuff "like" Elgar?
I have two discs from the Alsop series: the CD with symphonies, first essay and School for Scandal is excellent. The CD with piano concerto etc I found uninteresting, and vaguely recall it as a bit harsh on my ears.

[Lilas Pastia]

Should I get these from the ArkivMusic clearance sale ? The Beethoven is Colin Davis.

About the Beethoven masses: go for it. Forget about the sublimest and metaphysicalest interpretations. most have trouble asssembling adequate forces (for the Solemnis) or having a semblance of familiarity with the work (the C major, which is in nobody's active repertory.

Davis has excellent forces (superb choruses and orchestra captured in excellent sound). Plus, his soloists are all of the first rank in both works. So far, so good. All technical bases are covered. Interpretatively Davis is straight, forceful, expressive. For the money you could do far worse. In that same coupling, Giulini (EMI) and Karl Richter/Karl Böhm (DGG) achieve very different results. I like them all since they offer a different view of the works. In case you're mainly concerned with the Missa Solemnis, they are all among the very good ones. Although *slightly* better choices can be thought of.

The Mendelssohn/Franck is excellent. But there are better ones individually. For a first, or even second version they are excellent.

[Scarpia]

It may have been me who mentioned the Zinman disc - were you the guy asking for stuff "like" Elgar?

The Zinman recommendation wasn't prompted by a question from me, I was just lurking.  Probably I noticed several mentions of the disc, which had been dwelling in the nether-regions of my amazon shopping cart for ages.

[kishnevi]

About the Beethoven masses: go for it. Forget about the sublimest and metaphysicalest interpretations. most have trouble asssembling adequate forces (for the Solemnis) or having a semblance of familiarity with the work (the C major, which is in nobody's active repertory.

Davis has excellent forces (superb choruses and orchestra captured in excellent sound). Plus, his soloists are all of the first rank in both works. So far, so good. All technical bases are covered. Interpretatively Davis is straight, forceful, expressive. For the money you could do far worse. In that same coupling, Giulini (EMI) and Karl Richter/Karl Böhm (DGG) achieve very different results. I like them all since they offer a different view of the works. In case you're mainly concerned with the Missa Solemnis, they are all among the very good ones. Although *slightly* better choices can be thought of.

I have to dissent slightly.  There's nothing wrong with the Missa Solemnis; it's just that nothing in it moves me very much (and I haven't heard the two Andre mentions, although I see the Guilini is part of the 50CD Beethoven box).  My favorite non-HIP version is Karajan's, of all people, since I'm not usually keen on Herbie. 

Davis's  Mass in C, however, is a gem not to be missed.

There is, btw, a Brilliant Classics re-issue of these recordings, although I doubt it's available at the price you can get on Arkiv.

The Zinman recommendation wasn't prompted by a question from me, I was just lurking.  Probably I noticed several mentions of the disc, which had been dwelling in the nether-regions of my amazon shopping cart for ages.

I'm pretty sure Mirror Image John mentioned this recording enthusiastically a couple of times.

[Brian]

The Mendelssohn/Franck is excellent. But there are better ones individually. For a first, or even second version they are excellent.

Thanks very much. I haven't got a single Missa Solemnis, nor have I heard it; on the other hand, I have a few recordings of the Mendelssohn and 5 of the Franck, of which my favorite is a rare Ančerl/Concertgebouw.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Should I get these from the ArkivMusic clearance sale? Most are $7-8.

I'd probably go for this one even though I haven't heard it. The one Pletnev disc I have is a first-rate Chopin recital disc (on DG) and since this Carnegie disc is filled with some substantial Chopin my hunch is it'd be pretty good. But that's about all I can say on the subject...

[Mandryka]

Should I get these from the ArkivMusic clearance sale? Most are $7-8.




That last is Maazel's Franck D minor and Mendelssohn 5. The Beethoven is Colin Davis.

I say  yes to the Pletnev,  unless your principal interest  is the Op 111. I'm sure he knows what he's doing with the Beethoven, but I've never been able to get into it. It may be different for you. The rest of the concert is stimulating. As good non-fast-and-furious account of the Scherzos  as you'll find anywhere except from Pogorelich,  and a very interesting take on the Bach/Busoni chaconne, which is to my mind very successful.

It's as if he was going through quite a modernist phase in that concert, with the emphasis on clarity of voices and architecture. The chopin sounds very different from his third sonata, for example, or his nocturnes and walzes. That's from memory -- so if I've described it wrong, sorry.