Recordings That You Are Considering

[Mirror Image]

Hello MI (for short),

Care to make any recommendations?

Previn, Dorati, Svetlanov, and Gergiev are all good ones.

[NJ Joe]

Previn, Dorati, Svetlanov, and Gergiev are all good ones.

Thanks. Coincidentally, I ordered the Svetlanov last night based on Que's recommendation in the Tchaikovsky Ballets thread.

[Todd]

A set of six Mozart concertos with Annie Fischer in her prime.  I have four - the ones with Boult and Sawallisch - so I'm not sure I need the two with Efrem Kurtz.






More Annie is in this box, but I'm not sure I want the other five discs in the set to get the one I do want. 

Why must life be so hard?

[Mirror Image]

Thanks. Coincidentally, I ordered the Svetlanov last night based on Que's recommendation in the Tchaikovsky Ballets thread.

Very good. For a Baroque guy, Que can be surprising sometimes.

[Florestan]

Georgiou.

You mean Gheorghiu, I presume. 

[Mandryka]

I'm not sure I need the two with Efrem Kurtz.

Vigorous, exciting, alert. For me they have always lacked charisma, I really don't like them. But someone at rmcr (Simon Roberts I think) thought they were so wonderful that he sent me the flacs in an email. I often agree with him about Mozart by the way, we both like Kocsis for example. But if you compare Fischer with Kocsis in 27 then, to my ears there's no contest and Fischer comes off very badly in the comparison. So I guess you have to suck it and see.

In 24, it's nice to have a version where the orchestra is so wide awake. But again, just compare Fischer/kurtz with Maderna/Kempff and I bet you'll never listen to the Fischer again.

[Mandryka]

You mean Gheorghiu, I presume. 

Imi pare rau.

[Florestan]

Imi pare rau.

No problem.   

[Papy Oli]

I am looking for an introductory recording to Dichterliebe (or Schumann Lieder really). Is this one any good please ?

[jlaurson]

I am looking for an introductory recording to Dichterliebe (or Schumann Lieder really). Is this one any good please ?

Far and away this (oop) disc (for Schumann & Lied in general): http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/01/schne-wiege-meiner-leiden.html

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/02/matthias-goerne-in-schumann-songs.html
Goerne is fine... (as he is generally on record, though not always live) -- but I would wait for something new from him; his collaboration with Eschenbach will surely lead him to Schumann for Harmonia Mundi, and the Schubert so far has been glorious.

Gerhaher has a fine (early) Dichterliebe; my favorite singer bar none... and only getting better. The Schumann album after that is even more haunting... loaded with dark stuff. Unfortunately the WETA review has fizzled into aether-air.

I prefer Bostridge to Quasthoff in the Dichterliebe, too.

[Sadko]

I am looking for an introductory recording to Dichterliebe (or Schumann Lieder really). Is this one any good please ?

You could also consider a live recording of the early Fischer-Dieskau from Salzburg:

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I haven't listened to this one yet, but another one from this series I love very much:

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[kishnevi]

What about Schumann lieder that are 1) sung by ladies and 2)not quite so famous
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Schumann's Ruckert Lieder, btw, have only the poet in common with Mahlers famous set.

[Mandryka]

Re dichterliebe, there's a classic recording by Wunderlich and Gielen and it's still very good but

1. there are deeper performances. With Wunderlich the text's sung fine and it's musically beautiful, but I don't think he gets to the very depths of meaning of the poem.

2. Gielen is a bit reserved. In fact I would go further -- he's wishy washy, flat, slick.

If you want really biting irony then go to Fassbaender / Reiman (EMI). I think this is probably her best lieder recording, maybe her best recording full stop. Her venomous timbre is really beautiful here and the expression is totally inspired. Rieman's piano playing is miraculous.

For a more light and playful and simple performance there's Gerhaher / Huber (RCA). I'm not always a fan of Gerhaher, but this is his most successful lieder disc that I've heard

if you want a lyric tenor then I think Vinogradov, Munteneau and Bostridge with Drake are very good -- I prefer their recordings to Wunderlich's in fact, for the reasons stated.

The great shame is that Kirchschlager hasn't recorded it yet -- her Schumann recordings are quite simply out of this world.

Also Dorliac and Richter -- an acquired taste maybe

[Opus106]

Even after marking the entire forum as read many times, this post from Mandryka (look above) keeps showing as new.

EDIT: And now it no longer does. Double -

[The new erato]

Same here.

[Karl Henning]

Paso doble

[Mandryka]

Lots of strange things like that seem to happen when I use my ipad, I'm not sure why.

[Octave]

My favourite Dichterliebe is  Fassbaender/Cage [sic: Gage]

I'm having a bit of trouble finding a CD of this; do you happen to know if there is one still in print?  I see her DICHTERLIEBE with Reimann is in that ICON collection.  I have really liked what little Fassbaender I've heard, including her menacing Kurt Weill, though I guess that's a different game than Schumann.  Of course, you mentioned venomous irony, and that might very well overlap, there.  I heard her WINTERREISE w/Reimann not long ago and was really struck by it.

[Opus106]

Lots of strange things like that seem to happen when I use my ipad, I'm not sure why.

It wasn't you, or your iPad, for that matter. Soon after erato and I made our posts, the problem disappeared; and a little later, the forum went down for a couple of hours. Most likely a DB or server glitch.

[Papy Oli]

Thank you for all the Schumann recs, will check them up !