Recordings That You Are Considering

[kishnevi]

I think Harry recently recommended the Molique - you might see if you can track down the comments on the listening thread. Alas, I cannot help on any of the others myself (though I do like the Rontgen symphony discs). By the way, I would highly suggest the Farrenc discs (if the style is of interest) - very good stuff by an under-rated female composer.

Harry is quite enthusiastic about the Molique, in fact. 

I've yet to meet a Rontgen CPO offering that I didn't like, although I'd have to check to see if I have this one or not.  (I think I have them all,  unless there's a recent one I don't know about.)

I liked the Cherubini/Onslow CD, but then I like Cherubini and Onslow....

I remember the Goldmark being nice, but also not really remarkable, so I think you can let that one drop out of the cart.

The rest I'm not familiar with; in fact,  I don't recall even knowing there was a composer named  Reznicek before tonight.

[Daverz]

Has anybody got any suggestions on the necessity/non-necessity of these?

I have these.  Schlemihl is pretty great (though as you may have heard me say before, Reznicek was a schlimazel, not a schlemihl).  I can't remember any impression of the symphonies.  The Goldmark is pleasant, that's about it (I'm a big Rustic Wedding Symphony fan).

So I recommend Schlemihl.

[mc ukrneal]

I loved Rontgen's "Waltz Symphony" but so far when I've sampled odds and ends they haven't been as immediately appealing. Do you have a particular favorite starting-point?

I have the CD of Farrenc's First and Third symphonies - love the First, have no memory of the Third though, and the chamber music albums are already in my shopping cart. Is the Second Symphony something I should grab too?

On Rontgen, I started with #3. I enoyed it enough to get a second disc in my last order (8&15, which I haven't really given a proper listen yet). I enjoyed the fourth movement of that symphony most of all, but if you didn't like the samples, I am hesitant to recommend it too strongly (although in some ways I like the fillers more, because there is less pressure on those I feel, if you know what I mean).

On the Farrenc, I just loved everything - I actually started with symphony No. 2, and I loved it. But the trios and quintets are excellent if you want to try something else.

I don;t really know what you know of CPO (and what you have), but the Ries symphony cycle particularly appealed to me. You've heard others rave about Atterberg, so I won't go on about those. If you are interested in Herzogenberg, you could start with the symphonies 1&2 disc. The Lehar set of overtures, waltzes, etc. is simply outstanding. Same with any of the Michael Haydn symphony discs - outstanding. Rangstrom or Onslow symphonies are good. Wetz symphony No 2 is a good place to sample him. I think Sarge enjoyed him as well. And the Bach...anyway, there are so many good discs on the label, and more I am discovering all the time.

The Reznicek has reviewed well, but I have waffled on it thus far.

[Brian]

Thanks, guys! Daverz, that sums up my impression of Goldmark - big fan of the Rustic Wedding - but if you're less enthusiastic about the piano quintets I might let that drop.

Jeffrey, I like Onslow quite a bit. The Nonet's a simply terrific piece.

Neal, I'm one of the folks who's always raving about Atterberg. What an extraordinary cycle of symphonies. Duly noted about Farrenc's Second, Lehar, Onslow, Wetz, M. Haydn, and Ries (have 4 and 6, enjoy those). I have a CPO two-fer of Herzogenberg's chamber music and it's fantastic, so my shopping cart includes his cello sonatas.

Again, thanks all, my wallet doesn't want you to keep being so helpful but...well...I do.

Oh I also have and very much enjoy the Bruch octet and Wiren symphonies off CPO.

The rest I'm not familiar with; in fact,  I don't recall even knowing there was a composer named  Reznicek before tonight.

Oh come on, you've heard this piece surely!!

http://www.youtube.com/v/rD2id9-M694

[Daverz]

Oh come on, you've heard this piece surely!!

I think Sergeant Preston of the Yukon was before the time of most people here.

[jlaurson]

Has anybody got any suggestions on the necessity/non-necessity of these?
[see below]

The Molique String Quartets are Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!

Catoire is very fine music that will be resuscitated in a major way within the next five years. Very nice performances, too!

Goldmark is nice. Or "nice", depending on your take on non-essential lovely music. His best is at Korngold's level... just more conservative, less inspired.

Schlemihl, the anti-Heroe's life, is a hilarious necessity!
See also: The Curiously Delightful, Delightfully Exotic World of cpo

It's the primary Reznicek-work on your list, but if you respond to the idiom, it's hard to believe you'll resist the others. Der Sieger would be my next stop, then the symphonies.

[The new erato]

Also, you might try to get ahold of the Ormandy Prokofiev set from Tower Japan.  A more resourceful friend sent it to me.

I keep hearing rumors that Sony is preparing more Ormandy for release in their cheap, white boxes, and that his Prokofiev is amongst those.

[Karl Henning]

Kudos, Daverz. I just bought. Yeah, Rozhdestvensky is a no-brainer in Soviet music....

And so, might not be any good in the First through Fourth Symphonies, eh? Perhaps you're right at that.

[Sergeant Rock]

I think Sergeant Preston of the Yukon was before the time of most people here.

The show premiered the same year my father bought our family's first TV: 1955. Here's the opening, featuring the Reznicek overture:

http://www.youtube.com/v/6dG2DSFtYbY


Sarge

[Brian]

Hey, my father's too young to remember Sgt. Preston! But the Donna Diana overture was still a big favorite of CBC Radio Two when I started listening to classical radio - Jurgen Gothe's afternoon show.

Jens, that CPO link is a treasure trove! Thank you. Although I can tell our tastes differ somewhat: I'm an enthusiastic collector of that Kalliwoda series already...

I keep hearing rumors that Sony is preparing more Ormandy for release in their cheap, white boxes, and that his Prokofiev is amongst those.

Hmmmm, what other rumors about those cheap boxes do you keep hearing?

[Gold Knight]

Trying to decide to go for the complete Bruckner Symphony Cycle box-set by Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Any thoughts or insights on this?

[The new erato]

Hmmmm, what other rumors about those cheap boxes do you keep hearing?

None I'm afraid, though there should be lots of enticing prospects in sony's vaults.

[Daverz]

I keep hearing rumors that Sony is preparing more Ormandy for release in their cheap, white boxes, and that his Prokofiev is amongst those.

This would be their chance to include the mono 6th, but I doubt they'll take it.

[kishnevi]

Trying to decide to go for the complete Bruckner Symphony Cycle box-set by Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Any thoughts or insights on this?

YES.


These are the only performances of Symphonies 1-3 which I actually like.  And the rest of the set is pretty good, too, but there's more competition in terms of good performances for the other symphonies.  For the first three (numbered) symphonies, it stands alone.

Note to Brian and Sarge: I was born in 1959, so I just barely qualify as being born too late to know about Sgt. Preston.  My favorite Mountie would have to be Dudley Do-right, of course.  But I have heard the Donna Diana overture before, under the name of Donna Diana overture, so I must have heard of the composer and then forgot he existed.

[Octave]

Trying to decide to go for the complete Bruckner Symphony Cycle box-set by Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Any thoughts or insights on this?

+1 +1 +1

You can't go wrong, even if you become a Brucknerite and end up liking other performances of some/all of these symphonies better (including, maybe, some other recordings of these by Karajan).  The only complaint I hear consistently about this collection is that the sound is not super great, and could really use a fresh mastering.  But lately it's been so cheap, how could you go wrong?  It was the first Bruckner I actually invested and spent real time with, and I won't ever part with it.  But my comments kind of assume that you don't have other Bruckner....never mind, the Karajan is still a must!  Having it means that if you hate it, you can reel off your deprecations in excruciating detail to the Karajanian-Brucknerians and watch them seethe with rage.

Speaking of bad sound, I don't know if you mind rough sound of the "historic" variety, but I have been super well served by that 6cd incomplete Bruckner set by Furtwängler on Music & Arts.  It seems like the M&A stuff drops in and out of availability, so that collection might be worth thinking about if you really get into Bruckner (or if you already are and don't have it).  I think I saw it especially cheap at B.R.O. not long ago, FYI.

[Mirror Image]

Personally, I'm not fond of Karajan's Bruckner. For me, Gunter Wand, Karl Bohm, and many of Chailly's performances have proven to be excellent over a long period of listening and comparing (I went through a huge Bruckner phase in 2009). Gunter Wand, however, came out on top as my preferred Bruckner conductor. He takes a more straight-laced approach to the music which cuts out meandering (a bad tendency in Bruckner conductors) and goes right to the heart of the music. Wand's Cologne Radio Symphony cycle on RCA is one of those desert island sets for me.

[Daverz]

Thanks, guys! Daverz, that sums up my impression of Goldmark - big fan of the Rustic Wedding - but if you're less enthusiastic about the piano quintets I might let that drop.

Perhaps we were too harsh on the Quintets.  Op. 54 is a lovely work, and I don't think performance or recording could get any better.

[Octave]

Speaking of Sony box sets, there are two recent ones that a quick search did not yield discussion about. 

[asin]B00896P6F6[/asin]

[asin]B008C3APBQ[/asin]

TREASURES OF CHAMBER MUSIC, VOLS. 1 & 2 (2012)
each vol/box is 10cds; click on Amazon link for zoomable back cover/contents

I couldn't find any printed contents at Amazon or Arkiv, nor any listing at all at Presto.  Just curious if there is enough highly recommendable material to make one or both worth having.  A couple friends have sung praises of the Ax/Stern/Laredo/MA piano quartets, but I haven't heard a thing about any of the rest.

[mc ukrneal]

Speaking of Sony box sets, there are two recent ones that a quick search did not yield discussion about. 

[asin]B00896P6F6[/asin]

[asin]B008C3APBQ[/asin]

TREASURES OF CHAMBER MUSIC, VOLS. 1 & 2 (2012)
each vol/box is 10cds; click on Amazon link for zoomable back cover/contents

I couldn't find any printed contents at Amazon or Arkiv, nor any listing at all at Presto.  Just curious if there is enough highly recommendable material to make one or both worth having.  A couple friends have sung praises of the Ax/Stern/Laredo/MA piano quartets, but I haven't heard a thing about any of the rest.

JPC have the contents: http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Treasures-of-Chamber-Music-Vol-1/hnum/2869022 and http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Treasures-of-Chamber-Music-Vol-2/hnum/2869023

EDIT: Actually both JPC and Amazon have it if you just click on the back cover image. It is unexpectedly legible.

[Gold Knight]

@ Jeffrey Smith, Octave and Mirror Image, Thanks to you all on your opinions re: the Karajan Bruckner Cycle. I am now really leaning towards buying it, especially at this price. Thanks again!