Vinyl Explorations

Started by Archaic Torso of Apollo, December 18, 2013, 09:40:13 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Mandryka

#20
I have a transfer of a Moravec LP on nonsuch, with some late Brahms and Schumann's Kinderszenen. It is wonderful in every way.

Another transfer from LP which I cherish is Charles Rosen's recording of Debussy Etudes for REB. A third is an LP of Beethoven sonatas which Maria Grinberg made for Melodyia in 1967 - poor sound but excellent performances, better than her later records.

Others to look out for are Leonard Shure's Diabelli Variations on Epic, infinitely better than his later recording on CD. There's also the Vlach Quartet's record of Dvorak's 10th quartet, which never made it to CD (the old Vlach, not the ones on Naxos)

Best of all maybe are the LPs that the Juilliard Quartet made for RCA, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert. A very few have made it to CD on Testament, but they are all outstanding. And an extraordinary varied performance of Dowland's lachrimae by Schola  Basilliensis.

Now the real point of this post. I have all this stuff through transfers that friends have shared (if you want to hear any of it, PM me) But there are two  LPs which I would to hear , both by Blandine Verlet, one of Frescobaldi and one of Bach's French Suites. Has anyone transferred it? Can anyone share it?
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darĂ¼ber muss man schweigen

Bogey

Here is one I have posted before:





This is Wolfie Concerto No. 20 recorded with Schneider in '57.  If it is on cd, then it is just recently.  But according to this site, it has only been released on an lp (and he does not have this mono pressing noted).  I just sent him the info for his site.

http://fischer.hosting.paran.com/music/music.htm
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

Old Listener

This LP of John Williams and friends playing the Haydn Quratet Op. 2 No. 2 and a Paganini Guitar Trio was a treasure.  They make this music sound sound as beautiful as any major work.

http://www.discogs.com/John-Williams-7-Paganini-Haydn-Paganini-Guitar-Trio-Haydn-Guitar-Quartet/release/2379818

I have found no evidence that the performances were ever released on a CD.

Another treasured LP of Williams / Ormandy playing the Rodrigo and CastelNuovo-Tedesco guitar concerti fared somewhat better.  The Rodrigo concerti was released on CD. A different performance of the Castelnuovo-Tedesco concerto with William / Groves / ECO made it to CDs.

SonicMan46

Quote from: Bogey on December 23, 2013, 09:00:37 PM
Here is one I have posted before:



This is Wolfie Concerto No. 20 recorded with Schneider in '57.  If it is on cd, then it is just recently.  But according to this site, it has only been released on an lp (and he does not have this mono pressing noted).  I just sent him the info for his site.

Bill - that pic above looks so familiar to me (had a beautiful Denon turntable years ago) - BUT, this coming year, i.e. 2014, will be my 30th year anniversary of going 'cold turkey' w/ vinyl - where has the time gone?  Dave :)

Bogey

Quote from: SonicMan46 on December 25, 2013, 02:28:45 PM
Bill - that pic above looks so familiar to me (had a beautiful Denon turntable years ago) - BUT, this coming year, i.e. 2014, will be my 30th year anniversary of going 'cold turkey' w/ vinyl - where has the time gone?  Dave :)

Merry Christmas Dave, to you and Susan.  30 years?  Wow.  You must have dropped it early.  Did you go all tape or just straight to cds?
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

SonicMan46

Quote from: Bogey on December 25, 2013, 03:13:50 PM
Merry Christmas Dave, to you and Susan.  30 years?  Wow.  You must have dropped it early.  Did you go all tape or just straight to cds?

Hi Bill - Happy Holiday Season to you and loved ones! :)

Well, I told Susan when a CD player showed up locally for less that $500, i"m going to buy - that occurred in the fall of 1984 and the unit was a Yamaha for $499 - bought it along w/ a couple of CDs - sold my Denon turntable to my BIL (and also sent him all of my LPs - not a huge collection) - so yes that was my overnight transition from LPs to CDs - now I was into cassette tapes for a while (for the car & on the road until CD players in cars became common), but that need disappeared years ago.  Dave

P.S. just curious but looked at an inflation calculator, $500 back then is now $1,125 - great when these technologies mature; same w/ my first computer, an Apple II+ - adjusted for inflation, the most expensive computer that I ever bought!   :D

Archaic Torso of Apollo

You'd think that Nonesuch would have at least reissued this major chamber work by a semi-important American composer, since it's the only recording of it ever made. But if you thought so, you'd be wrong.



George Rochberg's Piano Quintet is one of the biggest chamber pieces I've ever encountered: 7 (count 'em) movements in a rather Bartokian cyclical format, lasting about 45 minutes. If you know the Concord Quartets, you'll know what to expect - a mixture of modernism with imitative romanticism, much of it evoking Schumann and Brahms. An intriguing piece, though (as often with this composer) he does tend to go on a bit too long. The Concord Quartet, which was strongly associated with American music, plays on this; the pianist is Alan Marks.
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: Mandryka on December 22, 2013, 01:22:10 PM

Now the real point of this post. I have all this stuff through transfers that friends have shared (if you want to hear any of it, PM me) But there are two  LPs which I would to hear , both by Blandine Verlet, one of Frescobaldi and one of Bach's French Suites. Has anyone transferred it? Can anyone share it?

That was reissued some years ago on CD. Here's a review:

http://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-3277/
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

Szykneij

Quote from: Bogey on December 21, 2013, 07:01:00 AM
This is an odd question, but if you could nail it, it would be most helpful.  What does the spine of the Nonesuch albums look like?  (If you are feeling board, stack a few and take a quick shot for me when you can.  :))  Thanks!

Guess I was bored, and I don't know if this qualifies as a "stack", but my arms got tired after getting through the first shelf.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the tripod, so we have some blur.  Hopefully the images will suffice. If not, I'll try again when I get a chance.
Men profess to be lovers of music, but for the most part they give no evidence in their opinions and lives that they have heard it.  ~ Henry David Thoreau

Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines. ~ Satchel Paige

Szykneij

#29
Had trouble getting these to a size allowable to post. Clicking on them is helpful.
Men profess to be lovers of music, but for the most part they give no evidence in their opinions and lives that they have heard it.  ~ Henry David Thoreau

Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines. ~ Satchel Paige

Archaic Torso of Apollo

I'm concluding Vinyl Year 2013 by posting a record which meets 50% of Criterion No. 1 (never reissued). Here is a great album of American music: Szell/Cleveland doing Barber's Piano Concerto (with John Browning) and Schuman's Song of Orpheus (with Leonard Rose). On Columbia:



The Barber has apparently been reissued somewhere, but the Schuman remains stranded on vinyl. The LP is interesting because, in addition to the excellence of the music and performances, it shows each composer playing against type to a certain extent. Barber's PC is driven and percussive, almost like that of Vaughan Williams; it sounds very different from his sweet-tempered Violin Concerto. Meanwhile, Song of Orpheus - a de facto 1-mvt. cello concerto - is very unlike the dissonant, tension-filled orchestral music Schuman tended to write. It's a meditative piece with some lively sections, but the overall feeling is subdued, rather lyrical. For this reason alone, the LP should be reissued as it was released: it might make for a fun "guess the composer" experience for listeners who don't know these works.
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

Kontrapunctus

Quote from: Velimir on December 18, 2013, 02:20:40 PM
I can't call myself a Pettersson fan, but I enjoyed spinning this pioneering recording of the dyspeptic Swede's 8th Symphony again, after many years during which it was moldering in the basement:



Multiple things to provoke nostalgia here. An American orchestra records music by a still-living European composer, on an established label. Although apparently this was originally issued on a label called Polar, which I'd never heard of before, DG deserves credit for picking it up and giving it wider circulation.

Along with the 7th, this is one of the Pettersson symphonies that I more or less like. It helps that it's split into 2 movements, giving you a brief respite from the anguish. The Baltimoreans play pretty well, tho' I wouldn't exactly call them world class. The conductor, Commissiona, recorded other works of Pettersson, but I think this is the only one he did on this side of the ocean.

BIS has already issued Pettersson's 6th, and the 9th is coming out as I type this. Both are SACD, which greatly helps to clarify his rather dense writing.

Bogey

Quote from: Szykneij on December 29, 2013, 10:42:37 AM
Guess I was bored, and I don't know if this qualifies as a "stack", but my arms got tired after getting through the first shelf.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the tripod, so we have some blur.  Hopefully the images will suffice. If not, I'll try again when I get a chance.

Perfect!  Thanks!
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

Archaic Torso of Apollo

Just out of curiosity, could you tell us why you are interested in Nonesuch spines?
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

zmic

Quote from: Velimir on December 18, 2013, 12:29:46 PM
The Nonesuch label is going to play a major role in this thread. That's because, of all the major labels, Nonesuch has been singularly delinquent in releasing its old vinyl in newer formats.

On some of those Nonesuch records you can read that they are reissues of recordings on obscure French labels. So maybe Nonesuch no longer have the rights, or even the original tapes?




Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: zmic on January 02, 2014, 07:30:34 AM
On some of those Nonesuch records you can read that they are reissues of recordings on obscure French labels. So maybe Nonesuch no longer have the rights, or even the original tapes?

That's a good point. A fair portion of Nonesuch releases were licensed from Europe (for instance, those Horenstein recordings originally on Unicorn-Kanchana). But they've also been delinquent in reissuing their own in-house products. The Rochberg I posted is an example.
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

zmic

Quote from: Velimir on January 02, 2014, 07:34:15 AM
That's a good point. A fair portion of Nonesuch releases were licensed from Europe (for instance, those Horenstein recordings originally on Unicorn-Kanchana). But they've also been delinquent in reissuing their own in-house products. The Rochberg I posted is an example.

I totally agree that a bit fat box of 100 Nonesuch cd's in original sleeves is the most screaming void in all of classical music. Especially if you consider how all other labels are doing it.


Bogey

Quote from: Velimir on January 01, 2014, 08:01:08 AM
Just out of curiosity, could you tell us why you are interested in Nonesuch spines?

Sure.  There are about 3,000 or more classical album gathering dust bunnies at a local record shop.  However, they sit on the floor near where people walk and are under dark cabinets.  They are all with their spines facing out and hard to flip through because they are packed in tightly.  But with a flashlight I am able to pick up on labels and make stops at spines I recognize.  I have done the flipping before, but it takes and hour or so.  This way I can just go down the row and pick a few out.
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

Archaic Torso of Apollo

I am hereby "incorporating by reference" (as lawyers like to say) my earlier thread on Smithsonian's Bach box consisting of 9 LPs, never reissued. A great set which I enjoy revisiting:

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,21808.msg717835.html#msg717835

Smithsonian also issued a similar Handel box, which I picked up used. However, I don't find it nearly as compelling. The performance of Messiah is a bit tepid, and the other 2 sub-boxes in the set (Op. 3 concertos and some chamber music) just don't interest me that much. Maybe I just don't like Handel's instrumental music nearly as much as Bach's.
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

XB-70 Valkyrie

The Gioconda de Vito / Edwin Fischer performances of the Brahms sonatas 1 and 3 were reissued briefly on Testament CD, but appear to be OP and very difficult to find now. I have the original Angel LPs from the 50s. If you have not heard these, you have not heard these sonatas, period.

Much of Anton Heiller's oeuvre never made it to CD, which is very unfortunate.

There are many, many other examples...
If you really dislike Bach you keep quiet about it! - Andras Schiff